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Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations

The Office of the Chief Rabbi is the institutional identity for the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth [UK]. Unlike in other European countries, individuals serving as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations are not formally designated by an authoritative state or civic body. Rather, the "office" is occupied by the senior rabbi of the United Synagogue, the umbrella institution for its affiliated Orthodox and Ashkenazi synagogues in the United Kingdom. The position of Chief Rabbi in the UK grew out of an 18th century desire among British Jewry for a respected representative figure comparable to the Archbishop of Canterbury for Anglican Christians. Rabbi Aaron Hart (1670–1756), rabbi of the Great Synagogue in London since 1704, was thus regarded by the 1750s as the first of the British chief rabbis. Over the next century and as British Jewry continued to grow, by the tenure of Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (from 1845-1890) the communal leadership and halakhic authority of the position had become firmly established. When in 1870, the Great Synagogue joined with four other synagogues, and was formally recognized as the United Synagogue by an Act of Parliament, the Chief Rabbi was legally established as its head. The current chief rabbi of the UHC and senior rabbi of the United Synagogue is Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis. (The Office of the Chief Rabbi should not be mistaken for the London Beit Din, the Court of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations.)

https://chiefrabbi.org
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Prayer for the Success of the Conference on Palestine Convened by His Majesty’s Government (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, 19 February 1939)

Contributed by: Joseph Herman Hertz, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

A prayer for the success of the London Conference of 1939 which ultimately resulted in the publication of the 1939 White Paper.


תפילה לעזרת היהודים תושבי גרמניה | Prayer for German Jewry under Nazi oppression before and after Kristallnacht (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations 1938)

Contributed by: Joseph Herman Hertz, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

An untitled prayer on behalf of German Jewry under Nazi oppression disseminated in Bombay, likely after Kristallnacht (9-10 November 1938).


Armistice Day Prayer, by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations 1923)

Contributed by: Joseph Herman Hertz, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

This “Armistice Day Prayer” was composed in 1923 by the Office of the Chief Rabbi on the Anniversary of the cessation of conflict on November 11th marking the end of the Great War (later known as World War I).


תפלה להצלחת ועד השלום בװאשינגטון | Prayer for the Success of the Disarmament Conference at Washington, by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, 12 November 1921)

Contributed by: Joseph Herman Hertz, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

This “Prayer for the Success of the Disarmament Conference at Washington [D.C.]” (12 November 1921) was prepared by the Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire, Joseph Herman Hertz. The prayer was recited on Shabbat after the prayer for the British royal family.


Prayer on the Declaration of War [against Imperial Germany], by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations 1914)

Contributed by: Joseph Herman Hertz, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

“Prayer Composed by the Chief Rabbi on the Declaration of War. (August 1914.),” by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz, was published in the Prayer Book for Jewish Sailors and Soldiers [of H.M. Forces] (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1914), p. 32.


Prayer for Sailors and Soldiers on Active Service, by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations 1914)

Contributed by: Joseph Herman Hertz, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

“Prayer for Sailors and Soldiers on Active Service,” was likely written by Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz and published at the outset of the Prayer Book for Jewish Sailors and Soldiers [of H.M. Forces] (Office of the Chief Rabbi 1914), p. 5.


📖 [Abridged] Prayer Book for Jewish Sailors and Soldiers [in H.M. Forces] (Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations 1914)

Contributed by: Michael Adler, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations

A bilingual Hebrew-English prayerbook for soldiers and sailors in the service of His Majesty’s army and navy during World War One


Prayer on the Jubilee of Her Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler (21 June 1887)

Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Nathan Marcus Adler, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations

This prayer by chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire Nathan Marcus Adler is found in an order of service prepared for the celebration of Queen Victoria’s jubilee in 1887.


תְּפִלָּה לְהַצְלָחַת חַיִל הַמַּלְכָּה בְּאֶרֶץ כּוּשׁ | A Prayer for Her Majesty’s Forces in the Sudan, by Rabbi Dr. Nathan Marcus Adler (1885)

Contributed by: Aharon N. Varady (transcription), Nathan Marcus Adler, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations

This prayer for the well-being of Her Majesty’s military forces in the Sudan, was offered by chief rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler for use by the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire in the context of British involvement in the Mahdist War, and specifically after news reached Britain of the Battle of Abu Klea in January 1885.


Prayer at the Consecration of the Central Synagogue by chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (7 April 1870)

Contributed by: Nathan Marcus Adler, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

The prayer at the consecration of the Central Synagogue (in London) offered by the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire, Nathan Marcus Adler, on 7 April 1870. The prayer was reprinted in “A Sermon By the Chief Rabbi,” The Israelite, vol. 117 part 14 (29 April 1870), page 9.


Prayer for the cessation of a cattle plague and for protection from cholera, by Chief Rabbi Nathan Marcus Adler (1865)

Contributed by: Nathan Marcus Adler, Office of the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, Aharon N. Varady (transcription)

This is a prayer for cattle afflicted by an epizootic contagion (in this case, Rinderpest, a/k/a cattle plague), and for the protection of human beings from cholera, prescribed by the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain, Nathan Marcus Adler, and published in The Hebrew Leader (24 November 1865), p. 1.



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