Menachem Elon

Menachem Elon (Hebrew: מנחם אלון) (born 1923), an Israeli jurist, who served as a justice on the Israeli Supreme Court (1977-1993) and its Deputy President (1988-1993).

Elon's family immigrated to the Palestine in 1935 from Germany due to the rise of Nazism. He studied Halakha (traditional Jewish law) in the Hebron Yeshiva. He received his law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was appointed to teach and as a professor. He also served as a visiting professor at Harvard University's law school and at New York University School of Law.

A prolific author on traditional Jewish law (Halakha), Menachem Elon served as an Israeli Supreme Court Justice and his opinions often draw upon the principles of Jewish law. His judicial decisions include the prohibition to register the character of non-Orthodox conversions on Israeli identity cards and the return of a girl who had been transferred for adoption without her parent's consent.

He played a pivotal role in the Mishpat Ivri (Hebrew Law) movement. Among his many works, he authored the foundation work (cited below) on Hebrew law for academic use and the training of Israeli law students. In 1979, Elon was awarded the Israel Prize, for Hebrew law.

Supported by the right-wing Likud party, Elon was nearly selected as President of the State of Israel, losing in a close vote (61-57) to Chaim Herzog in 1983. Amongst Elon's five children are Binyamin Elon, a member of Knesset and former cabinet minister and Rabbi Mordechai Elon, the former head of Yeshivat HaKotel.

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients

Further reading

• Jewish Law : History, Sources, Principles. The Jewish Publication Society, 1994. four volume set, translated from Hebrew. ISBN 0-8276-0389-4.