The Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth is the senior rabbi of the United Synagogue, a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues. The Chief Rabbi is one of the prominent Jewish spiritual leaders in the UK. The Chief Rabbi's full title is the "Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth", previously "... of the British Empire". His title and position has historically, since 1758, been considered to be Britain's equivalent of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the Orthodox Jewish community.
Two Chief Rabbis have been ennobled and entered the House of Lords: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, and his predecessor, Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits. The current chief rabbi is Ephraim Mirvis.
List No. Image Name Term Title Notes Reason for termination 1 Aaron Hart 17041756 Rabbi of the Great Synagogue Died in office 2 Hirschel Levin 17581764 Rabbi of the Great Synagogue and Hambro Synagogue Resigned 3 Tevele Schiff 17651766 Rabbi of the Great Synagogue Rabbi appointed by the Great Synagogue 4 Meshullam Solomon 17651780 Rabbi of the Hambro Synagogue Appointed in opposition by Hambro and New Synagogues; return to Hamburg confirmed the primacy of David Tevele Schiff 5 Tevele Schiff 17801791 Chief Rabbi Died in office 17911802 Post vacant 6 Solomon Hirschell 18021842 Chief Rabbi Died in office 7 Nathan Marcus Adler 18451890 Chief Rabbi of the British Empire Oversaw the creation of the United Synagogue 8 Hermann Adler 18911911 Chief Rabbi of the British Empire Appointed delegate Chief Rabbi in 1879 due to failing health of his father Died in office 9 Joseph Hertz 19131946 Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom Died in office 10 Israel Brodie 19481965 Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth Knighted 1969 Retired 11 Immanuel Jakobovits 19661991 Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth Knighted 1981Life peer 1988 Retired 12 Jonathan Sacks 19912013 Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth Knighted 2005Life peer 2009 Retired 13 Ephraim Mirvis 2013present Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth Knighted 2023 Currently serving
See also Chief Rabbi British Jews History of the Jews in England History of the Jews in Scotland History of the Jews in Wales History of the Jews in Northern Ireland
References
Further reading Meir Persoff, Faith Against Reason: Religious Reform and the British Chief Rabbinate 1840-1990, London: Vallentine Mitchell, 2008 Meir Persoff, Hats in the Ring: Choosing Britain’s Chief Rabbis from Adler to Sacks, Academic Studies Press, 2013 Benjamin J. Elton, Britain's Chief Rabbis and the Religious Character of Anglo-Jewry, 1880–1970, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009 Danny Rich, What is Wrong with the Chief Rabbi's Job?, Manna, Summer 2009 Raymond Apple (2009), The British Chief Rabbinate; and other articles
External links Office of the Chief Rabbi (OCR)