Yaakov Dov Bleich (born October 19, 1964) is an American-born rabbi, and Chief Rabbi of the Great Choral Synagogue in Kiev. Rabbi Bleich was vice-president of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act a ...

from 2009-2017. Bleich chose not to run for re-election as a member of the WJC Executive Committee at the WJC’s May 2021 plenary assembly. Rabbi Bleich resides in Monsey, NY.

Biography

Bleich graduated from Telshe Yeshiva High School in Chicago, Illinois where he began his rabbinical studies. From 1984 to 1986, he studied at the Karlin Stolin Rabbinical Institute in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. In November 2014, Bleich strongly criticized Minister of the Interior

Arsen Avakov Arsen Borysovych Avakov hy, Արսեն Բորիսի Ավակով (born 2 January 1964) is a Ukrainian politician and businessman. From 2014 to 2021 he was Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, first being appointed in the first cabinet of ...

for appointing Vadym Troyan, a former Azov Battalion commander, to the post of police chief of the

Kyiv Oblast Kyiv Oblast ( uk, Ки́ївська о́бласть, translit=Kyïvska oblast), also called Kyivshchyna ( uk, Ки́ївщина), is an oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, w ...

. Speaking to ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...

'', Bleich stated that “if the interior minister continues to appoint people of questionable repute and ideologies tainted with fascism and right-wing extremism, the interior minister should be replaced”. In 2018, he was expelled from his own community, but continued to publicly call himself the chief rabbi; another Jewish leader of Ukraine, Michael Tkach, accused Bleich of imposture. Later, despite the announced herem, he returned to the Great Choral Synagogue; according to the Israeli journalist Shimon Briman, everything that happens is a struggle for influence between Jewish leaders. In 2019, Bleich, together with

Sviatoslav Shevchuk Sviatoslav Shevchuk ( uk, Святосла́в Шевчу́к; born 5 May 1970 in Stryi, Ukrainian SSR) has been the Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) since 25 March 2011, serving as the Eastern Catholic church's le ...

(

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church ( sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's ...

) and

Epiphanius I of Ukraine Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kyiv and All Ukraine ( uk, link= yes, Епіфаній, Митрополит Київський і всієї України, translit=Epifanii, Mytropolyt Kyivskyi i vsiiei Ukrainy, secular name: Serhii Petrovych Dum ...

(

Orthodox Church of Ukraine The Orthodox Church of Ukraine ( uk, Православна церква України, Pravoslavna tserkva Ukrainy; OCU) is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church whose canonical territory is Ukraine. The church was united at the unific ...

), held a prayer service for members of the

Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Організація українських націоналістів, Orhanizatsiya ukrayins'kykh natsionalistiv, abbreviated OUN) was a Ukrainian ultranationalist political organization est ...

in the

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit k ...

Sambir Sambir ( uk, Самбір, pl, Sambor, yi, סאמבאָר, Sambor) is a city in Sambir Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sambir Raion (district) and is located close to the border with Poland. Sambir hosts t ...

. On February 27, 2022, Bleich told ''

Arutz Sheva ''Arutz Sheva'' ( he, ערוץ 7, lit=''Channel 7''), also known in English as ''Israel National News'', is an Israeli media network identifying with religious Zionism. It offers online news articles in Hebrew, English, and Russian as well a ...

'': "President Zelensky called me a few hours ago, while waging war, and asked the Jewish people should pray for Ukraine. 'The Russians have more soldiers than us, but our soldiers have more determination than the Russians. We need your prayers for us to succeed, the Ukrainian president said."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleich, Yaakov 1964 births Living people Ukrainian Orthodox rabbis 20th-century Ukrainian rabbis 21st-century Ukrainian rabbis American Hasidic rabbis People from Borough Park, Brooklyn