With Might and Strength

Even during his lifetime, Rabbi Shlomo Goren (1917–1994) stood as an exemplar of rabbinic leadership, a gadol renowned for his wisdom and courage, responsibility and dedication. The young boy from Poland who grew up tilling the land of newfound Israeli villages, enlisted in the Jewish underground, and fought in the War of Independence, rose to become the first chief rabbi of the IDF and, later, the State of Israel. Drawing on his exceptional Torah knowledge, Rabbi Goren confronted the halakhic challenges of sovereignty, molding the character of the Jewish military and state. Based on a first-person account recorded in the final years of his life, With Might and Strength tells the story of a legendary chief rabbi and halakhic decisor, a leader who left his indelible imprint on twentieth-century halakha and the modern State of Israel.