Eulogy: Rabbi Mordechai Piron

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of member of the Elijah Board of World Religious Leaders, Rabbi Mordechai Piron.Rabbi Piron was second chief Chaplin of the IDF. As Chief Rabbi of the armed forces during the Yom Kippur War, he had the dubious distinction of informing families that their loved ones had fallen and overseeing the burial of the many casualties. Reflecting on that dreadful loss of life, Piron has said he has never been fully joyful since then. He gained strong public gratitude for his efforts to help free from their marriages the wives of soldiers who died in the War but whose bodies were not found.

Upon his retirement from his IDF position, he relocated to Zürich, to serve till 1992 as rabbi of the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde Zürich (ICZ), the biggest Jewish congregation in Switzerland. Rabbi Piron had a great passion for Jewish-Christian relations, bringing to it the erudition and sense of integration that hark back to Viennese origins. Until very recently he continued to work closely with Christian theologians and students as part of the Sapir Educational Center. His untiring service made him accept the post of director of IJCIR, The Israel Jewish Council for Interreligious Relations (IJCIR), the Israeli wing of the international coalition of Jewish organizations, engaged in interfaith relations. His was a humanizing touch to all questions of the hour, carrying forth a tradition of rabbinic leadership that sought to integrate the finest of human values with faithfulness to the demands of Jewish tradition. Rabbi Piron published six books on Jewish philosophy and theology.

He died in Jerusalem on 28 May 2014. We at Elijah will miss his encouragement and enduring commitment to the values we share in common.

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