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The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (also abbreviated as Moetzes or The Moetzes) ????? ????? ????? ("Council of [great] Torah Sages") is the name for the councils that are the supreme rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
nical policy-making bodies of the two Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
 Haredi
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 political groups in Israel, Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Jews Haredi Judaism List of political parties in Israel in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Israel under the name United Torah Judaism....
 and Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel

Agudat Israel began as the original political party representing Haredi Judaism in Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all Haredi Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine....
, and for the social and political group in the United States that serves as the highest ranking rabbinic policy board of the Agudath Israel
Agudath Israel

Agudath Israel can refer to any of several related organizations, including:*World Agudath Israel, an international movement*Agudath Israel of America, an American organization...
 organization.






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The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (also abbreviated as Moetzes or The Moetzes) ????? ????? ????? ("Council of [great] Torah Sages") is the name for the councils that are the supreme rabbi
Rabbi

Rabbi , in Judaism, means a religious ?teacher?, or more literally, ?my great one?, when addressing any master. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ?great?, used in many senses, including the sense of a ?master? and apprentice, whence someone who is a distinguished ?teacher?....
nical policy-making bodies of the two Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews

File:Juden 1881.JPGAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish ethnic divisions of the Rhineland in the west of Germany....
 Haredi
Haredi Judaism

Haredi or Chareidi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
 political groups in Israel, Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Jews Haredi Judaism List of political parties in Israel in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Israel under the name United Torah Judaism....
 and Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel

Agudat Israel began as the original political party representing Haredi Judaism in Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all Haredi Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine....
, and for the social and political group in the United States that serves as the highest ranking rabbinic policy board of the Agudath Israel
Agudath Israel

Agudath Israel can refer to any of several related organizations, including:*World Agudath Israel, an international movement*Agudath Israel of America, an American organization...
 organization. In Israel, the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah speaks for most Haredi Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
.

Those rabbis who are on the Moetzet are usually the most important rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
s ("heads") of yeshiva
Yeshiva

Yeshiva or yeshivah , or metivta or mesivta ) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for Torah study, the study of Talmud, Rabbinic literature and History of responsa....
s as well as Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism is a type of Orthodox Judaism or Haredi Judaism Orthodox Judaism religious movement. Some refer to Hasidic Judaism as Hasidism, and the adjective chasidic / hasidic applies....
 Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
s who are also regarded as the Gedolim
Gadol

Gadol or godol ???? , is a Hebrew term used mostly by Haredi Judaism Litvish Jews to refer to the most revered rabbis of the Generation. These Rabbis are usually held in high esteem by other Haredi or Orthodox Jews, though not necessarily to the same degree as Litvish Jews do....
 ("great/est") sages of Torah Judaism
Torah Judaism

Torah Judaism is an English language term, used by a number of Orthodox Judaism groups, to describe Judaism as being based on a strict adherence to the laws of the Torah's 613 mitzvot as expounded in Orthodox Halakha....
.

In Europe


Prior to World War Two, there was only one such body, serving the World Agudath Israel
World Agudath Israel

World Agudath Israel , usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism, in succession to Agudas Shlumei Emunei Yisroel ....
 organization in Europe.

In Israel


Prior to Degel HaTorah
Degel HaTorah

Degel HaTorah is an Ashkenazi Jews Haredi Judaism List of political parties in Israel in Israel. For much of its existence it has been allied to Agudat Israel under the name United Torah Judaism....
's break from Agudat Israel
Agudat Israel

Agudat Israel began as the original political party representing Haredi Judaism in Israel. It was the umbrella party for almost all Haredi Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine....
 (because of the dominance of the Hasidic groups), there was only one Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah in Israel; with the breakaway (led by Rabbi Elazar Shach
Elazar Shach

Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach , was a leading Eastern European-born and educated Haredi Judaism rabbi who settled and lived in modern Israel....
), two separate, yet at times complementary, Moetzes's were created.

The Haredi Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi or Mizrahi Jews....
 of Israel had also at one time followed the leadership of Agudat Israel when it was still a body that spoke for most of Israel's Haredim. However, with Rabbi Shach's assistance, the Haredi Sefardim broke with their Ashkenazi counterparts and established the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah ("Council of [wise] Torah Sages") that in turn became the source for the formulation and expression of the policies and agenda of the Shas
Shas

Shas is a List of political parties in Israel in Israel, primarily representing Haredi Judaism Sephardi Jews and Mizrahi Jews Judaism. Following the Israeli legislative election, 2006 in which Shas won 12 seats, it joined Ehud Olmert's coalition government and holds four cabinet posts....
 political party in the Israeli Knesset
Knesset

The Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem....
. Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef would become the main leadership figure of this council.

Past members

Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer

Isser Zalman Meltzer, , was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox Judaism rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel", after the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishne Torah....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin
Zalman Sorotzkin

Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin was a famous Orthodox Rabbi. He is also known as the "Lutzker Rav", as he served as the Rabbi of Lutsk, Poland....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter
Avraham Mordechai Alter

Avraham Mordechai Alter, , also known as the Imrei Emes after the works he authored, was the third Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1905 until his death in 1948....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Yisrael Alter
Yisrael Alter

Yisrael Alter, , also known as the Beis Yisroel after the works he authored, was the fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1948 until 1977....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter (Chairman)
Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter
Pinchas Menachem Alter

Pinchas Menachem Alter, , also known as the Pnei Menachem after the works he authored, was the sixth Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he held from 1992 until his untimely death in 1996....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Elazar Menachem Shach
Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach

Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach , was a renowned Rabbi, Posek and Rosh Yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Israel....
Rabbi Boruch Shimon Schneerson
Rabbi Yisroel Don Taub
Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Heshl Twerski
Rabbi Binyamin Zilber


Current members belonging to Agudath Israel

Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter
Yaakov Aryeh Alter

Yaakov Aryeh Alter, , is the seventh and current Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Ger , a position he has held since 1996. He lives in Israel and has followers in Europe and the United States....
, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)

Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic Judaism dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish language name of G?ra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland.Prior to the Holocaust, Ger was the largest and most important Hasidic group in Poland....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach (II)
Yissachar Dov Rokeach (II)

Yissachar Dov Rokeach is the fifth and present Rebbe of the Hasidic Judaism dynasty of Belz . He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgorai and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him....
, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Belz (Hasidic dynasty)
Belz (Hasidic dynasty)

Belz is a Hasidic Judaism named for the town of Belz, a small town in Western Ukraine. The town has existed since at least the 10th century with the Jewish community being established during the 14th century....
Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)

Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Menachem Mendil Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a village in present-day Ukraine....
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz
Levi Yitzchak Horowitz

Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz is a Hasidic Judaism Rebbe#Hasidic_rebbes....
, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Boston (Hasidic dynasty)
Boston (Hasidic dynasty)

Boston is a Hasidic Judaism sect, named after Boston, Massachusetts. The senior of the Bostoner Rebbes is currently Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz....
Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Sadigura (Hasidic dynasty)
Sadigura (Hasidic dynasty)

Sadigura is a Hasidic Judaism List of Hasidic dynasties, one of the branches of the Ruzhin dynasty.The dynasty began with Rabbi Avrohom Yaakov Friedman of Sadhora now located in Ukraine, who was a son of the Holy Rabbi Israel Friedman of Ruzhin , the founder of the Ruzhiner dynasty....
Rabbi Chaim Shaul Taub, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Modzitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Modzitz (Hasidic dynasty)

Modzitz or Modzhitz is the name of a Hasidic Judaism group within Orthodox Judaism that derives its name from Modrzyce, one of the boroughs of the town of Deblin, Poland, located on the Vistula River....
Rabbi Yochanan Sofer, the Rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
 of Erlau
Erlau

Erlau is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen in Saxony in Germany....


Current members belonging to Degel HaTorah

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (Co-Chairman)
Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the Ponevezh Yeshiva
Ponevezh yeshiva

Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, is a world renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. It was originally established in the town of Paneve?ys, Lithuania....
 (Co-Chairman)
Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz
Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz

File:Rabbi Lefkowitz.jpgRabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz is a Haredi Judaism leader living in Bnei Brak, Israel. He is one of the heads of the Ponevezh yeshiva and is a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah....
, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the Ponevezh Yeshiva
Ponevezh yeshiva

Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, is a world renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. It was originally established in the town of Paneve?ys, Lithuania....
Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg
Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg

Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg is a Polish-born rabbi and rosh yeshiva, currently living in Israel. He heads the yeshiva Torah Ore in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf....
, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the yeshiva Torah Ore
Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach
Shmuel Auerbach

Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach is a prominent Haredi Judaism rabbi living in Jerusalem, Israel. He is regarded as one of the leading non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jews rabbis today....
, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the Maalos HaTorah yeshiva
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Mir)
Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Mir)

Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel is the Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva , which is located in Beit Yisrael, Jerusalem, Israel. He is the son-in-law of Rabbi Beinish Finkel, who was the son of Rabbi Eliezer Yehudah Finkel....
, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)
Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)

The Mir yeshiva , commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. It is presently distinguished as the largest yeshiva in the world, with its student body numbering around 5,000 post-high school students, mostly from the United States....
Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the Ponevezh Yeshiva
Ponevezh yeshiva

Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, is a world renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. It was originally established in the town of Paneve?ys, Lithuania....
Rabbi Meir Tzvi Bergman, the Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
 of the Yeshiva Rashbi


In the United States


In the United States, Agudah's policies and leadership are directed by the council, which is comprised primarily of rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the Dean of a Yeshiva . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh ? meaning head, and yeshiva ? a school of religious Jewish education....
s and Hasidic rebbe
Rebbe

Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew language word Rabbi. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism Jewish movement....
s. Formerly known as the Moetzes Chachmei HaTorah, the body was started in 1941. It sets all major policies and guides the organization according to its precepts of Da'as Torah.

Past members


Rabbi Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler

Rabbi Aharon Kotler was a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuanian Jews, and later the United States, where he built one of the first yeshivas in the US....
 (Chairman)
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
Moshe Feinstein

Moshe Feinstein was a Lithuanian Jews Orthodox Judaism rabbi, scholar and posek , who was world-renowned for his expertise in Halakha and was regarded by many as the de facto supreme rabbinic authority for Orthodox Jewry of North America....
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
Yaakov Kamenetsky

Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , was a prominent rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community.He was born in the hamlet of Kalushkove, Lithuania, in 1891....
Rabbi Gedalia Schorr
Gedalia Schorr

Rabbi Gedalyahu Schorr was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva. He was regarded as the "first American Gadol" , an expression coined by Rabbi Aharon Kotler....
Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman
Rabbi Mordechai Gifter
Mordechai Gifter

Rabbi Mordechai Gifter was the rosh yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland and among the foremost religious leaders of Orthodox Jewry in the late 20th century....
Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner
Rabbi Baruch Sorotzkin
Baruch Sorotzkin

Rabbi Raphoel Baruch Sorotzkin was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders.Rabbi Sorotzkin was born on Monday February 5 1917 in Zhetl, Lithuania....
Rabbi Mordechai Shlomo Friedman of Boyan
Boyan (Hasidic dynasty)

Boyan is the name of a Hasidic Judaism List of Hasidic dynasties, whose founder was a scion of the Ruzhin dynasty. The dynasty began with Rabbi Yitzchok Friedman of Boiany in the Ukraine known as the Pachad Yitzchok of Boyan....
Rabbi Yisrael Spira of Bluzhev
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Rabbi Eliezer Silver
Eliezer Silver

Rabbi Eliezer Silver was the President of the Agudath HaRabbonim of America and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders. He helped save many thousands of Jews in the Second World War and held several Rabbinical positions in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio....
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Zacks


Current members


Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld
Rabbi Yitzchok Feigelstock
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein
Dovid Feinstein

Rabbi David Feinstein, son of the late Moshe Feinstein, is an acknowledged Torah scholar and halachic authority. He resides on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and serves as the rosh yeshiva of the Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem yeshiva elementary and high school and kollel, inheriting the position after the passing of his father in 1986....
Rabbi Aharon Feldman
Aharon Feldman

Aharon Feldman is a rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel , an Orthodox Judaism yeshiva located in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001....
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz
Levi Yitzchak Horowitz

Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz is a Hasidic Judaism Rebbe#Hasidic_rebbes....
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky
Shmuel Kamenetsky

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky has been co-rosh yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia for the past 50 years with Rabbi Elya Svei and is probably the current best-known Gadol outside the land of Israel....
Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler
Aryeh Malkiel Kotler

Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler is the Rosh yeshiva, or Dean, of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, New Jersey. He is the son of Rabbi Shneur Kotler who preceded him as rosh yeshiva, the grandson of the yeshiva's founder, Rabbi Aharon Kotler, and the great-grandson of Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer....
Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levine
Rabbi Yaakov Perlow
Yaakov Perlow

Rabbi Yaakov Perlow is a Hasidic Judaism rebbe and rosh yeshiva living in Boro Park, Brooklyn. He is the current Novominsk Rebbe and serves as rosh of the American Agudath Israel of America, a Haredi Judaism communal organization....
 (Chairman)
Chacham Yosef Harari Raful
Rabbi Aaron Schechter
Aaron Schechter

Aaron Moshe Schechter is the rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and its post-graduate Talmudical division Kollel Gur Aryeh as well as of all the branches of the yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York City that includes an elementary school and a high school for young Jewish boys, teenagers, and young men almost exclusively drawn from th...
Rabbi Elya Svei
Elya Svei

Rabbi Elya Svei is the Rosh Yeshiva of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, and was internationally known for his incisive, brilliant and clear shiurim, and his ability to offer sage advice to thousands of Jews worldwide....