Rabbi Yishai Eliyahu Hilleli Elected as Emmanuel’s Chief Rabbi

Emmanuel has chosen Rabbi Yishai Eliyahu Hilleli to serve as the local council’s rabbi. The election committee announced the unanimous result on Monday after counting the votes, ending a long period in which the town had no rabbi.

The committee was headed by retired Supreme Rabbinical Court judge Rabbi Yitzhak Zra and included Shderot city rabbi Dror Twill, former council head Ezra Gershi, Yunit Gisfen, committee secretary Tzuri Port, and attorney Inbal Cohen, who represented the legal department.

Hilleli lives in Emmanuel and studied at Yekirei Yerushalayim and the Hazon Ovadia yeshiva, where he is regarded as a student of Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. He studied halacha at the Abir Yaakov kollel in Emmanuel, was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, and holds certification to serve as a city rabbi.

He already serves as the official in charge of kashrut and marriages in Emmanuel, and also acts as a rabbi and halachic authority in the town’s Sephardic community. MK Michael Malkieli welcomed the appointment, saying, “After many years without a rabbi, Emmanuel has earned a rabbi with strength to lead the town.” He added that the appointment was part of “the real revolution” led by Shas chairman Aryeh Deri during the current Knesset term.