Mordechai Elon

Mordechai Elon

Mordechai (Moti) Elon (Hebrew: מרדכי (מוטי) אֵלון; born 9 December 1959, Jerusalem, Israel) is a Zionist Israeli rabbi. He has headed several Jewish religious and social organizations and institutions including as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in the Old City of Jerusalem from 2002 to 2006, and has hosted television and radio shows.

In 2010 he was investigated for sexual misconduct, in response to revelations by Takana, a religious forum that was set up to deal with allegations of sexual harassment in the religious Zionist community. On 7 August 2013 the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court convicted him on two counts of forcible sexual assault against a male minor. Elon, who is an outspoken opponent of homosexuality, has denied the charges and is expected to appeal the verdict.

Life and career

Elon was born in Jerusalem one of five children of former Israel Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon and his wife Ruth née Buchsbaum. He received his high-school education at Yeshivat Yerushalayim Latzeirim. After graduating he went on to learn further religious studies at the Hesder Yeshiva Yeshivat Or Etzion and at the Hesder Yeshiva of Kiryat Shmona. In his twenties he began teaching religious studies at the Horev Yeshiva High-School in Jerusalem and became its Rosh Yeshiva in 1987. He left Horev Yeshiva High-School in 2002 to become the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat HaKotel in the Old City of Jerusalem, a post he left in 2006.

Elon had a regular weekly lecture on the Torah portion at the Yeshurun synagogue in Jerusalem. Hundreds of people came to hear him and the lectures were aired on a public Israeli radio station. He also hosted a weekly television show on which he spoke about the week's Torah portion, and headed a bible group held at the residence of the President of Israel.

Elon established and headed a Jewish social and religious organization called "Mibereshit". The organization works with the Israeli education ministry and Israeli schools in order to bring Jewish children and teens to feel closer to their Jewish roots and to the land of Israel.

Family

Elon is married and has eleven children. After resigning from Yeshivat HaKotel he went to live in Migdal in northern Israel. He is the brother of former Moledet Knesset Member and Minister of Tourism Benny Elon, Be'er Sheva District Court Judge Josef Elon, and writer and bible scholar Ari Elon.

Sexual misconduct

In February 2010 Takana, a rabbinical forum that works to prevent sexual abuse in the national religious community, issued a statement regarding Elon and alleged sexual misconduct. In the statement, Takana claimed that following its founding in 2003, one of the first complaints it received was against Elon. The compliant said that Elon had committed “sexual exploitation by a religious authority". Takana then began to conduct an investigation which included meeting Elon and asking him about the allegations. Takana's conclusion to the investigation was to order Elon to leave his post at Yeshivat Hakotel and to retire from public life. Takana claims that at the time, Elon agreed to their demands. Following their demands Elon did leave his position at Yeshivat Hakotel and moved to Migdal in northern Israel. Takana claims that they released the statement because Elon had not fully honored his agreement. Takana also claimed that they had informed the Attorney General of Israel Menachem Mazuz about the agreement with Elon.

In a subsequent clarification, the forum alleged that Elon had maintained ongoing sexual relationships with a number of his male students, and that Elon had confessed to at least some of the allegations to the Takana investigatory panel. Takana claimed that the publicity was meant to make progress, end the affair, and ensure the personal security of vulnerable students.
Elon denied the allegations and defended himself saying that the truth would soon come. Aharon Lichtenstein who was on the Takana panel, in a speech at his yeshiva, expanded on the affair and the panel's considerations, and said he had received threats of legal action after the story broke.

After the release of the statement and clarifications Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, who replaced Mazuz, instructed the police to conduct a preliminary investigation into the affair. In August 2010, Weinstein, instructed the police follow up the preliminary investigation with a criminal investigation of alleged sexual offenses committed against two minors. The police found sufficient evidence to submit the case to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's office. In January 2011, the Jerusalem District Prosecution recommended to Weinstein that Elon be indicted and in February 2011, it summoned Elon to a pre-indictment hearing. In November 2011 he was indicted. In January 2012, according to Ynet News, Elon asserted in his response to the courts that he often hugged or kissed students as a display of camaraderie, something common in certain segments of Israeli society. He said that in one instance, he attempted to console the accuser, who, at the time, had a parent die in a car crash and that the action could have been misinterpreted and blown out of proportion. Elon refused to enter a plea bargain and maintained his innocence. In February 2013, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court dropped one of the charges following the refusal of a witness to testify. On 7 August 2013 Elon was convicted of sexually assaulting a male minor. The sentence is to be delivered in October 2013. An outspoken opponent of homosexuality, he denies the charges. He is expected to appeal the verdict.

Writings

• Tekhelet Mordechai Sichot on the Weekly Torah Portion, Sifriyat Bet-El Publishing Ltd.
• The Tekhelet Mordekhai Haggadah, Sifriyat Bet-El Publishing Ltd., June 2007

External links

• website of Mordechi Elon and Keren Yishai
• website of Mordechi Elon's teachings and lectures