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| Rabbi Moshe Hauer, ZTL (OU) |
I am deeply saddened to report the passing of Rabbi
Moshe Hauer, Executive Vice President of the OU. He died suddenly and
shockingly - apparently from a heart attack - at his home on Shemini Atzeres.
He was 64 years old.
The loss to the Jewish people of a leader with his
capabilities is indescribable. Rabbi Hauer was a giant of the Jewish world
whose intellect was recognized by all who knew him - as that of a major Talmid
Chacham.
He personified much of my own thinking on matters of faith
and on issues of public concern to the Jewish people. Like the late Rabbi Berel
Wein, his views reflected the essence of mainstream Judaism, yet he was
unafraid to depart from the conventional ‘orthodoxy’ of the Charedi world when
he felt it appropriate to do so.
One example of this was when he publicly advocated voting in the WZO elections for one of the religious parties. When he was aksed who he voted for he said the Religious Zionist party. This was despite the urging of the Charedi world to vote for Eretz HaKodesh. The Religious Zionist Party was what I voted for even though I am not a member. Nor, do I believe, was Rabbi Hauer. I assume it was for the same reason I did. I felt that the Religious Zionist party was more deserving of our vote because of the great sacrifices being made by the Religious Zionist community in Israel’s war against Hamas.
And yet, he had the deepest respect for Charedi leadership,
both in Israel and in the United States. That was the measure of the man. He
did not allow differences in public policy to affect his profound respect for
the rabbinic leadership of the right. He recognized their level of religious
scholarship and honored it accordingly. I feel very much the same way.
It should also be noted that, despite his occasional
disagreements on matters of public policy, the Charedi leadership respected him
as well.
Even though he was fourteen years my junior, I looked up to
him as a leader and as a moral conscience for the Torah world.
As was the case with Rabbi Berel Wein, he will be difficult
to replace. There are not many leaders who have the courage to stand by their
convictions regardless of conventional wisdom. Rabbi Moshe Hauer was one of
those rare leaders.
He will be sorely missed.
Baruch Dayan HaEmes.
