Hacohen, Mordecai

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HACOHEN, MORDECAI

HACOHEN, MORDECAI (1906–1972), rabbi and scholar. Born in the old city of Jerusalem, where his father, Rabbi Ḥaim, a well-known kabbalist who immigrated to Ereẓ Israel at the turn of the century, was leader of the service at the Western Wall for more than 50 years.

Rabbi Hacohen was educated at Jerusalem yeshivot and was ordained by Rabbis Abraham Isaac Kook, Joseph Ḥayyim Sonnenfeld and Abraham Ẓvi Schorr, head of the Ḥasidic Beth Din, whose daughter he married. With the establishment of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1925 he enrolled as one of its first students.

He spearheaded and directed the Maḥzike Hadas network of institutions in Jerusalem with the aim of "bringing back" from among the secular population the "children who strayed away" – especially in the kibbutzim – to a renewed positive relationship with Jewish tradition. In line with these efforts, he published and edited (1943–49) a biweekly, Nerot Shabbat ("The Lights of Shabbat"), which was dedicated solely to the Shabbat, its content, meaning and beauty.

His literary works, which cover a wide range of topics, deal not only with academic subjects and theoretical halakhic problems, but also with relevant contemporary issues, and include Al ha-Torah (5 vols., 1956) and Min ha-Torah (5 vols., 1973), the popular and oft-reprinted collection of his original commentaries on the weekly portions of the Torah; Midrash Bereshit Zuta (1957); Erke Midot be-Torat ha-Rambam (1956; "Ethical Values in the Teachings of Maimonides"); Kotel Ma'aravi (1968); Me'arat ha-Makhpelah (1970).

After his death, Yad Ramah – a research and publication institute, commemorating his name and ideas – was established. Among the Yad Ramah publications are the following volumes of his collected essays: Halakhot ve-Halikhot ("Contemporary Issues in Halakhah"), Mikdash Me'at ("On Synagogue and Prayer"), Ḥiddush va-Ḥeker ("Talmudic Studies"), Ishim u-Tekufot ("Historical and Biographical Studies"), Be-Einei Ḥazal ("The World of the Sages"), and Ha-Bayit ve-ha-Aliyah ("Studies Concerning the Temple and Pilgrimage").