Menachem Elon (; ; November 1, 1923 – February 6, 2013) was an Israeli jurist and Professor of Law specializing in
traditional Jewish Law, an
Orthodox rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
, and a prolific author on traditional
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
law (
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...
). He was the head of the Jewish Law Institute of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
. He lost the
1983 Israeli Presidential Election to
Chaim Herzog.
Elon served as a justice of the
Israeli Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
from 1977–1993, and as its Deputy President from 1988–1993.
Biography
Menachem Fetter (later Elon) was born in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, into a religious Jewish family from
Hasidic
Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
backgrounds. Elon's family fled to the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
a year before
Nazism
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
's ascent in Germany. In 1935, Elon's family immigrated to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
. In 1938, he studied
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...
(traditional Jewish law) in the
Hebron Yeshiva, and was ordained as a rabbi by chief rabbis
Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel and
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog. He was among the founders of a
yeshiva high school Midrashiat Noam in
Pardes Hanna, and served for two years as a teacher there, and became one of the founders of the religious
Kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
Tirat Zvi in the
Beit She'an
Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level.
Beit She'an is believed to ...
Valley.
The Elon family, a member of the
religious Zionist
Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...
elite, is entrenched in the world of law, politics, Literature, and Halakha (Jewish religious law). In 1949, Menachem Elon married Ruth Buchsbaum, the daughter of Dr.
Mordechai Buchsbaum, an Orthodox Jewish attorney and a former deputy
mayor of Jerusalem
The Mayor of the City of Jerusalem is head of the executive branch of the political system in Jerusalem. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within Jerusal ...
. Amongst Elon's five children are Rabbi
Binyamin Elon (married to writer
Emuna Elon), a former member of
Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
and cabinet minister (
Minister of Tourism, 2001–2004); Rabbi
Mordechai Elon, the former head of
Yeshivat HaKotel;
Joseph ("Sefi") Elon, a district judge in
Be'er Sheva
Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...
and temporary judge of the Supreme Court of Israel (2007–2009); and
Ari Elon, who is secular and a lecturer on the Bible.
Academic career
Elon earned his diploma from the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics in 1948. In the early 1950s, he worked as an attorney in private practice, while at the same time completing an
M.A. in
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
, Jewish history, and philosophy at
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
. In 1962, he received his doctorate. In 1955, he began a parallel career as a lecturer in Hebrew law at Hebrew University, and was subsequently appointed teaching associate, senior lecturer, associate professor, and, in 1972, Professor of Jewish Law. He also served as a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Law at
Oxford University
The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
,
University College of London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
,
McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, and
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
, and as a visiting professor at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
School of Law and at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
School of Law.
In 1963, Elon was appointed head of the Institute for Research in Jewish Law at the Hebrew University, where he edited 10 volumes of The Annual of the Institute for Research in Jewish Law, as well as a digest of the response of the medieval authorities. From 1968 to 1971, he served as editor of the Division of Jewish Law of the
Encyclopedia Judaica
The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a multi-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, Jewish holida ...
, and served as the editor of the
Encyclopaedia Hebraica.
He played a pivotal role in the
Mishpat Ivri (Hebrew Law) movement. Among his many works, he authored the foundational ''Jewish Law : History, Sources, Principles'' - a monumental, three-volume book on Hebrew law for academic use and the training of Israeli law students. In 1955, he was appointed senior assistant to the
Attorney General of Israel
The attorney general of Israel (, ''Ha-Yo'etz Ha-Mishpati La-Memshala'', ) heads the legal system of the executive branch and the public prosecution of the state. The attorney general advises the government in legal matters, represents the stat ...
Haim Cohn, and from 1959 to 1966, Elon served as adviser on Jewish Law to the
Israel Ministry of Justice, a job which included writing legal opinions based on Jewish law regarding every law proposed in Knesset. He was a member of numerous Israeli Public Inquiry committees, and he served on committees to prepare legal proposals in various fields of civil law.
In 1979, Elon was awarded the
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
for Hebrew law.
Supreme Court of Israel
In 1977, he was appointed to the
Israeli Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Israel (, Hebrew acronym Bagatz; ) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court consists of 15 jud ...
. Elon's rulings often drew upon the principles of Jewish law; he sought to incorporate traditional Halakha into the corpus of Israeli civil law. Elon emerged as a prominent critic of former president of the Supreme Court
Aharon Barak
Aharon Barak (; born 16 September 1936) is an Israeli lawyer and jurist who served as President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1995 to 2006. Prior to this, Barak served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 1978 to 1995, and bef ...
's
judicial activism
Judicial activism is a judicial philosophy holding that courts can and should go beyond the applicable law to consider broader societal implications of their decisions. It is sometimes used as an antonym of judicial restraint. The term usually ...
.
Elon was involved in a number of important verdicts, including the acquittal of
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
war criminal
John Demjanjuk
John Demjanjuk (), born Ivan Mykolaiovych Demjanjuk (), was a Trawniki and Nazi camp guard at Sobibor extermination camp, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. Demjanjuk became the center of global media attention in the 1980s, when he was tried and ...
.
Among Elon's prominent decisions were a ruling prohibiting registering the character of non-Orthodox conversions on Israeli identity cards, one ordering the return of a girl who had been transferred for adoption without her parents' consent, and the decision to order a local religious service committee to accept Leah Shakdiel as its first female member. In 1988, he ruled that active
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
("mercy killing") was illegal, because it negated the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish state (Yael Shefer v. The State of Israel).
In 1988, he was promoted to the position of deputy president of the Supreme Court, under
Meir Shamgar. He served in this position until his retirement in 1993 after 16 years as a justice; he was succeeded as deputy president by Aharon Barak.
Presidential nomination
Supported by
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel.
Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
and the coalition (
Likud
Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
party), Elon was nearly selected as
President of the State of Israel,
losing in a close vote (61-57) to his childhood friend
Chaim Herzog in 1983.
Resumption of academic career
After retiring from the Supreme Court in 1993, he was elected President of the World Union of Jewish Studies, and served in that capacity until 2005. In 1995, he founded and became the founding dean of
Sha'arei Mishpat College for the first eight years of its existence. Elon headed a number of non-profit organizations, and sat on the boards of others. He also continued to write and teach at universities around the world. In 1992, Elon wrote the "Jerusalem Covenant" - a mosaic dealing with the centrality of Jerusalem in Jewish life - signed on the 25th
Jerusalem Day
Jerusalem Day (, ) is an Public holidays in Israel, Israeli national holiday that commemorates the "reunification" of East Jerusalem (including the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City) with West Jerusalem following the Six-Day War of 1967, which s ...
.
Menachem Elon died in Jerusalem on February 6, 2013, and was buried in
Har HaMenuchot (Jerusalem). He was 89.
Awards and honors
* in 1978, Katz Prize for Jewish studies.
* in 1979, Elon was awarded the
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
in jurisprudence.
* in 1979,
Ben-Meir Prize for Mishpat Ivri Research.
* In 1994, won a
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...
for the English translation of the book "Jewish law: history, sources, principles".
* in 1994, Elon was awarded the
Zeltner Prize for Legal Research.
* in 1996, won the
Israel Bar Association
Israel Bar Association (; IBA) is the bar association for all Israeli lawyers.
History
The Israel Bar Association was established by The Bar Association Law, 1961. The law went into effect in March 1962.
The Association is organized as a cor ...
prize
* in 1997, he received Honorary Degrees from
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
.
* in 1997, Elon was awarded the "Knight of Quality Government" from
Movement for Quality Government in Israel.
* in 1999, he received Honorary Degrees from
Jerusalem College of Technology
* in 2001, he received the
Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem)
award Recipients of Yakir Yerushalayim award (in Hebrew)
and Yakir Safed
Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel.
Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...
(2004).
Published works
Selected works in English
* ''Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles'', The Jewish Publication Society, 1994. .
* ''Decision of the Supreme Court of Israel in the Shefer Case (Yael Shefer v. The State of Israel)'', Falk Schlesinger Institute, 1996.
* ''The Tears of the Oppressed: An Examination Of The Agunah Problem: Background And Halakhic Sources'', Ktav Pub Inc, 2004.
* ''The Ethiopian Jews (Bene Israel
The Bene Israel (), also referred to as the "Teli, Shanivar Teli" () or "History of the Jews in India, Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via t ...
: a case study in the functioning of the Jewish legal system'', New York, 1987.
* ''Talmudic civil law'', New York, 1984.
* ''Jewish Law (Mishpat Ivri): Cases and Materials'', Published by LexisNexis, New York, 1999.
Original writings (Hebrew)
* ''The Freedom of the Person of the Debtor in Jewish Law'', Magnes, Jerusalem, 1964.
* ''Legislation in the Laws of the State of Israel and Within the Jurisdiction of the Civil and Rabbinical Courts'', Published by Religious Kibbutz Movement, 1968.
* ''Mishpat Ivri – The sources and nature of Jewish law and its application in the state of Israel'', Magnes, Jerusalem, 1973.
* ''Human Dignity and Freedom in the Methods of Enforcement of Judgments – The Values of a Jewish and Democratic State'', Magnes, Jerusalem, 1999.
* ''The Status of Women – Law and Jurisdict, Tradition and transition'', Press The Kibbutz Consolidated, Tel Aviv, 2005.
Edited books
* ''Digest of Responsa Literature of Spain and North Africa'', Publisher The Hebrew University Magnes Press Ltd, Jerusalem, 1981.
* ''Indices to the Responsa of Jewish Law: The Responsa of R. Asher ben Jehiel
Asher ben Jehiel (, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew ...
'', Publisher The Hebrew University Magnes Press Ltd, Jerusalem, 1965.
* ''Indices to the Responsa of Jewish Law: The Responsa of R. Yom Tov Asevilli'', Publisher The Hebrew University Magnes Press Ltd, Jerusalem, 1973.
* ''Indices to the Responsa of Jewish Law: The Responsa of R. Judah ben Asher'', Publisher The Hebrew University Magnes Press Ltd, 1973.
* ''The Principles of Jewish Law'', Keter Publishing House, Jerusalem, 1975.
See also
* List of Israel Prize recipients
This is an incomplete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 - 2025.
List
For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize website ...
* 1983 Israeli presidential election
References
External links
Articles By Menachem Elon
) My Jewish Learning
Medicine, Halacha, and Law The Values of a Jewish and Democratic State By Prof. Menachem Elon
) The Schlesinger Institute
‘Our teacher’ Menachem Elon
- By Bernard Auerbach] ) The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
A thank you to Rabbi David Hartman, Dr. Menachem Elon
- By Avi Weiss ) The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
PM Netanyahu Sends Condolence Letter to the Family of Prof. Menachem Elon
) Israeli Prime Minister's Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elon, Menachem
1923 births
Harvard University staff
Israel Prize in law recipients
Israeli jurists
2013 deaths
Attorneys general of Israel
Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
New York University School of Law faculty
Academic staff of the Academic Center for Law and Science
Judges of the Supreme Court of Israel
German Orthodox rabbis
Menachem
Lawyers from Jerusalem
Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine
Candidates for President of Israel
Burials at Har HaMenuchot
Hebron Yeshiva alumni