Rabbi Eliezer Waldman
 
Former member of Knesset
Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Nir Kiryat Arba, Israel
 
Rabbi Waldman is a Sabra, born in Petach Tikva in 1937. In 1940 his family left for the United States for what was intended to be a short visit. With the outbreak of World War II, the family remained in New York City.
Rabbi Waldman completed his elementary, secondary and undergraduate education in the United States. As an active member of the B’nai Akiva Zionist Youth Organization, he yearned to return home. In 1956, he returned to Israel as part of a Hachshara group sent for a year’s program combining 6 months of work at Kibbutz Yavne with 6 months of study at the nearby Yeshiva Kerem B’Yavne. Once here, he was determined to remain in Israel.
 
Jewish and Rabbinical Education
              Yeshiva & Mesivta Torah V’Daat, Brooklyn, NY       1943 – 53

              Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin, Brooklyn, NY        1955 – 56

              Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavne, Shekamim, Israel      1956 – 57

              Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav, Jerusalem, Israel             1957 – 64

College and University Studies
Yeshiva University, NY
majors in philosophy and psychology          1954 – 55
 
Brooklyn College, NY
Majors in philosophy and psychology          1955 – 56
 
In 1964 Rabbi Waldman was appointed “Ram”, senior lecturer in Talmud at the B’nai Akiva Yeshiva Ohr Etzion, in Mercaz Shafir, Israel, a position he held until coming to Kiryat Arba. His IDF service as a Tank Corps chaplain and troop carrier driver found him serving on the banks of the Suez canal often under heavy enemy fire.

In 1968 he was asked to help found and lead a group of student pioneers who sought to reestablish Jewish learning in the holy city of Hebron. From this early nucleus evolved the present Hesder Yeshiva, the Nir College of Judaic Studies. Rabbi Waldman and the institution he founded, became the focal point around which the town of Kiryat Arba, the first urban settlement in the Jewish lands liberated in June 1967, was established. Today, Kiryat Arba still stands as the example of Jewish settlement in these redeemed Jewish lands.

Imbued with the vision, pioneering spirit and religious philosophy of Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, of blessed memory, the graduates of Kiryat Arba’s Hesder yeshiva fill positions of leadership in education, settlement and defense throughout the Jewish State.
 
Zionist, Educational and Political Leadership

              Member, National Executive, B’nai Akiva                   1972

              Member, World Executive, B’nai Akiva                    1978

              Founder & Member, Executive Committee “Gush Emunim”       1974

              Founder of the Techiya Party                             1979

              Techiya Party Knesset Member                         1984

              Member of Knesset Committees on Aliya and Education            1984

Member of Yesha Council
 
A much sought after political lecturer in Israel and abroad, Rabbi Waldman is the author of books and articles on Jewish philosophy, the Festivals and current Jewish events. His commentaries are published in the Jewish Press as well as e-mailed to an extensive list. Rabbi and Mrs. Waldman are very proud of their eight children and over thirty grandchildren.