Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, of blessed memory
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, of blessed memoryIsrael news photo: file

Many people, among them renowned rabbis, gathered Thursday night to learn Torah in honor of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. The event took place in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem, where the late former Chief Sephardic Rabbi , the Rishon Letzion, lived.

Those gathered marked 11 months since Rabbi Eliyahu's passing.

The evening began with speeches from Rabbi Eliyahu's sons, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, now chief rabbi of Tzfat, and Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu, head of “Darchei Horaa L'Rabanim,” which teaches rabbis. The two told stories from their father's life that they had heard after his passing.

“We did not realize how great our father was” until after his death, they said.

Following the event, students at the Darchei Horaa school remained for the night to learn Torah, in honor of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu.

Rabbi Eliyahu passed away in June 2010 at the age of 81 after a lengthy illness. His funeral was attended by more than 100,000 people.

In his life, he was Israel's youngest Rabbinical court judge, authored several legal and philosophical works, headed the Keren Moreshet network of “Torah core” groups, which settle young religious-Zionist families in socio-economically weak areas in order to strengthen them, and spent hours every day answering questions on Jewish law and giving advice to those who came seeking his help.