Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized 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 have rarely had chief rabbis, although some do have them: Montreal, in fact, has 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]}

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Chief rabbis by country/region[link]

[edit] Albania

• Joel Kaplan (2010– ) (appointed December 2010)^[2]

[edit] Argentina

Sephardi[link]

• Yosef Chehebar^[3]
• Isaac Sacca

Ashkenazi[link]

• Shlomo Ben Hamu (though he is Sephardi)
• Rabino Yosef Libersohn

[edit] Austria

• Jitzchok ben Mosche from Wien, "Or Sorua" (lived from ca. 1200 to 1270)
• Jomtov Lipmann Heller, "Tosfos Jomtov" (lived from 1578–1654)
• Scheftel Horowitz (lived from 1561–1619)
• Gerschon "Uliph" Aschkenasi (lived from ca. 1612–1693)
• Samson Wertheimer (lived from 1658–1724)
• Mosche Chanoch Berliner (lived from 1727–1793)
• Isaak Noah Mannheimer (1824–1865)
• Lazar Horowitz (1828–1868), chief rabbi of Vienna
• Adolf Jellinek (1865–1893)
• Moritz Güdemann (1894–1918)
• Zwi Perez Chajes (1918–1927)
• David Feuchtwang (1933–1936)
• Israel Taglicht (1936), provisional chief rabbi
• Insp. I. Öhler (1946), preacher at the Stadttempel
• Akiva Eisenberg (1948–1983)
• Paul Chaim Eisenberg (1983–present)

[edit] British Empire and Commonwealth

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbis[link]

• Judah Loeb ben Abraham Ephraim Asher Anshel (1696–1700)^[4]
• Aaron the Scribe of Dublin (1700–1704)^[4]
• Aaron Hart (1704–1756)^[4]
• Hart Lyon (1758–1764)
• David Tevele Schiff (1765–1791)
• Solomon Hirschell (1802–1842)
• Nathan Marcus Adler (1845–1891)
• Hermann Adler (1891–1911)
• Joseph Herman Hertz (1913–1946)
• Sir Israel Brodie (1948–1965)
• Lord Jakobovits (1966–1991)
• Lord Sacks (1991–present^[update])

Sephardi Hahamim[link]

• Jacob ben Aaron Sasportas (1664-1665)
• Yehoshua Da Silva (1670-1679)
• Jacob Abendana (1681-1684)
• Solomon Ayllon (1689-1700)
• David Nieto (1701-1728)
• Isaac Nieto (1732-1740)
• Moshe Gomes de Mesquita (1744-1751)
• Moshe Cohen d'Azevedo (1761-1784)
• Raphael Meldola (1806-1828)
• Benjamin Artom (1866-1879)
• Moses Gaster (1887-1918)
• Solomon Gaon (1949-1995)
• Abraham Levy (1995-) (officially the Communal Rabbi and Spiritual Head of the Spanish & Portuguese Jews’ Congregation, not the Haham)

[edit] Bulgaria

• Gabriel Almosnino (1880–1885)
• Presiado Bakish (1885–1889)
• Shimon Dankowitz (1889–1891)
• Moshe Tadjer (1891–1893)
• Mordechai Gruenwald (1893–1895)
• Presiado Bakish (1895–1898)
• Moshe Tadjer (1898–1900)
• Mordekhay Ehrenpreiss (1900–1914)
• M. Hezkeya Shabetay Davidov (1914–1918)
• David Pipano (1920–1925)
• Asher Hannanel (1945–1949)

[edit] China

See chief Rabbis of Hong Kong, China.

[edit] Cuba

• Meyer Rosenbaum (Son of Rabbi Issamar of Nadvorna, Elected 1948: left Cuba in 1956, a little more than two years before Fidel Castro came to power in the Revolution)
• Shmuel Szteinhendler—the current Chief Rabbi of Cuba and regional director for Masorti in Latin America.^[5][6][7]

[edit] Cyprus

• Arie Zeev Raskin (2005–present^[update]) representing Chabad-Lubavitch

[edit] Denmark^[8]

• Abraham Salomon (1687–1700)
• Israel Ber (1700–1728)
• Marcus David (1729–1739)
• Hirsch Samuel Levy (1741–1775)
• Gedalia Levin (1778–1793)
• Abraham Gedalia (1793–1827)
• Abraham Wolff (1828–1891)
• David Simonsen (1892–1902, 1919–1920)
• Tobias Lewenstein (1903–1910)
• Max (Moses) Friediger (1920–1947)
• Marcus Melchior (1947–1969)
• Bent Melchior (1970–1996)
• Bent Lexner (1996–present^[update])

[edit] Egypt

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

[edit] Estonia

• Michael Alony (1995–1996)
• Shmuel Kot (2000–present^[update])

[edit] Finland

• Uri Ove Schwarz (1982–1987)
• Michael Alony (1995–1996)

[edit] France

• Jacob Kaplan (1955–1981)
• René Samuel Sirat (1981–1987)
• Joseph Sitruk (1987–2008)
• Gilles Bernheim (2009– ) (elected June 22, 2008)

[edit] Germany

• Yitshak Ehrenberg (1997-present)[2]

[edit] Guatemala

• Meir Rosenbaum (Son of Rabbi Issamar of Nadvorna, Later Chief Rabbi of Cuba)

[edit] Hungary

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)^[9]
• Joseph Hirsch Weiss—grandfather of Stephen Samuel Wise^[10][11]
• Samuel Kohn
• Ferenc Hevesi
• Moshe Kunitzer—a pioneer of the Haskalah movement in Hungary (1828–1837)
• Koppel Reich
• Chaim Yehuda Deutsch
• József Schweitzer
• Robert (Avrohom Yehudoh) Deutsch

[edit] Iran

• Yedidiah Shofet (1908–1980)
• Uriel Davidi (1980–1994)
• Yousef Hamadani Cohen (1994–present^[update])

[edit] Ireland

• Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1921–1937)
• Immanuel Jakobovits (1949–1958)
• Isaac Cohen (1959–1979)
• David Rosen (1979–1984)
• Ephraim Mirvis (1984–1992)
• Gavin Broder (1996–2000)
• Yaakov Pearlman (2001–2008)

[edit] 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.

Military Rabbinate[link]

• Shlomo Goren (1948–1968)
• Mordechai Peron (1968–1977)
• Gad Navon (1977–2000)
• Israel Weiss (2000–2006)
• Avichai Rontzki (2006–2010)
• Rafi Peretz (2010–present)

[edit] Lebanon

• Moïse Yedid-Levy (1799–1829)
• Ralph Alfandari
• Youssef el Mann
• Aharoun Yedid-Levy
• Zaki Cohen (1875)
• Menaché Ezra Sutton
• Jacob Bukai
• Haïm Dana
• Moïse Yedid-Levy
• Nassim Afandi Danon (1908–1909)
• Jacob Tarrab (1910–1921)
• Salomon Tagger (1921–1923)
• Shabtai Bahbout (1924–1950)
• Benzion Lichtman (1932–1959)
• Jacob Attiyeh (1949–1966)
• Yakoub Chreim (1960–1978)

[edit] Mexico

• Shlomo Tawil (2002–Present)

[edit] Macedonia (Republic of Macedonia)

• Avi Kozma

[edit] Morocco

• Mardo Chee Bengio ^[14]
• Rabbi Mikail Encaoua
• Chalom Messas (1961–1978)

[edit] Norway

• Michael Melchior (1980–present^[update])

[edit] Panama

• Zion Levy (1951–2008) Sephardic Chief Rabbi

[edit] Poland

• Moses Fishel (1541–1542)
• Ber Percowicz (1945–1961)
• Uszer Zibes (1961–1966)
• Zew Wawa Morejno (1966–1973)
• Pinchas Menachem Joskowicz (1988–1999)
• Michael Schudrich (2004–present^[update])

Poland: Armed Forces[link]

• Chaim Elizjer Frankl (???-1933)
• Major Baruch Steinberg (1933- circa 12 April 1940) murdered by NKVD in the Katyn massacre

[edit] Romania

• Yaakov Yitzhak Neimerov (d. 1940)
• Alexandru Safran (1940–1948)
• Moses Rosen (1948–1994)
• Menachem Hacohen (1997–2011)

[edit] Russia

• Adolf Shayevich (1983, officially since 1993–present^[update])
• Berel Lazar (2000–present^[update])

Military Rabbinate[link]

• Aharon Gurevich (2007–present^[update])

[edit] Serbia

• Isak Asiel

[edit] Singapore

• Mordechai Abergel

[edit] Slovakia

• Baruch Myers

[edit] South Africa

• Joseph H. Hertz (1898–1911) (unofficial)
• Yehudah Leib Landau (1915–1942)
• Louis Rabinowitz (1945–1961)
• Bernard M. Casper (1963–1987)
• Cyril Harris (1988–2004)
• Warren Goldstein (2005–present^[update])

[edit] Spain

• 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^[update])

[edit] Thailand

• Yosef Kantor

Transylvania (before 1918)[link]

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

[edit] Tunisia

• Chaim Madar (1984–2004)

[edit] Turkey

• Eli Capsali (1452–1454)
• Moses Capsali (1454–1497)
• Elijah Mizrachi (1497–1526)
• Mordechai Komitano (1526–1542)
• Tam ben Yahya (1542–1543)
• Eli Rozanes ha - Levi (1543)
• Eli ben Hayim (1543–1602)
• Yehiel Bashan (1602–1625)
• Joseph Mitrani (1625–1639)
• Yomtov Benyaes (1639–1642)
• Yomtov Hananiah Benyakar (1642–1677)
• Chaim Kamhi (1677–1715)
• Judah Benrey (1715–1717)
• Samuel Levi (1717–1720)
• Abraham Rozanes (1720–1745)
• Solomon Hayim Alfandari (1745–1762)
• Meir Ishaki (1762–1780)
• Eli Palombo (1780–1800)
• Chaim Jacob Benyakar (1800–1835)
• Abraham Levi Pasha (1835–1839)
• Samuel Hayim (1839–1841)
• Moiz Fresko (1841–1854)
• Yacob Avigdor (1854–1870)
• Yakir Geron (1870–1872)
• Moses Levi (1872–1909)
• Chaim Nahum Effendi (1909–1920)
• Shabbetai Levi (1920–1922)
• Isaac Ariel (1922–1926)
• Haim Bejerano (1926–1931)
• Haim Isaac Saki (1931–1940)
• Rafael David Saban (1940–1960)
• David Asseo (1961–2002)
• Ishak Haleva (2003–present^[update])

[edit] Uganda

• Gershom Sizomu (present^[update]) (see: Abayudaya)

[edit] Ukraine

• Yaakov Dov Bleich (1990–present^[update])—original post-communism chief rabbi, still widely recognized Chief Rabbi of Ukraine and Kiev
• Alex Dukhovny—The Progressive (Liberal/Reform) Chief Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine
• Azriel Haikin (2003–present^[update])—Chabad affiliated; not recognized as Ukraine Chief Rabbi, but heads the Ukrainian Chabad^[15]
• Moshe Reuven Azman—rabbi from Chabad, though elected mostly by secular Jewish leaders and not by any rabbinical authority^[16] (2005–present^[update])

[edit] United States

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 (e.g. Ottolengui v. Ancker) 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.^[17]

[edit] Uruguay

• Nechemia Berman (1970–1993)
• Eliahu Birenbaum (1994–1999)
• Yosef Bitton (1999–2002)
• Mordejai Maarabi (2002–2009)
• Shai Froindlich (2009–2010)

[edit] Venezuela

Chief rabbis by city[link]

Amsterdam, Netherlands[link]

Antwerp, Belgium[link]

• Chaim Kreiswirth (1953–2001)

Baltimore, United States[link]

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

Berlin, Germany[link]

• Yitshak Ehrenberg (1997-present)[3]

Birobidzhan, Russia[link]

• Mordechai Scheiner (2002–present)

Budapest, Hungary[link]

• Yonasan Steif (pre-World War II)

Caracas, Venezuela[link]

Chicago, United States[link]

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

Frankfurt, Germany[link]

• Menachem Klein

Gateshead, United Kingdom[link]

• Shraga Feivel Zimmerman

Haifa, Israel[link]

Hebron, Israel[link]

• Chaim Hezekiah Medini (1891–1904)
• Dov Lior - present

Hoboken, United States[link]

• Chaim Hirschensohn (1904–1935). His post included Hoboken, Jersey City, Union Hill and the Environs.^[19]

Hong Kong, China[link]

• Jonathan Sacks

Jerusalem, Israel[link]

Edah HaChareidis[link]

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.

• Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (c.1920–1932)
• Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (I) (1932–1948)
• Zelig Reuven Bengis (1948–1953)
• Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1953–1979)
• Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss (1979–1989)
• Moshe Aryeh Freund (1989–1996)
• Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky (1996–2002)
• Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss (2002–present^[update])

Leiden, Netherlands[link]

• Simon de Vries

Milan, Italy[link]

• Avraham David Shaumann
• Elia Kopciovsky (195?–1980)
• Giuseppe Laras (1980–2005)
• Alfonso Arbib (2005–present^[update])

Montreal, Canada[link]

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

Moscow, Russia[link]

• Yakov Maze (prior to 1924–1933)
• Shmaryahu Yehudah Leib Medalia (1933–1938)
• Shmuel Leib Medalia (1943)
• Shmuel Leib Levin (1943–1944)
• Shlomo Shleifer (1944–1957)
• Yehuda Leib Levin (1957–1972)
• Adolf Shayevich (1983, officially since 1993–present^[update])
• Pinchas Goldschmidt (1987–present)

Munich, Germany[link]

• Yitshak Ehrenberg (1989-1997)[4]
• Pinchos Biberfeld, moved back to Germany from where he had emigrated to Israel over 50 years earlier. (1980–1999)

Netherlands - Inter-Provincial Chief rabbinate[link]

• Dov Yehuda Schochet (1946–1952) [Chief Rabbi of The Hague]
• Elieser Berlinger (1960–1985)
• Binyomin Jacobs (2008–recent)

New York City, United States[link]

• 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[link]

• Dr. Ernest Klein (1931–1944)

Rome, Italy[link]

• Israel Zolli (1940–1943)
• Elio Toaff (1951–2002)
• Riccardo Di Segni (2002–present^[update])

Rotterdam, Netherlands[link]

• Josiah Pardo (1648–1669)^{[citation needed]} See his Haskama - Approbation to Sefer Nachalat Shiva, edition Amsterdam 1667, where he is mentioned as Chief Rabbi of both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi congregations in Rotterdam
• Judah Salomon (1682)^[23]
• Judah Loeb ben Abraham Ephraim Asher Anshel (1700–1708)^[24]
• Solomon Ezekiel (1725–1735)^[23]
• Judah Ezekiel (1738–1755)^[23]
• Abraham Ezekiel (1755–79)^[23]
• Aryeh Leib Breslau (1741–1809)^[25]
• Judah Akiba Eger son of Akiba Eger I (invited but refused position)^[23]
• Elijah Casriel (1815–1833)^[23]
• E.J. Löwenstamm (1834–1845)^[23]
• Dr. Joseph Isaacsohn (1850–1871; one of three sons-in-law of Rabbi J. Ettlinger who were Chief Rabbis in the Netherlands)^[23]
• Dr. Bernhard Löbel Ritter (1885–1928)^[26][27]
• Simon Hirsch (1928–1930)^[27]
• Aaron Davids (1930–1944)^[27]
• Justus Tal (1945–1954)^[28]
• Salomon Rodrigues Pereira (1954–1959)^[28]
• Levie Vorst (1959–1971)^[28]
• Daniel Kahn (1972–1975)^[28]
• Albert Hutterer (1975–1977)^[28]
• Dov Salzmann (1986–1988)^[28]
• Lody van de Kamp^{[citation needed]}
• Raphael Evers^{[citation needed]}

Sofia, Bulgaria[link]

• Daniel Zion (in World War II)
• Asher Hannanel (in World War II)

St. Louis, Missouri[link]

• Chaim Fischel Epstein
• Menachem Zvi Eichenstein (1943–1982)
• Sholom Rivkin (1983-2011)^[29]

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia[link]

Great Synagogue[link]

• Rabbi Raymond Apple (1972–2004)^[30]
• Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence (2005–present)^[30]

Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel[link]

Sephardi[link]

• Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1911–1939)
• Ya'akov Moshe Toledano (1942–1960)
• Ovadia Yosef (1968–1973)
• Hayim David HaLevi (1973–1998?)

Toronto, Canada[link]

• Avraham Aharon Price
• Gedaliah Felder

Vienna, Austria[link]

• Yitshak Ehrenberg (1983-1989)[5]
• Akiva Eisenberg
• Paul Chaim Eisenberg

Warsaw, Poland[link]

• Pinchas Menachem Joskowicz (1988–1999)
• Baruch Rabinowitz (1999–2000)
• Michael Schudrich (2000–present^[update])

References[link]

1. ^ Cameron Brown. "Rabbi Ovadia Yosef And His Culture War In Israel". Meria.idc.ac.il. http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a3.html. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
2. ^ Jerusalem Post, 8 December 2010
3. ^ "Jewish Travel Advisor". Jewish Travel Advisor. http://www.jewishtraveladvisor.com/kosher-restaurant-dt.php?rn=El%20Pasaje%20Express&ac=Buenos%20Aires&restaurantid=43. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Yerushaseinu 5771. http://pelorous.totallyplc.com/media_manager/public/76/Early%20Years%20of%20London%20-%20You%20and%20US.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. ^ Elsebeth Paikin (2004-05-21). "Rabbis in Denmark - JewishGen Scandinavia SIG". Jewishgen.org. http://www.jewishgen.org/Scandinavia/rabbis.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
9. ^ "Personality of the week: Issachar Berush Eskeles". Beit Hatefutsot. http://www.bh.org.il/NAMES/POW/Eskeles.asp. 
10. ^ "Weiss, Joseph Hirsch". JewishEncyclopedia.com. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=106&letter=W&search=Weiss%20Chief%20Hungary. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
11. ^ "RootsWeb: WISE-L [WISE] Treasure found - autobiography of Stephen WISE". Archiver.rootsweb.com. 2001-04-28. http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/WISE/2001-04/0988484615. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
12. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
13. ^ "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. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D04E3D6173EE733A25754C1A96E9C946897D6CF. Retrieved 2010-04-28. 
14. ^ "MOORISH JEWS GRATEFUL.; Chief Rabbi Thanks Us for Our Action at Algeciras Conference". The New York Times. 10 June 1906. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B02EFDD173EE733A25753C1A9609C946797D6CF. 
15. ^ "Ukraine's Second Chief Rabbi?". NCSJ. 2003-09-15. http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/091503JTA_Ukraine.shtml. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
16. ^ "Ukrainian community split over chief rabbi - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix". Jewishaz.com. 2005-10-28. http://www.jewishaz.com/issues/story.mv?051028+chief. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
17. ^ Sarna, Jonathan (2004). American Judaism: A History. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 105. ISBN 0-300-10976-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ujw_IawuIIgC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=chief%20rabbi&f=false. 
18. ^ ^{a b} Bleich, J.D. (1989). Contemporary Halakhic Problems; Volume 16. KTAV Publishing House. pp. 63–4. ISBN 978-0-88125-315-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=gcvvoN9T9mMC&pg=PA64&dq=%22saul+lowenstam%22&hl=en&ei=DCOYTJyzD4T68AaVnY3zDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22saul%20lowenstam%22&f=false. 
19. ^ Title page of Malki Ba-Kodesh, vol. 2; Hoboken, 1921
20. ^ ^{a b} "Bnei Brak rabbi named to new beit din post". Web.archive.org. 2006-04-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20060427030621/http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7872. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
21. ^ "Frum Jewish News". The Yeshiva World. 2006-11-30. http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/?p=3993#more-3993. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
22. ^ "Grand Rabbinat du Québec". Rabbinat.qc.ca. http://www.rabbinat.qc.ca/. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
23. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Jacobs, Joseph; Slijper, E.. "Netherlands". The Jewish Encyclopedia. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=197&letter=N. "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)." 
24. ^ Jizkor Platenatlas p 37, 1978. 
25. ^ Landman, Isaac (1941). The Universal Jewish encyclopedia. 5. "... and the chief rabbi of Rotterdam, Aryeh Leib Breslau (1781–1809)" 
26. ^ 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." 
27. ^ ^{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." 
28. ^ ^{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." 
29. ^ 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. http://www.stljewishlight.com/news/local/article_b349dea8-1e62-11e0-bc81-001cc4c03286.html. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
30. ^ ^{a b} Sydney's new Chief Rabbi, David Rutledge, ABC "Religion Report", ABC Online, 1 June 2005, accessed 5 April 2010

External links[link]

• Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
• Chief Rabbi of South Africa

Chief Rabbi the Right Honourable  The Lord Sacks  Kt
Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Position	Chief Rabbi
Organisation	United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Began	1991
Ended	Incumbent
Predecessor	The Lord Jakobovits
Personal details
Born	(1948-03-08) March 8, 1948 (age 64) London, England
Nationality	British
Denomination	Orthodox
Spouse	Elaine Taylor Sacks
Children	Joshua, Dina and Gila
Alma mater	Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge New College, Oxford King's College London
Semicha	Jews' College and Etz Chaim Yeshiva (London)

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Kt (born 8 March 1948, London) is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name is Yaakov Zvi. As the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the UK, he is the Chief Rabbi of the British Orthodox synagogues, but he is not a religious authority for the Federation of Synagogues or the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or the other movements, Masorti, Reform and Liberal Judaism.^[1][2]

Family[link]

He is married with three children.^[3] One of his daughters, Gila Sacks, is a former Special Adviser to Gordon Brown.

Education[link]

Sacks was educated at St Mary's Primary School and Christ's College Finchley, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (MA), New College, Oxford, King's College London (PhD), Jews' College London and Etz Chaim Yeshiva (London).^[4]

In addition to the PhD he earned at King's College,^[5] he has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of: Cambridge; Glasgow; Haifa; Middlesex; Yeshiva University; Liverpool and St. Andrews, Roehampton University and is an honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius and King's College London.

Career[link]

In September 1991 Sacks succeeded Lord Jakobovits as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Prior to taking up his current post, Rabbi Sacks was Principal of Jews' College, as well as rabbi of the Golders Green and Marble Arch synagogues.^[6]

Sacks heads the Chief Rabbi's Cabinet^[4] consisting of fourteen other rabbis who advise him on a number of areas, such as Jewish education, Israel, Jewish-Christian relations, matters relating to the Beit Din (Jewish court), and several other areas of concern to the Jewish community. The Chief Rabbi's Cabinet meets on a quarterly basis and its members are entitled to represent the Chief Rabbi at public events.

Sacks had been Principal of Jews' College, London, the world's oldest rabbinical seminary, as well as rabbi of the Golders Green (1978–1982) and Marble Arch (1983–1990) Synagogues in London. He gained rabbinic ordination from Jews' College as well as from London's Etz Chaim Yeshiva (London).

Praise and recognition[link]

In September 2001 the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on him a doctorate of divinity in recognition of his first ten years in the Chief Rabbinate of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.

In 2004, his book The Dignity of Difference was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for Religion.

Sacks was knighted in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2005 "For services to the Community and to Inter-faith Relations."^[7]

He was made an Honorary Freeman of the London Borough of Barnet in September 2006.^[8]

On 13 July 2009 it was announced that Sacks was recommended for a life peerage with a seat in the House of Lords by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.^[9][10] He took the style Baron Sacks of Aldgate in the City of London.^[11]

He was invited to the wedding of Prince William of Wales and Kate Middleton as a representative for the Jewish community.^[12]

Views[link]

Some Orthodox opposition[link]

After the publication of his book The Dignity of Difference, a group of Haredi rabbis, most notably Rabbis Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Bezalel Rakow, accused Sacks of heresy against what they consider the traditional Orthodox viewpoint (although many Orthodox Jews and others as well consider the Haredi'im sector "ultra-Orthodox" rather than merely "Orthodox," see Haredi article). According to them, some words seemed to imply an endorsement of pure relativism between religions, and that Judaism is not the sole true religion, e.g. "No one creed has a monopoly on spiritual truth." This led him to rephrase more clearly some sentences in the book for its second edition, though he refused to recall books already in the stores.^[13]

In his "Preface to the Second Edition" of the book, Sacks wrote that certain passages in the book had been misconstrued: he had already explicitly criticised cultural and religious relativism in his book, and he did not deny Judaism's uniqueness. He also stressed however that mainstream rabbinic teachings teach that wisdom, righteousness and the possibility of a true relationship with God are all available in non-Jewish cultures and religions as an on-going heritage from the covenant that God made with Noah and all his descendants, so the tradition teaches that one does not need to be Jewish to know God or truth or to attain salvation.^[14][15] As this diversity of covenantal bonds implies, however, traditional Jewish sources do clearly deny that any one creed has a monopoly on spiritual truth. Monopolistic and simplistic claims of universal truth he has characterized as imperialistic, pagan and Platonic, and not Jewish at all.^[16]

Efforts to accommodate Haredi Jews[link]

A book by the British historian and journalist Meir Persoff, Another Way, Another Time, has argued that "Sacks’s top priority has been staying in the good graces of the Haredi, or strictly Orthodox, faction, whose high birthrate has made it the fastest-growing component of British Jewry." But, Persoff has argued, "the Orthodox circles Sacks strives to placate will never consider him Orthodox enough no matter what he does."^[17]

Rabbi Gryn and Rabbi Jacobs[link]

Sacks provoked considerable controversy in the Anglo-Jewish community in 1996 when he refused to attend the funeral service of the late Reform Rabbi Hugo Gryn and a private letter he had written in Hebrew, which (in translation) asserted that Gryn was "among those who destroy the faith," was leaked and published. He wrote further that he was an "enemy" of the Reform, Liberal and Masorti movements, leading some to reject the notion that he is "Chief Rabbi" for all Jews in Britain. He attended a memorial meeting for Gryn, a move that brought the wrath of some in the ultra-Orthodox community.^[18][19] Rabbi Dow Marmur argued that after attending the memorial service, Sacks then attempted to placate the ultra-Orthodox community, an attempt which Marmur has described as “neurotic and cowardly."^[20]

A similar stance was taken by Sacks and his Beth Din when they prevented the retired Rabbi Louis Jacobs, who had helped establish the British branch of the Masorti movement, from being called up for the Reading of the Torah on the Saturday before his grand-daughter's wedding.^[21]

Secularism and Europe's changing demographics[link]

Sacks has expressed concern at what he regards as the negative effects of materialism and secularism in European society, arguing that they undermine the basic values of family life and lead to selfishness. In 2009 Sacks gave an address claiming that Europeans have chosen consumerism over the self-sacrifice of parenting children, and that "the major assault on religion today comes from the neo-Darwinians." He argued that Europe is in population decline "because non-believers lack shared values of family and community that religion has."^{[22][23][24][25]}

Consumerism and Steve Jobs[link]

Rabbi Sacks made remarks at an inter-faith reception attended by the Queen, in November 2011, in which he criticised what he believed to be the selfish consumer culture that has only brought unhappiness. "The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i, i, i. When you're an individualist, egocentric culture and you only care about 'I,’ you don’t do terribly well." ^{[26][27][28][29]} In a later statement, the Chief Rabbi's office said "The Chief Rabbi meant no criticism of either Steve Jobs personally or the contribution Apple has made to the development of technology in the 21st century."^[26]

Current positions[link]

• Rabbi and Spiritual Leader, Western Marble Arch Synagogue, London (since May 1, 2004).
• Jakobovits Professor in modern Jewish thought, Jews' College London, 1982.
• Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth (since September 1, 1991).
• Visiting professor of theology at King's College London.
• Honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1993.
• Presentation (Honorary) fellow, King's College London, 1993.
• Member of the Board of World Religious Leaders, The Elijah Interfaith Institute.^[30]

Previous positions held[link]

• Lecturer in moral philosophy, Middlesex Polytechnic, 1971–1973.
• Lecturer, Jews' College London, 1973–82; director of its rabbinic facility, 1983–1990; Principal, 1984–1990.
• Visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Essex, 1989–1990.
• Sherman lecturer at the University of Manchester, 1989.
• Riddell lecturer at the University of Newcastle.
• Cook lecturer at the University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews.
• Visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sacks is also a frequent guest on both television and radio, and regularly contributes to the national press. He delivered the 1990 [[BBC]] [[Reith Lectures]] on The Persistence of Faith].

Works by Jonathan Sacks[link]

• Traditional alternatives: Orthodoxy and the future of the Jewish people (1989)
• Tradition in an Untraditional Age (1990)
• BBC Reith Lectures: The Persistence of Faith (1990)
• Persistence of Faith (1991)
• Arguments for the Sake of Heaven (1991)
• Crisis and Covenant (1992)
• One People? (1993)
• Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren? (1994)
• Community of Faith (1995)
• Torah Studies: Discourses by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (1996)
• The Politics of Hope (1997 revised 2nd edition 2000)
• Morals and Markets (1999)
• Celebrating Life (2000)
• Radical Then, Radical Now (published in America as A Letter in the Scroll) (2001)
• Dignity of Difference (2002) (Grawemeyer Award winner)
• The Chief Rabbi's Haggadah (2003)
• To Heal a Fractured World – The Ethics of Responsibility (2005)
• The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Fourth Edition (2006)
• The Home We Build Together – Recreating Society (2007)
• The Koren Sacks Siddur (2009)
• Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible (2009)
• Future Tense: Jews, Judaism, and Israel in the Twenty-first Century (2009)
• The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search For Meaning (2011)
• The Koren Sacks Rosh HaShana Mahzor (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Jonathan Sacks

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jonathan Sacks

• Office of the Chief Rabbi
• Koren Publishers Jerusalem website
• Amazon Author Page
• The 1990 BBC Reith Lectures 1990: The Persistence of Faith