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.

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). Later in his life, he stated that even though his opinions did not change, "The path that I chose in the past was mistaken."

Four years later, Eliyahu was transferred to the Jerusalem regional beth din, and later was elected to the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, 

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*.

## References