by By Dovid Zaklikowski - Chabad.org

Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu addresses a 2007 mass Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration for Israeli orphans sponsored by Colel Chabad.

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, who at the age of 28, became the youngest member ever to serve as a judge in the Israeli rabbinical courts, and later served for a decade as Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi, succumbed Monday afternoon to a prolonged illness. He was 81.

Born in 1929 in Jerusalem’s Old City, Eliyahu was orphaned from his father at the age of 11. He spent his childhood in poverty, and devoted his energies to studying Jewish texts night and day under the tutelage of the city’s leading scholars and Kabbalists. He became proficient in rabbinic law under legal authority and future Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Nissam.

Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu Passes Away at 81

by By Dovid Zaklikowski – Chabad.org

Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu addresses a 2007 mass Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration for Israeli orphans sponsored by Colel Chabad.

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, who at the age of 28, became the youngest member ever to serve as a judge in the Israeli rabbinical courts, and later served for a decade as Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi, succumbed Monday afternoon to a prolonged illness. He was 81.

Born in 1929 in Jerusalem’s Old City, Eliyahu was orphaned from his father at the age of 11. He spent his childhood in poverty, and devoted his energies to studying Jewish texts night and day under the tutelage of the city’s leading scholars and Kabbalists. He became proficient in rabbinic law under legal authority and future Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Nissam.

As a young rabbi, he quickly earned a reputation for deciphering complicated issues in Jewish law. He became a rabbinical judge in the southern city of Beersheva before moving back to Jerusalem, where he later served on the country’s Supreme Religious Court. Following the Six Day War in 1967, he became rabbi of Israel’s holy sites.

Each day following morning prayer services, scholars, rabbis and students gathered in the foyer outside Eliyahu’s office awaiting his legal deliberations. His brilliant smile and radiant enthusiasm endeared him to people from all walks of life, who sought out his guidance on a host of issues.

At 10:00, Eliyahu typically made his way to the rabbinical court, where he spent hours each day reviewing cases and issuing responses.

Although relatively unknown in the wider Jewish world, Eliyahu was elected chief rabbi in 1983. He originally rejected the position, but Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, the Sephardic sage known as the Baba Sali, told him to accept the office.

As chief rabbi, he maintained a lengthy correspondence with the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and was one of the last to have a private audience with him in New York. He would tell family, associates and public audiences alike that he considered himself to be a disciple of the Brooklyn-based leader.

Even after he stepped down from the chief rabbinate in 1993, and up until his illness sapped his strength, he maintained an active lifestyle. He travelled to schools throughout the country to give classes, delivered inspirational talks at a host of functions, and at least once a week, visited soldiers to boost their morale.

“Once an Israel Defense Force commander offered to greet the rabbi with a live ammunition show,” recalled Rabbi Yehudah Mutzpi, who faithfully served as an assistant to Eliyahu for years. “The rabbi refused and said that instead of using the time to greet him, he would like to have the time to speak to every soldier individually.”

As chief rabbi, Eliyahu was known for remaining above Israel’s many social and political divisions. He travelled for hours going from one event to the next to inspire local audiences, but would not hesitate from turning around if he found out that organizers intended to bring politics into the discussion.

He also refused to accept monetary gifts for his institutions when on speaking engagements.

“If they gave him an envelope with money for Israeli institutions,” said Mutzpi, “he would say, ‘Do you have a Jewish school in town here? Do you have a beautiful mikvah here? First you need to build Judaism in your community.’ ”

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