Leaders and Their Research of Our Religion

 Nadene Goldfoot                   

            Abraham (1945 BCE) and wife Sarah started the ball rolling with their different outlook on religion.  They begat Isaac together, but Abe also begat Ishmael with Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian handmaid in order to produce more than one child.  Isaac then begat through 4 women, 12 sons and a daughter, eventually producing the religion coming from them, Judaism.  Ishmael produced  the religion-Islam through Mohammad (born in 570-died in 632).  

The Catholics have had a Pope, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.  Born Jewish. First pope. Apostle of Jesus. . The Catholic Church recognizes him as the first Bishop of Rome appointed by Christ. Also revered as saint in Eastern Christianity, with a feast day of 29 June. St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City is named after him.  Catholics went on a rampage against Jews in 1492 (Spanish Inquisition) that chased Jews into the 1800s into Mexico. It was a matter of competition between the religions for the Catholics.   

Today's Pope is is Jorge Mario Bergoglio . 

 Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina),  is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been sovereign of the Vatican City State since 2013. Theirs first began with Peter of Jewish birth according to their religion.  He in turn supposedly was schooled by a Bethlehemite, Jesus, also a Jew that is believed to have been the son of G-d; half man half god like the Greeks and Romans of their day.  (I note that many Jews of the Holocaust escaped to Argentina, where many Nazis also had escaped to here). Catholics came out of Roman meetings held by Constantine starting in the 4th century.     

What do we Jews have?  

In Israel, there is a Chief  Rabbi; usually two of them, one of Ashkenazi customs and one of Sephardic customs.  Mizrachi Jews fall under the category of the Sephardim  and comes from the Hebrew for Egypt, meaning all Jews born in Middle East.                                      

Yitzhak Yosef (Hebrew: יצחק יוסף, born January 16, 1952) is the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel (known as the Rishon LeZion), the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia, and the author of a set of books on halakha (Jewish law) called Yalkut Yosef. Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef Yitzhak Yosef Yosef is the son of Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and bases his halakhic rulings on his father's methodology. His books are considered foundational among large sectors of Sephardic Jews in Israel and the world. For these books, he has won the Rabbi Toledano Prize from the Tel Aviv Religious Council, as well as the Rav Kook Prize.

David Baruch Lau (Hebrew: דוד לאו; born 13 January 1966) is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. He was appointed after achieving a majority of the vote on 24 July 2013. He previously served as the Chief Rabbi of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Israel, and as the Chief Rabbi of Shoham. Lau is the son of former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.

Abraham Isaac Kook (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק הַכֹּהֵן קוּק; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (הראי״ה‎), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one of the fathers of religious Zionism, and is known for founding the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva. Upon returning from Europe in 1919, he was appointed the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and soon after, as first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Palestine in 1921.

Rabbi Borstein came after Kook.  Tragically, Rabbi Borstein died suddenly at age 58, nine months after taking up his duties. Kook died in 1935, and his student, Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Charlap, succeeded him as rosh yeshiva.

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (Hebrew: יצחק אייזיק הלוי הרצוג; 3 December 1888 – 25 July 1959) in Lomza in Russian Poland;  also known as Isaac Herzog or Hertzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936. From 1936 until his death in 1959, he was Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine and of Israel after its independence in 1948. He was the father of Chaim Herzog and grandfather of Isaac Herzog, both presidents of Israel

    Moses, as played by Charlston Heston, a handsome, intelligent man born in 1391 BCE in Egypt...dodged the bullet of sleeping with the needy wife of his boss as he grew up in the Pharaoh's school as the son of his daughter....and knew the pitfalls....Our religion of Judaism came from the teachings of Moses while on the 40 year Exodus.  He wrote the Torah---1st 5 Books of Moses  -Genesis (Bereishis) Exodus (Shemos) Leviticus (Vayikra) Numbers (Bamidbar) and Deuteronomy (Devarim), also called the Pentateuch.  

We also have his Oral Law, from oral information handed down from generation to generation  by the tradition that it was given to Moses on Sinai together with the Written Law.  During the 2nd Temple Period, it was upheld by the Pharisees and supported by the majority of the people.  Sadducees and Essenes did not validate it because they had their own traditions regarding the interpretation of the Written Law.  So what you read in the Torah is not the complete references Jews use.  The book, The Mishnah, holds the Oral Law and is the legal codification compiled by Rabbi Judah has-Nasi and arranged logically.  Copied and recorded later, it was referred to as the Talmud (Gemara).   We have 2 Talmuds;  The Babylonian one and the Palestinian one.  They are the collected records of academic discussion and judicial administration of JEWISH LAW by generations of scholars and jurists in many academies and in more than one country during several centuries after 200 CE when the Mishnah was completed.                                

The Karaites of the 8th century CE of Persia rejected the Oral Law and denied the validity of the Talmud, so they broke off from the main body of Jews.  They simply did not go along with these Babylonian gaonates (intellectual leaders).  

Hillel, "The Elder" born in 1st century BCE (100 BCE) scholar of Judaism, founder of school "House of Hillel (Bet Hillel) and ancesator of a dynasty of patriarchs which held office until the 5th century.  He was born in Babylonia and settled in Palestine as a manual laborer.  He studied with the greats, Shemaiah and Avtalyon.  Later he became President of the Sanhedrin.  His friend Shammai  was his debate partner (Zugot). Hillel was noted for his humility and tendency to leniency. We need to remind our religious parties of Hillel. 

Our Jewish belief was stated by Rabbi Hillel as the Golden Rule, and all else was just commentary.  It goes like this:  "Do not do unto others that which you would not have them do unto you."  Our religion is all about the here and now and how we behave, not about what happens when we die.  That's where trusting in G-d comes in.  We try to do the right things (Mitzvot)  and figure it couldn't hurt.  

Outside of Israel, we have only our preferred rabbi to speak to about our Jewish Law.  We have many avenues of Judaism from Reformed, Conservative to several forms of Orthodoxy.  It's like finding the right shoe that fits your foot;  what fits your outlook about Judaism.  We have no people policing us.  We practice according to our Synagogue or Temple expectations or just ourselves as we do what we want or can. 

         Some people found to be Jewish from varied cultures;  an ingathering is happening right now in Israel...

Most of us are very individualistic, anyway, people that were born to be leaders, not followers.  We're debaters, thinking and speaking about all sides of an issue. Many of our 14 million world-wide have become lawyers for this reason.  We're a small group of people, 0.02% of the world population, but seem to float to the top of the milk as cream, garnering a lot of attention. Maybe defying the world's population's beliefs and remaining with Moses' teachings do define us as such, people who took an oath and will not defy it.       

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis#:~:text=Pope%20Francis%20(Latin%3A%20Franciscus%3B,Vatican%20City%20State%20since%202013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chief_rabbis_of_Israel_and_Mandatory_Palestine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_HaLevi_Herzog

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercaz_HaRav#:~:text=Tragically%2C%20Rabbi%20Borstein%20died%20suddenly,succeeded%20him%20as%20rosh%20yeshiva.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lau#:~:text=David%20Baruch%20Lau%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%93%D7%95%D7%93,Ashkenazi%20Chief%20Rabbi%20of%20Israel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Isaac_Kook

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzhak_Yosef#:~:text=Yitzhak%20Yosef%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%99%D7%A6%D7%97%D7%A7%20%D7%99%D7%95%D7%A1%D7%A3,Jewish%20law)%20called%20Yalkut%20Yosef.

Israel, The Only Jewish State in the World and with CHIEF RABBIS

Nadene Goldfoot         
                                                                           

Israel's history has always been that of a Jewish state, created under King Saul  in the 11th century BCE (10000s) , son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin.  Following him were Kings David and his son Solomon, establishing our religion, not only the state of Israel.  Solomon died in 920 BCE. Judah including Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans. It was re-created again May 14, 1948 as Israel, a Jewish State once again.    

The star is the star of David, Melach Israel.  

All religious and personal status matters in Israel are determined by the religious authorities of the recognised confessional communities to which a person belongs. There are Jewish, Muslim and Druze communities and nine officially recognised Christian communities. 

When the British held the mandate of 30 years, the plan of 2 rabbis was created, so in 1921, Abraham Isaac (Yitzhak) Kook was the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi and Jacob Meir became the Sephardi Chief Rabbi.
                                                     

Wedding in Israel, orthodox of course.

Just before statehood in 1947, David Ben-Gurion and the religious parties decided this plan would continue.  By 1953, rabbinical courts were established with jurisdiction over matters of marriage and divorces of all Jews in Israel, nationals and residents.  Marriages and divorces of Jews in Israel would be conducted according to the law of the Torah.  Since then, the rabbinate has only approved religious marriages in Israel to be conducted by the Orthodox interpretation of halakha.  However, marriages done abroad would be recognised in Israel as valid.  The Rabbinate and their local religious councils are the only ones able to register rabbis to perform weddings, who must be Orthodox. They do have control of the marriage laws, but at the same time many defend the Chief Rabbinate as protecting the Jewish Nature of Israel, the Torah, and even Diaspora Jewry.
                                                           

     Divorce is almost impossible to get in Israel as the man has to give the 
woman a "get" and cannot be forced to do so.  It depends on the broadmindedness of the man and if he is really a mensch or not.  

The Rabbinate control also means that there are 400,000 Russians who have moved to Israel, many who are Jewish, who are not permitted to marry in Israel, forcing many to travel overseas to marry.  They were not allowed by Russia to return there, either.  I made aliyah in 1980 and was in a class of 40 Russians learning Hebrew.  We were all going to teach English in the schools.  My husband and I and another lady and gentleman in the class were the only American teachers who had taught in the US.  
                                                      

Woman speaking to the Bet Din, judges
as to why she wants to convert, etc.
This is taking place in Auckland, New Zealand

The Chief Rabbinate is recognised by the State of Israel as the sole authority to perform conversions to Judaism in Israel. This was often done sensitively and with an appreciation for halachic traditions, for example with Ben-Zion Uziel, who was very encouraging of converts. In recent generations, the interpretation of the process has become more stringent to the extent that it takes actions that are unprecedented in Jewish history such as cancelling conversions.  Some rabbis claim this centralisation is a threat to the future of the Jewish people.

                                                     

Rabbi Abraham Isaac haCohen Kook (1865-1935)

Rabbi Kook  was the rabbi in Zimel, Lithuania from 1888 to 1895, then in Boisk,  Latvia from 1895 to 1904, and after that he managed to get to Palestine.  There he was the rabbi in Jaffa from 1904.  in 1909 he permitted certain agricultural work to be done during the Sabbatical year, which was a special time.  He left for Europe in 1914, but his return to Palestine was prevented by the outbreak of WWI that same year. and so he took the job as 
                                                             

rabbi in St. Gallen Switzerland from 1914 to 1916, and in London from 1916 to 1919.  The war was then over and he returned to Jerusalem , becoming chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi community of Palestine on the establishment of the position in 1921 at the age of 56.  He established a yeshivah, now called Merkaz ha-Rav.  

He had applied his writings backed by extensive Jewish learning to current problems he was facing, and emphasized the religious aspect of Zionism.  All his writings stress the centrality of Jewish nationalism and Eretz Israel in Judaism. 

His writing career began in 1888 by editing and publishing a rabbinical journal, Ittur Sopherim.                                       

                                                      

Rabbi Yaakov Meir (b: 1856-d: 1939)

Rabbi Jacob (Yaakov) Meir  was born in 1856 in Jerusalem.  the son of successful merchant Calev Mercado. He studied the Talmud under Rabbi Menachem Bechor Yitzhak, and at age 15 began to study Kabbalah under Rabbi Aharon Azriel, an elder of the Beit El Synagogue. He married his wife Rachel at age 17, and continued to study Torah in the years after his marriage. He was among the founders of a Bikur cholim society in 1879.  He also was a Zionist and was at the forefront of the effort to revive Hebrew as a modern language. He held the post until his death.

                                                       

 

In 1882, he was sent to Bukhara as the first emissary to visit there. Bukhara is an ancient city in the central Asian country of Uzbekistan. It was a prominent stop on the Silk Road trade route between the East and the West, and a major medieval center for Islamic theology and culture. It still contains hundreds of well-preserved mosques, madrassas, bazaars and caravanserais, dating largely from the 9th to the 17th centuries.  He was received with great respect by the Jews of Bukhara, and children were named for him during his stay. He was instrumental in encouraging the immigration of Bukhara Jews to the Land of Israel. In 1885, 1888, and 1900, he visited Tunisia and Algeria as an emissary. In 1888, he was appointed a member of the Beth Din  (Rabbinic Court of Law) of Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elyashar in Jerusalem, serving in this position until 1899. Under Turkish rule, he often interceded with the authorities on behalf of the Jewish community; he also encouraged the construction of new Jewish quarters of Jerusalem, helping establish the new neighborhoods of Ezrat Yisrael, Yemin Moshe, and the Bukharim Quarter. 

In 1899, Meir was appointed deputy head of the Beth Din of Rabbi Raphael Yitzhak Yisrael. Following Elyashar's death in 1906, he was picked to succeed him as the chief rabbi of Jerusalem, but his appointment was vetoed by his opponents, supported by the Hakham Bashi in Constantinople, because of his Zionist affiliations. He was subsequently inducted as Hakham Bashi of the Land of Israel, but six months later, he was deposed by the Sultan of Turkey, and Eliyahu Moshe Panigel took charge of overseeing the Orthodox community.

He worked to bring the Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities together, and established an association called Hitachadut composed of Sephardim and Ashkenazim. He helped establish the Sha'ar Zion Hospital in Jaffa in 1891.

In 1906 he was elected Hakham Bashi, but resigned the same year.  Meir went on to be elected chief rabbi of Salonika in 1908, where he remained until 1919. He was elected chief rabbi of Jerusalem in 1911, but the Jews of Salonika prevented him from assuming the office.  From 1909 to 1919, he was chief rabbi of Salonica. Salonica/Thessaloniki is a Greek port city on the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. Evidence of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman history remains, especially around Ano Poli, the upper town. The ruins of Roman Emperor Galerius’ 4th-century palace include the Rotunda that has been both a church and a mosque. Much of the city center was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1917

In 1921 was elected Sephardi chief rabbi at age 65.  

Before the British Mandate Days, there were Chief Rabbis:

        The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem or Palestine

                                                                   

Rabbi Joseph Caro (1488-1575)
Connected to Safed with his synagogue

His codes were greeted with opposition by the Ashkenazi Jews
saying they were based on the codification of Spanish rabbis, ignoring the French and German traditions, but the Shulhan Arukh became the authoritative code and is still recognized by Orthodox Jews all through the world.  

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 (Tzfat) by Joseph Caro b: 1488-d 1575)(b. Spain) who was ordained by him.  This is an important name in Safed today.  In 1525 he went to Palestine, and founded a yeshivah in Safed where he wrote his book, House of Joseph, and compiled the Shulchan Arukh-The Prepared Table.
• There is the Joseph Caro Synagogue to visit.  
• 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
• Gedaliah Cordovero
• Yitzhak Gaon?
• Israel Benjamin
• Jacob Zemah (b. Portugal)
• Samuel Garmison (b. Greece)

         Chief Rabbi's of Israel Today

Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau, born in 1966 began in 2015.

Sephardi Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, born in 1952, began in 2013.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/rabbi-jacob-meir

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Isaac_Kook#:~:text=Abraham%20Isaac%20Kook%20(Hebrew%3A%20%D7%90%D6%B7%D7%91%D6%B0%D7%A8%D6%B8%D7%94%D6%B8%D7%9D,the%20founder%20of%20Yeshiva%20Mercaz

https://www.itim.org.il/en/itim-guide-to-converting-to-judaism-in-israel/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chief_Rabbis_of_Israel