Chief Rabbi


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 Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, Israel has had two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi.
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. 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. Similarly, in the 19th century there was a Crown rabbi of the Russian Empire.

By country/region

Albania

Argentina

Sephardi (Syrian)

  • Salomon Benhamu
  • Yosef Chehebar

    Ashkenazi

Austria

Ashkenazi

Galicia is a historical region in Eastern Europe, that today forms part of Poland and Ukraine; the title of its Chief Rabbi was abolished on November 1, 1786 as part of the Josephinism Reforms.
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.

Greece

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 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. 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