Biographies: Notable Jewish Religious Leaders

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Notable Jewish Religious Leaders

Abravanel or Abarbanel, Isaac, Jewish theologian
Abravanel or Abarbanel, Judah, Jewish philosopher, physician, and poet
Aha of Shabcha, Babylonian rabbi
Ahad Ha-am, Jewish thinker and Zionist leader
Akiba ben Joseph, Jewish Palestinian religious leader
Al-Fasi, Isaac ben Jacob ha-Kohen, prominent Jewish Talmudic scholar
Amram ben Scheschna, Hebrew scholar
Anan ben David, Babylonian Jewish theologian, founder of the Ananites
Ashi or Asser, Rab, Jewish scholar of Babylon
Baal-Shem-Tov, Jewish founder of modern Hasidism
Baeck, Leo, German rabbi and scholar
Bar Kokba, Simon, Hebrew hero and leader
Berkovits, Eliezer, rabbi, theologian, and educator
Bostanai ben Chaninai, first Jewish exilarch
Caro or Karo, Joseph ben Ephraim, eminent Jewish codifier of law
Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba, Jewish philosopher and Talmudist
Deutsch, Gotthard, Austrian Jewish scholar and historian
Dubnow, Simon, Jewish historian and ideologist
Duran, Jewish family of scholars
Einhorn, David, Jewish theological writer and leader of the Reform movement in Judaism in the United States
Elijah ben Solomon, Jewish scholar
Fackenheim, Emil Ludwig, Canadian-Israeli rabbi and philosopher
Frankel, Zecharias, Jewish theologian
Friedmann, Meir, Hungarian Jewish scholar
Gamaliel of Jabneh, Jewish scholar
Gaster, Moses, Romanian Jewish scholar and writer
Geiger, Abraham, German rabbi
Gersonides, Jewish philosopher
Ginsburg, Christian David, English Hebrew scholar
Gollancz, Sir Hermann, English rabbi and authority on Hebrew language and literature
Gottheil, Gustav, American Reform rabbi
Grätz or Graetz, Heinrich, German Jewish historian
Herrera, Abraham Cohen de, Jewish philosopher and kabbalist
Heschel, Abraham Joshua, American Jewish philosopher and theologian
Hillel, Jewish scholar
Hirsch, Emil Gustav, American rabbi
Hirsch, Samson Raphael, German rabbi and chief exponent of Neo-Orthodoxy
Ibn Ezra, Abraham ben Meir, Jewish grammarian, commentator, poet, philosopher, and astronomer
Isserles, Moses ben Israel, Polish rabbi, annotator, and philosopher
Johanan ben Zakkai, leader of the Pharisees
Judah ha-Levi, Jewish rabbi, poet, and philosopher
Judah ha-Nasi, Palestinian Jewish communal leader
Kaplan, Mordecai Menahem, American rabbi
Kimhi, family of Jewish scholars and grammarians
Kohler, Kaufmann, American rabbi
Kook, Abraham Isaac, Jewish scholar and philosopher
Krauskopf, Joseph, American rabbi and humanitarian
Krochmal, Nachman, Jewish secular historian and writer
Luria or Loria, Isaac ben Solomon, Jewish kabbalist
Maccabees, family of Jewish leaders
Maimonides, Jewish scholar
Manasseh ben Israel, Jewish scholar and communal leader
Moses, Hebrew lawgiver
Onkelos, translator of the Hebrew Bible
Rashi, Jewish exegete
Roth, Cecil, Jewish historian and educator
Saadia ben Joseph al-Fayumi, Jewish scholar
Schechter, Solomon, Jewish scholar
Scholem, Gershom Gerhard, Jewish scholar
Shammai, Jewish sage
Silver, Abba Hillel, American rabbi and Zionist leader
Sokolow, Nahum, Jewish writer and Zionist leader
Soloveitchik, Joseph, Jewish Talmudist and philosopher
Szold, Henrietta, American Zionist leader
Wiesel, Elie, American writer
Wise, Isaac Mayer, American rabbi
Wise, Stephen Samuel, American Reform rabbi and Zionist leader
Zunz, Leopold, German Jewish scholar