Rabbi Avraham Shapira, an Israeli spiritual leader most famous for his call for soldiers to disobey orders to evacuate the Gaza Strip, has died after a long illness. He was 94.
Rabbi Shapira, a chief rabbi in Israel for ten years from 1983, spent much of his life fighting vigorously against territorial concessions to the Palestinians, emerging as one of Israel’s most divisive religious figures.
To his followers, however, Rabbi Shapira was a sage. When he was taken to the hospital this week, thousands of them prayed for his wellbeing at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism’s holiest site.
In 2005 the Rabbi called on observant soldiers to disobey orders to dismantle 21 Jewish settlements during Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He also opposed the first Israeli-Palestinian peace accords in 1993, saying that Jewish law forbade Israel from transferring holy land to the Palestinians.
Yesterday about 20,000 mourners gathered for a funeral procession, carrying Rabbi Shapira’s body to its final resting place, the Mount of Olives. Because the funeral was taking place during the joyous, weeklong Jewish festival of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, rabbis told mourners to try to avoid crying.
Topic: Mourners honour religious leader who called for soldiers to disobey orders (Read 1743 times)