Chief Rabbi

By country/region

Albania

Joel Kaplan (2010–), Chabad shaliach, newly-created role

Argentina

Salomon Benhamu

Yosef Chehebar

Austria

Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (Isaac Or Zarua) (ca. 1200–1270)

Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, "Tosfos Jomtov" (1578–1654)

Shabtai Sheftel Horowitz (1561–1619)

Gershon Ashkenazi (ca. 1612–1693)

Samson Wertheimer (1658–1724)

Mosche Chanoch Berliner (1727–1793)

Isaak Noah Mannheimer (1824–1865)

Lazar Horowitz (1828–1868), chief rabbi of Vienna

Adolf Jellinek (1865–1893)

Moritz Güdemann (1894–1918)

Zwi Perez Chajes (1918–1927)

David Feuchtwang (1933–1936)

Israel Taglicht (1936), provisional chief rabbi

Isidor Öhler (1946), preacher at the Stadttempel

Akiba Eisenberg (1948–1983)

Paul Chaim Eisenberg (1983–2016)

Arie Folger (July 2016)

Belgium

The title of Chief Rabbi of Belgium, legally equivalent to a Roman Catholic archbishop in Belgium’s salary grid for religious officials, is filled in by the institutionally recognized and state-funded Israelite Central Consistory of Belgium (CCIB/CICB), which only represents 17 synagogues out of at least 43; there are also Chief Rabbis for the cities of Antwerp and Brussels.

Eliakim Carmoly (1832–1834)

Henri Loeb (1834–1859)

Élie-Aristide Astruc (1866–1879)

Jacques-Henri Dreyfuss (1880–1891)

Armand Bloch (1891–1923)

Ernest Ginsburger (1924–1929)

Joseph Wiener (1931–1940)

Salomon Ullman (1940–1957)

Robert Dreyfus (Rabbi) (1963–1980)

Albert Guigui (since 1980; also Chief Rabbi of Brussels since 1987)

Bulgaria

Gabriel Mercado Almosnino (1880–1885)

Preciado Bakish (1885–1889)

Szymon Dankowicz (1889–1891)

Moshe Tadjer (1891–1893)

Moritz Grünwald (1893–1895)

Preciado Bakish (1895–1898)

Moshe Tadjer (1898–1900)

Mordecai Ehrenpreis (1900–1914)

M. Hezkeya Shabetay Davidov (1914–1918)

David Pipano (1920–1925)

No Chief Rabbi (1925–1945)

Asher Hananel (1945–1949)

Behor Kahlon (1990–2012)

Aharon Zerbib (2012–2015)

Yoel Yifrach (2015–Present)

Chile

Angel Kreiman Brill, 1970s and 1980s

Colombia

Eliezer Paltiel Roitblatt (1946-1957)

Chaim Menachem Bentzion Blumenkrantz (Early 1950s)

Alfredo Goldschmidt (1974–Present) (appointed 1991)

Miguel Attias (1948–early 1950)

David Sharbani (early 1950s–1978)

Yehuda Benhamu (1978–1986)

Yehuda Ari Azancot (1986–2000)

Shlomo Meir Elharar (2000–2010)

Avi Amsalem (2010–Dec. 2020)

Cuba

Meyer Rosenbaum (Son of Isamar of Nadvorna, Elected 1948: left Cuba in 1956, a little more than two years before Fidel Castro came to power in the Revolution)

Raphael Yair Elnadav (1956–1959)

Shmuel Szteinhendler current Chief Rabbi of Cuba and regional director for Masorti Judaism in Latin America.

Croatia

Miroslav Šalom Freiberger (1941–1943)

Kotel Da-Don (1998–2006) from 2006 rabbi of the Bet Israel community Zagreb

Luciano Moše Prelević (2006–)

Cyprus

Arie Zeev Raskin (2005–present)

Czech Republic

Karol Sidon

Denmark

Abraham Salomon (1687–1700)

Israel Ber (1700–1728)

Marcus David (1729–1739)

Hirsch Samuel Levy (1741–1775)

Gedalia Levin (1778–1793)

Abraham Gedalia (1793–1827)

Abraham Wolff (1828–1891)

David Simonsen (1892–1902, 1919–1920)

Tobias Lewenstein (1903–1910)

Max Schornstein (1910–1919)

Max (Moses) Friediger (1920–1947)

Marcus Melchior (1947–1969)

Bent Melchior (1970–1996)

Bent Lexner (1996–2014)

Jair Melchior (2014–present)

Ecuador

Menachem Mendel Fried (2022- )

Egypt

Moses Israel (?-1802)

Refael Aharon Ben Shimon (1891–1921)

Masoud Haim Ben Shimon (1921–1925)

Chaim Nahum (1925–1960)

Haim Moussa Douek (1960–1972)

Estonia

Michael Asher Alony (1995–1996)

Efraim Shmuel Kot (2000–present)

The Far East

Aharon Moshe Kiselev (1937–1949)

Finland

Simon Federbusch (1931–1940)

Eliezer Berlinger (1946–1951)

Mika Weiss (1957–1961)

Shmuel Beeri (1961–1963)

Mordechai Lanxner (1973–1982)

Ove Schwartz (1982–1987)

Lazar Kleinman (–1992)

Michael Asher Alony (1995–1996)

Moshe Edelmann (1999–2012)

Simon Livson (2012–)

Benyamin Wolff (2003~)

France

David Sintzheim (1808–1812)

Abraham Vita de Cologna (1808–1826)

Emmanuel Deutz (1810–1842)

Marchand Ennery (1846–1852)

Salomon Ulmann (1853–1865)

Lazare Isidor (1866–1888)

Zadoc Kahn (1889–1905)

Alfred Lévy (1907–1919)

Israël Lévi (1920–1939)

Isaïe Schwartz (1939–1952)

Jacob Kaplan (1955–1980)

René-Samuel Sirat (1981–1987)

Joseph Sitruk (1987–2008)

Gilles Bernheim (2009–2013) (elected 22 June 2008, resigned 11 April 2013)

Haim Korsia (2014–)

Galicia

Aryeh Leib Bernstein (1778–1786)

Edgar Gluck

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

Elias Barzilai

Jacob Arar

Gabriel Negrin

Guatemala

Meyer Rosenbaum (Son of Isamar of Nadvorna, Later Chief Rabbi of Cuba)

Honduras

Aaron Lankry

Hong Kong

Ephraim Mirvis

Mordecai Avston

Netanel Meoded

Hungary

Note that this list is not in chronological order.

Meir Eisenstadt known as the Panim Me'iros (1708–), rabbi of Eisenstadt and author of "Panim Me'irot"

Alexander ben Menahem

Phinehas Auerbach

Jacob Eliezer Braunschweig

Hirsch Semnitz

Simon Jolles (1717–?)

Samson Wertheimer (1693?–1724) (also Eisenstadt and Moravia)

Iszachar Berus Eskelesz (Issachar Berush Eskeles) (1725–1753)

Joseph Hirsch Weiss—grandfather of Stephen Samuel Wise

Samuel Kohn

Simon Hevesi (father of Ferenc Hevesi)

Ferenc Hevesi

Moses Kunitz, a pioneer of the Haskalah movement in Hungary (1828–1837)

Jaakov Koppel Reich

Chaim Yehuda Deutsch

József Schweitzer

Robert Deutsch

Iran

Yedidia Shofet (1922–1980)

Uriel Davidi (1980–1994)

Yosef Hamadani Cohen (1994–2007)

Mashallah Golestani-Nejad (2007–2011)

Yehuda Gerami (2011–present)

Ireland

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1921–1937)

Immanuel Jakobovits (1949–1958)

Isaac Cohen (1959–1979)

David Rosen (1979–1984)

Ephraim Mirvis (1985–1992)

Shimon Yehudah Harris (1993–1994)

Gavin Broder (1996–2000)

Yaakov Pearlman (2001–2008)

Yoni Wieder (2023–present)

Israel

The position of chief rabbi (Hebrew: רַב רָאשִׁי) 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 (such as Edah HaChareidis) 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 (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Beersheba). 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.

Shlomo Goren (1948–1968)

Mordechai Piron (1968–1977)

Gad Navon (1977–2000)

Israel Weiss (2000–2006)

Avichai Rontzki (2006–2010)

Rafi Peretz (2010–2016)

Eyal Karim (2016–)

Japan

Binyamin Edre'i (2015–present)

Latvia

Mordechai Nurock

Lebanon

Moïse Yedid-Levy (1799–1829)

Ralph Alfandari

Youssef Mann (1849)

Aharoun Yedid-Levy

Zaki Cohen (1875)

Menaché Ezra Sutton

Jacob Bukai

Haïm Dana

Moïse Yedid-Levy

Nassim Afandi Danon (1908–1909)

Jacob Tarrab (1910–1921)

Salomon Tagger (1921–1923)

Shabtai Bahbout (1924–1950)

Benzion Lichtman (1932–1959)

Shahud Chreim (1960–1978)

Lithuania

Avraham Duber Kahana Shapiro

Luxembourg

Samuel Hirsch (1843–1866)

Robert Serebrenik (1929–1941)

Mexico

Shlomo Tawil (1998–Present)

North Macedonia

Avi Kozma

Morocco

Mardo Chee Bengio Chief Rabbi of Tangier.

Raphael Ankawa (1918–1935)

Mikail Encaoua

Chalom Messas (1961–1978)

Aaron Monsonego (1994–2018)

Yoshiyahu Pinto (2019–present)

Nepal

Chezki Lifshitz (2000–present)

Norway

Isaak Julius Samuel (1930–1942)

Michael Melchior (1980–present)

Panama

Zion Levy (1951–2008) Sephardic Chief Rabbi

Aaron Laine (1986–) Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi

David Perets (2016–) Sephardic Chief Rabbi

Peru

Abraham Moshe Brener (1930–1967)

Baruj Epstein (1966–1967)

Yaakov Kraus (1987–1998)

Efraim Zik (1999–2009)

Itay Meushar (2009–2016)

Salomon Cohen (2016–2019)

Poland

Jacob Pollak (appointed 1503)

Moses Fishel (1541–1542)

Dow Ber Percowicz (1945–1956)

Zew Wawa Morejno (1956–1957)

Dow Ber Percowicz (1957–1961)

Uszer Zibes (1961–1966)

Zew Wawa Morejno (1966–1973)

Pinchas Menachem Joskowicz (1988–1999)

Michael Schudrich (2004–present)

Chaim Elizjer Frankl (?–1933)

Major Baruch Steinberg (1933–circa 12 April 1940) murdered by NKVD in the Katyn massacre

Romania

Jacob Itzhak Niemirower (1921—1939)

Alexandru Safran (1940–1948)

Moses Rosen (1948–1994)

Menachem Hacohen (1997–2012)

Rafael Shaffer (2012–present)

Russia

Adolf Shayevich (1983, officially since 1993–present)

Chabad

Berel Lazar (2000–present)

Military Rabbinate

Aharon Gurevich (2007–present)

Serbia

Isaac Alcalay (till 29 December 1978, also Chief Rabbi of Yugoslavia from 1923 to 1941)

Isak Asiel

Singapore

Mordechai Abergel

Slovakia

Moses Sofer (1806–1839)

Samuel Benjamin Sofer (1839–1871)

Bernát Szófér (Simcha Bunem Sofer) (1871–1907)

Akiba Szófér (Akiva Sofer) (1907–1938)

Eliáš Katz (1950–1968)

Baruch Myers (1993–present)

South Africa

Judah Leo Landau (1915–1942)

Louis Rabinowitz (1945–1961)

Bernard M. Casper (1963–1987)

Cyril Harris (1988–2004)

Warren Goldstein (2005–present)

Spain

The following are Chief Rabbis of the Jewish Community of Madrid (CJM):

Baruj Garzon (1968–1978), the first Chief Rabbi in Spain since the expulsion in 1492

Yehuda Benasouli (1978–1997)

Moshe Bendahan (1997–present)

Menachem Naftalin (2025–)

Sudan

Solomon Malka (1906–1949)

Haim Simoni (1950–1952)

Massoud El-Baz (1956–1965 by which time the Jewish community in Sudan had declined so dramatically that they could not afford to pay a Rabbi)

Syria

Yom Tov Yedid (1960–1982), moved to the United States in 1982 and died 27 July 2016 in the United States

Thailand

Yosef Kantor (1992–present)

Transylvania (before 1918)

Note: The chief rabbi of Transylvania was generally the rabbi of the city of Alba Iulia.

Joseph Reis Auerbach (d. 1750)

Shalom Selig ben Saul Cohen (1754–1757)

Johanan ben Isaac (1758–1760)

Benjamin Ze'eb Wolf of Cracow (1764–1777)

Moses ben Samuel Levi Margaliot (1778–1817)

Menahem ben Joshua Mendel (1818–23)

Ezechiel Paneth (1823–1843)

Abraham Friedmann (d. 1879), last chief rabbi of Transylvania

Tunisia

Chaim Madar (1984–2004)

Turkey

Eli Capsali (1452–1454)

Moses Capsali (1454–1497)

Elijah Mizrachi (1497–1526)

Mordechai Komitano (1526–1542)

Tam ben Yahya (1542–1543)

Eli Rozanes ha-Levi (1543)

Eli ben Hayim (1543–1602)

Yehiel Bashan (1602–1625)

Joseph Mitrani (1625–1639)

Yomtov Benyaes (1639–1642)

Yomtov Hananiah Benyakar (1642–1677)

Chaim Kamhi (1677–1715)

Judah Benrey (1715–1717)

Samuel Levi (1717–1720)

Abraham Rozanes (1720–1745)

Solomon Hayim Alfandari (1745–1762)

Meir Ishaki (1762–1780)

Eli Palombo (1780–1800)

Chaim Jacob Benyakar (1800–1835)

Abraham Levi Pasha (1835–1839)

Samuel Hayim (1839–1841)

Moiz Fresko (1841–1854)

Yacob Avigdor (1854–1870)

Yakir Geron (1870–1872)

Uganda

Gershom Sizomu (present) (see: Abayudaya)

Ukraine

Yaakov Dov Bleich (1992–)

Moshe Reuven Azman (2005–)

Azriel Chaikin (2003–2008)

Penitentiary rabbinate

Jonathan Markovitch (2009–)

United Arab Emirates

Levi Duchman (2015-present) first resident rabbi to the UAE, appointed Chabad Shaliach to the UAE in 2020, making him the first Chabad Shaliach in a Gulf country. Directs the Jewish Community Center of the UAE. Rabbi Yehuda Sarna is the current Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates.

United Kingdom and Commonwealth

Jacob of London, (appointed 1199)

Josce of London (1217–1237)

Aaron of York (1237)

Elias le Evesque (appointed 1237)

Hagin fil Mosse (appointed 1257)

Hagin fil Deulacres (appointed 1281 by the favour of Eleanor of Provence).

The United Hebrew Congregations, a body of Orthodox synagogues, chooses a Chief Rabbi.

Aaron Hart (1704–1756)

Hart Lyon (1758–1764)

David Tevele Schiff (1765–1791)

Solomon Hirschell (1802–1842)

Nathan Marcus Adler (1845–1891)

Hermann Adler (1891–1911)

Joseph Herman Hertz (1913–1946)

Israel Brodie (1948–1965)

Immanuel Jakobovits (1966–1991; knighted 1981, life peer 1988)

Jonathan Sacks (1991–2013; knighted 2005, life peer 2009)

Ephraim Mirvis (2013–present; knighted 2023)

The Sephardi Jews in the United Kingdom are mainly members of independent synagogues. There is no single rabbi recognised by them as a chief rabbi. The Spanish and Portuguese community, however, consists of several synagogues, charities, a beth din and a kashruth authority. These are under the leadership of an ecclesiastical head. Historically, the individual who fills this role is recognised as a senior rabbi of Anglo Jewry, being the leader of the oldest Jewish community in the country. The Senior Rabbi was traditionally given the title, Haham, meaning "wise one". Since 1918, however, only Solomon Gaon was given this title. The official title of the holder of this office is now The Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the United Kingdom.

United States

A chief rabbinate never truly developed within the United States for a number of different reasons. While Jews first settled in the United States in 1654 in New York City, rabbis did not appear in the United States until the mid-nineteenth century. This lack of rabbis, coupled with the lack of official colonial or state recognition of a particular sect of Judaism as official effectively led to a form of congregationalism amongst American Jews. This did not stop others from trying to create a unified American Judaism, and in fact, some chief rabbis developed in some American cities despite lacking universal recognition amongst the Jewish communities within the cities (for examples see below). However, Jonathan Sarna argues that those two precedents, as well as the desire of many Jewish immigrants to the US to break from an Orthodox past, effectively prevented any effective Chief Rabbi in America.

Uruguay

Jaime Spector (1931–1937)

Aaron Milevsky (1937–1943)

Aaron Laschover (1943–1967)

Nechemia Berman (1970–1993)

Eliahu Birenbaum (1994–1999)

Yosef Bittón (1999–2002)

Mordejai Maarabi (2002–2009)

Shai Froindlich (2009–2010)

Isaac Fadda (2011–2012)

Ben-Tzion Spitz (2013–2016)

Max Yojanan Godet (2017–present)

Uzbekistan

Baruch Abramchayev

Venezuela

Sephardi

Isaac Cohen

Ashkenazi

Pynchas Brener (1967–)

By city

Austria

Yitshak Ehrenberg (1983–1989)

Akiba Eisenberg

Paul Chaim Eisenberg

Arie Folger

Belgium

Chaim Kreiswirth (1953–2001)

Albert Guigui

Bulgaria

Daniel Zion (in World War II)

Asher Hananel (in World War II)

Canada

The title of chief rabbi in Toronto has generally referred to leadership within the city's Orthodox community rather than to an office representing all Jewish congregations.

Joseph Weinreb (c. 1900–1943), described by the Ontario Jewish Archives as Toronto's first chief rabbi and first Orthodox rabbi.

Avraham Aharon Price (1900–1994), a leading Orthodox rabbinic authority in Toronto who headed the city's beth din and was also described as chief rabbi of Toronto.

Amram Assayag, chief rabbi of the Sephardic Rabbinate of Ontario, an organization founded in 1994 to serve Sephardic synagogues and communities in Ontario.

China

Meir Ashkenazi (1926–1949)

Croatia

Hosea Jacobi (1880–1925)

Miroslav Šalom Freiberger (1941–1943)

Denmark

David Simonsen (1879–1891)

Elias Kalischer

Hirsch Goitein (–1903)

Max Schornstein (1906–1910)

Bent Melchior (1963–1970)

Jacob Garfinkel (1971–1973)

Egypt

Raphael Della Pergola (1910–1918)

Finland

Naftali Amsterdam (1867–1875)

Avrohom Schain (1876–1881)

Abraham Werner-Homa (1881–1891)

Shmuel Noson Bukantz (1892–1924)

Scholem Triestman (1928–1929)

France

Michel Seligmann (1809–1829)

Marchand Ennery (1829–1845)

Lazare Isidor (1847–1865)

Zadoc Kahn (1866–1889)

Jacques-Henri Dreyfuss (1891–1933)

Julien Weill (1933–1950)

Jacob Kaplan (1950–1955)

Meyer Jaïs (1956–1980)

Alain Goldmann (1980–1994)

David Messas (1994–2011)

Michel Gugenheim (2012– )

Germany

Nathan Marcus Adler

Menachem Klein

Samuel Freund (1924–1939)

Chaim Pinchas Lubinsky (1946–1949)

Shlomo Zev Zweigenhaft (1949–1952)

Yitshak Ehrenberg (1989–1997)

Pinchos Biberfeld, moved back to Germany from where he had emigrated to Israel over 50 years earlier. (1980–1999)

Steven Langnas, first German (descendance) Chief Rabbi and Av Beth Din of Munich (1999–2011)

Abraham Bing (1814–1839)

Hungary

Yonasan Steif (pre-World War II)

Italy

Avraham David Shaumann

Elia Kopciovsky (195?–1980)

Giuseppe Laras (1980–2005)

Alfonso Arbib (2005–present)

Israel Zolli (1940–1945)

Elio Toaff (1951–2002)

Riccardo Di Segni (2002–present)

Land of Israel

Chaim Hezekiah Medini (1891–1904)

Dov Lior – present

Note: The Edah HaChareidis is unaffiliated with the State of Israel. It is a separate, independent religious community with its own Chief Rabbis, who are viewed, in the Haredi world, as being the Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem.

Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1919–1932)

Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky (1932–1948)

Zelig Reuven Bengis (1948–1953)

Joel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1953–1979)

Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss (1979–1989)

Moshe Aryeh Freund (1989–1996)

Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky (1996–2002)

Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss (2002–2022)

Meir Kessler

Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1911–1939)

Ya'akov Moshe Toledano (1942–1960)

Ovadia Yosef (1968–1973)

Hayim David HaLevi (1973–1998?)

Netherlands

Shaul ha-Levi meHaag (1748–1785)

Tobias Tal (1895–1898)

Dov Yehuda Schochet (1946–1952)

Joachim Loewenstam (1821–1836)

Baruch Bendit Dusnus (1840–1886)

Lion Wagenaar (1886–1895)

Tobias Lewenstein (1895–1899)

Samuel Azarja Rudelsheim (1900–1918)

Bernard Davids (1924–1927)

Simon Dasberg (1929–1932)

Abraham Salomon Levisson (1935–1945)

Dov Yehuda Schochet (1946–1952) [Chief Rabbi of The Hague]

Elieser Berlinger (1960–1985)

Binyomin Jacobs (2008–recent)

Simon de Vries

Josiah Pardo (1648–1669) See his Haskama – Approbation to Sefer Nachalat Shiva, edition Amsterdam 1667, where he is mentioned as Chief Rabbi of both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi congregations in Rotterdam

Yosia Pardo (1648–1669). Left in 1669 to Amsterdam.

Yuda Loeb ben Rabbi Shlomo (1674–c.1700). Born in Wilna.

Judah Salomon (1682)

Judah Loeb ben Abraham Ephraim Asher Anshel (1700–1708) Born in Hamburg, left for Amsterdam.

Poland

Boaz Pash (2006–2012)

Eliezer Gurary (2014–present)

Dow Ber Meisels (1856–1870)

Pinchas Menachem Joskowicz (1988–1999)

Baruch Rabinowitz (1999–2000)

Michael Schudrich (2000–present)

Russia

Mordechai Scheiner (2002–2020)

Efraim Kolpak (2020–present)

Yaakov Mazeh (prior to 1924–1933)

Shmarya Yehuda Leib Medalia (1933–1938)

Shmuel Leib Medalia (1943)

Shmuel Leib Levin (1943–1944)

Shlomo Shleifer (1944–1957)

Yehuda Leib Levin (1957–1971)

Adolf Shayevich (1983, officially since 1993–present)

Pinchas Goldschmidt (1993–2022)

Slovakia

Ernest Klein (1931–1944)

Ukraine

Jonathan Markovitch (2000 – present)

United Kingdom

Naftoli Shakovitzky

Betzalel Rakow

Shraga Feivel Zimmerman (2008–2020)

United States

Abraham N. Schwartz (d. 1937)

Joseph H. Feldman (retired 1972, d. 1992)

Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky known as the Ridbaz, served as chief rabbi of the Russian-American congregations in the city 1903–1905.

Chaim Hirschensohn (1904–1935). His post included Hoboken, Jersey City, Union Hill and the Environs.

Jacob Joseph (1840–1902) was the only true Ashkenazi chief rabbi of New York City; there was never a Sephardi chief rabbi, although Dr. David DeSola Pool acted as a leader among the Sepharadim and was also respected as such. Others it has been said claimed the title of Chief Rabbi; eventually, the title became worthless through dilution.

Chaim Jacob Wiedrewitz was the Chassidic chief rabbi of New York and Pennsylvania; he was previously the Chassidic Rav of Moscow and was officially called as "The Moskover Rav", immigrated in 1893 and died in 1911, he's buried in the Chabad society of the Bayside Cemetery in Ozone Park NY.

Jacob S. Kassin was the Chief Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community of New York 1930–1995.

Leibish Wolowsky was the chief rabbi of the Galician community of NYC 1888–1913, he was previously the rabbi of Sambor, Austria and immigrated to the US in 1888. He died in 1913 and is buried in the Achum Ahuvim of Reizow at the Mount Zion Cemetery in Maspeth NY.

Avrohom Aharon Yudelevitz who was previously the rav of Manchester, England was accepted in 1919 as the chief rabbi of the Jewish Arbitration Court of NYC. He authored many books on Jewish law and responsa. He died in 1930 and is buried in family plot at the Bayside cemetery in Ozone Park NY.

Chaim Fischel Epstein

Menachem Zvi Eichenstein (1943–1982)

"Grand Rabbi"

The term "Grand Rabbi" is sometimes used to style a Hasidic Rebbe, particularly on a letterhead, when written in English.