WE MOURN THE PASSING OF FORMER Chief Rabbi Mordehai Eliyahu

The State of Israel lost a powerful voice of political reason and religious rationality on June 7, when former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordehai Eliyahu, succumbed to advancing health problems.

Rabbi Eliyahu served as Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel from 1982 to 1993 and was a member of the Bet Din Harabani Hagadol (Supreme Rabbinical Court) in Jerusalem. He was considered one of the leading Zionist rabbis and certainly one of the most popular and charismatic rabbinical leaders in all of Israel.

Rabbi Eliyahu was born in the Old City of Jerusalem in British-occupied Palestine during the dark year of 1929 when Arabs attacked, killed and maimed over 100 Jews throughout Hebron, Jaffa, Safed and other towns. Rabbi Eliyahu’s upbringing was one imbued with a rigorous love of the Land of Israel which led him to become a staunch defender of the Holy Land. He was first inspired by his father, the Iraqi-born rabbi, Salman Eliyahu (1878-1940), who was not only a respected rabbi and mekubal (kabbalist) of Jerusalem, but had also been secularly educated in London. As a result of his Western education, he later served as the personal secretary of the British High Commissioner of the Palestine British Mandate, Lord Herbert L. Samuel, making him the first Jew to govern the Land of Israel in 2,000 years.

Rabbi Mordehai Eliyahu’s early religious education was conducted by his father, who died when he was still a young boy. As a young man, he continued to study under the prominent Syrian-born rabbi, Ezra Attia (1885-1970), the head of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem, as well as other rabbis, such as Avraham Karelitz (1878-1953), author of the well know book, Hazon Ish.

His commitment to the Torah was displayed when as a youth, Mordehai joined an underground group that struggled for a Torah-directed government in Israel and was involved in at least one attempt at pressuring the government by means that were considered, by some, to be illegal.

He would later graduate with honors from the Institute of Rabbis and Religious Judges, under the direction of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yishak Nissim (1896-1981) and was later the youngest person in Israel to ever hold the post of dayan (judge).

Rabbi Eliyahu continued as a dayan in the religious court of Beer Sheva for four years before transferring to Jerusalem where he was elected to the Supreme Religious Court. In Beer Sheva, people learned of his good grace and outgoing manners, coupled with his vast knowledge of the Torah and they grew to trust him to solve their problems and answer intricate questions.

Soon after, he was elected as Rishon LeSion, Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel. As with the previous Sephardic chief rabbis, Mordehai was inaugurated in a ceremony held at the famous Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai (Kal Grande) Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. He immediately became known as an eminent poseq (decider) of Jewish legal issues and his conduct added prestige to the office of the chief rabbi.

In the religious world, Rabbi Eliyahu worked to preserve the tradition of his father, the Iraqi Jewish nusah (rite) and the opinions of Rabbi Yosef Hayyim, author of the book Ben Ish Hai. He did not desire a uniform “Israeli Sephardi” rite based on the Shulkhan Aruh (Code of Jewish Law), as other Sephardic rabbis have called for. His opinions were his own, and they were elaborated in a prayer book known as Kol Eliyahu.

He authored several books on Jewish religious law and interpretations of the law, some of which remain very popular.

He was often swamped by people from all walks of life, who wanted to receive a blessing or seek his advice. In recent years, his capacity as a kabbalist became more public, but he discouraged any reference to this aspect of his Torah knowledge or practice.

As chief rabbi, he sought to give the non-religious public a better understanding of Jewish traditions and the importance of the Torah. He lectured in secular communities and at kibbutzim, as well as non-religious public schools. He also traveled extensively throughout the world, teaching Jewish communities the importance of fighting assimilation, increasing Shabbat observance, educating children, observing family purity and the need to immigrate to Israel.

Rabbi Eliyahu was a much sought after expert for his knowledge of Torah and Jewish law, and for his great piety. His best testimonial remains the intense love that people of all backgrounds have for him.

He grew up with a love of all Jewish people—secular and religious—and the desire for those people to be free in their own land. Fearless, he developed into one of the most frank and honest rabbinical leaders of Israel, a man not scared to issue statements which reflected his passionate religious values in reference to international political events.

After the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, he essentially called for President Bush to take up arms against Arab terrorist enemies, not just issue empty words.

He said, “My heartfelt sorrow at the immense tragedy that has been perpetrated upon the American people by wicked evildoers, so utterly devoid of conscience and compassion, is difficult for the lips to utter and words are simply inadequate to express. I would like to extend from Jerusalem heartiest condolences to the bereaved families. May no further sorrow befall you. And for those who have been injured, may The Almighty send them His message of healing and relief. I would like to offer you my praise and my support for your plan to convene a world alliance of nations to work together to fight terror—not only in words but also in deeds.”

He remained well-known for his outspoken position on the Israeli government’s decision to give land away to the Palestinian Arabs. When he stepped down from his formal position, he automatically became the accepted rabbinic leader of the religious Zionist camp in Israel and abroad. He fought against the Oslo Agreements to such an extent, that the Attorney General warned him that, as a civil servant, he could not be perceived as supporting opposition to government policies.

He was spiritual adviser to—and one of the strongest advocates for— Jonathan Pollard who has spent 25 years in prison.

Rabbi Eliyahu was one of the very few senior rabbinic personalities who joined the inhabitants of Gush Qatif in a day of fasting and prayer against their uprooting and expulsion. Addressing the many thousands of people in the town square, he exclaimed, “It cannot and will not happen!” After this, he remained outspoken in his strong opposition to the dismantling of Jewish villages in Judea and Samaria.

Outraged after seeing the terror attacks that originated from Gaza, killing hundreds of Israeli citizens, he wrote a letter to President Bush who was arriving in Israel on his first official visit in January of 2008. Rabbi Eliyahu wanted to make sure the president was aware that popular public opinion did not want to establish a larger Palestinian self-governing area.

He wrote: “The Jewish nation is eternal, and forever remembers those that have aided it throughout history, as well as those that have done it harm. Please let your name go down in history as a president who aided the Jewish nation, who worked alongside G-d and not against Him.”

Rabbi Eliyahu and his wife had four children. Their daughter teaches at a religious school for girls. Their oldest son is a rabbi and attorney who works for the Israeli government; their second son is the Chief Rabbi of the city of Safed, and their youngest son is the head of a religious school in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Mordehai Eliyahu will forever be remembered as a shining example of a man who loved and respected the Land of Israel, and a man who understood how Jews could live both as part of the modern world and yet remain loyal to the Torah.

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Shelomo Alfassa is a scholar of Sephardic Jewry and coordinates special projects for the American Sephardi Federation.