Rabbi Elias was born in Budapest, Hungary and is a child of survivors from the Holocaust. He was raised in an Orthodox home from a Chasidic and Ashkenazic background. His formal Jewish education began in a Vienna cheder and then at Rabbi Wasserman’s Yeshiva in Burbank, California. Rabbi Elias and his family have been active members and participants at Beth Jacob Congregation and Mogen David for the last forty two years.

At the age of 13, Rabbi Elias left Los Angeles to attend Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio. He studied there for the next four years and returned to Los Angeles to continue his education at Yeshiva University in Los Angeles and UCLA. He graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology and received a law degree from the University of San Fernando. Ordained at Yeshiva Beth Midrash Lerabonim, he has worked as Executive Director and Assistant Rabbi at Mogen David for the last twenty six years and is now serving as the Rabbi  of Mogen David.

After graduating from law school, Rabbi Elias organized a sports league for basketball and baseball for Orthodox children. The league, Elias/Elitzur Sports, has given Orthodox children the opportunity to participate in organized sports while still excelling in Judaic studies. The league at one time had over 1,000 children and 500 adults playing ball. The children wear kipot and tzizits as part of their uniform. The league was a smash success for over seventeen years and has evolved into school leagues and intramural leagues through-out the Los Angeles and California areas.

Since taking over as Rabbi of Congregation Mogen David in 2002, there has been an increase in membership with the addition of 105 young families (including over 100 children). A new minyanim was introduced to Mogen David a Sephardic minyan (Ehudut Hamizrach) which meets in the building and is now quickly becoming a mainstay of the orthodox and secular Sephardic community in Los Angeles.  

It is the hope and prayer of the Rabbi and this synagogue to become the leading voice for a united front for all Jews of every persuasion and to unite the Jewish people into a cohesive group with strong ties to the Holy Land and people everywhere through out the globe.