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NEW YORK, NY (June 7, 2010) - The State of Israel lost a powerful answer of supporting feel and pious logic on June 7, 2010 (7 Sivan 5770) being Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu, previous Superior Sephardic Rabbi of Israel, succumbed to advancing health problems he had been difficulty for the outer surface two being.
Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu served as Superior Sephardic Rabbi of Israel from 1982 to 1993 and was addition of the Bet Din Harabani Hagadol (Most distant Rabbinical Court) based in Jerusalem. He was planned one of the leading Zionist rabbis and solid one of the supreme mass and fascinating rabbinical leaders in all of Israel for countless decades.
The rabbi was born in the jaded Local of Jerusalem in British-occupied Palestine popular the dark day of 1929 being Arabs attacked, killed and maimed patronizing 100 Jews at some point in Hebron, Jaffa, Safed and other towns. A stake of these sad comings and goings was an greater than before multiply in Jewish devotion and increase in intensity of Jewish liberty for Jews all patronizing the holy land.Hakham Eliyahu's experience was one imbibed with a close down love of the land of Israel which helped him become a staunch armament of such, topmost encouraged by his close relative, the Iraqi-born rabbi, Hakham Salman Eliyahu (1878-1940). His close relative was not a minute ago planned a luxurious rabbi and mekubal (kabbalist) of Jerusalem, but he also had been secularly educated in London. As a achieve of his Western lessons, he subsequently served as group secretary of the British High-ranking Agent of the Palestine British Firmness, Peer of the realm Herbert L. Samuel (1870-1963) -- the topmost Jew to establish the colossal land of Israel in 2,000 being.
Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu's brood pious lessons was conducted by his close relative, who died being he was unchanging a minor boy. The minor man continued to study under the conspicuous Syrian-born rabbi, Hakham Ezra Attia (1885-1970), the director of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem, as well as Askkenazi rabbis such as Avraham Karelitz (1878-1953), critic of the well know book, 'Hazon Ish.' His faithfulness to the Torah was displayed being as a youth, the minor Mordehai united an hidden group that struggled for a Torah-directed bearing in Israel and was difficult in at lowest one seek at pressuring the bearing by approach that were planned, by some, to be unlawful. Mordehai would subsequently graduate with honors from the Twitch of Rabbis and Pious Bench, under the tidy of (previous Sephardic Superior Rabbi) Hakham Yishak Nissim (1896-1981). Mordehai subsequently was elected as the youngest organism in Israel to ever have the post of dayan (Reflect).
The rabbi continued as a dayan in the pious day of Beer Sheva for four being previously transferring to Jerusalem where he was elected to the Most distant Pious Court. In Beer Sheva, kith and kin learned of his good gracefulness and warm actions that were attached with his large knowledge of the Torah. The familiar ordinary grew to wish him as a unadulterated source to work out problems and effect knotty questions. Honestly formerly, he was elected as Rishon Rub, Superior Sephardic Rabbi of Israel. As with the prior Sephardic zenith rabbis, Mordehai was inaugurated at home the rabbinate in a country expected at the celebrated Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakai (Kal Grande) synagogue in the Old Local of Jerusalem. Without delay he became household as an notable poseq (decider) of Jewish legal issues and his duct ultra confidence to the office of the Superior Rabbi.
In the pious world, Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu worked for the custody of the tradition of his close relative, the Iraqi Jewish nusah (rite) and the opinions of Hakham Yosef Hayyim, critic of the book Ben Ish Hai. Mordehai Eliyahu did not favor a consistent "Israeli Sephardi" rite based on the Shulkhan Aruh (Symbols of Jewish Law), as other Sephardic rabbis suffer called for. His opinions were his own, and they were elaborated in a siddur (prayer book) household as Kol Eliyahu.
Hakham Eliyahu authored a few books on Jewish pious law and interpretations of the law, some which foot very mass. In his person-to-person duct, the rabbi was recurrently teeming by kith and kin from all walks of life, who salutation to get a blessing or angle his whisper. In recent being, his capability as a kabbalist became senior ordinary, but he saddened any true-life to this aspect of his Torah knowledge or practice.
As zenith rabbi, he hunted to give the non-religious ordinary a violate understanding of Jewish traditions and the hobby of the Torah. He lectured at at all communities and kibbutzim, as well as non-religious ordinary schools. He also traveled interminably at some point in the world, teaching Jewish communities the hobby of trouble amalgamation, grow quickly Shabbat observance, humanizing children, observing cottage clarity and the sink to immigrate to Israel.
The rabbi was a by a long way hunted formerly first-class for his knowledge of Torah and halakha (Jewish law), and for his marvelous enthusiasm. His best certificate remains; it can be seen by the on the ball love that kith and kin of all backgrounds suffer for him. The rabbi grew up with resolve planted with a love of all Jewish kith and kin, at all and pious, and the favor for people kith and kin to be free-and-be free in their own land. Bold, he qualified at home one of the supreme frank and well-mannered rabbinical leaders of Israel, a man not anxious to subject statements which reflected his keen pious philosophy in true-life to overall supporting comings and goings.
Some time ago the attacks by Arab terrorists against the Join States on September 11, 2001, the rabbi above all called for President Hedge plant to notice up arms against Arab terrorist enemies, not purely subject bare words:
My deep sad at the oversize tragedy that has been perpetrated upon the American kith and kin by immoral evildoers, so fine devoid of conscience and forgiveness, that it is irritated for the bragging to demonstrative and words are soberly not good enough to fast...I would also like to list from Jerusalem heartiest sympathy to the bereaved families in their hour of be remorseful. "May no improvement sad occur you." (Jeremiah 31:12). And for people who suffer been neglected may 'The Almighty send them His notice of healing and sending.' (Psalms 107:20)...I would like to allot you my repute and my survive for your gadget to detain a world company of nations to work together to scrap horridness -- not a minute ago in words but also in events.
The rabbi remained well household for his unswerving testimonial on the Israeli government's upshot to give land obtainable to the Palestinian Arabs. The same as he stepped down from his magnificence testimonial, he became carelessly the habitual rabbinic pacesetter of the Pious Zionist station in Israel and abroad. He fought against the Oslo Agreements to such an area, that the Public prosecutor Vast saw fit to make itself felt him that as a merciful servant, he could not be ostensible as member difference of opinion to bearing policies.
He was one of the very few supercilious rabbinic personalities who united the frequent of Pour forth Qatif in a day of fasting and prayer against their uprooting and banishment. He could not devise that any Jewish bearing in its entitlement attention could procure such a mean crusade against Jews. Addressing the countless thousands of kith and kin in the township undiluted of Neve Dekalim, he exclaimed, "It cannot and command not happen" ("Hayo lo tihye")! Some time ago this, he remained unswerving in his strong difference of opinion to the dismantling of Jewish villages in Judea and Samaria.
Livid formerly seeing the horridness attacks that originated from Gaza which killed and maimed hundreds of Israeli colonize, the rabbi wrote a statement to President George W. Hedge plant who was arriving in Israel on his topmost starched postpone in January of 2008. Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu most wanted to make categorical the President was up to date of the mass ordinary pose which does not receiver for wanting to root a great Palestinian equal area; he said:
The Jewish nation is eternal, and forever remembers people that suffer aided it at some point in history, as well as people that suffer done it harm. Comply with let your name go down in history as a President who aided the Jewish nation, who worked next to God and not against Him.
The rabbi was spiritual dealer and one of the strongest advocates for Jonathan Pollard had. Pollard, a Jewish man now a life term in the U.S., remains a propose figure in the same way as his endorsement has been widely regarded as self effusive, lately for supporting reasons. Pollard traditional a life term for intelligence for an ally (Israel), being the zealous term today for such an dislike is 10 years-and the propose term for such an dislike is a minute ago 2 to 4 being.
Pollard has deceased 25 being in cell, 7 of which were in solitary internment, in the harshest cell in the federal U.S. chain. On countless occasions, Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu has visited Pollard in cell, and habitually wrote typography and appeals on his behalf. Afterward heart outfit and in his medical wing bed, the rabbi wrote President Hedge plant a statement which was hand-delivered to him in Israel. This statement reminded the President that Pollard has languished in American prisons for patronizing 20 being, he pleaded:
I determination you to shelve Jonathan Pollard and to send him home to Jerusalem...I would like to exacting out that I am delightful to act as Jonathan Pollard's guarantor, to notice him at home my lay the blame on and to exceed full shroud for him. I suffer visited Jonathan in cell on countless occasions. He is a aristocrat man, a man of agreeable sensitivities who is venerable of special look at.
Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu and his spouse had four elder children. Their daughter teaches at a pious school for girls. Their oldest son is a rabbi and public prosecutor that works for the Israeli government; their spare son is the Superior Rabbi of the city of Safed, and their youngest son is the director of a pious school in Jerusalem. Hakham Eliyahu was one of the voices of feel which remains poorly basic to still weight the embryonic haredi decide which has been encroaching upon the culture of the office of the Superior Rabbi. The office that Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu later than expected has morphed at home whatever thing it was never expressive to be, one that services its pose based on a everyday which at one time existed a minute ago within the haredi world, and was never part of Torah on the alert develop Judaism.
Hakham Mordehai Eliyahu command forever be remembered as a bright term of a man who beloved and luxurious the land of Israel, and a man who understood how Jews could be what's more as part of the modern world and yet foot relentless to the Torah.
Shelomo Alfassa is a scholar of Sephardic Jewry and coordinates For one person Projects for the American Sephardi Aver
