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Rabbi Menachem Froman: Not What You Thought

Remembering a great man whose love for his fellow human beings knew neither religious nor political bounds, and was happily reciprocated by all.
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Menachem Froman (L), stood with copies of the Koran at a roadblock outside the village of Yasuf, near Shchem, December 13, 2009, after copies of the Koran were vandalized in the local mosque.

Menachem Froman (L), stood with copies of the Koran at a roadblock outside the village of Yasuf, near Shchem, December 13, 2009, after copies of the Koran were vandalized in the local mosque.
Photo Credit: Abir Sultan/Flash90

At first I thought these were just a bunch of young people who had come to hear Jewish rock, enjoying themselves with the eccentrically dressed dear rabbi as he took hold of the microphone and put on a show.  As a casual acquaintance of Menachem’s, I was somewhat embarrassed for him, until it became clear to me and my wife, whose family we were going to meet, that these were his followers.  A community had sprung up around him.  He had become the leader of a certain sector of the Tekoa-going religious youth.

But not only the religious.

On the way back from the funeral, at which hours of songs full of joy accompanied the rabbi to his grave, a young woman from the high-tech industry remarked to me that she is not religious, but she and many others like her came to Tekoa to spend long nights studying the Zohar with Rabbi Menachem.

“Nu, and you understood what he was teaching?”

“No,” she said, “we came to learn from his happiness and excitement.
A version of this article was published in Mekor Rishon, March 8, 2013. Translated from Hebrew by David Greenberg.

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About the Author: Lt.-Col. (ret.) Meir Indor is CEO of Almagor Terror Victims Association. In his extended career of public service, he has worked as a journalist, founded the Libi Fund, Sar-El, Habaita, among many other initiatives, and continues to lend his support to other pressing causes of the day.


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4 comments so far

4 Responses to “Rabbi Menachem Froman: Not What You Thought”

  1. John Keytack John Keytack says:
    March 13, 2013 at 12:47 PM

    What? So now, we’re supposed to make nice with the muslims?

  2. Cowfy Kaufman Cowfy Kaufman says:
    March 13, 2013 at 1:02 PM

    rebbe nachman spoke of tzadikim who step in the dust of insanity.

  3. Moshe Brodetzky says:
    March 13, 2013 at 3:20 PM

    a decade or so ago I attended one of his lectures and asked him if tahe Arabs have a concept of YIRAT HASHEM = fear of G-D? I never hear the arabic eqivalent HAF ALLAH! He doid not answer me – I realize now that my tonne was antagonistic.

  4. Larry Snider says:
    March 13, 2013 at 4:10 PM

    Thank you! He was a great man and a bridge builder. I am one of many who miss him and continue to work to realize his dream……

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