The tenures of Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau will conclude on Sunday without designated successors, following legal disputes over their attempts to nominate family members for the positions.
In the interim, two temporary chief rabbis will assume their roles, marking the first time Israel is without official Ashkenazi and Sephardic chief rabbis.
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Outgoing Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau and Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
(Photo: Elad Zagman)
Rabbi Eliezer Igra, 69, one of Israel's most senior rabbinical judges, will take on the role of president of the rabbinical court, succeeding Rabbi Lau. Rabbi Igra, with 35 years of judicial experience, previously served as chief justice of the Be'er Sheva Rabbinical Court and was the chief rabbi of Kfar Maimon. He has been part of a special panel addressing complex halakhic issues arising from the Gaza war. A veteran of the IDF and participant in the Yom Kippur War, Rabbi Igra brings extensive experience to his new interim role.
Rabbi Yaakov Roja will step in as president of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, following Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz's withdrawal due to health reasons. Rabbi Roja, an expert in casualty identification and burial, serves as the chairman of the Rabbinical Council of ZAKA and the rabbinate's representative at the National Center of Forensic Medicine. His notable work includes identifying the bodies of the three teenagers murdered in 2014, which triggered Operation Protective Edge.
During the current war, Rabbi Roja has been instrumental in identifying casualties from the October 7 massacre, working tirelessly to provide closure to families. His efforts have sometimes required reliance on ancient halakhic rulings not used for centuries.