Jewish+Leaders+Over+Time

Hi! This page highlights some of the greatest Jewish leaders over the last 2000 years. We will be looking at some of these people more closely in class, but feel free to look them up and get a feel for who they were before we begin.

__Yochanan ben Zakai__
A tanna from the 2nd Temple Period. He helped foster the evolution of Judaism going from a Temple/sacrifice based religion to one without the Temple and based more on the following of halacha. He also was instrumental in the move of the Jewish base going from Jerusalem to Yavneh.

__Baal Shem Tov__
Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (better known as the Baal Shem Tov) was an 18th century mystical Rabbi who is considered the founder of the Jewish Chasidic movement.



One of the more controversial figures in Jewish History. He was a Sephardi Rabbi and Kabbalist that declared himself to be the Messiah in 1648 at the age of 22. 18 years later the Ottoman Sultan gave him the choice to either convert to Islam or be executed, he quickly chose to convert to Islam.
 * __Shabbatai Zevi__ **

__Moses Mendlessohn__
Moses Menlessohn was a German Jewish Philosopher. His ideas helped plant the seeds for the //haskalah// (enlightenment). He is also referred to as the father of Reform Judaism.



__Theordore Herzl__
Herzl is the father of modern day Zionism. He was forced to weave through multiple agendas to guide various Jewish movements to their goal of having a Jewish homeland.

__Golda Meir__
Golda Meir was the 4th Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before becoming the Prime Minister, Ms. Meir was stationed all over the world as an Israeli Ambassador. David Ben-Gurion often referred to her as the "best man in the government".

__Yitzchak Rabin__
Rabin made the difficult transition from being a man of war to a man of peace. His difficult decision eventually led to his untimely death in hands of a Jewish assassin in November 1995.

__Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik__
Rabbi Soloveitchik (also known as the 'Rav') was a 20th century Rabbi who helped usher in the Modern Orthodox movement in the United States. He helped shape a culture where Religion was able to interact with Science. He believed that a religious person not only is capable, but should be a part of general society.

__Rabbi Solomon Schechter__
Rabbi Schechter was a scholar from the late 19th and early 20th century. He was the founder of the United Synagogue movement, Jewish Theological Seminary, and the American Conservative Movement.