YWN regrets to inform you of the petirah of HaRav Chaim Druckman zt”l, the foremost dati leumi rav in Eretz Yisroel. He was approximately 90 years old.
Rav Druckman was born in Kuty, Poland (today in Ukraine) in 1932. He and his parents managed to survive in a hideout during the Nazi occupation of Poland. In 1942, the family fled to Chernivtsi, then under Romanian rule, where they stayed for a year. His parents then allowed a childless Jewish couple who obtained certificates to Eretz Yisrael to adopt him and they brought him to Israel in 1944. His parents joined him in Israel after the war.
In Israel, he quickly became known for his brilliance and hasmada and quickly rose the ranks of rabbanus.
He served as rav of Mercaz Shapira, Rosh Yeshivah of the Ohr Etzion Yeshiva and chairman of the Bnei Akiva network of yeshivos and girls’ high schools.
He served as a Knesset member for 14 years, as well as the deputy Religious Affairs minister, and as the head of conversions in the Prime Minister’s Office.
Rav Druckman was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement in 2012.
At a rare meeting in Hadassah Hospital in May of 2022, Rav Druckman told the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchak Rebbe that he came to Israel on the same boat with the “Damesek Eliezer” of Vizhnitz zt”l in 1944.
Rav Druckman was in serious condition after contracting COVID earlier this month. After initially receiving care at home, he was hospitalized at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where he passed away.
He leaves behind a wife, nine children, and hundreds of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…
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9 Responses
ברוך דיין האמת
everyone dressed the part is called harav hagaon; i guess you cannot be a gaon in a kippah serugah
DrYidd- well said.
DrYidd, according to the Sdei Chemed, erech “chanufa”, nowadays (meaning in the late 19th century) “harav hagaon” simply means you have smicha.
DrYidd:
Anything “leumi”, including “Dati Leumi”, is idolatry as per Rav Elchonon Wasserman and the rest of the gedolim through whom Klal Yisrael’s mesorah runs.
@HaKatan, yes you’re truly a katan……nebach.
DrYidd there are some Geonim without a Kippa, the fact that he was wearing a kippa sruga doesn’t mean that you should posel him
There are enough problems in the world without Jews bashing other Jews. Intelligent people understand that.
Hakatan, WHO SAYS that “Klal Yisrael’s mesorah runs” through the tiny group of people whom you choose to call gedolim? R Druckman and his rebbes were AT LEAST the equals of any of your gedolim. His derech is entitled to at least as much respect as yours.