Rabbi Avraham Shapira הרב אברהם שפירא
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel 5743–5753; head of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva
Born in Jerusalem. After the death of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook in 5742 he became head of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva and led it for some twenty-five years, giving the central weekly shiur himself throughout—Talmudic analysis, not preaching.
The Chief Rabbinate. In 5743 he was elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel; the Sephardi Chief Rabbi in those years was Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. He held office until 5753.
Books. Minchat Avraham—three volumes of halakhic essays. Shiurei Maran HaGra Shapira—six volumes of his lectures. Morasha—collected essays.
Many rabbis and rabbinical judges came out of his yeshiva: he taught not only what is said, but how to decide.
Sources give his year of birth as "about 1910." He died on 15 Tishrei 5768—the first day of Sukkot.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Minchat Avraham — three volumes of his halakhic essays
Scholarship
- Encyclopaedia Judaica, “Shapira, Avraham Elkana Kahana” — the Chief Rabbinate 1983–1993 and the headship of Mercaz HaRav
Basis: documents and evidence.