Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Encyclopedia
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The Chief Rabbinate Council assists the two chief rabbis, who alternate in its presidency. It has legal and administrative authority to organize religious arrangements for Israel's Jews. It also responds to halakhic questions submitted by Jewish public bodies in the Diaspora. The Council sets guides, and supervises agencies within its authority. Rabbi Ela Harari of The Hatzor Yeshiva has been prisiding as official chairwoman and spokesperson of the establishment since August 15th 2011
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel consists of two Chief Rabbi
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...
s: an Ashkenazi rabbi and a Sephardi rabbi, also known as the Rishon leZion
Rishon LeZion (title)
This list of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land of Israel documents the rabbis who served as the spiritual leader of the Sephardic community in the Land of Israel from the mid 17th-century to present. The Hebrew title for the position, Rishon le-Zion, This list of Sephardi chief rabbis of the Land...
. The Chief Rabbis are elected for 10 year terms. The present Sephardi Chief Rabbi is Shlomo Amar
Shlomo Amar
Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
and the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi is Yona Metzger
Yona Metzger
Yona Metzger is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. His counterpart is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel since their appointments in 2003.-Background:...
, both of whom commenced their terms in 2003.
The Rabbinate has jurisdiction over many aspects of life of Jews in Israel. Its jurisdiction includes personal status issues, such as Jewish marriages
Marriage in Israel
Marriages in Israel can only be performed under the auspices of the religious community to which couples belong. Matrimonial law is based on the Millet or confessional community system employed in the Ottoman Empire, which was not modified during the British Mandate and remains in force in the...
and Jewish divorce, as well as Jewish burials, Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
, Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
and kosher certification, olim, supervision of Jewish holy sites, working with various mikvaot and yeshivot, and overseeing Israeli Rabbinical courts.
The Rabbinical courts are part of Israel's judicial system, and are managed by the Ministry of Religious Services
Ministry of Religious Services
The Ministry of Religious Services -Religious Services Minister:The Religious Services Minister of Israel is the political head of the Ministry of Religious Services and a relatively minor position in the Israeli cabinet...
. The courts have exclusive jurisdiction over marriage and divorce of Jews and have parallel competence with district courts in matters of personal status, alimony, child support, custody, and inheritance. Religious court verdicts are implemented and enforced - as for the civil court system - by the police, bailiff's office, and other agencies.
History
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, MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
communities and nine officially recognised Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
communities. The organisation is based on the Millet system
Millet (Ottoman Empire)
Millet is a term for the confessional communities in the Ottoman Empire. It refers to the separate legal courts pertaining to "personal law" under which communities were allowed to rule themselves under their own system...
employed in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. In the beginning of the 17th century the title of Rishon LeZion was given to the chief rabbi of Jerusalem. In 1842, the position of "Hakham Bashi
Hakham Bashi
Hakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.-History:The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of the millet system for governing exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities...
", Chief Rabbi of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
who represented the Turkish Jews before the Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
, and the position of Rishon LeZion which at that time already represented the Old Yishuv
Old Yishuv
The Old Yishuv refers to the Jewish community that lived in the Land of Israel from the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE to the First Aliyah in 1881-82, prior to the onset of Zionist immigration....
before the Sultan, were combined into one position called Rishon LeZion.
During the period of the British Mandate of Palestine, the High Commissioner established the Orthodox Rabbinate, comprising the Rishon LeZion to which was added an Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, which it recognised collectively as the religious authority for the Jewish community. In 1921, Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
became the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi and Jacob Meir
Jacob Meir
Jacob Meir, , was the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi appointed under the British Mandate of Palestine. A talmudic scholar, fluent in Hebrew as well as five other languages, he enjoyed a reputation as one of Jerusalem's most respected rabbis....
became the Sephardi Chief Rabbi.
In 1947, David Ben Gurion and the religious parties reached an agreement, which included an understanding that matters of personal status in Israel would continue to be determined by the existing religious authorities. This arrangement has been termed the status quo agreement
Status quo (Israel)
In Israel, the term status quo refers to the political understanding between religious and secular political parties not to alter the communal arrangement in relation to religious matters, in a predominantly secular population...
and has been maintained despite numerous changes of government since. Under the arrangement, the Mandate period confessional system would continue, with membership in the Jewish community being on the basis of membership of a body called "Knesset Israel", which was a voluntary organization open to Jews. There does not seem to have been any dispute at the time of who was a Jew. Jews could choose not to register with "Knesset Israel". Members of Agudath Israel
World Agudath Israel
World Agudath Israel , usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism, in succession to Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel...
, for example, chose not to register.
In 1953, rabbinical courts were established with jurisdiction over matters of marriage and divorces of all Jews in Israel, nationals and residents. (section 1) It was also provided that marriages and divorces of Jews in Israel would be conducted according to the law of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
. (section 2) Since 1953, the rabbinate has only approved religious marriages in Israel conducted in accordance with the Orthodox interpretation of halakha. The only exception to these arrangements was that marriages entered into abroad would be recognised in Israel as valid.
It is the Rabbinate which defines a person's Jewish status, and hence membership in the Jewish confessional community and the reach of its jurisdiction. It applies a strict halakhic interpretation as to membership of the Jewish community.
The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem
- Levi ibn Habib (b. Spain) - ruled from Jerusalem but in 1538, Rabbi Jacob BerabJacob BerabJacob Berab, also spelled Yakov Berav or Bei Rav, was an influential rabbi and talmudist, born at Moqueda near Toledo, Castilian Spain, in 1474; died at Safed, Ottoman Palestine April 3, 1546.-Chosen rabbi at eighteen:Berab was a pupil of Isaac Aboab...
who came from Spain via Egypt, sought to revive the Sanhedrin, in Safed, thus making that city the competing capital of Israel. 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 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 Galante I 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 AshkenaziBezalel AshkenaziBezalel ben Abraham Ashkenazi was a rabbi and talmudist who lived in Ottoman Palestine during the 16th century. He is best known as the author of Shittah Mekubetzet, a commentary on the Talmud. He is very straightforward in his writings and occasionally offers textual amendments to the Talmud...
- first chief rabbi to preside in the ben Zakkai Synagogue - Gedaliah Cordovero
- Isaac Gaon?
- Israel Benjamin
- Jacob Zemah (b. Portugal)
- Samuel GarmisonSamuel GarmisonSamuel Garmison was a Jewish scholar and rabbi who lived in the Land of Israel during the seventeenth century.He was a native of Salonica, and settled in Jerusalem, where he became rabbi...
(b. Greece)
Rishon L'Tzion 1665-1842
- Moshe Galante II
- Moses ibn HabibMoses ibn HabibMoshe ibn Habib was the Rishon LeZion , Hakham Bashi and the head of a major yeshiva in Jerusalem.-Background and family:...
who came from Greece, a descendant of Levi ibn Habib - Moshe Hayun
- Avraham Yitzhaki (b. Greece)
- Benjamin Maali
- Eleazar Nahum (b. Turkey)
- Nissim Mizrahi
- Isaac Rapaport
- Israel Algazy served until 1756
- Raphael MeyuchasMeyuchasThe Meyuchas are a Jerusalem Sephardi family that has produced notable rabbis and merchants for hundreds of years. They trace their ancestry to Spain before the Alhambra Decree....
served 1756-1791 - Haim ben Asher
- Yom Tov Algazy - during whose reign, the French armies of Napoleon invaded Palestine. served until 1802
- Moshe MeyuchasMeyuchasThe Meyuchas are a Jerusalem Sephardi family that has produced notable rabbis and merchants for hundreds of years. They trace their ancestry to Spain before the Alhambra Decree....
served 1802 - 1805 - Jacob Aish of the Maghreb
- Jacob Coral
- Joseph Hazzan (b. Turkey)
- Yom Tov Danon
- Solomon Suzin - in 1831, Palestine was briefly conquered by Egypt under Muhammad Ali.
- Jonah Navon - Palestine returned to the Ottoman Empire.
- Judah Navon
The Haham Bashi 1842-1918
- Avraham Haim Gaggin (b. Turkey)
- Isaac Covo
- Chaim Nissim Abulafia (b. 1795, Tiberius; d. 1860, Jerusalem)
- Haim Hazzan (b. Turkey)
- Avraham Ashkenazi (b. Greece)
- Raphael Panigel (b. Bulgaria)
- Jacob Saul ElyasharJacob Saul ElyasharJacob Saul Elyashar, , was a 19th-century Sephardi rabbi who became Chief Rabbi of Palestine in 1893.He was born in Safed to Eliezer Jeroham Elyashar. In 1853 he was appointed dayan in Jerusalem and became head of the beth din in 1869. In 1893 he became the Rishon LeZion or Sephardi chief rabbi of...
- Jacob MeirJacob MeirJacob Meir, , was the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi appointed under the British Mandate of Palestine. A talmudic scholar, fluent in Hebrew as well as five other languages, he enjoyed a reputation as one of Jerusalem's most respected rabbis....
- Eliahu Panigel
- Nahman Batito
- Nissim Danon - In 1917, Palestine was conquered by the British. Danon was succeeded as chief rabbi after WWI by Haim Moshe Eliashar who assumed the title of Acting Chief Rabbi.
Semikhah
- Further information: Semikhah
The Chief Rabbinate confers Semikhah (or Semicha, i.e., Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
nic ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
); "Semikhah from the Rabbanut" is considered amongst the most prestigious of contemporary ordinations. It is granted once the candidate has passed a series of six written tests on specified subjects (Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
; Marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
; Family purity and Mikvaot; Kashrut
Kashrut
Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
; Aveilut). Additional Semichot - with similar testing requirements - are granted for "Rabbi of the City" (other relevant areas of Orach Chayim
Orach Chayim
Orach Chayim "manner of life" is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law primarily pertinent to the Hebrew calendar...
, Yoreh De'ah
Yoreh De'ah
Yoreh De'ah is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim around 1300. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marriage, divorce, or sexual conduct....
and Even Ha'ezer
Even Ha'ezer
Even Ha'ezer is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats aspects of Jewish law related to marriage, divorce, and sexual conduct. Later, Rabbi Yosef Karo modeled the framework of his own compilation of practical Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch,...
) and to Dayanim (laws dealt with in Choshen Mishpat
Choshen Mishpat
Choshen Mishpat is the Hebrew for "Breastplate of Judgement". The term is associated with one of the four sections of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha , Arba'ah Turim. This section treats aspects of Jewish law pertinent to finance, torts, legal procedure and loans and interest in...
).
List of Chief Rabbis
Chief Rabbis have existed around the world for centuries. In Israel, there were pre-independence Rabbis and official Israel Chief Rabbis.Ashkenazi
- Yitzhak HaLevi HerzogYitzhak HaLevi HerzogRabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog , also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936...
(1949–1959) - Isser Yehuda UntermanIsser Yehuda UntermanRabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman was the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1964 until 1972.Born in Brest-Litovsk in modern Belarus, Unterman was educated at the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in Maltsch. There, he became a pupil of its Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Shimon Shkop...
(1964–1973) - Shlomo GorenShlomo GorenShlomo Goren , was an Orthodox Religious Zionist rabbi in Israel who founded and served as the first head of the Military Rabbinate of the Israel Defense Forces and subsequently as the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983.He served in the Israel Defense Forces during three wars,...
(1973–1983) - Avraham ShapiraAvraham ShapiraAvraham Elkanah Kahana Shapira was a prominent rabbi in the Religious Zionist world. Shapira had been the head of the Rabbinical court of Jerusalem, and both a member and the head of the Supreme Rabbinic Court. He served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 1993...
(1983–1993) - Yisrael Meir LauYisrael Meir LauYisrael Meir Lau is the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. He previously served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.-Biography:...
(1993–2003) - Yona MetzgerYona MetzgerYona Metzger is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. His counterpart is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel since their appointments in 2003.-Background:...
(2003–)
Sephardi
- Benzion UzielBen-Zion Meir Hai UzielBen-Zion Meir Hai Uziel was the Sephardi chief rabbi of the British Mandate of Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 to 1954.-Biography:...
(1948–1954) - Yitzhak NissimYitzhak NissimRabbi Yitzhak Nissim was a former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel. Rabbi Nissim was born in Baghdad and immigrated to Palestine in 1925....
(1955–1973) - Ovadia YosefOvadia YosefOvadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...
(1973–1983) - Mordechai EliyahuMordechai EliyahuMordechai Tzemach Eliyahu ) was a prominent rabbi, posek and spiritual leader. He served as the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1983 to 1993.-Biography:...
(1983–1993) - Eliyahu Bakshi-DoronEliyahu Bakshi-DoronEliyahu Bakshi-Doron , is a former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel.-Background:Rabbi Hamza Bakshi-Doron was born in Jerusalem and studied in several prominent Religious Zionist yeshivot...
(1993–2003) - Shlomo AmarShlomo AmarRabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
(2003–)
Secular Israelis
Many objections have been raised by secular IsraelisHiloni
Hiloni , plural hilonim derived from the Hebrew word hulin, meaning secular or mundane, is the term used in Israel for non-religious Jews.As natives of Israel, hilonim speak Hebrew...
, and Jews from non-orthodox streams of Judaism regarding the Chief Rabbinate's strict control over Jewish weddings, divorce proceedings, conversions, and who counts as Jewish for the purposes of immigration. Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman
Donniel Hartman
Donniel Hartman is a Jewish Israeli Modern Orthodox rabbi and educator. He is President of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Israel. He has written books and essays on Judaism and modernity and is a frequent speaker at academic conferences and synagogues in the United States and Canada...
of Jerusalem, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute
Shalom Hartman Institute is a Jewish research and education institute based in Jerusalem, Israel, that offers pluralistic Jewish thought and education to scholars, rabbis, educators, and Jewish community leaders in Israel and North America...
, has argued that the State of Israel needs multiple rabbinates "that reflect the diversity of ideology permeating Israeli religious life. As the home of all Jews, the State of Israel does not have the right to determine authentic Judaism, but must reflect the diverse Jewishness of that population."
The Rabbinate does not accept non-Orthodox converts or Rabbis to take part in any of the above listed ceremonies or proceedings. Because of this, many Israelis choose to marry abroad in nearby Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
or another location. About 47,000 Israelis, or 12 percent of those who married between 2000 and 2005, secured their union abroad, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics. The Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel reported that in recent years about 20 percent are opting out annually.
Relations with Vatican
In January 2009, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel suspended the meetings of its commission for dialogue with the Vatican (established at the request of Pope John Paul II) in protest over the Pope's decision to lift the excommunication of bishop Richard Williamson, a member of the Society of Saint Pius X and a noted denier of the Holocaust. Haifa Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, chairman of the Rabbinate's commission, told The Jerusalem Post that he expected Williamson to publicly retract his statements before meetings could be renewed.Oded Wiener, the director-general of the Chief Rabbinate, later declared that the public statements by Pope Benedict on January 28 had eased tensions, and the Israeli representatives may decide to attend a March meeting. The Pope's statements "were very important for us," he said.
A formal meeting of a delegation of the Chief Rabbinate (led by Rabbi Cohen and including Wiener as well as Rabbis Rasson Aroussi and David Rosen) was accordingly held in the Vatican with Pope Benedict XVI on March 12 at which the pope reiterated his condemnations of anti-semitism and holocaust denial and gave assurances that these would not be tolerated in the Catholic Church.
While there were reports that the Chief Rabbinate had ruled that a proposal to give the Vatican control over the major Christian shrines of the Holy Land is contrary to Jewish law, and demanded that any discussion of the proposal must cease; this was in fact the initiative of two rabbis who oppose the Chief Rabbinate's dialogue with the Catholic Church. Moreover the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that the allegation referred to was totally without foundation.
During Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Israel in May 2009, he was officially received at Hechal Shlomo by the Chief Rabbis for a private exchange which was followed by a larger meeting hosted by the Chief Rabbinate Council. At these meetings the Chief Rabbis and the Pope expressed their satisfaction with the warm relations that had developed between the two institutions and the work of their bilateral commission for dialogue, the proceedings of which were published and made public
Chief Rabbinate Council
Internal elections were held on September 23, 2008.There are five permanent members on the Chief Rabbinate Council. These are:
- The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi (Yona MetzgerYona MetzgerYona Metzger is the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. His counterpart is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel since their appointments in 2003.-Background:...
) - The Sephardi Chief Rabbi (Shlomo AmarShlomo AmarRabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar has been the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the Rishon LeZion since his appointment in 2003. His colleague is Rabbi Yona Metzger, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel....
) - Chief Rabbi of Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
(Yisrael Meir LauYisrael Meir LauYisrael Meir Lau is the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. He previously served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.-Biography:...
) - Chief Rabbi of HaifaHaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
(Shlomo Chelouche) - Chief Rabbi of BeershebaBeershebaBeersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
(Yehuda Deri)
There are also representatives for the Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities:
Ashkenazi representatives
- Rabbi Yaakov Shapira (Rosh YeshivaRosh yeshivaRosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
Mercaz HaRavMercaz haRavMercaz HaRav , more properly, Mercaz HaRav Kook ), is a national-religious yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. It has become synonymous with his teachings....
) - Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid GrossmanYitzchak Dovid GrossmanNot to be confused with his distant cousin Rabbi Dovid GrossmanYitzchak Dovid Grossman is the Chief Rabbi of Migdal Ha'Emek, founder and president of Migdal Ohr, and member of the Chief Rabbinate Council.-Early life:Grossman is a sixth generation Jerusalemite, born in 1946...
(Chief Rabbi of Migdal HaEmek) - Rabbi Yosef Glicksburg (Chief Rabbi of Giv'atayimGiv'atayimGiv'atayim is a city in Israel east of Tel Aviv. It is part of the metropolitan area known as Gush Dan. Givatayim was established in 1922 by pioneers of the Second Aliyah. It has a population of 53,000....
) - Rabbi Yaakov Rojza (Neighbourhood rabbi in Bat Yam / ZAKAZAKAZAKA , is a series of voluntary community emergency response teams in Israel, each operating in a police district . These organizations are officially recognized by the government...
) - Rabbi Yitzhak Ralbag (former chairman of Jerusalem Rabbinate council)
Sephardi representatives
- Rabbi Shimon Elituv (Chief Rabbi of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council)
- Rabbi Avraham YosefAvraham YosefHarav Avraham Yosef is the Chief Rabbi of Holon, Israel and is a Sephardi representative on the Chief Rabbinate Council .-Background:...
(Chief Rabbi of Holon) - Rabbi Ratzon Arusi (Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Ono)
- Rabbi Shmuel EliyahuShmuel Eliyahu-Background:Shmuel Eliyahu is the son of Mordechai Eliyahu, the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel.-Carpet bombing:According to a May 30, 2007 report in The Jerusalem Post, Eliyahu advocated "carpet bombing the general area from which the Kassams were launched, regardless of the price in...
(Chief Rabbi of SafedSafedSafed , is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel. Due to its high elevation, Safed experiences warm summers and cold, often snowy, winters...
) - Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz (Chief Rabbi of Raanana)