Rabbi Eliezer "Eli" Sadan (born December 1948) is an Israeli
"Bnei David", the first pre-military preparatory program in Israel. Sadan is a recipient of the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement for special contribution to society and to the state.[1]
. After the war, his parents completed their studies in Hungary. They immigrated to Israel when Eli was one year old.
Before joining the
Israel Defense Force, Sadan studied for four months at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh. He served in the Paratroopers Brigade; meanwhile, he was a commune coordinator in a Bnei Akiva
branch in North Tel Aviv.
After completing his military service, he began studying physics at the
Mercaz HaRav Kook, where he studied for 15 years and became a student of rabbis Zvi Yehuda Kook and Zvi Thau. Rabbi Sadan is one of their leading students; like them, he believes that the state of Israel is Atchalta De'Geulah. During his studies, he was asked by Rabbi Kook to assist in establishing MoshavKeshet in the Golan Heights, and in establishing a core of Torah scholars in Eilat
.
Together with Rabbi Tzvi Tau, he was delegated by Rabbi Zvi Yehuda with regarding to prisoners of Zion, among them Natan Sharansky. They even held a secret telephone conversation before Sharansky entered the Russian prison. Afterwards, Sadan held several meetings with US officials, in order to secure Sharansky's release.
In 1988, Sadan established the first pre-military preparatory program (
Eli. The Mechina was established due to some religious soldiers leaving their religious frameworks during military service. Its goal is to prepare Orthodox men for full service in the IDF, while encouraging them to serve in combat units and as officers. This track did not exist in the Hesder
yeshivas.
Rabbi Sadan also initiated the establishment of the first secular mechina program, "Nachshon", established in 1997.
In 2016, Rabbi Sadan was awarded the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement due to his special contribution to society and to the State of Israel.
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