Moshe Avigdor Amiel

Moshe Avigdor Amiel (1 April 1882 – 27 March 1945) was a rabbi, writer, philosopher, and one of the leaders of the World Mizrachi and Religious Zionism. He served as a rabbi in Švenčionys, Lithuania, Grajewo, Poland, and Antwerp, Belgium, and was the chief rabbi in Tel Aviv.

Amiel was born in Porazava, Grodno Governorate, Russia, the first child of Rabbi Yaakov-Yosef and Rivka. Until the age of 13, he studied in the religious schools of the city and with his father. When he was 13 he went to study at the Telshe Yeshiva with Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, Rabbi Shimon Shkop, and Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch. Three years later, he went to study at the Brisk Yeshiva with Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, and another year later he went to study in Vilna with the Rabbi Haim Ozer Grodzonski, for three and a half years. When Amiel was 18 he received semikhah from Rabbi Shlomo HaKohen and became a rabbi.^[1]

After the death of Rabbi Pinchas Rozobski, Amiel became the rabbi in the city of Švenčionys, aged 23, and established a yeshiva there. After speaking at the World Mizrachi in 1920, Amiel was called to serve as a rabbi in Antwerp, a position he held from 1920 to 1936. There, he established a school called Takhkemoni^[a], a school for girls, a yeshiva, and a school of Talmud Torah.

IIn 1933, Amiel visited Mandatory Palestine and met Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. After the death of Tel Aviv's chief rabbi Shlomo HaKohen Aharonson, Amiel was offered the position, which he accepted on 16 January 1936.^[2] Upon arriving at the railway station in Jerusalem, he was greeted by a large delegation of Orthodox Jews, some of whom had even gone ahead to Alexandria to greet him early.^[3] He founded a yeshiva in Tel Aviv that is now named after him. He also won the Rav Kook Prize for Torah Literature in 1971–1973.

Towards the end of his life, Amiel suffered from heart disease. He died on 27 March 1945 in Tel Aviv.^[4]

There are streets named after Amiel in several Israeli cities, including Petach Tikva, Bnei Brak, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Netanya, Herzliya, and Kfar Saba, as well as the yeshiva he established in Tel Aviv.^[1] In 1987 he was honored with an Israeli stamp.

Rabbi Amiel wrote about a wide range of subjects, including halacha, aggadah, philosophy, and kabbalah. He was particularly influenced by the Lithuanian school of halachic thought, as well as René Descartes and Immanuel Kant.^[5] He also wrote nine volumes of ecclesiastical works.^[4]

In his philosophical writings, Amiel largely utilized Descartes' theory of rationalism and the concept of a priori and a posteriori popularised by Kant. He also used Descartes' ontological argument to prove the existence of God:

The very fact that I exist and that I have the notion of a totally perfect object, this itself clearly demonstrates that God exists. However, these things are not at all new. Here is the first tenet of Judaism: "Just as He is, so are you"—namely, in the very sense of commitment involved in the "so you are merciful and gracious" implies that "just as He is in the world".^[5]

Rabbi Amiel was a Religious Zionist and viewed Religious Zionism as the embodiment of the concept of "Torah ve'Avoda" (Torah and work), and held that both were needed for building a state.^[6] Amir Mashiach of Ariel University writes about this:

Using Hegelian dialectics, Amiel explained his approach: the thesis (spirit) and antithesis (matter) unite to form a synthesis (complete Judaism). He argued that exile transformed Jewish identity from a multidimensional biblical identity to a one-dimensional rabbinical identity focused solely on spirituality. Religious Zionism aimed to restore Judaism to its original completeness.^[6]

Amiel viewed both secular Zionism and ultraorthodoxy as not useful for building a Jewish state due to the ultraorthodox exclusive focus on Torah and secular Zionism's exclusive focus on work; in fact, he compared secular nationalism to idolatry and viewed socialism as a form of oppression.^[7]

• Darkhei Moshe (the way of Moses)^[8] — composed between 1912 and 1928, a work on halacha.
• Hegyonot El Ami^[9] — collection of essays.
• Sermons Unto My People^[10] — Composed in 1936, a collection of sermons.
• HaMiddot LeCheker HaHalakhah (Qualities to expound the Halacha)^[11] — Composed between 1933-1939, three-volume work on Jewish legal methodology.
• LeNevukhei HaTekufah (for the confused of the period)^[12] — Amiel's last work; covers topics like belief in God, ethics, and Jewish history.

• ‏⁨ת ל־_8 ב י ב ⁩ — ⁨⁨דבר⁩ 4 נובמבר 1935⁩ — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים
• ‏⁨הרב ענו* בת"א ⁩ — ⁨⁨דבר⁩ 16 ינואר 1936⁩ — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים