Ben-Zion Hai Uziel

Born in Jerusalem, Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel followed a long family legacy of joining the rabbinate; his father Yosef Raphael was the leader of the Sephardic rabbinic court. In 1911, Ben-Zion was appointed the chief Sephardic rabbi of Jaffa, a position he held until he was exiled by the Turkish authorities to Damascus during World War I. He served as chief rabbi of Salonika (1921–1923), Tel Aviv (1923–1938), and eventually as chief Sephardic rabbi of Mandate Palestine and then of the State of Israel (1939–1953). He was an active Zionist, a supporter of women’s suffrage, and a prolific writer, publishing many volumes of rabbinic responsa and homiletics, as well as essays on contemporary Jewish life. He was particularly concerned with the question of the conversion of non-Jews to Judaism and issued rulings that were markedly compassionate and inclusive.