List of Chief Rabbis of Israel

The Chief Rabbi of Israel was a religious appointment that began at the time of the British Mandate in Palestine, and continued through to the State of Israel. The post has two nominees, one for the Ashkenazi communities that came from Europe, and one for the Sefaradi communities from North Africa and the Middle East. In recent times the post has become more political than religious.

List of Chief Rabbis

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis
No Image Name Term Notes
1
Abraham Isaac haCohen Kook 1921-1935 Mandatory Palestine
2 Yitzchak haLevi Herzog 1936-1959 Chief Rabbi of Ireland 1919-1936

First Chief Rabbi of Israel

Father of Israeli president, Chaim

Grandfather of the leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Isaac

3
Isser Yehuda Unterman 1964-1973
4
Shlomo Goren 1973-1983 Chief Rabbi of the IDF 1948-1968
5
Avraham Shapira 1983-1993
6
Yisrael Meir Lau 1993-2003
7
Yona Metzger 2003-2013 Later convicted for fraud and served prison sentence
8
David Lau 2013-present Son of Yisrael Meir Lau
Sefardi Chief Rabbis
No Image Name Term Notes
1 Yaacov Meir 1921-1939 First Chief Rabbi of Palestine
2
Ben-Zion Uziel 1939-1954 First Chief Rabbi of Israel
3 Yitzchak Nissim 1955-1973
4 Ovadia Yosef 1973-1983 Spiritual leader and founder of Shas political party
5
Mordechai Eliyahu 1983-1993
6
Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron 1993-2003 Convicted of fraud
7
Shlomo Amar 2003-2013
8 Yitzchak Yosef 2013-present Son of Ovadia Yosef

Pre-Israel religious authority

The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem

In addition to the Chief Rabbis there were a number of rabbis who served as the head rabbi in Palestine, or of a particular community

  • Levi ibn Habib (b. Spain)—ruled from Jerusalem but in 1538, Rabbi Jacob Berab who came from Spain via Egypt, sought to revive the Sanhedrin, in Safed, thus making that city the competing capital of the Jewish community in Palestine. He was opposed and exiled by ibn Habib and the rabbis of Jerusalem but Safed remained the competing capital for a number of years thereafter. Berab was succeeded in Safed by Joseph Caro (b. Spain) who was ordained by him.
  • David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra of the Egyptian rabbinate—ruled simultaneously in Jerusalem succeeding ibn Habib. In 1575, Moshe Trani (b. Greece) succeeded Caro in Safed.
  • Moshe ben Mordechai Galante of Rome—ruled from Jerusalem
  • Haim Vital—succeeded Trani in Safed but moved his rabbinate to Jerusalem which, once again, became the sole capital of Israel. In 1586, the Nahmanides Synagogue was confiscated by the Arabs and the ben Zakkai Synagogue was built in its stead.
  • Bezalel Ashkenazi—first chief rabbi to preside in the ben Zakkai Synagogue[1]
  • Gedaliah Cordovero[2]
  • Yitzhak Gaon?
  • Israel Benjamin[3]
  • Jacob Zemah (b. Portugal)[4]
  • Samuel Garmison (b. Greece)[5]

Rishon LeZion 1665–1842[6]

  • Moshe ben Yonatan Galante
  • Moshe ibn Habib who came from Greece, a descendant of Levi ibn Habib
  • Moshe Hayun
  • Avraham Yitzhaki (b. Greece)
  • Benjamin Maali
  • Elazar Nahum (b. Turkey)
  • Nissim Mizrahi
  • Yitzhak Rapaport
  • Israel Algazy served until 1756
  • Raphael Meyuchas ben Shmuel served 1756–1791
  • Haim ben Asher
  • Yom Tov Algazy—during whose reign, the French armies of Napoleon invaded Palestine. served until 1802
  • Moshe Yosef Mordechai Meyuchas served 1802–1805
  • Yaakov Aish of the Maghreb
  • Yaakov Coral
  • Yosef Hazzan (b. Turkey)
  • Yom Tov Danon
  • Shlomo Suzin—in 1831, Palestine was briefly conquered by Egypt under Muhammad Ali.
  • Yonah Navon—Palestine returned to the Ottoman Empire.
  • Yehuda Navon

The Hakham Bashi 1842–1918[7]

Chief Rabbinate Council

The Chief Rabbis also head the Chief Rabbinate Council. These rabbis are usually appointed from the Chief Rabbis of major cities or regions in Israel. Internal elections were held on September 23, 2008.[9][10]

There are five permanent members on the Chief Rabbinate Council. These are:

There are also representatives for the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities:

References

  1. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica—"Levi ben Habib"—vol. 11 col. 99; "Berab, Jacob"—vol. 4 cols. 582–4; "Caro, Joseph"—vol. 5 col. 194; "Galante, Moses (I)"—vol. 7 col. 260; "Ashkenazi, Bezalel"—vol. 3 col. 723; jewishencyclopedia.com, "Jerusalem—Jacob Berab and ibn Habib"
  2. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica—"Cordovero, Gedaliah—vol. 5 col. 967
  3. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica—"Benjamin, Baruch"—vol. 4 col. 527; "Benjamin, Israel"—vol. 4 col. 528
  4. ↑ http://jewishencyclopedia.com, "Jerusalem—Solomon al-Gazi's Description"
  5. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica—"Garmison, Samuel"—vol. 7 col. 329
  6. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica—"Rishon Le-Zion" vol. 14 col. 193; jewishencyclopedia.com, "Jerusalem—In the Eighteenth Century" "In the Nineteenth Century" "Albert Cohn and Ludwig Frankl"
  7. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica "Jews of Jerusalem" "Institutions"; Encyclopedia Judaica—"Israel, State of"—Religious Life and Communities—vol. 9 cols. 889–90
  8. ↑ Laredo, Abraham Isaac. Les noms des Juifs du Maroc, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto "B. Arias Montano," 1978. pg. 184
  9. ↑ "Chief Rabbinate:Rabbi Elituv in First Place". 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  10. ↑ "Ashkenazi haredim lose majority in Chief Rabbinate membership vote". The Jerusalem Post. 2008-09-23. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
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