Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu: Five Inspiring Stories Revealing the Heart of a True Spiritual Leader

Rabbi Chaim Ben Shoshan recounts five extraordinary stories that reveal the greatness of the former Rishon LeTzion, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu

The Green Tefillin in Russia

“During one of the Rabbi’s visits to Russia,” Rabbi Ben Shoshan relates, “he noticed a Jew wearing green-colored tefillin. The Rabbi asked him where they came from. It turned out this Jew had only recently discovered he was Jewish. When he entered the synagogue and saw everyone putting on tefillin, he decided he too must do so. So he made his own from green asbestos. He carved the letters onto them with his own hands, and that became his pair of tefillin.”

The Rabbi asked him, “Do they have parchments inside?”
The man replied that he had photographed the text of his friend’s mezuzah and inserted the copies.

“When Rabbi Eliyahu heard the story,” Rabbi Ben Shoshan continues, “he told the Jew he would be happy to receive these tefillin and give him a kosher pair in exchange.”

The man asked: “Are these tefillin not kosher?”
The Rabbi replied: “There was never greater joy in Heaven from any tefillin in the world than from yours. Because of that, I’d be honored to receive them, and I will give you a kosher pair as well.”

Rabbi Ben Shoshan concludes: “The Rabbi ensured the Jew would both put on kosher tefillin and also walk away uplifted and not hurt.”

The Invalidated Shechita During the War of Independence

“During the War of Independence, the Rabbi was learning with the great sage Chacham Tzadkah HaZaken. A man entered with pigeons and asked the Chacham to slaughter them. While he was slaughtering in the courtyard of the synagogue, a whistle was heard — followed by the explosion of a shell nearby.”

Chacham Tzadkah sighed and said the shechita was invalid, since fear and panic may have caused a pause that invalidates the slaughter.

Rabbi Eliyahu said: “I knew you would be concerned, so I watched carefully — and I saw that there was no pause at all.”

Rabbi Ben Shoshan adds: “Let us ask ourselves — what would we be thinking when a shell explodes near us? Yet the Rabbi was thinking only about the halachic issues and how to prevent a problem.”

Still, Chacham Tzadkah was uneasy and asked for another pigeon.
Rabbi Eliyahu replied, “Where will I find another pigeon now?”

He went outside — and immediately met a Jewish pigeon-seller who said, “I’ll bring you as many pigeons as you want.”

Rabbi Ben Shoshan concludes: “A remarkable story showing both Torah devotion and Divine assistance.”

The Wedding Crisis and Heavenly Kindness

“A groom came to the Rabbi, distressed because of a halachic error that made part of the wedding food forbidden to eat — but his father insisted the food was fine. The Rabbi told him, ‘Don’t worry, it will be okay.’

“The next morning, the groom heard his father recount that someone had forgotten to put the problematic food in the refrigerator, and it had spoiled.

“Everyone ended up eating only kosher food — and peace and joy remained intact.”

The Rabbi and His Beloved Niggun: ‘Tanya, Amar Rabbi Yishmael…’

Rabbi Ben Shoshan shares that Rabbi Eliyahu deeply loved the song “Tanya, Amar Rabbi Yishmael…”. Even during the days of his illness, he frequently requested that it be sung.

This moving beraita describes Rabbi Yishmael entering the Holy of Holies and hearing God ask him: “Yishmael, My son, bless Me.”

Rabbi Yishmael blessed God that His mercy should overcome His attribute of judgment.

Rabbi Ben Shoshan explains: “This was the guiding principle of the Rabbi’s life — that God act toward His children with kindness and mercy. We cannot fully grasp these matters, but we do know that Rabbi Eliyahu would take upon himself hardships to atone for the generation, like David Hamelech's words: ‘These sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand be upon me…’ He carried the pain of Israel in his heart.”

A Leader Who Belonged to All of Israel

“The Rabbi did not belong to any ‘sector.’ He carried all of Israel on his heart with love.”

He recalls the very first Torah class the Rabbi delivered via satellite television. The Rabbi quoted the verse: “Kol tzofayich n’su kol… together they sing.” He explained it using the Talmud, Tosafot, the Zohar, the Ben Ish Chai, the Baal Shem Tov, and the Vilna Gaon.

During the lesson he said: “This is who we are — we belong to everyone, and we belong to no one.”

Rabbi Ben Shoshan describes the famous hallway outside the Rabbi’s room: “One could see Jews of every type — simple people and dignitaries, soldiers, chareidim, chassidim, knitted-kippah students, young and old. The Rabbi touched every heart.”

May his memory be a blessing, and may his merit protect us all.