No overlap: Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan takes over as Director General of the Rabbinical Courts

May 15, 2022   

Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, who served as the mythical director general of the rabbinical courts for 21 years, returned to his position after a 12-year hiatus during which he served as a member of Knesset, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs, and Deputy Minister of Defense. Why would your child be paralyzed if there is an effective and safe vaccine? All the details Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan, who has accompanied the courts in his various positions for about forty years, of course did not need to study or overlap. Immediately after a short ceremony of exchanging CEOs, he convened the courts' management for a professional meeting, held working meetings with the senior staff, and immediately began ongoing professional activity as usual. Rabbi Ben Dahan was born in Casablanca, Morocco, and grew up in Be'er Sheva. He is a graduate of Yeshivat Nativ Meir, the Rabbinical Center, and the Idra rabbinate and dayaonite college. He served in the IDF as an officer with the rank of major and was one of the founders of the settlement of Chispin in the Golan Heights. With the election of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu as Chief Rabbi of Israel and President of the Great Rabbinical Court, he was appointed his close advisor and head of his office. In 1989 (1989), he was elected as the director of the rabbinical courts – a position he held for 21 consecutive years. During these years, Rabbi Ben Dahan promoted the rabbinical courts system, worked extensively on behalf of agunot women, initiated the laws on sanctions against get refusers, and legislation to prevent domestic violence. Rabbi Ben Dahan was the first to initiate and introduce women as rabbinical litigants in the courts. At the same time, he also served for a time as the Director General of the Ministry of Religious Affairs and as the Acting Director General of the Chief Rabbinate. Upon the end of his term, he was elected as the 19th Knesset member of the Jewish Home party. In 2013, Rabbi Ben Dahan was appointed Deputy Minister of Religious Services and, in effect, the Acting Minister of Religious Services, and initiated reforms in religious services, including in the rabbinical courts. In the subsequent government, Rabbi Ben Dahan was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense: Moshe Ya'alon, Avigdor Lieberman, and Benjamin Netanyahu. Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan is a rabbinate and holds a degree from the Hebrew University in public policy. For many years, Rabbi Ben Dahan lived in the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem and is currently a resident of the Har Homa neighborhood in the city. Rabbi Ben Dahan broke a record as someone who served 21 consecutive years as Director General in the public service and has now returned to his position again with full vigor. Rabbi Ben Dahan: "I accept with sacred reverence the role of Director of the Rabbinical Courts and hope, with God's help, to advance the Rabbinical Courts to the forefront of public service, together with the President of the Great Rabbinical Court, Rabbi David Lau, and the Minister of Religious Affairs, Matan Kahane.".