Ben Zion Uziel

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Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel, 1945

Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel (* 1880 in Jerusalem ; died September 4, 1953 / 24. Elul 5713 ibid) was the Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic communities in Erez Yisrael and in the State of Israel from 1939 to 1953 .

Life

Ben Zion Uziel was born in Jerusalem where his father Joseph Raphael Av Beth Din was of the Sephardic community. At the age of twenty he was yeshiva -teacher (at the Jeschiwat Tiferet Yerushalayim ) and founded the yeshiva Mahazikei Torah . At that time he still had to earn his living from slaughtering . In 1911 he became Chacham Baschi of Jaffa. His ideological closeness to Grand Rabbi Kook helped to resolve or alleviate many traditional tensions between the Sephardi and Ashkenazim . He quickly became a Sephardic leader, but had to leave the country for Damascus because of his interventions with the Ottoman government ( High Gate ) in favor of persecuted Jews. He was allowed to return to Palestine before the British army even moved in.

In 1921 he became Chief Rabbi in Saloniki for three years with the consent of the Jaffa / Tel-Aviv community , but returned in 1923 as the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel-Aviv. As such, he successfully campaigned for the construction (1925–1931) of the city's Sephardic Great Synagogue . Uziel took his seat at the new Great Synagogue. In 1939 Uziel also became Rishon le-Zion ( רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן 'First in Zion' , official name of the country's Sephardic chief rabbi). As Sephardic chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, he was replaced in 1942 by Rabbi Jaʿaqov Moscheh Toledano , who had held the same position in Cairo until then.

Ben Zion Uziel was a member of the Asefat HaNivcharim , the Wa'ad Le'umi (Hebrew: National Council), the provisional government of the Yishuv , and a participant in the assembly from which the Jewish Agency emerged . He was regarded by the mandate government as a representative of the Jewish community and impressed everyone with his dignified demeanor. During this time he spoke as chairman of the Yishuv, for the Kotel Association, before the round table in London and before the UN.

He was also the founder of the Yeshiva Sha'ar Zion in Jerusalem and developed a large-scale journalistic activity, writing many articles on religious, local political and nationally important topics. He wrote the books Mischpete Uziel , three volumes on the Shulchan Aruch and the Sefer Machmone Uziel . Many more of his books were never printed.

He made the biblical saying “love, truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:19) his motto in life. The quote hung framed over his desk and was imprinted on his letterhead.

Web links

Commons : Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mordecai Naor : Eretz Israel: the 20th century. Könemann, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-89508-594-4 , p. 312
  2. ↑ https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Ouziel-Rabbi-Ben-Zion-Meir-Hai Jewish Women's Archive, accessed on February 15, 2019
  3. ↑ a b בֵּית הַכְּנֶסֶת הַגָּדוֹל - אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד: O'hel Mo'ed Synagogue , accessed April 16, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Uziel, Ben Zion
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Uziel, Ben Zion Meir Hai (full name); Uziʾel, Ben-Tsiyon Meʾir Ḥai; Usiel, Ben-Zion Meir Hai; Usiel, BZ; עזיאל, בן ציון
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Israeli Chief Rabbi
DATE OF BIRTH 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Jerusalem
DATE OF DEATH 4th September 1953
Place of death Jerusalem