Menachem Elon (Hebrew: מנחם אלון) (born 1923), an Israeli jurist, who served as a justice on the
Israeli Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court is at the head of the court system in the State of Israel. It is the highest judicial instance. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem. The area of its jurisdiction is the entire State. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme Court itself...
(1977-1993) and its Deputy President (1988-1993).
Elon's family immigrated to the Palestine in 1935 from Germany due to the rise of
NazismNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
. He studied
HalakhaHalakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
(traditional Jewish law) in the Hebron
YeshivaYeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for study of its traditional, central texts...
. He received his law degree from the
Hebrew University of JerusalemThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's oldest university....
, where he was appointed to teach and as a professor.
Menachem Elon (Hebrew: מנחם אלון) (born 1923), an Israeli jurist, who served as a justice on the
Israeli Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court is at the head of the court system in the State of Israel. It is the highest judicial instance. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem. The area of its jurisdiction is the entire State. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme Court itself...
(1977-1993) and its Deputy President (1988-1993).
Elon's family immigrated to the Palestine in 1935 from Germany due to the rise of
NazismNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
. He studied
HalakhaHalakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
(traditional Jewish law) in the Hebron
YeshivaYeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for study of its traditional, central texts...
. He received his law degree from the
Hebrew University of JerusalemThe Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's oldest university....
, where he was appointed to teach and as a professor. He also served as a visiting professor at
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
's law school and at New York University School of Law.
A prolific author on traditional Jewish law (Halakha), Menachem Elon served as an
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i Supreme Court Justice and his opinions often draw upon the principles of Jewish law. His judicial decisions include the prohibition to register the character of non-Orthodox conversions on Israeli identity cards and the return of a girl who had been transferred for adoption without her parent's consent.
He played a pivotal role in the
Mishpat IvriMishpat Ivri In content, Mishpat Ivri refers to those aspects of Halakha that many in modern society generally consider relevant to "non-religious" or "secular" law...
(Hebrew Law) movement. Among his many works, he authored the foundation work (cited below) on Hebrew law for academic use and the training of Israeli law students. In 1979, Elon was awarded the
Israel PrizeThe Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, for Hebrew law.
Supported by the right-wing
LikudLikud is the major center-right political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin in an alliance with several right-wing and liberal parties. Likud's victory in the 1977 elections was a major turning point in the country's political history, marking the first time the left had...
party, Elon was nearly selected as President of the State of Israel, losing in a close vote (61-57) to
Chaim HerzogChaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel , following a distinguished career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces .-Early life:...
in 1983. Elon's five children include a judge; a teacher;
Binyamin ElonRabbi Binyamin "Benny" Elon is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Moledet and the National Union between 1996 and 2009. A ninth-generation Jerusalemite, Elon has lived in Beit El, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank for the last twenty years...
, a member of
KnessetThe Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Operation of the Knesset:...
and former cabinet minister; and Rabbi
Mordechai ElonRabbi Mordechai Elon is a Religious Zionist Israeli rabbi. He is also the founder of the Mi'Bereshit program. Rabbi Elon is well known for his outreach to secular Israelis, and is the host of his own weekly television show...
, the head of the
Yeshivat HaKotelYeshivat Hakotel is a modern-Orthodox religious Zionist hesder yeshiva situated in the Old City of Jerusalem. The yeshiva overlooks the Kotel ; hence its name. The Yeshiva is famous among tourists and tour guides for its entrance to the prayer plaza at the Kotel on Sabbath...
yeshiva.
Further reading
- Jewish Law : History, Sources, Principles. The Jewish Publication Society, 1994. four volume set, translated from Hebrew. ISBN 0-8276-0389-4.