Chief Rabbi Explained

Chief Rabbi (Hebrew: רב ראשי|translit=Rav Rashi) 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 Ben-Zion Meir Hai 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.

Jewish law provides no scriptural or Talmudic support for the post of a "chief rabbi." The office, however, is said by many to find its precedent in the religio-political authority figures of Jewish antiquity (e.g., kings, high priests, patriarchs, exilarchs and geonim).[2] The position arose in Europe in the Middle Ages from governing authorities largely for secular administrative reasons such as collecting taxes and registering vital statistics, and for providing an intermediary between the government and the Jewish community, for example in the establishment of the Crown rabbi in several kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula, the rab de la corte in the Kingdom of Castile or the arrabi mor in the Kingdom of Portugal, likely influenced by the expectations of their Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican governments and neighbors.[3] Similarly, in the 19th century there was a Crown rabbi of the Russian Empire.[4]

By country/region

Albania

Argentina

Sephardi (Syrian)

Sephardi

Ashkenazi

Austria

Belgium

Bulgaria

Chile

Colombia

Ashkenazi

Sephardi

Chabad

Cuba

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Denmark

Ecuador

Egypt

Estonia

The Far East

Finland

Chabad Lubavitch Chief Rabbi of Finland

France

Galicia

Galicia in Central/Eastern Europe, as a political entity, ceased to exist in 1921; the title of its Chief Rabbi had already been abolished 1 November 1786 as part of the Josephinism Reforms.[18] [19]

Due to its being a center for Jewish scholarship, the Rabbi of Lemberg was traditionally seen as the Rabbi of Galicia in the era prior to World War II.[20]

Greece

Guatemala

Honduras

Hong Kong

Hungary

Note that this list is not in chronological order.

Iran

See main article: List of Chief Rabbis of Iran.

Ireland

The appointment of a new Chief Rabbi of Ireland has been put on hold since 2008.[25] A new Rabbi, Yoni Wieder was appointed in 2023. [26]

Israel

See 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

Ashkenazi

Military Rabbinate

Japan

Latvia

Lebanon

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Mexico

North Macedonia

Morocco

Nepal

Norway

Panama

Peru

[33]

Poland

See also: List of Polish Rabbis.

Poland: Armed Forces

Romania

Russia

See main article: Chief Rabbi of Russia.

Military Rabbinate

Serbia

Singapore

Slovakia

South Africa

Spain

The following are Chief Rabbis of the Jewish Community of Madrid (CJM):

Sudan

Syria

Thailand

Transylvania (before 1918)

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

Tunisia

Turkey

See also: Hakham Bashi.

Chabad

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom and Commonwealth

Presbyter Judaeorum (England)

See main article: Presbyter Judaeorum.

Ashkenazi chief rabbis

See also: List of chief rabbis of the United Hebrew Congregations.

Spanish and Portuguese community Hahamim/senior rabbis

The Sephardi Jews in the United Kingdom are mainly members of independent synagogues. There is no single rabbi recognised by them as a chief rabbi. The Spanish and Portuguese community, however, consists of several synagogues, charities, a beth din and a kashruth authority. These are under the leadership of an ecclesiastical head. Historically, the individual who fills this role is recognised as a senior rabbi of Anglo Jewry, being the leader of the oldest Jewish community in the country. The Senior Rabbi was traditionally given the title, Haham, meaning "wise one". Since 1918, however, only Solomon Gaon was given this title. The official title of the holder of this office is now The Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the United Kingdom.

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 York City, 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.[41]

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Venezuela

Sephardi

Ashkenazi

By city

Alexandria, Egypt

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Ashkenazi

Sephardi

Antwerp, Belgium

Baltimore, Maryland – United States

Birobidzhan, Russia

Budapest, Hungary

Caracas, Venezuela

Ashkenazi

Sephardi

Chicago, Illinois – United States

Copenhagen, Denmark

Frankfurt, Germany

Gateshead, United Kingdom

The Hague, Netherlands

Haifa, Israel

Ashkenazi

Sephardi

Hannover, Germany

Hebron, West Bank

Helsinki, Finland

Hoboken, New Jersey – United States

Jerusalem

Sephardi

Ashkenazi

Edah HaChareidis

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.

Kyiv, Ukraine

Krakow, Poland

Leiden, Netherlands

Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands

Milan, Italy

Modi'in Illit, Israel

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Ashkenazi

Sephardi

Moscow, Russia

Munich, Germany

Netherlands – Inter-Provincial Chief rabbinate

New York, New York – United States

Nové Zámky, Slovakia

Paris, France

Rome, Italy

Rotterdam, Netherlands

Shanghai, China

Sofia, Bulgaria

St. Louis, Missouri – United States

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel

Sephardi

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Vienna, Austria

Warsaw, Poland

Würzburg, Germany

Zagreb, Croatia

"Grand Rabbi"

Occasionally, the term "Grand Rabbi" is used to note a Hasidic Rebbe, particularly used on letterhead when the letterhead is in English.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Cameron Brown . Rabbi Ovadia Yosef And His Culture War in Israel . Meria.idc.ac.il . 9 November 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111029213241/http://meria.idc.ac.il/journal/2000/issue4/jv4n4a3.html . 29 October 2011.
  2. Web site: Judaism: The Chief Rabbinate . The Jewish Virtual Library . American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) . 4 June 2020.
  3. Encyclopedia: The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion . Berlin . Adele . Adele Berlin . Himelstein . Shmuel . Chief Rabbinate . 2nd . 2011 . Oxford University Press . Oxford; New York . 978-0-19-973004-9 . 166 . 6 June 2015.
  4. Encyclopedia: The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe . Kaplan Appel . Tamar . Crown Rabbi . 3 August 2010 . Yale University Press . 9780300119039 . 170203576 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150327120806/http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Crown_Rabbi . 2015-03-27 . 2015-05-31 .
  5. News: Chief rabbi installed in Albania. 16 April 2019. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 12 December 2010.
  6. Web site: Jewish Travel Advisor . Jewish Travel Advisor . 9 November 2011 . 20 March 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080320075313/http://www.jewishtraveladvisor.com/kosher-restaurant-dt.php?rn=El%20Pasaje%20Express&ac=Buenos%20Aires&restaurantid=43 . dead .
  7. Web site: Jews of Bulgaria. geni_family_tree.
  8. Web site: Chinuch.org::Gedolim Yahrtzeits . chinuch.org.
  9. Web site: Goldstein . Jack . Entrevista con el Gran Rabino del Centro Israelita de Bogotá, Alfredo Goldschmidt . Valija de Apócrifos . es . 18 March 2021.
  10. Web site: Judíos llegaron para quedarse en la localidad de Chapinero. Casa Editorial El. Tiempo. 24 October 2007. El Tiempo.
  11. Web site: Clergy – B'nai Sephardim Synagogue . mybnai.com.
  12. http://www.masortiworld.org/news/monthly-report/12-05/update-activities.htm Rabbis of Chilean Masorti Forum meet with Mr. Zeev Bielsky
  13. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Cuba.html The Virtual Jewish History Tour Cuba
  14. http://www.hadassah.org/news/content/per_hadassah/archive/2005/05_JAN/traveler.asp The Jewish Traveler: Havana
  15. Web site: 2021-12-03. Pope Francis meets with Chief Rabbi of Cyprus – Vatican News. 2022-01-09. vaticannews.va. en.
  16. News: DAN. BILEFSKY. Dan Bilefsky. Hard Times Give New Life to Prague's Golem. The New York Times. 10 May 2009. 19 March 2013.
  17. Web site: Elsebeth Paikin . Rabbis in Denmark – JewishGen Scandinavia SIG . Jewishgen.org . 21 May 2004 . 9 November 2011 .
  18. Web site: YIVO Inst. for . Jewish Research . Josephinian Reforms . YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe . YIVO Inst. for Jewish Research . 15 May 2020.
  19. Web site: YIVO Ins. for . Jewish Research . Galicia . YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe . YIVO Inst. for Jewish Research . 15 May 2020.
  20. Web site: Jewish . Telegraphic Agency . Vacancy in Lemberg . jta.org . 29 August 1928 . Jewish Telegraphic Agency . 15 May 2020.
  21. News: First Chief Rabbi of Honduras will be its only religious Jew . Israel National News.
  22. Web site: Issachar Berush Eskeles . .
  23. Web site: Weiss, Joseph Hirsch . JewishEncyclopedia.com . 9 November 2011.
  24. Web site: RootsWeb: WISE-L [WISE] Treasure found – autobiography of Stephen WISE |publisher=Archiver.rootsweb.com |date=28 April 2001 |access-date=9 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080319125114/http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/WISE/2001-04/0988484615 |archive-date=19 March 2008 |url-status=dead].
  25. Web site: Ireland's De facto Chief Rabbi. Chabad on Line. collive. 19 July 2009.
  26. Web site: Rabbi Yoni Wieder appointed as Rabbi of the Republic of Ireland. – the Rabbinic Training Academy .
  27. http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jspartid=2123&letter=A&search=auerbach
  28. News: 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 . 17 August 1909 . 28 April 2010.
  29. News: Japan Gets First-Ever Chief Rabbi. 17 September 2015.
  30. News: MOORISH JEWS GRATEFUL.; Chief Rabbi Thanks Us for Our Action at Algeciras Conference . The New York Times . 10 June 1906.
  31. Web site: Le nouveau grand rabbin du Maroc a été nommé. 2019-04-15. Al HuffPost Maghreb. fr. 2019-04-15.
  32. News: Israeli Rabbi Michael Melchior Seen as Contender for Britain's Chief Rabbi Post . Haaretz.
  33. Web site: Nuestra Comunidad . Certificación Kosher . es.
  34. Encyclopedia: Pollak, Ya'akov ben Yosef . Elchanan . Reiner . Jeffrey Green . YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe . 11 October 2010.
  35. Web site: 2018-06-11. Singapore, a 'Model of Religious Harmony' – an Interview With Chief Rabbi Mordechai Abergel – Hamodia.com. 2022-01-09. Hamodia. en.
  36. News: . 1998-12-04. N.J. native left home to become chief rabbi to 400 Slovak Jews. 2022-01-09. J.. en-US.
  37. Web site: Abboudi . Daisy . Tales of Jewish Sudan .
  38. "Rymer Toedera," i. 591
  39. Book: Yerushaseinu 5771.
  40. Web site: Sephardim vote in new rabbinic head with massive majority.
  41. Book: Sarna, Jonathan. American Judaism: A History. Jonathan Sarna. registration. chief rabbi.. 2004. Yale University Press. New Haven. 0-300-10976-8. 105.
  42. News: In Bukhara, 10,000 Jewish Graves but Just 150 Jews. The New York Times. 7 April 2018.
  43. Book: Bleich, J.D.. J.D. Bleich. Contemporary Halakhic Problems; Volume 16. 1989. KTAV Publishing House. 978-0-88125-315-3. 63–4.
  44. Web site: Hakham Emeritus Dr. P. Toledano – Portugees-Israëlietische Gemeente . 7 December 2021 . en-US.
  45. Web site: 2008-05-15 . Gateshead Crowns Its New Rov . 2024-08-09 . www.theyeshivaworld.com . en-US.
  46. Web site: Sugarman . Daniel . Federation of Synagogues hires Rabbi Shraga Feivel Zimmerman, current head rabbi of Gateshead, as new Av Beth Din . 2024-08-09 . www.thejc.com . en.
  47. Muir . Simo . Tuori . Riikka . 2019 . 'The Golden Chain of Pious Rabbis': the origin and development of Finnish Jewish Orthodoxy . Nordisk Judaistik/Scandinavian Jewish Studies . 30 . 1 . 8–34 . 10.30752/nj.77253 . 191845568 . 2343-4929. free .
  48. Title page of Malki Ba-Kodesh, vol. 2; Hoboken, 1921
  49. Web site: Biography of Rabbi Chaim Berlin (1832-1912) . 2021-04-23 . 2022-01-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220121211939/https://www.rabbimeirbaalhaneis.com/Rabbi%20Chaim%20Berlin.asp . dead .
  50. Web site: Bnei Brak rabbi named to new beit din post . https://web.archive.org/web/20060427030621/http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7872 . 27 April 2006 . 27 April 2006 . 9 November 2011.
  51. Web site: Frum Jewish News . The Yeshiva World . 30 November 2006 . 9 November 2011.
  52. Web site: Jewish Community Council Montreal | Rabbi's| Our Rabbi's | Meet Our Rabbi's | JCC Montreal. 9 November 2018.
  53. Web site: Grand Rabbinat du Québec . Rabbinat.qc.ca . 9 November 2011.
  54. Liphshiz, Cnaan Exiled from Russia, Pinchas Goldschmidt is formally out as Moscow’s chief rabbi after 29 years Jewish Telegraphic Agency 6 July 2022 https://www.jta.org/2022/07/06/global/exiled-from-russia-pinchas-goldschmidt-is-formally-out-as-moscows-chief-rabbi-after-29-years
  55. Web site: Rab. Y. Ehrenberg – Jewish Community of Berlin . Jg-berlin.org . 18 October 2012.
  56. Web site: Consistoire – Consistoire de paris. 17 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140502004203/http://www.consistoire.org/127.le-consistoire-de-paris?PHPSESSID=05ajt7nmqe14gd8atdsta6sse4. 2 May 2014. dead.
  57. http://www.archieven.nl/pls/m/zk2.inv?p_q=64729996{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  58. Book: The Jewish Encyclopedia. http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=197&letter=N. Netherlands. Joseph. Jacobs. E.. Slijper. 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)..
  59. Book: Jizkor Platenatlas. 37 . 1978.
  60. Book: Landman, Isaac. The Universal Jewish encyclopedia. 5. 1941. ... and the chief rabbi of Rotterdam, Aryeh Leib Breslau (1781–1809).
  61. Book: Geschiedenis van de joodse gemeenschap in Nederland. History of the Jewish Community in the Netherlands. Jozeph. Michman. Hartog. Beem. Dan. Michman. 1999. 522. In 1885 werd rabbijn dr Bernard Löbel Ritter tot rabbijn van Rotterdam benoemd..
  62. Book: Geschiedenis van de joodse gemeenschap in Nederland. History of the Jewish Community in the Netherlands. Jozeph. Michman. Hartog. Beem. Dan. Michman. 1999. 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..
  63. Book: Geschiedenis van de joodse gemeenschap in Nederland. History of the Jewish Community in the Netherlands. Jozeph. Michman. Hartog. Beem. Dan. Michman. 1999. 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..
  64. Web site: 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 . 12 January 2011 . 9 November 2011 . 10 October 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111010055824/http://www.stljewishlight.com/news/local/article_b349dea8-1e62-11e0-bc81-001cc4c03286.html . dead .

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