Moshe Levinger ( Hebrew משה לוינגר ; 1935 , Jerusalem - May 16, 2015 , ibid.) - Israeli rabbi , ideologist of the religious-nationalist movement " Gush Emunim ", one of the founders of the settlement of Kiryat Arba .
| Moshe Levinger | |
|---|---|
| Heb. משה לוינגר | |
| Date of Birth | |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship |  Israel |
| Occupation | , |
| Education | |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Main ideas | Jewish messianism , Great Israel [1] |
| Children | |
Biography
Moshe Levinger was born in 1935 in Jerusalem in a family of returnees from Germany. His parents, Eliezer and Tirza (Paula) Levinger, members of the Poalei Agudat Yisrael movement, arrived in Mandate Palestine in 1933 [3] . Moshe served in the ranks of the Nakhal landing forces [4] , graduated from the orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem (where among his teachers was one of the ideologists of religious Zionism Zvi Yehud Kuk [1] ), after which he served as rabbi of the kibbutz Lavi , and since 1967 - moshav Nehlim [3] .
After the Six Day War, Moshe Levinger was convinced that the time had come to revive the biblical Land of Israel . His spiritual teacher, Rabbi Cook, announced that the Jewish community [5] (which had not been in Hebron since the pogrom of 1929 and subsequent unrest in 1936 [1] ) should be restored in Hebron , one of the holy cities of Judaism. On the Passover of 1968, less than a year after the establishment of Israeli control over Judea and Samaria , Levinger, along with several followers, under the guise of Swiss tourists rented rooms in an Arabian hotel in Hebron. Having settled in the rooms, they barricaded themselves and refused to leave the hotel until the Jews were given permission to settle in Hebron [6] . Levinger and his associates were moved from the hotel to the building of the Israeli military commandant’s office in Hebron, and after three years of negotiations, they agreed to establish a separate Jewish settlement near the Arab Hebron, called Kiryat Arba [3] . Levinger, who led the administration of the new settlement, moved there with his family in 1972. In 1979, Levinger and his wife Miriam became one of the first Jews who moved to the territory of Hebron itself - in the Avraam Avinu quarter [4] .
After the Doomsday War, Levinger took an active part in the creation of the organization “ Gush Emunim ”, the purpose of which was the creation of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria [5] , which was carried out explicitly, often contrary to the prohibitions of the Israeli authorities. His activity was dictated by the conviction that Jews should regain control of the entire territory of the biblical Land of Israel . Levinger was arrested several times for incitement to violence and hooliganism, and in 1990 was sentenced to imprisonment for criminal negligence after two years earlier a Palestinian merchant was killed by his bullet in Hebron [6] . Levinger himself explained the shooting he opened as the need for self-defense, as stones and stones started to throw stones at him and his family [4] . Of the five months of imprisonment appointed by the court, Levinger spent only ten weeks in prison. In 1991, he was again sentenced to a prison term (four months) for assaulting a Palestinian family in Hebron. When the terrorist " Jewish underground ", which included activists of the "Gush Emunim", was revealed, Levinger refused to condemn their activities, although his involvement in the creation of the organization was also not proved [5] . The role of Levinger in the public life of Israel during these years was highly appreciated by contemporaries. So, in 1987, the Hadashot newspaper conducted a survey of 22 Israeli leaders representing the entire political spectrum, in which they were asked to name the figure who had the greatest impact on Israeli society in the past 20 years. According to the survey, Levinger shared first place with ex-Prime Minister Menachem Begin . According to Boaz Applebaum, adviser to Labor Party leader Shimon Peres , “the premieres came and went, and Levinger is still on the crest. We all adapted to its scale and its scope ” [7] .
In 1992, Moshe Levinger ran for the Knesset from the Ha-Tora ve Ha Ha Aretz list, which received just over 3,000 votes and did not pass the electoral threshold [8] . Levinger and his family continued to live in the Jewish quarter of Hebron, even after the city was transferred under Palestinian control in accordance with the Oslo agreements [6] . In the last years of his life, Levinger was seriously ill after having suffered a stroke [4] . He died on May 16, 2015 in Jerusalem and was buried in the old Jewish cemetery in Hebron [8] . By the time of the death of Moshe Levinger, the administration of the settlement of Kiryat Arba founded by him was headed by his son Malakhi [4] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Isabel Kershner. Moshe Levinger, Contentious Leader of Jewish Settlers in Hebron, Dies at 80 . The New York Times (May 18, 2015). Date of treatment February 18, 2016.
- ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica - Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. , 1768. - T. 22. - ISBN 978-1-59339-292-5
- ↑ 1 2 3 Asaf Golan. Rabbi Levinger, founder of a Jewish settlement in Hebron (Hebrew), died . NRG.co.il (May 16, 2015). Date of treatment February 17, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Yaron Drukman, Itai Blumenthal. Rabbi Moshe Levinger of Hebron (Hebrew) died . Ynet.co.il (May 16, 2015). Date of treatment February 17, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Stephen E. Atkins. Levinger, Moshe (1935 -) (Israel) // Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. - Greenwood Press, 2004 .-- P. 179. - ISBN 0-313-32485-9 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 Moshe Levinger . - article from Encyclopædia Britannica Online .
- ↑ Ian Lustick. Assessing the influence of the Jewish fundamentalism // For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel. - New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1998 .-- P. 13. - ISBN 0-87609-037-4 .
- ↑ 1 2 Rabbi Moshe Levinger, founder of the Jewish quarter in Hebron away . NEWSru.co.il.
Literature
- Stephen E. Atkins. Levinger, Moshe (1935 -) (Israel) // Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups. - Greenwood Press, 2004 .-- P. 179. - ISBN 0-313-32485-9 .