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Rav Yehuda Leon Ashkenazi (French spelling Léon Askénazi), also known as Manitou (June 21, 1922 in Oran, Algiers – October 21, 1996 in Jerusalem, Israel), a Jewish philosopher and educator, was a spiritual leader of 20th century French Jewry. == Life and endeavors == Rav Ashkenazi's life encompassed two different cultures, which resulted in his ability to bridge Western and Jewish frames of mind. He was born in Algiers to Rav David Ashkenazi, the last Chief Rabbi of Algiers, and Rachel Touboul, a descendant of a prestigious Rabbinical line of Spanish kabbalic scholars – one of its ancestors was Rav Yossef Ibn Touboul, a direct disciple of the Ha'ari, and another was Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel, 'The Rosh', a prominent Ashkenazi leader of 13th century Spain. However, her education was Western. Rav Ashkenazi studied simultaneously in Yeshivah and in French secular high school in Oran, and Kabbalah in Marrakech, Morocco. He studied philosophy and psychology in the University of Algiers, and later, when he moved to France, philosophy, ethnology and anthropology in the Sorbonne in Paris. He was recruited to the French Foreign Legion in 1943, served in the infantry and was wounded in the Battle of Strasbourg. After the Second World War was over, he immigrated to France. There he joined the Jewish Scouts of France, where he was given the nickname 'Manitou', which in indigenous North American mythology means 'Spirit' or 'The Great Spirit'. In 1946, to the call of Robert 'Castor' Gamzon, he joined the School of Young Jewish Leadership in Orsay, near Paris (1946–1969), which aspired to establish a Jewish spiritual leadership instead of the one perished in the Holocaust. He met his wife, Mrs. Ester 'Bambi', as well as studied from his teacher and mentor in Orsay, Jacob Gordin. After teaching for a few years, Rav Ashkenazi became principal of the Orsay school in 1951, with Prof. Andre Neher as president. In the following years, his involvement in the Jewish community further grew as he became president of the Jewish Students Organization (UEJF, 1950–1955), Jewish Scouts Movement (EIF, 1955–6), and established the Center of Academic Jewish Studies (CUEJ, 1958–67). As an intellectual figure Rav Ashkenazi influenced the French School of Jewish Thought (L'ecole de Pensée Juive de Paris), a spiritual and intellectual movement which developed in Orsay and later around the Annual French Jewish Intellectuals Conferences, and aimed at reviving Post-Holocaust French Jewry from its ashes. Its main goal was to understand and transmit the Jewish thought of the Torah through the use of European, universal, academic, modern thought. Its leading figures were Rav Leon Ashkenazi, Prof. Emmanuel Levinas, Prof. André Neher, Prof. Éliane Amado Levy-Valensi, writer Elie Wiesel, writer Albert Memmi and many others. Meeting Rav Zvi Yehuda Kook and Rav Baruch Ashlag who introduced to him the thought of their prestigious fathers, Rav Kook and Rav Yehuda Ashlag, influenced Rav Ashkenazi's thought and in 1968, following the Six Days War, he made Aliya, moved to Jerusalem and became a central figure in the Israeli-Francophone community. He established Ma'ayanot Institute for Jewish Studies and Yair Center for young Jewish leadership after the manner of Orsay. He emphasized that Am Israel's return to Zion had been prophesized by the great prophets of the Bible, that it constitutes part of the cycle of Redemption in the history of the Jewish nation, and that the ones who do not participate in this movement miss one of the most significant crossroads in the history of the Jewish people. He contributed to the field of inter-religion discourse, traveling yearly to Cameroon, to the request of Cameroon's President Paul Biya, who was interested in being acquainted with the Bible and the history of the Jewish people. He met with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled leader, and held close contacts with many Christian priests, among which was Prof. Marcel-Jacques Dubois. He received many awards, among them the Israeli Knesset Award in 1990. In 1996 he died and was eulogized by Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Israel. Since he taught mainly in French, his thought remained concealed to non-French speakers during his lifetime. However, following the translation and publication of his lectures in Hebrew, Rav Ashkenazi's thought continues to gain new audiences to this day. His disciples and colleagues, such as Rav Shlomo Aviner, Rav Eliyahu Zini, Rav Uri Sherki, Rav Yehoshua Tzukerman, Rav Yossef Atoun, Prof. Benjamin Gross, Prof. Moshe Halamish and many more, continue to spread his teachings to Israeli audiences. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Léon Ashkenazi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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