Avraham Ravitz was an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i politician and member of the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

 for Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Haredi political party in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Yisrael under the name United Torah Judaism.-Ideology:...

, which forms part of the United Torah Judaism

United Torah Judaism

United Torah Judaism is an alliance of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Israel, two small Israeli Haredi political parties in the Knesset. It was first formed in 1992.The two parties have not always agreed with each other about policy matters...

 alliance.

Biography

Avraham Ravitz was born in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

 during the Mandate era. He studied at Hebron Rabbinical College, served in the Lehi

Lehi (group)

Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...

 and later in the IDF

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

. Ravitz was married to Avigayil, with whom he had 12 children. He lived in the Bayit VeGan

Bayit Vegan

Bayit VeGan is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, Israel, with a mostly charedi religious population. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat Hayovel and Givat Mordechai. The Shaare Zedek Medical Center is located near Bayit VeGan...

 neighborhood of Jerusalem. In January 2009, he was hospitalized at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem due to heart problems. He died on on January 26, 2009.

Political career

Ravitz was first elected to the Knesset in 1988

Israeli legislative election, 1988

Elections for the twelfth Knesset were held in Israel on 1 November 1988. Voter turnout was 79.7%.-Results:1 Five members of the Likud left to form the Party for the Advancement of the Zionist Idea; after two returned, the party was renamed the New Liberal Party...

, and in June 1990 was appointed Deputy Minister of Housing and Construction

Housing and Construction Minister of Israel

The Ministry of Housing and Construction is a portfolio in the Israeli cabinet. The ministry was created in 1961, and until 1977 it was known as the Ministry of Housing. Construction was also previously part of the Labour and Construction ministry during the provisional government between 1948 and...

. Although he lost his seat in the 1992 elections

Israeli legislative election, 1992

Elections for the thirteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 23 June 1992. The result was a victory for the left, led by Yitzhak Rabin's Labor Party, though their win was at least partially due to several small right-wing parties narrowly failing to cross the electoral threshold and thus effectively...

, Yitzhak Peretz

Yitzhak Peretz (politician born 1938)

Rabbi Yitzhak Haim Peretz is a former Israeli politician who held several ministerial portfolios during the 1980s and early 1990s.-Biography:...

 resigned three days into the new Knesset term and Ravitz replaced him. He retained his seat in elections in 1996

Israeli legislative election, 1996

Elections for the fourteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 29 May 1996. Voter turnout was 79.3%.The 1996 elections included two new changes, both designed to increase the stability of the Knesset. First, the Prime Minister was to be elected on a separate ballot from the remaining members of the...

 and 1999. When Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....

 formed a new government in 2001, Ravitz was appointed Deputy Minister of Education. He was re-elected in 2003, and in March 2005 was appointed Deputy Minister of Welfare and Social Services. He retained his seat again in the 2006 election.

In November 2008 Ravitz announced that he was leaving politics, although he planned to continue to serve as Degel HaTorah chairman.

External links

• http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1059085.htmlMy Shabbat dinner with Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, Gideon Levy
  Gideon Levy
  Gideon Levy is an Israeli journalist.Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper Haaretz that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories...
  
  , Haaretz
  Haaretz
  Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
  
  ]