Prime Minister Ehud Olmert eulogized the late MK Avraham Ravitz, who passed away earlier today:

"MK Avraham Ravitz was my personal friend for many years.  Long before he thought about politics and becoming an MK, he would find the time to teach me the wisdom of our best Talmudic and Mishanic sages and I would eagerly take in his words.  He was clear, sharp, easy-going, pleasant, a son of the Land who lived its life to the fullest and a fighter in its wars.  He felt its pain and rejoiced in its goodness.  Among the haredi public, Avraham was an exceptional figure.  He was certainly a student of the wise, perhaps more than many.  But his wisdom, great knowledge and expertise in the writings of our sages never led him to be haughty.  He was a true friend, faithful to his teachers and rabbis, and to ordinary people he chanced to meet.  He contributed greatly to our public life, striking a delicate balance between an uncompromising loyalty to Jewish tradition and a practical sense as befitted a man who knew that in the world of public life there is no single absolute truth but compromises regarding what is possible, correct, desirable and beneficial for the Jewish People. 

This man passed before his time.  His wonderful family, his wife Abigail, his children and his many grandchildren, his students (I among them), his numerous friends, and his rabbis who were proud of him – we mourn his untimely passing.

May his memory be blessed!