Chief Rabbi

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"Chief Rabbinate" redirects here. See also Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognised religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Rabbi Uziel, Israel has had two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi.[1]

Cities with large Jewish communities may also have their own chief rabbis; this is especially the case in Israel but has also been past practice in major Jewish centers in Europe prior to the Holocaust. North American cities rarely have chief rabbis. One exception however is Montreal, with two—one for the Ashkenazi community, the other for the Sephardi.

The Chief Rabbi's name is often followed by ABD, which stands for Av Beth Din.[citation needed]

Contents

Chief Rabbis by country/region [edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
 This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (October 2012)

Albania Albania [edit]

Argentina Argentina [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

Ashkenazi [edit]

Austria Austria [edit]

United Kingdom British Empire and Commonwealth [edit]

Main article: List of chief rabbis of the United Kingdom

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis [edit]

Sephardi Hahamim [edit]

Bulgaria Bulgaria [edit]

Cuba Cuba [edit]

Cyprus Cyprus [edit]

Czech Republic Czech Republic [edit]

  • Karel Sidon[8]

Denmark Denmark[9] [edit]

Egypt Egypt [edit]

  • Refael Aharon Ben Shimon (1891–1921)
  • Masoud Haim Ben Shimon (1921–1925)
  • Chaim Nahum (1925–1960)
  • Haim Douek[10] (1960–1972)

Estonia Estonia [edit]

France France [edit]

Guatemala Guatemala [edit]

Hong Kong Hong Kong [edit]

Hungary Hungary [edit]

Note that this list is out of order.
  • Meir Eisenstadt—known as the Panim Me'iros (1708–), rabbi of Eisenstadt and author of "Panim Me'irot"
  • Alexander ben Menahem
  • Phinehas Auerbach
  • Jacob Eliezer Braunschweig
  • Hirsch Semnitz
  • Simon Jolles (1717–?)
  • Samson Wertheimer (1693?–1724) (also Eisenstadt and Moravia)
  • Issachar Berush Eskeles (1725–1753)[11]
  • Joseph Hirsch Weiss—grandfather of Stephen Samuel Wise[12][13]
  • Samuel Kohn
  • Simon Hevesi (father of Ferenc Hevesi)
  • Ferenc Hevesi
  • Moshe Kunitzer—a pioneer of the Haskalah movement in Hungary (1828–1837)
  • Koppel Reich
  • Ignatz Lichtenstein (1857-1892) converted to Christianity and still held his position as rabbi.
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignatz_Lichtenstein
  • Chaim Yehuda Deutsch
  • József Schweitzer
  • Robert (Avrohom Yehudoh) Deutsch

Iran Iran [edit]

Main article: List of Chief Rabbis of Iran

Republic of Ireland Ireland [edit]

Israel Israel [edit]

Main article: Chief Rabbinate of Israel

The position of chief rabbi of the Land of Israel has existed for hundreds of years. During the mandatory period, the British recognized the chief Rabbis of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities, just as they recognized the Mufti of Jerusalem. The offices continued after statehood was achieved. Haredi Jewish groups (such as Edah HaChareidis) do not recognize the authority of the Chief Rabbinate. They usually have their own rabbis who do not have any connection to the state rabbinate.

Under current Israeli law, the post of Chief Rabbi exists in only four cities (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba). In other cities there may be one main rabbi to whom the other rabbis of that city defer, but that post is not officially the "Chief Rabbi".

Many of Israel's chief rabbis were previously chief rabbis of Israeli cities.

Sephardi [edit]

  • Moshe Galante (the Younger) (1665-1689)
  • Moshe ibn Habib (1689-1696)
  • Moshe Hayun
  • Abraham ben David Yitzhaki (1715-1722)
  • Binyamin Maali
  • Elazar ben Yaacob Nahum (1730-1748)
  • Nissim Mizrahi (1748-1754)
  • Israel Yaacob Algazy (1754-1756)
  • Raphael Samuel Meyuchas (1756-1791)
  • Haim Raphael Abraham ben Asher (1771-1772)
  • Yom Tov Algazy (1772-1802)
  • Moshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas (1802-1805)
  • Yaacob Moshe Ayash al-Maghrebi (1806-1817)
  • Jacob Coral (1817-1819)
  • Raphael Yosef Hazzan (1819-1822)
  • Yom Tov Danon (1822-1824)
  • Salomon Moshe Suzin (1824-1836)
  • Yonah Moshe Navon (1836-1841)
  • Yehudah Raphael Navon (1841-1842)
  • Haim Abraham Gagin (1842-1848)
  • Isaac Kovo (1848-1854)
  • Haim Nissim Abulafia (1854-1861)
  • Haim David Hazan (1861-1869)
  • Abraham Ashkenasi (1869-1880)
  • Raphael Meir Panigel (1880-1892)
  • Yaacob Shaul Elyashar (1893-1906)
  • Yaacob Meir (1906)
  • Eliyah Moshe Panigel (1907-1909)
  • Nahman Batito (1909-1911)
  • Moshe Franco (1911-1915)
  • Haim Moshe Elyashar (1914-1915)
  • Nissim Yehudah Danon (1915-1921)
  • Yaacob Meir (1921–1939)
  • Benzion Uziel (1939–1954)
  • Yitzhak Nissim (1955–1973)
  • Ovadia Yosef (1973–1983)
  • Mordechai Eliyahu (1983–1993)
  • Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron (1993–2003)
  • Shlomo Amar (2003–present)

Ashkenazi [edit]

Military Rabbinate [edit]

Lebanon Lebanon [edit]

Mexico Mexico [edit]

  • Shlomo Tawil (1999–Present)

Republic of Macedonia Macedonia [edit]

  • Avi Kozma

Morocco Morocco [edit]

Norway Norway [edit]

Panama Panama [edit]

  • Zion Levy (1951–2008) Sephardic Chief Rabbi

Poland Poland [edit]

See also: List of Polish Rabbis

Poland: Armed Forces [edit]

Romania Romania [edit]

Russia Russia [edit]

Main article: Chief Rabbi of Russia

Military Rabbinate [edit]

Serbia Serbia [edit]

Singapore Singapore [edit]

Slovakia Slovakia [edit]

South Africa South Africa [edit]

Spain Spain [edit]

  • Baruj Garzon (1968-1978), the first Chief Rabbi in Spain since the expulsion in 1492
  • Yehuda Benasuli z"l (1978-1997)
  • Rabbi Moshe Bendahan (1997-present)

Thailand Thailand [edit]

Transylvania (before 1918) [edit]

Note: The chief rabbi of Transylvania was generally the rabbi of the city of Alba Iulia.

  • Joseph Reis Auerbach (d. 1750)
  • Shalom Selig ben Saul Cohen (1754–1757)
  • Johanan ben Isaac (1758–1760)
  • Benjamin Ze'eb Wolf of Cracow (1764–1777)
  • Moses ben Samuel Levi Margaliot (1778–1817)
  • Menahem ben Joshua Mendel (1818–23)
  • Ezekiel Paneth (1823–1843)
  • Abraham Friedmann (d. 1879), the last chief rabbi of Transylvania

Tunisia Tunisia [edit]

Turkey Turkey [edit]

See also: Hakham Bashi

Uganda Uganda [edit]

Ukraine Ukraine [edit]

United States United States [edit]

A chief rabbinate never truly developed within the United States for a number of different reasons. While Jews first settled in the United States in 1654 in New Amsterdam, rabbis did not appear in the United States until the mid-nineteenth century. This lack of rabbis, coupled with the lack of official colonial or state recognition of a particular sect of Judaism as official effectively led to a form of congregationalism amongst American Jews. This did not stop others from trying to create a unified American Judaism, and in fact, some chief rabbis developed in some American cities despite lacking universal recognition amongst the Jewish communities within the cities (for examples see below). However, Jonathan Sarna argues that those two precedents, as well as the desire of many Jewish immigrants to the US to break from an Orthodox past, effectively prevented any effective Chief Rabbi in America.[19]

Uruguay Uruguay [edit]

Venezuela Venezuela [edit]

Sephardi

Ashkenazi

Chief rabbis by city [edit]

Amsterdam, Netherlands [edit]

Ashkenazi [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

Antwerp, Belgium [edit]

Baltimore, United States [edit]

  • Abraham N. Schwartz (d. 1934)
  • Joseph H. Feldman (retired 1972, d. 1992)

Berlin, Germany [edit]

  • Yitshak Ehrenberg (1997–present)[21]

Birobidzhan, Russia [edit]

Budapest, Hungary [edit]

Caracas, Venezuela [edit]

Ashkenazi [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

Chicago, United States [edit]

  • Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky—known as the Ridbaz, served as chief rabbi of the Russian-American congregations in the city 1903–1905.

Frankfurt, Germany [edit]

Gateshead, United Kingdom [edit]

Haifa, Israel [edit]

Ashkenazi [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

Hebron, Israel [edit]

Hoboken, United States [edit]

Jerusalem, Israel [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

  • Levi Ibn Habib
  • David Ibn Abi Zimra
  • Moshe Galante I
  • Haim Vital
  • Betzalel Ashkenasi
  • Gedalia Cordovero
  • Isaac Gaon
  • Israel Benjamin
  • Yaacov Tzemah
  • Shemuel Garmison
  • Moshe Galante II (1665-1689)
  • Moshe Ibn Habib (1689-1696)
  • Moshe Hayun
  • Abraham ben David Yitzchaki (1715-1722)
  • Binyamin Maali
  • Elazar ben Yaacob Nahum (1730-1748)
  • Nissim Mizrahi (1748-1754)
  • Israel Yaacob Algazy (1754-1756)
  • Raphael Samuel Meyuchas (1756-1791)
  • Haim Raphael Abraham ben Asher (1771-1772)
  • Yom Tov Algazy (1772-1802)
  • Moshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas (1802-1805)
  • Yaacob Moshe Ayash al-Maghrebi (1806-1817)
  • Jacob Coral (1817-1819)
  • Raphael Yosef Hazzan (1819-1822)
  • Yom Tov Danon (1822-1824)
  • Salomon Moshe Suzin (1824-1836)
  • Yonah Moshe Navon (1836-1841)
  • Yehudah Raphael Navon (1841-1842)
  • Haim Abraham Gagin (1842-1848)
  • Isaac Kovo (1848-1854)
  • Haim Nissim Abulafia (1854-1861)
  • Haim David Hazan (1861-1869)
  • Abraham Ashkenasi (1869-1880)
  • Raphael Meir Panigel (1880-1892)
  • Yaacob Shaul Elyashar (1893-1906)
  • Yaacob Meir (1906)
  • Eliyah Moshe Panigel (1907-1909)
  • Nahman Batito (1909-1911)
  • Moshe Franco (1911-1915)
  • Haim Moshe Elyashar (1914-1915)
  • Nissim Yehudah Danon (1915-1921)
  • Yaacob Meir (1921–1939)
  • Chalom Messas (1978–2003)

Ashkenazi [edit]

Since Rav Kolitz stepped down for reason of ill health (from which he died within a year), the position of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem remains vacant.

Edah HaChareidis [edit]

Note: The Edah HaChareidis is unaffiliated with the State of Israel. It is a separate, independent religious community with its own Chief Rabbis, who are viewed, in the Haredi world, as being the Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem.

Leiden, Netherlands [edit]

Milan, Italy [edit]

Montreal, Canada [edit]

Ashkenazi [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

Present Av Beis Din Montreal Rav Binyomin Weiss, head of the city's Vaad Hair.

Moscow, Russia [edit]

Munich, Germany [edit]

  • Yitshak Ehrenberg (1989-1997)[21]
  • Pinchos Biberfeld, moved back to Germany from where he had emigrated to Israel over 50 years earlier. (1980–1999)
  • Steven Langnas, first German (descendance) Chief Rabbi and Av Beth Din of Munich (1999-2011)

Netherlands - Inter-Provincial Chief rabbinate [edit]

New York City, United States [edit]

  • Jacob Joseph was the only true Ashkenazi chief rabbi of New York City; there was never a Sephardi chief rabbi, although Dr. David DeSola Pool acted as a leader among the Sepharadim and was also respected as such. Others it has been said claimed the title of Chief Rabbi; eventually, the title became worthless through dilution.
  • Yosef Yitzchok Parnes, the Brooklyner Rebbe, was also considered as such, arriving in Borough Park, Brooklyn in approximately 1913; due to the many non-observant Jews then working for the local utility companies, he did not use any electricity on the Sabbath. Many religious Jews in America in the early 1900s were his adherents.
  • Jacob S. Kassin was the Chief Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community of New York 1930–1995.

Nové Zámky, Slovakia [edit]

Paris, France [edit]

Rome, Italy [edit]

Rotterdam, Netherlands [edit]

Sofia, Bulgaria [edit]

St. Louis, Missouri [edit]

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [edit]

Great Synagogue [edit]

Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel [edit]

Sephardi [edit]

Toronto, Canada [edit]

Vienna, Austria [edit]

Warsaw, Poland [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Cameron Brown. "Rabbi Ovadia Yosef And His Culture War In Israel". Meria.idc.ac.il. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  2. ^ Jerusalem Post, 8 December 2010
  3. ^ "Jewish Travel Advisor". Jewish Travel Advisor. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  4. ^ a b c Yerushaseinu 5771 (PDF). 
  5. ^ Rabbis of Chilean Masorti Forum meet with Mr. Zeev Bielsky Masorti World
  6. ^ The Virtual Jewish History Tour Cuba Jewish Virtual Library
  7. ^ The Jewish Traveler: Havana Hadassah Magazine
  8. ^ BILEFSKY, DAN (May/10/09). "Hard Times Give New Life to Prague’s Golem". The New York Times. Retrieved Mar/19/13. 
  9. ^ Elsebeth Paikin (2004-05-21). "Rabbis in Denmark - JewishGen Scandinavia SIG". Jewishgen.org. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  10. ^ "Rabbi Haim Moussa Douek". Hsje.org. Retrieved 2012-10-18. 
  11. ^ "Personality of the week: Issachar Berush Eskeles". Beit Hatefutsot. 
  12. ^ "Weiss, Joseph Hirsch". JewishEncyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  13. ^ "RootsWeb: WISE-L [WISE] Treasure found - autobiography of Stephen WISE". Archiver.rootsweb.com. 2001-04-28. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  14. ^ [1][dead link]
  15. ^ "CHIEF RABBI SALANT DIES IN JERUSALEM; Head of the Ashkanezic Congregationalists Was an Eminent Talmudist. A FRIEND OF MONTEFIORE Collected Donations for the Building of New Synagogue Bet Ya'akob -- Favorite of His People". The New York Times. 1909-08-17. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
  16. ^ "MOORISH JEWS GRATEFUL.; Chief Rabbi Thanks Us for Our Action at Algeciras Conference". The New York Times. 10 June 1906. 
  17. ^ "Ukraine's Second Chief Rabbi?". NCSJ. 2003-09-15. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  18. ^ "Ukrainian community split over chief rabbi - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix". Jewishaz.com. 2005-10-28. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  19. ^ Sarna, Jonathan (2004). American Judaism: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 105. ISBN 0-300-10976-8. 
  20. ^ a b Bleich, J.D. (1989). Contemporary Halakhic Problems; Volume 16. KTAV Publishing House. pp. 63–4. ISBN 978-0-88125-315-3. 
  21. ^ a b c "Rab. Y. Ehrenberg - Jewish Community of Berlin". Jg-berlin.org. Retrieved 2012-10-18. 
  22. ^ Title page of Malki Ba-Kodesh, vol. 2; Hoboken, 1921
  23. ^ a b "Bnei Brak rabbi named to new beit din post". Web.archive.org. 2006-04-27. Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  24. ^ "Frum Jewish News". The Yeshiva World. 2006-11-30. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  25. ^ "Grand Rabbinat du Québec". Rabbinat.qc.ca. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  26. ^ http://www.consistoire.org/127.le-consistoire-de-paris?PHPSESSID=05ajt7nmqe14gd8atdsta6sse4
  27. ^ a b c d http://www.archieven.nl/pls/m/zk2.inv?p_q=64729996
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h Jacobs, Joseph; Slijper, E. "Netherlands". The Jewish Encyclopedia. "The names of the chief rabbis of Rotterdam are: Judah Salomon (1682); Solomon Ezekiel (1725-35; his salary was 305 gulden); Judah Ezekiel, son of the preceding (1738-55); Abraham Judah Ezekiel, son of the preceding (1755-79); Judah Akiba Eger (1779; left in 1781); Levie Hyman Breslau, author of "Pene Aryeh" (1781–1807); Elijah Casriel, from Leeuwarden (1815-33); E.J. Löwenstamm, grandson of L.H. Breslau (1834-45); Joseph Isaacson (1850-71; removed to Filehne as a result of dissensions in the community); B. Ritter (since 1884)." 
  29. ^ Jizkor Platenatlas. 1978. p. 37. 
  30. ^ Landman, Isaac (1941). The Universal Jewish encyclopedia 5. "... and the chief rabbi of Rotterdam, Aryeh Leib Breslau (1781–1809)" 
  31. ^ Michman, Jozeph; Beem, Hartog; Michman, Dan (1999). Geschiedenis van de joodse gemeenschap in Nederland [History of the Jewish Community in the Netherlands]. p. 522. "In 1885 werd rabbijn dr Bernard Löbel Ritter tot rabbijn van Rotterdam benoemd." 
  32. ^ a b c Michman, Jozeph; Beem, Hartog; Michman, Dan (1999). Geschiedenis van de joodse gemeenschap in Nederland [History of the Jewish Community in the Netherlands]. p. 526. "Na het ontslag van Ritter in 1928 werd het twee jaar lang waargenomen door de opperrabbijn van Zwolle, Simon JS Hirsch. In 1930 vond de joodse gemeente opperrabbijn Aaron Jissachar (ABN) Davids (1895–1944) van Friesland bereid naar Rotterdam te komen. Hij werd nog datzelfde jaar benoemd." 
  33. ^ a b c d e f Michman, Jozeph; Beem, Hartog; Michman, Dan (1999). Geschiedenis van de joodse gemeenschap in Nederland [History of the Jewish Community in the Netherlands]. p. 531. "Het opperrabinaat werd in de naoorlogse periode waargenomen door de opperrabbijn van Amsterdam Justus Tal (van 1945 tot '54) en vervolgens door chacham SA Rodrigues Pereira (van 1954 tot '59). Vanaf 1946 had rabbijn Levie Vorst (1903-'87) de dagelijkse leiding van de gemeente. Direct na het afleggen van het hoogste rabbinale examen werd hij benoemd tot opperrabijn, hetgeen hij bleef aan tot zijn immigratie naar Israël in 1971. Hij werd opgevolgd door Daniël Kahn (van 1972 tot '75) en Albert Hutterer (van 1975 tot '77). Na diens vertrek heeft Rotterdam het een tijd zonder rabbijn gesteld. Van 1986 tot '88 was Dov Salzmann rabbijn." 
  34. ^ Wednesday, January 12, 2011 12:45 pm (2011-01-12). "Rebbetzin Paula Rivkin remembered as ‘woman of valor’ - St. Louis Jewish Light: Local News - Rebbetzin Paula Rivkin remembered as ‘woman of valor’: Local News". Stljewishlight.com. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  35. ^ a b Sydney's new Chief Rabbi, David Rutledge, ABC "Religion Report", ABC Online, 1 June 2005, accessed 5 April 2010

External links [edit]
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