Religionיעקב אריאל

Yaakov Ariel

Yaakov Ariel is an Israeli rabbi of Religious Zionism who served as chief rabbi of Ramat Gan from 1990 to 2017 and received the Israel Prize in 2020.

born 1937Chief rabbi of Ramat GanFounding the Yamit hesder yeshivaRulings on Jewish law

Born: 16 October 1937, Haifa
Occupation: rabbi, rosh yeshiva
Education: Mercaz HaRav Kook

Yaakov Ariel was born in 1937 in Haifa

Yaakov Ariel was born Yaakov Stieglitz in Haifa on October 16, 1937, to Moshe and Esther Stieglitz. At age 3 his family moved to Jerusalem. His brother is Rabbi Yisrael Ariel.

He studied at the Kfar HaRoeh yeshiva and Midrashiat Noam, and later at Mercaz HaRav. There he was a student of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook, Rabbi Avraham Shapira and Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli.

He did his regular service in the Paratroopers Brigade and later served in the reserves as a brigade rabbi.

From 1964 he was rabbi of Kfar Maimon for about 25 years and helped found a high school yeshiva there. With his brother he founded the hesder yeshiva of Yamit in Sinai. In 1990 he was elected chief rabbi of Ramat Gan and served until 2017.

In 2003 he ran for Chief Rabbi of Israel, but Rabbi Yona Metzger was elected. He heads the Ramat Gan yeshiva and many rabbinic bodies, and wrote books on Jewish law and on Yamit.

Milestones in Yaakov Ariel's life

1937
Born in Haifa.
1964
Became rabbi of Kfar Maimon.
1990
Elected chief rabbi of Ramat Gan.
2001
Received the Rabbi Kook Prize for rabbinical literature.
2003
Ran for Chief Rabbi of Israel and lost.
2017
Retired as chief rabbi of Ramat Gan.
2020
Received the Israel Prize for Torah literature.

Yaakov Ariel served in the military

He served as a fighter and commander in Battalion 890 of the Paratroopers Brigade. In the reserves he was rabbi of an armored brigade and of the Givati Brigade, with the rank of captain.