Chaim Drukman

Haim Drukman (; 15 November 1932 – 25 December 2022) was an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. The most senior spiritual leader of the Religious Zionist community at the time of his death, he served as rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivat Or Etzion, and head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot.

A founder of Gush Emunim, Drukman served in the Israeli Knesset as a member of the National Religious Party and Morasha. As director of the State Conversion Authority, he worked to make Jewish conversions more accessible to immigrant Russians of Jewish descent. He was awarded the Israel Prize for his contribution to society and education.

Early life Haim Meir Drukman was born in Kuty in the Second Polish Republic (today in Ukraine). His mother's name was Milkah. After hiding with his parents during the Holocaust, he immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1944 by posing as the child of a different set of parents. He was reunited with his real parents after World War II. In 1949, Drukman joined the Israel Defense Forces as part of the Bnei Akiva gar'in (pioneer group) in the Nahal brigade. In this capacity, he took part in the rebuilding of two religious kibbutzim, Tirat Zvi and Sa'ad, which were damaged in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. After his discharge, Drukman studied at the Aliyah Institute in Petah Tikva and Yeshivat Kfar Haroeh. He then transferred to the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he became a student of Zvi Yehuda Kook. In 1952, he became a member of Bnei Akiva's National Directorate, and from 1955 until 1956, he served as an emissary of the organisation to the United States, at Kook's behest.

Rabbinic career In 1964, once again with his teacher's encouragement, Drukman founded Yeshivat Or Etzion, a Bnei Akiva-affiliated mamlachti dati (state religious) high school, in Merkaz Shapira. Drukman has been criticized for failing to report sexual abuse that occurred at Netiv Meir Yeshiva and for inviting Mordechai Elon to speak at Yeshivat Or Etzion after he was convicted of sexual assault.

In response to a wave of emigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, a considerable number of whom having questions as to their Jewishness, Drukman became involved in Jewish conversion advocacy, even setting up a special beth din (religious court) for this purpose. In 2004, he was appointed director of the newly created State Conversion Authority, which provides services to candidates for conversion to Judaism through the Prime Minister's Office. Throughout this period, he often came into disagreement with senior Haredi rabbis in Israel in regard to his conversion standards, which they deemed to be too lax according to their reading of halakha (Jewish law). After rabbinic courts rolled back thousands of Drukman's conversions, the Supreme Court of Israel reinstated them. Drukman's efforts were recognised by Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that the rabbi "found a way of bringing hearts together that helped masses of new immigrants to join the ranks of our people". He was instrumental in shifting this sector over from the centre-left, where it had been during Israel's founding, to the far right.

Drukman was first elected to the Knesset in the 1977 elections on the National Religious Party's (NRP) list and served as a member of the 9th Knesset from 1977 to 1981. He was a member of the Knesset committees for the Appointment of Rabbinic Judges, Foreign Affairs and Defense, and Education and Culture during this tenure.

He was re-elected in 1981, again representing the National Religious Party in the 10th Knesset from 1981 to 1984 and serving as a member of the same Knesset committees as he had during the 9th Knesset. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs on 11 August 1981. However, he resigned on 2 March 1982 in protest against the final withdrawal of Israel from Sinai Peninsula as part of the Camp David Accords. On 10 October 1983, he broke away from the NRP and attempted to form a Knesset faction named the Zionist Religious Camp, but was refused permission to do so by the House Committee. Instead, he sat as a single member of Knesset for the remainder of his term.

Opinions Drukman was a proponent of the confluence of the three concepts of Israel: The Nation of Israel keeping the Torah of Israel in the Land of Israel.

According to The Times of Israel, he was less extreme than some of his colleagues. For example, Drukman did not support a controversial letter penned by rabbis in 2010 that called for Jews to refrain from letting homes to Arabs. He did say, however, that there may be some instances where this ruling might still be appropriate.

Personal life Drukman lived in Merkaz Shapira with his wife Sarah, one of the first religious women to graduate as a physician from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Together, they had nine children, including one who was adopted and another who had Down syndrome, along with dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Yossi Cohen, Mossad director

Awards and recognition In 2012, Drukman was awarded the Israel Prize for his contribution to society and education.