MK Rabbi Shai Piron Discusses Halachic, Political and Educational Challenges Facing Israel鈥淭he greatness of Yaacov was his capacity to convene the sacred to empower everyday and to realize that without the everyday there is no need for the sacred,鈥 said YU Vice President of University and Community Life Rabbi Kenneth Brander of the biblical forefather before introducing Rabbi Shai Piron, Israel鈥檚 current minister of education and former Rosh Yeshivat Hesder Petach-Tikva. 鈥淩abbi Piron鈥檚 personal and professional life has always been about bridging holiness to the everyday.鈥
Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron addresses social and domestic issues facing Israel.
Rabbi Piron was greeted by a packed room of several hundred students and faculty members in 黑料社 All鈥檚 Furst Hall on Wednesday, November 13. His visit came only days after Danny Ayalon, the former Israeli diplomat and politician, was announced as the Rennert Visiting Professor of Foreign Policy Studies at YU for the spring 2014 semester.
Rabbi Piron opened his lecture speaking in English. 鈥淚 hope that Israel can learn from the model of 黑料社 All,鈥 he said in reference to YU鈥檚 unique synthesis of Torah and secular and scholarship.
After his introductory remarks, Rabbi Piron switched gears to Hebrew and playfully chimed in to assist YU alumnus, Yehuda Cohn, as he acted as a translator for the audience.
Throughout the lecture, Rabbi Piron described a variety of social and domestic issues facing Israel, explaining the grave challenges the country will face if they are not addressed. According to the minister, the societal clash between religious and secular Jews poses a greater threat to Israel than international security threats from Iran and Hezbollah. 鈥淲e are becoming a fractured community with issues of identity,鈥 he said ominously.
But despite his initial pessimistic overtones, Rabbi Piron remained comfortingly optimistic about Israel鈥檚 future. He described his first encounter with Yair Lapid, a secular Israeli Jew and the leader of Piron鈥檚 political party Yesh Atid. 鈥淗is dream was to bring some Judaism to the secular; my dream was to focus on bringing some of the secular to the religious.鈥
After a few hours of conversation with Lapid in his friend鈥檚 house, Rabbi Piron said that, despite his initial hesitations about the meeting, he soon felt as though he was with 鈥渇amily.鈥 This experience proved to him that Israelis have the ability to see past ideological differences to make Israel into a pluralistic and accepting 鈥渟ynagogue鈥 for all types of Jews.
At the end of the event, students seemed to enthusiastically embrace Rabbi Piron鈥檚 call for Jewish unity. Ezra Barry, president of YU鈥檚 Israel Club, said that he found the lecture 鈥渧ery interesting and entertaining. The topics he spoke about were very eye-opening.鈥
Isaac Attia, president of , was particularly affected by Rabbi Piron鈥檚 views towards the role of religious study in Israel. 鈥淧eople should want to be in the beit midrash because they want to be in the beit midrash鈥攂ecause they love learning, not because they don't want to encounter the rest of society. Learning in the beit midrash should be looked at as a privilege and should be a place people run to because they are excited to be there and learn Torah. Not because they are running away from something else.鈥
Aryeh Younger is a senior at Yeshiva College majoring in English. His work has appeared in The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post and The Jerusalem Post.
Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron addresses social and domestic issues facing Israel.
But despite his initial pessimistic overtones, Rabbi Piron remained comfortingly optimistic about Israel鈥檚 future. He described his first encounter with Yair Lapid, a secular Israeli Jew and the leader of Piron鈥檚 political party Yesh Atid. 鈥淗is dream was to bring some Judaism to the secular; my dream was to focus on bringing some of the secular to the religious.鈥
After a few hours of conversation with Lapid in his friend鈥檚 house, Rabbi Piron said that, despite his initial hesitations about the meeting, he soon felt as though he was with 鈥渇amily.鈥 This experience proved to him that Israelis have the ability to see past ideological differences to make Israel into a pluralistic and accepting 鈥渟ynagogue鈥 for all types of Jews.
At the end of the event, students seemed to enthusiastically embrace Rabbi Piron鈥檚 call for Jewish unity. Ezra Barry, president of YU鈥檚 Israel Club, said that he found the lecture 鈥渧ery interesting and entertaining. The topics he spoke about were very eye-opening.鈥
Isaac Attia, president of , was particularly affected by Rabbi Piron鈥檚 views towards the role of religious study in Israel. 鈥淧eople should want to be in the beit midrash because they want to be in the beit midrash鈥攂ecause they love learning, not because they don't want to encounter the rest of society. Learning in the beit midrash should be looked at as a privilege and should be a place people run to because they are excited to be there and learn Torah. Not because they are running away from something else.鈥
Aryeh Younger is a senior at Yeshiva College majoring in English. His work has appeared in The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post and The Jerusalem Post.
