Minister Amichai Eliyahu: “This Is How My Grandfather Brought Me Back to Torah”
Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu shared personal memories of his grandfather at the yahrzeit of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, zt”l, and described his educational approach, trust, patience, and love, without severity or excessive stringency. Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu attended the yahrzeit of the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, zt”l, and was hosted in the Channel 7 studio set up at the event site. In a special interview, he shared personal childhood memories of his grandfather and described the educational approach that, לדבריו, shaped his life and deeply influenced his public work today.
Eliyahu said one of his strongest childhood memories is the Shabbat table at the rabbi’s home, where the grandchildren would gather around the sofa and listen to stories from their grandfather. Even in later years, when he sat beside him while he studied Gemara, Tur, and Shulchan Aruch, the rabbi would occasionally stop and tell his grandchildren stories intended to endear Torah, Judaism, and service of God to them. According to Eliyahu, the rabbi was not satisfied with study alone, but engaged in education in the deepest sense of the word. Eliyahu stressed that his grandfather did not choose a path of pressure, strictness, or excessive stringency toward the children and grandchildren, even on matters such as getting up for prayer, reciting Grace After Meals, or daily tasks. Instead, he built a relationship of trust, patience, and love, מתוך a recognition that the path to Torah goes through the heart.
The minister also spoke about a more difficult period in his life, when he felt he was not meeting the expectations placed on him as the rabbi’s eldest grandson. According to him, during those days he wore long hair and struggled with inner questions, until his grandmother told him he was “making a disgrace of himself.” Eliyahu said of the rabbi’s response at that time, “There was not even the slightest flicker in his eye.” According to him, it was דווקא his grandfather’s embracing, unalarmed look that helped him return and reconnect with the world of Torah and faith.
Eliyahu also addressed parents of teenagers dealing with questions of faith and identity, and recommended that they adopt the rabbi’s approach. Instead of weighing children down and pressuring them, he said, they should show them the sweetness of a relationship with the Holy One, Blessed Be He, and the beauty of Torah. He stressed that the trust his grandfather gave him was not a compromise on truth, but a deep way of connecting a person to it from within.
Alongside the educational gentleness, the minister also recalled the rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu’s firm public stance, especially on issues concerning the Land of Israel. He said the rabbi was deeply pained by the Oslo Accords and the disengagement plan, but even in moments of sharp public dispute he maintained love for the Jewish people and sensitivity to each person’s soul. Eliyahu later mentioned a story from the rabbi’s visit to Paris, where he was asked about a possible withdrawal from parts of the land. According to him, the rabbi replied firmly, “Tell me, do you want us to give up the inheritance of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? You are not willing to give up the king’s chamber pot?” The minister said this reflected the rabbi’s courageous insistence on truth, even in places where others feared to speak clearly.
At the end of his remarks, Eliyahu said his grandfather’s legacy combines uncompromising truth with deep love for the Jewish people, educational gentleness, and great patience. According to him, the figure of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, who was for many “the father of Israel,” continues to serve as a personal and public compass in a path of faith, responsibility, and a deep connection to the people of Israel and the Land of Israel.
