Rabbi Benny Elon
Rabbi Benny ElonYoni Kempinski

Rabbi Itamar Cohen, the head of the pre-military academy in Nokdim and a student of former et cabinet minister, the late Rabbi Benny Elon, shared with Arutz Sheva lesser known biographical details of the late rabbi, as well as his greatness as a Torah scholar.

"[His lessons on] Rabbi Kook's teachings were very alive. They were not just intellectual discussions, but but something vibrant," Rabbi Cohen said: "When we studied the book Orot (by Rabbi Kook, ed.) with him, you couldn't help but connect with the Land of Israel and its holiness, to become dedicated to the land."

According to Rabbi Cohen, not many people know that Rabbi Elon was a great Torah scholar. "In the Beit Orot Yeshiva there was a large library of Judaica that had been his father-in-law's in one of the rooms, and as students we often wandered among those books. There was not one book of Judaica which did not contain Rabbi Benny's comments, even books which not everyone reads, like the books of the Hassidim and the Shulchan Aruch."

"At his funeral, I counted at least six or seven [of Rabbi Elon's former] students who now serve as Rosh Yeshivas and community rabbis, so it is true that they are less familiar with his scholarly side, but he wrote a lot of books, such as Tov Roi on all of the quotations of Rabbi Kook on the tractates of the Talmud, as well as a commentary on Rabbi Kook's articles."

Rabbi Cohen recalled how Rabbi Elon would energize his students: "Rabbi Benny had the ability to interact with people who stuck to him like a magnet."

"When he founded Beit Orot Yeshiva [on Mount Scopus] ith Rabbi Hanan Porat, we were followed by a group of students from Ateret Cohanim. It was a very special time, and Rabbi Benny was a very broad-minded personality who lived the Israeli experience. He was active in everything which was happening in the country.

Rabbi Benny Elon was a great man, but a humble one at the same time, Rabbi Cohen said. "Ts is a common trait of the entire distinguished family, to have this humility despite their tremendous talents. Rabbi Benny ran away from honor and gave us the feeling that he was not above us."

"Rabbi Benny told us when he entered politics that he was no longer to be called 'Rabbi,' but it didn't work, because he brought his personal aura with him, that of a person connected to the Torah and to faith, and in particular to Rabbi Kook's teachings, as he walked humbly through the Knesset halls."