What would Rabbi Froman do, if he were alive today in this time of terrible war with Hamas? Maybe find a Gazan to shake hands with?
Froman's life path was always about turning his own wounds (and Israel's wounds) into ways of healing and reconciliation. About somehow bringing together opposites - by often finding shared Jewish and Muslim religious beliefs. It certainly helped that he loved diving into controversial affairs, and getting attention for it. We have much footage of Froman talking about his relations with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’ spiritual founder - who was in Israeli prison in 1997, for ordering the killing of alleged Palestinian collaborators.
Froman went to visit him there. Yassin was quoted later: ”Rabbi Froman, I sat with him a few times in prison, and Rabbi Froman is always urging me to have a cease-fire between Judaism and Islam - and I agree to a cease-fire. We have our homes and they have their homes, and the border between us is the Green Line."
And by the way, Froman told me that on one of these visits, "I yelled at Sheikh Yassin for killing innocent people". Imagine - being able to not only talk with our "enemies", but to be totally honest with them?
Soon after their visits, Yassin was released, in a limited prisoner exchange. Yassin invited Froman to a Gaza City event, and Froman went, sitting on a Hamas stage with him.
Later that visit, Froman prayed publicly (of course), in front of, uh, a significant image.
We also have footage of a long interview of Yassin in Gaza, in 1998 (a group of Americans went to visit first Froman in Tekoa, then Yassin in Gaza - in a very different time, when Gaza was open to visitors).
Important also to know though: Froman visited Gaza again, in 2005, to protest the eviction of Israeli settlers in Gaza. In the photo below, he is being pulled out of a Gaza synagogue by Israeli solders, before it will be demolished, as he rescues the Torah there. Froman told me one of his fundamental truths related to this visit, “No one should be kicked out of their homes, not Israelis and not Palestinians”.
What a simple dictum! Again, if he were still with us today, might he help us resolve this terrible situation? Maybe leading us to some sort of totally new political configuration, a confederation or federation - where some Gazans could even return to their hometowns within Israel - and some Jews could live as residents in Gaza? What a dream, huh? G-d is rooting for us...
We will post several videos of all of this in the near future, including Froman telling me an incredible story of his personal family relationship with Hamas, going back to his father’s time. Thanks for supporting us in bringing these videos into the public eye!
And - whatta ya think of this unusual guy? Comments welcome below!