Israeli officials, including President Reuven Rivlin, on Monday morning eulogized former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron, who has passed away aged 79 due to complications of coronavirus.
Rabbi Bakshi-Doron died due to complications from the coronavirus at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center on Sunday. The hospital said his condition deteriorated during the day and efforts to revive him in the evening were unsuccessful.
The 79-year-old rabbi who served as Sephardi chief rabbi from 1993 to 2003, succumbed to the virus five days after checking into the hospital with COVID-19 symptoms. He was tested shortly upon his arrival and found to be a carrier.
"Rabbi Bakshi-Doron was a tremendously wise student with a deep sense of responsibility for all of Israel,” said Rivlin. “A rabbi, a father and a guide to the Israeli communities within the country and abroad.”
Rabbi Ben-Zion Bakshi-Doron, son of the deceased rabbi, said that his father will be remembered for his "great humility.
"He was accessible to every Jew," he said. "He had a devotion to the public. He did not belong to any particular sector ... his big heart contained the entire State of Israel. He was a man of the people of Israel," he added.
"It hurts us that we could not say goodbye properly," said the rabbi's son-in-law, Rabbi Alon Navon. "The funeral date is yet to be decided upon."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also mourned his passing, calling the rabbi “an important link in the Torah chain of scholars of Spain." Netanyahu said the rabbi's "exceptional proficiency in Jewish sources merged with his noble dimensions. He was pleasantly endowed and warmly welcomed every person.”
Netanyahu hailed his role as a spiritual guide to communities in Israel and around the world. “His essence was intelligence, tolerance and love for the people and the state.”
Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said that "the rabbinic world, the Torah world and the halacha world lost one of its first pillars."
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau said that "along with the entire House of Israel, I am mourning this difficult evening the departure of the deceased Genzi of the Rishon LeZion, the Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Chief Justice of the Grand Court Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron.
"His death leaves a great void in the Jewish world," he concluded.