Bezalel Rakow
Encyclopedia
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
who headed Gateshead
Gateshead
Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England and is the main settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. Historically a part of County Durham, it lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne opposite Newcastle upon Tyne and together they form the urban core of Tyneside...
’s Jewish community. He was the chair of the Council of Torah Sages of Agudas Yisroel
Agudas Yisroel
Agudas Yisroel may refer to:* World Agudath Israel, the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism* Agudat Israel, the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox population of Israel...
of Great Britain.
Born in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
into a distinguished rabbinical family, Bezalel Rakow was a direct descendant of Rabbi Yomtov Lipman Heller, (author of the Tosafos Yomtov commentary on the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
). His father, Rabbi Yomtov Lipman Rakow, a pupil of the great Volozhin yeshiva
Volozhin yeshiva
The Volozhin Yeshiva, also known as Etz Chaim Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russia, . It was founded by Rabbi Chaim Itzkovitz, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders...
, had been a rosh yeshiva in Frankfurt-on-Main. In 1939, he, aged 10, his parents and his brother Benzion Rakow
Benzion Rakow
Rabbi Benzion Rakow, , was a communal rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Chayei Olam Yeshiva in Golders Green, London. He was also active in Agudas Yisroel of Great Britain....
were granted asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
, and settled in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Aged 18, he enrolled in Gateshead Kollel where he obtained rabbinical ordination and gained a reputation as a Talmudic scholar. In 1948, he married Miriam, daughter of Gateshead's then communal rabbi Naftoli Shakowitzky. The couple moved to Montreux
Montreux
Montreux is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is located on Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps and has a population, , of and nearly 90,000 in the agglomeration.- History :...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where he took up a position teaching in the local yeshivah. In 1964, following his father-in-law's death, he returned to Gateshead to assume his position, thus becoming one of Orthodox Judaism's recognised world leaders.
In 2002, Rabbi Rakow was at the center of debate between Jewish orthodoxy and the features of modernity that he perceived as threatening orthodox values. When British Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, Kt is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name is Yaakov Zvi...
, in his book The Dignity of Difference (2002), expressed the notion that Judaism might learn from other faiths, Rabbi Rakow publicly demanded that Sacks repudiate the thesis of the book and withdraw it from circulation.