Shai Moshe Piron (; born 25 January 1965) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, educator, and politician. A

religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

,All the kingmaker’s men, and women
Times of Israel, 23 January 2013 he served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

for

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid (, ) is a centrist political party in Israel. It was founded in 2012 by former TV journalist Yair Lapid, the son of the former Shinui party politician and Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid. In 2013 the first election it conte ...

between 2013 and 2015, and as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

between 2013 and 2014.

Biography

Born in Kfar Vitkin, Piron was ordained as a

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

, and co-headed the

hesder Hesder ( "arrangement"; also Yeshivat Hesder ) is an Israeli yeshiva program which combines advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the Israel Defense Forces, usually within a Religious Zionist framework. The program allows Orthodox J ...

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

. Piron is the CEO of "Hakol L'Chinuch", which works to improve state education. He helped found Tzohar, and runs numerous projects to foster harmony between religious and secular Israelis. In 2012 he joined the newly formed

party, and was placed second in its list for the 2013 Knesset elections. With the party winning 19 seats, he became a member of the

. Yesh Atid joined the coalition, and Piron was appointed as Minister of Education replacing Gideon Sa’ar. In March 2015 Piron called for Israel to have all schools include the "

Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...

" in their curriculum: "I'm for teaching the Nakba to all students in Israel. I do not think that a student can go through the Israeli educational system, while 20% of students have an ethos, a story, and he does not know that story." He added that covering the topic in schools could address some of the racial tensions that exist in Israeli society. Piron's comments broke a taboo in the traditional Israeli narrative, and conflicts with efforts on the part of some Israeli lawmakers to defund schools that mark the "Nakba". He was placed second on the party's list again for the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

, and was re-elected as the party won 11 seats. Following the elections, he was appointed Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. In September 2015 Piron resigned from the Knesset, and will instead teach at a college in

Sderot Sderot (, , ; , sometimes Romanized as "Sederot") is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , it had a population of . Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza St ...

.Two opposition lawmakers call it quits
Times of Israel, 2 September 2015 He was replaced by Elazar Stern, twelfth on the Yesh Atid list. Piron lives in the

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

of Oranit in the occupied

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, is married and has six children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Piron, Shai 1965 births Living people 20th-century Israeli educators 21st-century Israeli educators Israeli settlers Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Ministers of education of Israel Moshavniks People from Kfar Vitkin Israeli Orthodox Jews Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis Yesh Atid politicians Academic staff of Ono Academic College Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent