Dr. Hakham Yehonatan Elazar-DeMota ס״ט was born in Miami. He comes from a long line of Sephardic families from Spain, Portugal and North Africa, which established themselves in the Caribbean before migrating to the United States of America.

He began his rabbinic education under Hakham Yosef Benarroch ע״ה ,ס״ט, at the Sephardic Education Center of North Miami Beach (yore yore). After that, he studied the laws of shehitah with Hakham Abraham Bitton ס״ט, and was certified by Hakham Israel Levi Tytell. Thereafter, he continued his studies under Hakham Mordekhay Levi de Lopes ס״ט (yadin yadin). Moreover, H. Elazar-DeMota was certified in Israel as a mohel by Hakham Yoel Nissim Dayan.

Apart from rabbinic studies, H. Elazar-DeMota has a Master’s degree in Anthropology and Religious Studies from Florida International University and a PhD in International Law from the University of Amsterdam.
H. Elazar-DeMota is the author of numerous books and articles on Western Sephardic Jewry. He established his Beth Midrash in 2009 in the Capital, then in La Romana in order to strengthen the Sephardic Jewish identity therein.