Background and career
Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu (Hebrew: מָרְדְּכַי צֶמַח אֵלִיָּהוּ, lit. 'Mordecai Semah Elijah'; March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010) was an Israeli rabbi, posek, and spiritual leader.
The son of a Jerusalem Kabbalist, in his youth, Eliyahu was active in the religious Jewish organization Brit HaKanaim. He served as a dayan in Beersheba, and in the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem. He later served as the Rishon LeZion, or Chief Rabbi of Israel, from 1983 to 1993.
As a leader of Religious Zionism, Eliyahu was instrumental in moving many of its members over to the religious right, sparking the beginnings of the Hardal movement. A supporter of Meir Kahane and Jonathan Pollard, Eliyahu expressed his opposition to the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
Rabbi Eliyahu died at age 81, after complications from a heart condition. He was buried on Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem.
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