Coren (Koren), Yitzhak — Moshavim Movement, Knesset member

קורן יצחק

Yitzhak Coren (Koren) (1911–1994) — Moshavim Movement leader and Knesset member

Yitzhak Coren was born in 1911 in Kishinev (Chișinău), in Bessarabia. He studied law and qualified as a lawyer, and was active in the Zionist movement there — among the leaders of the Romanian Zionist Students Association, secretary of Tze'irei Zion, and a member of the presidium of the Zionist Federation of Bessarabia, editing its Yiddish newspaper. In 1940 he immigrated to Eretz Yisrael and joined the Haganah. From 1944 to 1961 he served as secretary of the Moshavim Movement, the organization of Israel's cooperative farming villages, and in 1949 was among the founders of the "From Ma'abarot to Village" settlement project. He served in the Knesset for Mapai (1959–1965) and the Alignment (1969–1974).

What the letters show

Kfar Chabad. Since Kfar Chabad is itself a moshav, much of the correspondence concerns its development. The Rebbe encouraged practical steps to expand and develop Kfar Chabad, both physically and as a community (IK 6018), supported its agriculture, and stressed that unity among all its groups strengthens its growth and mission (IK 8131).

Supporting Torah institutions. The Rebbe asked Coren to help Chabad institutions and new communities: the Chabad yeshivah and community in Kiryat Gat (IK 7085, 7227, 8289), a yeshivah for immigrant youth (IK 6773), and — connected to his native city — the building of the Kishinev yeshivah, for which the Rebbe encouraged using compensation funds for spiritual purposes (IK 7489). Writing about the Kiryat Gat yeshivah at Chanukah, he taught that even when resources seem lacking, one should act with faith (IK 8289).

Public responsibility. The Rebbe wrote to him about the responsibility of public representatives to act for the benefit of all, not narrow party interests (IK 6346); about the entanglement of both religious and anti-religious agendas with politics, and the inner Jewish nature of every Jew (IK 4222); and about the danger of indifference to division among Jews (IK 6773). On the Agadir earthquake and communal responsibility in a time of tragedy, see IK 7227. The Rebbe also wrote to him about confident leadership and the eternal value of every good deed (IK 7440).

Sources: Wikipedia ("Yitzhak Coren," based on the Knesset website); and the Rebbe's letters cited above.

Shiurim in this topic

4222. Mixing Politics and Religion, and the Inner Nature of Every Jew עירוב פוליטיקה ודת, והפנימיות של כל יהודי

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6018. Expanding and Developing Kfar Chabad הרחבת ופיתוח כפר חב"ד

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6346. Influence and Responsibility of Public Representatives השפעה ואחריות של נציגי ציבור

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6773. Unity, Indifference to Division, and Support for Immigrant Yeshiva אחדות, אדישות לפירוד, ותמיכה בישיבת עולים

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7085. Kriv Gat, Chabad Yeshiva, and Baal Shem Tov's 200th Yahrzeit קרית גת, ישיבת חב"ד, ושנת ה-200 להסתלקות הבעל שם טוב

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