Who are the spiritual leaders in Judaism?

Answer 1

Judaism does not have a single leader, like a pope. In ancient times, kings, prophets, and sages were all considered leaders. Since the year 70 CE, there has been no centralized leadership of the Jews.

Answer 2

Judaism has had many leaders. Some important people are: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David. Also Joshua, Deborah (Judges ch.4-5), Samuel, King Solomon, King Hezekiah, Mordecai, Ezra, Hillel, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Judah ("the prince"), Rabbi Ashi, Rabbi Saadia Gaon, and thousands more.

Answer 3

No one person in history can be called "The original spiritual leader of Judaism". This is not a Jewish concept.

• Answer 2

According to tradition, Abraham, who founded Judaism, was its first leader, teacher, and ancestor.

Answer 4

Originally it was Moses, but then the duty fell to Aaron and his descendants for two reasons; 1) Moses was not allowed to enter the holy land, and 2) Moses never had a Hebrew wife, his wife was an Arab woman who never converted to Judaism, as neither The Bible, nor the Torah make any reference to it. That means that Moses' sons were not Jewish. According to Arab tradition, Moses' children returned to their mother's people the Midianites, thus, there are Arabs in Saudi Arabia who in fact descend from Moses. After Moses, religious duties, feel to Aaron's descendants. You had the tribe of Levi, and within the tribe of Levi you had the Cohanim, the priests, the chief priest, was the defacto leader of the Jewish religion. Modern day Judaism, has no head priest, as there is too much strife across Jewish sects regarding interpretation, for there to be unification of any sort. I believe the major branches of religious Judaism are;

1) Reform Judaism, which is by far the biggest and most widely followed.

2) Orthodox Judaism, which is far stricter to the point, some have criticized, of fanaticism.

3) Finally there is Babylonian Judaism, of which practically all middle eastern Jews are a part. As a general rule, middle eastern Jews are more conservative regarding religious issues than nonreligious ashkenazis who are reform Jews, however not as strict as Orthodox Jews.

If the Jewish religion HAD to have a leader, that would all depend. It depends on modern Rabbinical writting I mean; there is an unwritten rule in the world wide Jewish community, that the most widely published Rabbi is the defacto "leader" of Judaism. However, the moment another Rabbi publishes a work that outsells the previous one, HE becomes the "leader."

Most of the Rabbis that publish works in modern times all belong to reform Judaism.

Answer:The leader of the Jewish religion was, depending on which generation:

1) The Forefathers

2) Moses, then Joshua; then the Judges, in order (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, etc.), ending with Eli and Samuel

3) the Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, etc.

4) the Sages: Ezra, and the names listed in Avot ch.1

5) the Hasmoneans

6) the Sages of the Mishna and Talmud: Hillel, Rabbi Jochanan, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Judah, etc.

7) the Savoraim and Gaonim: these Sages, over a 500-year post-Talmudic period, are listed in the Letter of Rabbi Sherira Gaon, which is available in English translation.

8) later Sages, down to today: Rashi, Rambam (Maimonides), Rabbi Jacob Tam, Rabbi Jonah, Rabbi Meir of Rottenberg, Rabbi Joseph Caro, Rabbi Joel Sirkes, Rabbi Abraham Gumbiner, Rabbi Loewe, Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, Rabbi Israel Meir of Radin, Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya, etc.

To respond to all of the inaccuracies of the above post would take a whole essay. But briefly:

a) The wife of Moses was Midianite, not Arab. She didn't formally convert for the simple reason that he married her (Exodus ch.2) before the Giving of the Torah; and at that time no formal conversion-process had been commanded by God. Zipporah (the Midianite woman) gave up idolatry and embraced the service of God, and that was all that was needed.

b) the sons of Moses were indeed Jewish; this is explicitly stated in 1 Chronicles 23:14.

c) The Cohen Gadol (chief priest) never led the Israelite people. His duties were restricted to the Holy Temple. Both the king and the Sanhedrin (Sages) had greater power than any Cohen.

d) An "unwritten rule that the most widely-published Rabbi is the leader"? I'm a long-term Orthodox Rabbi and I can assure you that there's no such rule, formal or informal. The Judges, most of the kings, many of the Sages of the Talmud, and many more recent leading sages, never published anything, yet were recognized as the leaders.

e) "Most of the Rabbis that publish works in modern times all belong to Reform Judaism"? Anyone who can write such a statement is clearly unaware of the vast (and growing) library of books (mostly in Hebrew) of Torah and Talmud-commentary, halakha (laws), hashkafa (outlook), mussar (ethics), hassidut (piety), biographies of the Sages, etc., etc.

Answer 5

According to tradition, Abraham, who founded Judaism, was its first leader, teacher, and ancestor. See also the Related Link.

Abraham's biography

Answer 6

• Abraham (Genesis ch.11-25).
  

Link: About Abraham

Other major names:

• Isaac (Genesis ch.17, 21, 22 and 26)
  
• Jacob (Genesis ch.25, and 27-35)
  
• Joseph (Genesis ch.37, and 39-50)
  

Link: About Joseph

• Moses (Exodus ch.2 onwards)
  

Link: About Moses

• Joshua, Deborah (Judges ch.4-5), Samuel, King David, King Solomon, King Hezekiah, Mordecai, Ezra, Hillel, Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Judah ("the prince"), Rabbi Ashi, Rabbi Saadia Gaon, and thousands more.
  

Link: About King David

See also the other Related Links.Link: History of the Hebrew Bible

Link: Dates and major names in Jewish history

Answer 7

Rabbis are Jewish teachers, but they also function as spiritual Leaders. Cantors can also offer spiritual guidance.