Yaakov Ariel () is the former

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. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

of the city of

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and one of the leading rabbis of the religious Zionist movement. Ariel had served as the

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

of the

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

in the abandoned Israeli settlement of

Yamit Yamit () was an Israeli settlement in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula with a population of about 2,500 people. Yamit was established during Israel's occupation of the peninsula from the end of the 1967 Six-Day War until that part of ...

in the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

until 1982, and is currently the president of the Ramat Gan Yeshiva (roshei yeshiva are Rabbis Yehoshua Shapira and Ben-Tzion Moshe Elgazi). He also served as the rabbi of Kfar Maimon for about 25 years. Born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Rabbi Ariel learned at the Yeshivat Kfar HaRoeh,

Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh (, lit. ''Vineyard in Yavne Yeshiva'') is a youth village and major yeshiva in southern Israel. Located near the city of Ashdod and adjacent to Kvutzat Yavne, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Yavne Regional Council ...

, Midrashiat Noam in Pardes Hana, and Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem. At Mercaz HaRav, he was one of the most important students of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook. In 2003, Ariel was a leading candidate for the Israeli

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

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. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...

, but lost due to opposition from the

ultra-Orthodox Haredi Judaism (, ) is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that is characterized by its strict interpretation of religious sources and its accepted (Jewish law) and traditions, in opposition to more accommodating values and practices. Its members are ...

. His brother, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, is the former chief rabbi of Yamit and founder of the

Temple Institute The Temple Institute, known in Hebrew as Machon HaMikdash (), is an organization in Israel and the Palestinian Authority focusing on establishing the Third Temple. Its long-term aims are to build the third Temple in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount� ...

. In September 2017, Rabbi Ariel announced that, having reached the age of 80, he was stepping down as rabbi of Ramat Gan.

His Pupils

* Rabbi Shlomo Levi, chief rabbi of Kiryat Shmona. * Rabbi Yehuda Amichay, the rabbi of Torah and the Land institute.

Books

* "Rising from the Desert"- ''Olah Min Hamidbar''. About the building and destruction of

. * "In the Tent of the Torah"- ''B'Ohala Shel Torah''. Answers to

Halachic ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mitz ...

questions; five volumes. * "From the tents of Torah"- ''Mei Ohalei HaTorah''. Essays on the Jewish festivals and

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...

; two volumes. * "Halacha in Our Times" - ''Halacha b'Yameinu'' * "He Who Dwells in Tents" - ''Yosheiv Ohalim''. Lectures on the

Talmudic The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

Tractates

Ketubot A ketubah (; ) is a Jewish marriage contract. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride. In modern practice, the ''ketubah'' has no a ...

and Kiddushin.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ariel, Yaakov Religious Zionist Orthodox rabbis Living people Chief rabbis of populated places in Israel Mercaz HaRav alumni Chardal Orthodox poskim Yeshivat Kfar HaRoeh alumni 1937 births