Rabbi Chanan Porat, a founding member of Gush Emunim and the settlement movement was niftar on Monday (6 Tishrei) in his home in Gush Etzion. Porat, who was 67, succumbed to difficult illness following a long painful battle.
Porat, who rarely used the title rabbi, was a devout Jew and a lover of Torat Yisrael, Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. For him, the June 1967 Six Day War represented a turning point, following which he founded Gush Emunim, spearheading the effort to renewed Jewish settlement in Biblical areas of Eretz Yisrael.
Following the 1973 Yom Kippur War it was all about returning home for Porat, to his childhood, frequently speaking about how he saw the famous Gush oak tree from Jerusalem, yearning to return, and not only did he, but he was the impetus for much of what exists throughout Yehuda and Shomron today.
Porat was a paratrooper in the Six Day War, often telling the story of how Hashem permitted him to merit a share in liberating the Old City following 19 years of Jordanian occupation, an occupation that was accompanied by destruction and an effort to remove any trace of the Holy City’s Jewish roots. After they approached the Kotel he explained, he knew, that the time has come to realize that dream to return home, to return to the Gush.
Porat was very seriously wounded in the Yom Kippur War and he explained over the years that it was then, in the depths of despair that he decided it was time to move ahead, and so he did, with much Siyata Dishmaya, meeting the challenges which have become the history of the settlement movement. He teamed up with Rabbi Moshe Levinger Shlita, and others, explaining that for him, his mission statement was simple, “The Sons Will Return to the Borders (Yirmiyahu 31:15).
While a pioneer and member of Knesset, the general public was unaware of his other side, that of an educator. Rav Porat taught in Yeshivat Har Etzion, Yeshivat Kibbutz HaDati, and Yeshivat Beit Orot. His indefatigable spirit and love of Torah and Eretz Yisrael was contagious, as many of his students can attest to.
In the political sphere, he launched the Techiya faction together with HaRav Eliezer Waldman, Geula Cohen and Elyakim Haetzni but after a brief stint in Knesset, moved over the Mafdal, the National Religious Party.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed his deep sorrow of the passing of Porat:
“Chanan Porat dedicated his life to building up the Land of Israel, and to educating generations of students about religious Zionism and loving the Land of Israel and the Jewish People. A son of kibbutz Kfar Etzion, which was destroyed in the War of Independence, Chanan led the return to the Etzion Bloc after its liberation [in 1967]. His contributions to building up the Land and to its communities, to education and to leading the nation according to Zionist principles, are examples to Israelis. I first met Chanan almost 40 years ago and was immediately impressed by his Zionist fervor and his deep commitment to restoring the Jewish People to its Land. This fervor did not lessen and accompanied him until his last day. His contributions to institutions, individuals and to educating the younger generation will yet be told. I would like to express my condolences to his wife Rachel, to his children and grandchildren and to his friends and students, who will continue his Zionist path.”
The levaya will begin on Tuesday, 7 Tishrei, from the rav’s home in Kibbutz Kfar Etzion and kvura will take place in the community Cemetery.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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Baruch Dayan Emet
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