Uri Orbach

Orbach was born in Petah Tikva, Israel. He attended a Hesder yeshiva and did his national service in Israel Defense Forces in the IDF Armored Corps, where he served as a staff sergeant. He later worked as a journalist, producing columns for Yedioth Ahronoth and serving as a co-host for the Army Radio mid-morning show The Last Word.^[1] He also wrote several children's books, including Donkeys on the Roof and Other Stories, and a dictionary of Religious Zionist slang, My Grandfather Was a Rabbi, as well as founding and editing the children's magazines Otiot and Sukariot.

Prior to the 2009 elections he joined the Jewish Home. Following a split in the party, in which several members left to re-establish the National Union party, he was placed third on the party's list,^[2] and entered the Knesset as it won three seats. For the 2013 elections he was placed sixth on the Jewish Home list,^[3] retaining his seat as the party won 12 seats. He was appointed Minister of Pensioner Affairs on 18 March 2013.

Orbach lived in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut with his wife and four children.^[4]

In January 2015 he took a leave of absence from politics for health reasons, to battle a chronic hematologic disease. In February 2015 his condition took a turn for the worse and he died in the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on 16 February 2015.^[5][6] His seat in the Knesset was taken by Hillel Horowitz.^[1]

The Uri Orbach Prize for Jewish Culture awarded by the Israeli Minister of Education was created in his memory. Recipients have included: singer Shlomo Bar, Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun,^[7] artist Chani Cohen Zada, singer Maureen Nehedar^[8], dance teacher Tzipi Nir^[9] and others.