Who is the spiritual leader of the Jews?

Question

They must have one but it is not very well advertised!

Answer 1

There is no single person- though the major groupings will generally have a Rabbi that is seen as the seniour posek (Rabbinical decisor) for that group. For the Sefardim today, that is Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, for Ashkenazi Jews that is Rabbi Eliashav. Outside of that many of the specific Chassidic groupings have a Rebbe that is the major posek for that specific group. Any community chooses which Rabbi is their posek.

Their is no person or institution that can rule for all Jews- in the past the laws were set and the Anshei Knesset Hagadol (The Men of the Great Assembly also known as the Sanhedrin) acted as the supreme legislative body and the effective controlling force of the Jews- the priests, including the High Priest were controlled by their rules- they did not set the tules.

Answer 2

Judaism does not have a spiritual leader....there are too many different levels of observance. Some Jews are very conservative -- ultra-Orthodox and some are very liberal -- Reconstructionists. Ultra Orthodox believe that G-d literally wrote the Torah -- others doubt even G-d's influence.

In First Century Judaism the high priest was the leader -- after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple in AD 70, the high priesthood and Sadducees disappeared.

Some major cities/areas do have what is called a Chief Rabbi -- but he/she is not a spiritual leader.

For a good primer on the various movements within Judaism, check this out: http://www.jewfaq.org/movement.htm

Answer 3

The Jewish people are not a united group.
There are different sects of Judaism.
In Israel, the primary sect has a high priest.
He could be considered a type of leader.
However, many sects have their own leaders. For example, the Lubavitchers had a very popular Rebbe, or lead rabbi, who died in 1994. His name was Menachim Schneerson and he was revered as a very great rabbi.
The Muslims also have no titular head, because there are so many sects. For the Shiites, based in Iran, Ayotollah Ruholla Khomeini was pretty much the top man, back in the 1980s. There are also grand ayotollas!
There is no lack of leaders in the world of religion.
But it is not a unified field, as it was in the time of Jesus Christ, when Caiaphas was the High Priest and that was that.

Answer 4

No, sorry - we don't have a spiritual leader :-) Our rabbis are teachers, but they're just Jews like the rest of us - just a little better-educated in terms of Jewish thought and literature. We don't have priests or a hierarchical clergy as the Catholic or Episcopalian churches do, and a rabbi isn't a priest in any sense of the word.

The last time we had priests was in the days before the Temple was destroyed. There are those who know that they are descendants of Aaron, the "koheinim," as well as the descendants of the tribe of Levi, but they don't have a temple, and so don't function as priests in the present-day world.

Answer 5

Judaism is unique in that it has no governing spiritual body or religious leader. Whether this is a benefit or not is arguable, but judging by the lack of Jewish fanaticism and their smooth adjustment into modern society, I consider it a benefit.

Answer 6

G-d. We have no single governing body of Judaism, like Catholicism has the pope. We are led in our own areas by our rabbis, who are led by their beit dins, who are led by their councils (like in chicago, we have the CRC, the Chicago Rabbinical Council) which takes care of rabbis and things, and past that I don't know.

Answer 7

Yeah, it's Moses... ;);););)

"Moses appears as the villain from the movie Tron - the MCP (Master Control Program). The Jewish people make macaroni pictures, popcorn necklaces, and soap carvings for Moses at the Jewish scout camp in the episode "Jewbilee". Moses is called out of the fire by an elder and given these tokens. The antagonist Garth puts him in a conch shell before calling upon Haman. Kenny McCormick, who had been banished by Moses for not being Jewish, saves the camp by breaking the conch shell open with his head. Moses also appears in the episode "Super Best Friends" where he shows the ability to play a tape by having it inserted through a port in his front."

Answer 8

they're smart enough not to invest their spiritual authority into the hands of one flawed human. anyone who tells you how you must practice your spirituality is a liar.

Answer 9

There is no one man such as a pope or something like that. Every community is free to elect their chief rabbi as they wish.

Answer 10

each ultra-orthodox division of Judaism has its own spiritual leader... like a mini-pope