Mordechai Eliyahu

**Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu** or **Mordekai (Zemach) Eliyahu** (Hebrew: מרדכי צמח אליהו; March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010) was an Orthodox Jewish scholar, posek and rabbi.

Eliyahu, son of Salman Eliyahu a Jerusalemite Kabbalist, was active in the Orthodox Jewish Terror group Brit HaKanaim.

He later served as Dayan in Beersheba and the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, and the Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 93.

Eliyahu was affiliated with the Religious Zionist Conservative movement, instrumentalizing his role in moving many of its members to the Far-right.

Mordechai Eliyahu ran as Israeli chief rabbi from 1983 to 93, when Meir Kahane & Dr. Baruch Goldstein (intermediate) used to lead Kach movement, which he staunchly supported.

## Early life

Mordechai Eliyahu was born in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, the son of Iraqi Orthodox Judaic rabbi Salman Eliyahu, a Jerusalem Kabbalist, and his wife Mazal, who was a sister of Yehuda Tzadka.

The family surname was Hebraicised from Elias. He had an older brother, , a younger sister Rachel, and brother Shimon. Salman was a disciple of Yosef Hayyim (the Ben Ish Hai), who was Mazal's great-uncle. The family was so poor that Eliyahu had to improvise ways in which to study, which often meant learning by candlelight. Salman died when Eliyahu was eleven, but not before he instilled his son to cherish the Holy Torah and Kabbalah.

In his youth, Eliyahu attended Porat Yosef Yeshiva, and had the opportunity to learn from many great teachers such as Ezra Attiya, Sadqa Hussein, and Abrahim Yeshaya Karelitz (the Chazon Ish).

He would later come into contact with Mordechai Sharabi, Yaakov Mutzafi, and Yitzhak Kaduri. Later in life, he cultivated a unique relationship with Russian-American Orthodox Jewish rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

### Activism

As a teenager, Eliyahu teamed up with  in order to conduct Jewish outreach. In 1950–1951, Eliyahu was among the leaders of Brit HaKanaim (Hebrew: בְּרִית הַקַנַאִים, lit. Covenant of the Zealots), a radical Orthodox Jewish underground organization which opposed widespread trend of secularization in the country. The group was involved in torching the cars of people who drove on Shabbat, and also butcher shops where non-kosher meat was sold. They once plotted to toss a smoke bomb into the Knesset during a debate on drafting Orthodox women into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A member of the group was in the audience during the debate with the smoke bomb in his pocket, but lacked the opportunity to activate it.

On May 14, 1951, the group's members were arrested by the Shin Bet. Eliyahu was sentenced to ten months imprisonment for his part in the group's deeds. Later in his life, he stated that even though his opinions did not change, "The path that I chose in the past was mistaken."

## Career

Eliyahu received rabbinic ordination from Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim. The latter requested from him to arrange for the reinterment of Chaim Yosef David Azulai (the Hida) from Livorno, Italy to Israel (or Mandatory Palestine). On May 17, 1960, the Hida was laid to rest at Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.

That year, Eliyahu was appointed dayan in Beersheba, the youngest one in the country. He was often involved in adjudicating complicated family issues. Eliyahu was a favorite of the Baba Sali, who lived nearby in Netivot. One day, the latter insisted Eliyahu stop whatever he was doing and come visit him for a glass of arak. Not wishing to upset the holy man, Eliyahu accepted the invitation, only to find out later that a disgruntled ex-litigant had gone to the beth din seeking to do him harm.

Four years later, Eliyahu was transferred to the Jerusalem regional beth din, and later was elected to the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, a position he would retain during his term as Chief Rabbi of Israel and afterwards.

### Chief Rabbinate

On March 18, 1983, Eliyahu was appointed _Rishon LeZion_ (Chief Rabbi of Israel) at the Yochanan Ben Zakai Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. He served concurrently with Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Abraham Shapira until 1993, when both of their terms expired.

During his term as Chief Rabbi, Rav Eliyahu focused on reaching out to secular Jewish Israelis, giving them a better understanding of Jewish customs and their importance.

He, oftentimes with Rabbi Abraham Shapira traveled extensively throughout Israel and the world emphasizing the importance of Jewish education, observance of Shabbat/Sabbath, _niddah_, fighting assimilation, and ascending into the Holy Land.

Eliyahu showed a willingness to go to secular environments in order to connect with other Jews, occasionally lecturing in secular moshavim and kibbutzim.

After stepping down from his official post, Eliyahu remained active, even ramping up his work for Jewish Diaspora and Israeli Jewish communities.

### Gaza disengagement

Eliyahu criticized the withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces from the West Bank and Gaza Strip outspokenly.

He legislated policies barring Orthodox Jews from participating in or facilitating the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif, but later said he did not mean for soldiers to engage in "active refusal".

In January of that year, Eliyahu stated that the 2004 tsunami was a (pre-emptive) "divine punishment" for Asian governments supporting the disengagement plan.

In March 2006, three days before the Israeli elections, Eliyahu stated that it was forbidden to vote for any political party that had backed disengagement, and stressed that anyone who voted for Kadima was "assisting sinners". He stressed the importance of voting for a party committed to religious education and yeshivas, but urged against voting for those religious parties that had supported the disengagement, and called for members of the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish conservative Shas party to repent for supporting the Oslo Accords, Wye River Memorandum and Hebron Protocal.

### Gaza incursions

In May 2007, Eliyahu wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert which suggested "that there was absolutely no moral prohibition against the indiscriminate killing of civilians during a potential massive military offensive on Gaza aimed at stopping the rocket launchings". Shmuel Eliyahu explained that his father opposed a ground troop incursion into Gaza that would endanger IDF soldiers.

### The Holocaust

In a 2007 radio interview, given to Ultra-Orthodox Jewish radio station _Kol Haemet_ on the eve of the Shoah Day, Eliyahu was asked what was the sin of the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust.

He said: "Those people were innocent, but Reform started in Germany. Those reformers of religion started in Germany, and because it is said that the wrath of God does not distinguish between the righteous and the evil ones – this was done."

### Other

Rabbi Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu was considered somewhat controversial due to his support for the fringe wings of the Religious Zionist movement.

Eliyahu is considered one of the staunchest supporters to Rav Meir Kahane and his Kach movement.

He once officiated at the marriage of Kahane's eldest son, Ben-Ze'ev Kahane, the chief of Kahane Chai offshoot.

In 2008, at a service to remember the death of 8 Israeli students killed in the Mercaz HaRav massacre, Eliyahu said, "Even when we seek revenge, it is important to make one thing clear – the life of one yeshiva boy is worth more than the lives of 1,000 Arabs. The Holy Talmud states that if gentiles rob Jews of silver, they will pay it back in gold, and all that is taken will be paid back in folds, but in cases like these, there is nothing to pay back, since as I said – the life of one yeshiva boy is worth more than the lives of 1,000 Arabs".

Eliyahu worked for the preservation of the Iraqi Jewish rite and the opinions of the Ben Ish Hai and used to oppose the attempts of Ovadia Yosef to impose a uniform _"Israeli Sephardi"_ or _"Palestinian Sephardic"_ rite based on the Shulchan Aruch and his own _halakhic_ opinions. He published a prayer book called _Qol Eliyahu_ to illustrate his stance.

## See Also:

- Hakham Bakshi, an Orthodox Jewish Sephardic rabbi.
- Shmuel Eliyahu, son of Mordechai Eliyahu, former Israeli Chief Rabbi and member of the Safed Rabbinic Council.
- Amichai Eliyahu, his grandson and recruit for far-right, Jewish ultra-nationalist _Jewish Power_.