List of Famous Rabbis

Jackie Mason had a successful Hollywood career. In 1996, he wrote and starred in the comedy special "Jackie Mason at the London Palladium" (BBC). He wrote and starred in "The World According to Me" in 1988. Mason released his debut comedy album, "I'm the Greatest Comedian in the World, Only Nobody Knows it Yet!," in 1962. He released the album "All New! Much Ado About Everything" in 2003. In 2008, he starred in the one-man show "Jackie Mason: The Ultimate Jew." Mason began his acting career mostly in film roles, appearing in "The Stoolie" (1972) and "The Je".

Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He wrote or edited more than 900 books.

Lionel Blue (6 February 1930 – 19 December 2016) was a British Reform rabbi, journalist, and broadcaster. The Guardian described him as "one of the most respected religious figures in the UK." He used his work with the media to develop his wry sense of humour on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Lionel Blue became the first British rabbi to publicly declare his homosexuality.

Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author and rabbi. His first book, The Chosen (1967), sold over 3,400,000 copies and appeared on The New York Times’ best seller list for 39 weeks.

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka acted in "Gamera: Rebirth," "Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train," and "Trinity Seven: Heavens Library & Crimson Lord."

Michael Lerner, born 1943, is an American political activist. He edited Tikkun, a progressive Jewish interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California. He serves as the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue in Berkeley.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, or Adin Even Yisrael, is a teacher, philosopher, social critic, and spiritual mentor. *Time* magazine hailed him as a "once-in-a-millennium scholar." He devoted his life to making the Talmud accessible to all Jews. The original was published in modern Hebrew with running commentary to facilitate learning. Steinsaltz's edition of the Talmud has also been translated into English, French, Russian, and Spanish. Starting in 1989, Steinsaltz published several tractates of the Babylonian Talmud in Hebrew and English using an English-Hebrew edition. The first volume of a

Meir David HaKohen Kahane (Hebrew: מאיר דוד כהנא; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an Israeli-American Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in the Knesset. His work influenced modern Jewish militant and far-right political groups. Kahane reached out to Jews for years through published works, weekly articles, speeches, and debates on college campuses and in synagogues across the United States. He advocated intensely for Jewish causes, including organizing defense.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi. He became one of the leading Jewish theologians and philosophers of the 20th century. As a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Heschel wrote several books on Jewish philosophy. He also participated in the civil rights movement.

El Sayyid Nosair (born November 16, 1955) is an Egyptian-born American citizen. He was convicted of involvement in the 1993 New York City bomb plot. He had previously been tried for and acquitted of the 1990 assassination of Meir Kahane, a Jewish religious figure and far-right Israeli politician. Nosair later admitted to committing that assassination. In 1994, federal court convicted Nosair on nine counts, including seditious conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering.

Rabbi Shlomo Dovber Pinchas Lazar (born May 19, 1964 in Milan, Italy), known as Berel Lazar, is an Italian Jewish Orthodox, Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi. He began service in Russia in 1990. Since 2000, he has been friends with Vladimir Putin and served as the Chief Rabbi of Russia and chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia and the CIS. In September 2005, Lazar became a member of the Public Chamber of Russia.

Harold M. Schulweis is a Rabbi and an actor.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן‎; April 18, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754) was a Russian Empire–born American Orthodox Jewish rabbi. He served as the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitcher Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. As leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, he transformed an insular Hasidic group that nearly ended with the Holocaust into a major religious movement.

Rabbi Leo Jung was a major architect of American Orthodox Judaism.

Isaac Klein was a prominent rabbi and halakhic authority within Conservative Judaism.

Robert Gordis was an American Conservative rabbi. He founded the first Conservative Jewish day school. Gordis served as President of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Synagogue Council of America. He taught at Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1940 to 1992. In 1946, he wrote a pamphlet explaining Conservative ideology. In 1988, he chaired the Commission on the Philosophy of Conservative Judaism, which produced the official statement "Emet Ve-Emunah". Gordis was also the founding editor of the quarterly journal Judaism in 1951.

J. David Bleich is an authority on Jewish law and ethics, including Jewish medical ethics. He is the rabbi of Cong. B'nei Jehuda. He teaches Talmud at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University. He leads the postgraduate institute for Talmudic jurisprudence and family law. At Yeshiva University, he holds the Herbert and Florence Tenzer Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics. He also teaches at Cardozo Law School. He is married to Dr. Judith Bleich, a historian of 19th-century European Jewry.

Dennis G. Shulman was born May 19, 1950. He is a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist, author, teacher, public speaker, and ordained rabbi. In 2008, Shulman was the Democratic nominee for the United States House of Representatives in New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District.

Sherwin Theodore Wine lived from January 25, 1928, to July 21, 2007. He was a rabbi and a founding figure in Humanistic Judaism. Wine was originally ordained as a Reform rabbi. In 1963, he founded the Birmingham Temple, the first Humanistic Judaism congregation in Birmingham, Michigan. The temple later moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan. In 1969, Wine founded the Society for Humanistic Judaism. He founded several other organizations related to Humanistic Judaism, a movement emphasizing secular Jewish culture.

Benjamin Blech was born in Zurich in 1933 and now lives in New York City. Since 1966, Rabbi Blech has been a Professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University. He served as the Rabbi of Young Israel of Oceanside for 37 years. Rabbi Blech has written many books on Judaism and the Jewish people. He speaks on Jewish topics to communities worldwide.

Rabbi Emanuel Rackman was an American Modern Orthodox Rabbi. He held pulpits in major congregations and helped draw attention to the plight of Refuseniks in the Soviet Union. Rackman also attempted to resolve the dilemma of the Agunah, a woman unable to remarry because her husband would not grant a Get, the required religious divorce degree under Halacha. Rackman was born in Albany, New York, on June 24, 1910. He graduated from the Talmudical Academy in 1927 as its valedictorian. Rackman asked Columbia University for a one-year deferral and spent the entire year there.

Abraham Isaac Kook (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם יִצְחָק הַכֹּהֵן קוּק HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, also known by the acronym הראי״ה (HaRaAYaH); 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935) was an Orthodox rabbi. He served as the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine in the Land of Israel. Kook founded Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav (The Central Universal Yeshiva). He was a Jewish thinker, Posek, Kabbalist, and a renowned Talmid Chacham. He is considered one of the fathers of religious Zionism.

Lawrence A. Hoffman is an American Reform rabbi and a prominent scholar of Jewish liturgy. Hoffman holds liberal religious views. He is a Professor of Liturgy at Hebrew Union College in New York. Hoffman wrote two books used as liturgical guides. His writing examines how to improve the quality of praying for secular Jews. Hoffman explored liturgical change but focused most on the "community at prayer"—human and divine relationships in prayer. He co-founded the Synagogue 3000 Institute as an intellectual visionary.

Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer (March 25, 1930 – December 29, 1993) was an American Conservative rabbi. Meyer became a recognized international human rights activist while living and working in Argentina from 1958 to 1984, during the "Dirty War" of the 1970s. President Raúl Alfonsín elected him to the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons. After democracy restored in 1983, Meyer received the nation's highest honor, the Order of the Liberator General San Martín, from the new president. In Argentina, Meyer also led a congregation and foundation.

Raphael Hayyim Isaac Carregal (October 15, 1733, Hebron, Ottoman-ruled Levant – May 5, 1777, Barbados) was an itinerant Palestinian rabbi and preacher. He is the first rabbi known to have visited the colonies that became the United States. Carregal referred to David Melammed as his teacher. He was ordained a rabbi at seventeen. In 1754, he began a series of voyages, staying briefly in each location: two years in Constantinople (1754–56), two years in Curaçao (1761–63), four years in Hebron (1764–68), two and a half years in London (1768–71), and one year elsewhere.

Michael Berenbaum starred in "Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh." Berenbaum won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1995 for "One Survivor Remembers."

Sally Jane Priesand was born June 27, 1946. She is America's first female rabbi ordained by a rabbinical seminary and the second formally ordained female rabbi in Jewish history after Regina Jonas. Priesand received ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on June 3, 1972, at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati. After ordination, she served as assistant and associate rabbi at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City. She later led Monmouth Reform Temple in Tinton Falls, New Jersey from 1981 until her retirement in 2006.

Zadoc Kahn (February 18, 1839, Mommenheim, Alsace – December 8, 1905, Paris) was an Alsatian-French rabbi and chief rabbi of France.

David J. Wolpe (born 1958) is the Max Webb Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, California. Newsweek Magazine named him the most influential rabbi in America and one of the 50 most influential Jews globally by the Jerusalem Post. Wolpe previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. The New York Times profiled Wolpe, and he writes for Time.com, The LA Times, and other publications.

Eleazar ben Killir, known as Eleazar Kalir, Eleazar Qalir, or El'azar HaKalir (c. 570 – c. 640), was a Byzantine Jew and Hebrew poet. His classical liturgical verses, called piyut, were sung during religious services through the centuries, including those on Tisha B'Av and after weddings. He was one of Judaism's earliest and most prolific paytanim, or Hebrew liturgical poets. Eleazar ben Killir wrote piyutim for all main Jewish festivals, special Sabbaths, weekdays with festive character, and fasts. Many of his hymns found their way into history.

Eric H. Yoffie is a Reform rabbi and President Emeritus of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). The URJ represents the congregational arm of the Reform movement in North America, serving an estimated 1.5 million Reform Jews across more than 900 synagogues in the United States and Canada. From 1996 to 2012, he led American Judaism’s largest denomination. After retiring in 2012, Yoffie became a lecturer and writer. His writings appear regularly in The Huffington Post, The Jerusalem Post, and Haaretz.

David Einhorn (November 10, 1809 – November 2, 1879) was a German rabbi and leader of Reform Judaism in the United States. In 1855, he became the first rabbi of the Har Sinai Congregation in Baltimore, the oldest congregation affiliated with the Reform movement since its start. He created an early American prayer book for the congregation, which later became one of the progenitors of the 1894 Union Prayer Book. In 1861, Einhorn fled to Philadelphia and became the rabbi of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel.

Wolf Gunther Plaut (November 1, 1912 – February 8, 2012) was a Reform rabbi and author. He served as the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto for several decades. Since 1978, he held the position of senior scholar.

Levi ben Gershon (1288–1344), known as Gersonides, Magister Leo Hebraeus, or RaLBaG in Hebrew, was a medieval French Jewish philosopher. He was also a Talmudist, mathematician, physician, and astronomer/astrologer. Levi ben Gershon was born at Bagnols in Languedoc, France. Abraham Zacuto and others state that he was the son of Gerson ben Solomon Catalan.

Yosef Yitzchak (Joseph Isaac) Schneersohn (Hebrew: יוסף יצחק שניאורסאהן; June 21, 1880 – January 28, 1950) was an Orthodox rabbi and the sixth Rebbe of the Chabad Lubavitch chasidic movement. He is also known as the Frierdiker Rebbe (Yiddish for "Previous Rebbe"), the Rebbe RaYYaTz, or the Rebbe Rayatz (an acronym for Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak). After fighting to keep Orthodox Judaism alive from within the Soviet Union, he left and continued his struggle in Latvia, Poland, and eventually the United States.

Joseph Ber Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He came from the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty. As rosh yeshiva of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University in New York City, The Rav (variantly spelled The Rov) ordained nearly 2,000 rabbis over half a century. He served as an advisor, guide, mentor, and role-model for tens of thousands of Jews.

Mordecai Menahem Kaplan (June 11, 1881 – November 8, 1983) was a rabbi, essayist, and Jewish educator. He co-founded Reconstructionist Judaism with his son-in-law Ira Eisenstein.

Nelson Glueck (June 4, 1900 – February 12, 1971) was an American rabbi, academic, and archaeologist. He served as president of Hebrew Union College from 1947 until his death. His work in biblical archaeology led to the discovery of 1,500 ancient sites.

Moses Gaster (September 17, 1856 – March 5, 1939) was Romanian and British scholar. He served as the Hakham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation in London and worked as a Hebrew and Romanian linguist. Moses Gaster actively pursued Zionism in Romania and England. In 1899, he helped establish the English Zionist Federation. He fathered Jack and Theodor Gaster and was the grandfather of Marghanita Laski. He also married Michael Friedländer and became the father-in-law to Neville Laski.

Samson Raphael Hirsch (June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi. He founded the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. His philosophy, shared with Azriel Hildesheimer, influenced the development of Orthodox Judaism. Hirsch served as rabbi in Oldenburg and Emden, and later became chief rabbi of Moravia. From 1851 until his death, he led the secessionist Orthodox community in Frankfurt am Main. He wrote several influential books.

Samuel Belkin (December 12, 1911, Svislach, Byelorussia – April 19, 1976, Bronx, N.Y.) is recognized as the second President of Yeshiva University. As a distinguished Torah scholar, he led Yeshiva University through significant expansion.

Abraham Judah Klausner (April 27, 1915 – June 28, 2007) was a Reform rabbi and United States Army captain and chaplain. He became a father figure for the more than 30,000 emaciated survivors at Dachau Concentration Camp. The camp was located 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Munich, liberated on April 29, 1945. Klausner also cared for thousands more left homeless by the victorious Allied Forces.

Shlomo Carlebach (Hebrew: שלמה קרליבך), known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was a singer, rabbi, and spiritual leader. Carlebach (January 14, 1925 – October 20, 1994) was a Jewish rabbi, composer, and singer. He became known as "The Singing Rabbi." Although he started in traditional Orthodox yeshivot, he created a new style combining Hasidic Judaism, warmth, personal interaction, public concerts, and song-filled synagogue services. He lived in Manhattan, San Francisco, and Toronto.

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks (Hebrew: Yaakov Zvi, יעקב צבי; born March 8, 1948), is a British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author, and politician. He served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the UK, he was the Chief Rabbi of Orthodox synagogues. He did not hold religious authority for the Haredi Union or progressive movements like Masorti, Reform, and Liberal Judaism.

Neil Gillman (September 11, 1933 – November 24, 2017) was a Canadian-American rabbi and philosopher. He was affiliated with Conservative Judaism.

Judah Halevi (also Yehuda Halevi or ha-Levi; Hebrew: יהודה הלוי and Judah ben Shmuel Halevi יהודה בן שמואל הלוי; Arabic: يهوذا اللاوي‎; c. 1075 – 1141) was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet, and philosopher. He was born in Spain, possibly in Toledo or Tudela, between 1075 and 1086. Halevi died shortly after arriving in the Holy Land in 1141, at that point the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. Halevi is considered one of the greatest Hebrew poets, celebrated for his religious and secular poems found in present-day liturgy. His greatest philosophical work was The Kuzari.

Dov S. Zakheim (born December 18, 1948) is an American businessman, writer, politician, and former official of the United States government. During the Reagan administration, he held various Department of Defense positions.

Louis Jacobs CBE (July 17, 1920 – July 1, 2006) founded Masorti (Conservative) Judaism in the United Kingdom. He was a leading writer and theologian. Louis Jacobs was also central to "The Jacobs Affair," an event that occurred in the British Jewish community in the early 1960s.

Alexander David Goode (May 10, 1911 – February 3, 1943) was a rabbi and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who sacrificed their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the troop transport Dorchester during World War II.

Samuel Hirsch (June 8, 1815 – May 14, 1889) was a major Reform religious philosopher and rabbi. He should not be confused with his contemporary Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888).