of the Erlau community and surrounding neighbourhood, and prayed the daily prayers together with his pupils. Opinion and politics Sofer was considered a leading halakhic authority with enormous influence on the Orthodox Jewish community, as well as an expert in Israeli politics and security issues. He was often called upon to voice his opinion on global Jewish issues. He was appointed to the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel by Yisrael Alter when he was 38 years old after the protocol was amended to allow him, as the original protocol allowed only rabbis above the age of 40 to join. He was also appointed a member of the administration of Mifal HaShas by its founder, Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, the Klausenberger rebbe. The rabbinical authorities of the Sofer family and their disciples opposed Zionism. They did not approve of the formation of a Jewish state nor the use of Hebrew for mundane purposes. They believed that the Messiah must arrive prior to the liberation of the Holy Land and that the Hebrew language was designated solely for the use of Torah study and prayer. Sofer adopted an approach to Zionism similar to that of Aharon Rokeach. This ideology allows for dialogue with the Zionist leaders and for representation in the Knesset, though it does not give mandate or halachic justification to the legislative system of the State of Israel. Sofer maintained that as a matter of Jewish law, any territorial concession to Arabs by Israel would endanger the lives of all the Jews in the Land of Israel and was therefore forbidden. He also insisted that even discussing the possibility of such concessions shows weakness and would encourage Arab attacks, and thus endanger Jewish lives. He was quoted as saying to Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Silvan Shalom: "I am not prepared to cede even one grain of the Land of Israel to the Arabs." Sofer was also opposed to the unilateral pullout from Gaza and was quoted as saying, "Whoever leads to the transfer (of Jews from parts of Israel) is destroying the country". He also came out publicly against the Hebron Protocol of 1997 which divided the city into H1 and H2. He was quoted as saying that if not for the existence of the Jewish community of Hebron, regular visits to the Tomb of Machpela would not be possible. Sofer's wife Miriam Pall, died in 1999. They had seven