The Theological Infrastructure of Rabbi Menachem Froman's Political Activism.

• In Event: Mysticism and Politics

Abstract

It is customary to think of the monotheistic revolution as an ideological revolution that has created the three great religions and established the faith in one god, and one god only. One can wonder, is this just a conceptual innovation? If so, what is its contemporary value? How and in what way can this concept be continuously implemented?
These questions have always been of relevance in the world of Kabbalists, who viewed the Divine as a complex and paradoxical system, composed of conflicting forces. They saw themselves as responsible for restoring peace and harmony within the Divine system and believed that Prayer, Torah study and Sermons play a crucial role in achieving such Unity.
This Kabbalistic ideological infrastructure fueled Rabbi Menachem Froman worldview. However, he shifted his field of action from the theological and theoretical field to the political field. He sought to unite opposing political streams within the Israeli society, together with the Palastenian society. It was his lifelong mission to enhance the Peace-Making process and to see an end to the Israeli-Palastenian conflict.
In my lecture I will outline the theological infrastructure from which Rabbi Menachem Froman derived his ideas and political activism.

Author

• Tchiya Fruman, Ben Gurion University