Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, among the most prominent rabbinic figures in the religious Zionist community, dies Wednesday. He was 92 years old.
The rabbi was laid to rest in Jerusalem. The family requested that people do not attend the funeral, in accordance with the Health Ministry's directives on public gatherings in the midst of the coronavirus crisis.
The service was attended by his close family and senior Birkat Moshe Yeshiva faculty and was streamlined on the internet.
Born in Montreal and educated in the local Jewish institutions there, Rabinovitch, who chaired the Maaleh Adumim Yeshiva, was ordained as a rabbi when he was only 20 years old. He later studied at the exclusive Ner Israel Rabbinical Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, while simultaneously completing a graduate degree in mathematics at Johns Hopkins University.
He developed an illustrious rabbinic and academic career in the United States and Canada, earning his PhD and serving as both a community rabbi and university lecturer. In the early 1970s, Rabinovitch was appointed dean of the London School of Jewish Studies. In 1983, at the age of 55, he emigrated to Israel with his wife and children.
The family settled in Maaleh Adumim, a suburb of Jerusalem, and Rabinovitch was appointed to serve as the head of the hesder yeshiva that had been established in the city a few years earlier.
Head of the Hesder Yeshivot Association of Uri Pinsky, said his organization "mourns the loss of a great luminary, a man of noble characteristics, a Yeshiva head and teacher to thousands through his lectures and writings, Rabbi Nachum Eliezer Rabinovitch. In the consolation of Zion and Jerusalem and through the continuation of the great achievements of the Rav we will find our comfort."
The Orthodox Union stated that they mourn the passing of Rabinovitch, "One of the greatest poskim [decisors] in the religious Zionist world in Israel."
Orthodox Union President Moishe Bane added, "Rabbi Rabinovitch dedicated his life to teaching generations of students. Despite his great stature, Rabbi Rabinovitch was tremendously humble. We mourn his passing and express our deepest condolences to his family and students."
The Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics and Community Development issued a stamen saying, "Together with the entire House of Israel we mourns the deep loss of Rabbi Rabinovitch."
According to Rabbis David Fine and Shlomo Sobol, deans and founders of Barkai, the late rabbi was instrumental in the founding of the center.
"When we were consulting with people about the feasibility and potential to open a serious and sophisticated program to train young, idealistic rabbis in the National Religious community in practical Rabbinics – Rabbi Rabinovitch was literally one of the first people we approached to seek advice," he said.
"His unique status as one of the generation's greatest rabbinic decisors combined with having been born in Montreal and his having served pulpits in the United States prior to his ultimate aliyah to Israel made him uniquely authoritative to bring about important changes in the way rabbinical education is provided for in Israel."
Rabbi Rabinovitch is survived by his six children and 38 grandchildren and great-grandchildren
