Former Chief Sephardic Rabbi, HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu Shlita was taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim on Tuesday morning. He was admitted to an intensive care unit. His condition is reported as critical.

Rabbi Eliyahu suffered a heart attack a number of weeks ago and was taken to Shaare Zedek where a cardiac catheterization procedure and bypass surgery was performed. He was released after a short rehabilitation period.

He was readmitted on Tuesday, May 13^th, complaining of chest pain. Doctors at that time reported he did not suffer another heart attack and he was kept for observation.

The public is urged to recite Tehillim for the Torah giant, Mordechai Tzemach ben Mazel Tov.

UPDATE: 12:26 JERUSALEM TIME: YWN Israel has learned that Rav Mordechai Shlita was in cardiac arrest earlier today and was successfully resuscitated and now listed in critical condition in Shaare Zedek Hospital. Dozens of yeshivas around the country have interrupted their learning schedule and are currently reciting Tehillim on his behalf.

UPDATE 9:42AM EST: Jonathan Pollard dictated the following message to his close friend and confidant, Rabbi Pesach Lerner,  the Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel. J4JP has permission to share the message exactly as it was dictated. We ask everyone to respond to Jonathan’s urgent appeal for prayers for Harav Mordechai Eliyahu, shilita. (English words translated in brackets were added for readers unfamiliar with the Hebrew.)

Dear Pesach,

We just received word that Kavod HaRav Eliyahu pulled through a crisis this morning. He stopped breathing and an emergency effort was made to resuscitate him. Thank G-d the doctors were successful and his condition is now stable. But he is not out of the woods yet.

The Rav needs an abundance of teffilot (prayers). We must storm the Heavens with our heartfelt pleas for mercy for Am Yisrael in the form of a a complete and speedy recovery for our beloved Rav, who has always been the Rav to all the People of Israel, without exception.

Would you be able to put out a request for teffilah (prayer) to all the Rabbis and to everyone on your distribution list — and to encourage everyone on the list to forward the message to at least 5 more people. That way, in a short time, we can reach an astronomical number of people…

Please remind everyone that the Rav’s name for teffilah is MORDECHAI TZEMACH BEN MAZAL TOV. There have been rumours that his name was changed to some other format, but I have verified that this is not the case.

Please Pesach, do what ever you can to encourage people to daven as they have never davened before, with all of their hearts and with tears, for a swift and speedy Refuah Shleimah(complete healing and recovery) for MORDECHAI TZEMACH BEN MAZAL TOV.

Esther and I deeply appreciate your efforts to spread this message.

Stay well.

Jonathan.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)