Isser Yehuda Unterman

Isser Yehuda Unterman (Hebrew: איסר יהודה אונטרמן; 19 April 1886 – 26 January 1976) was the third chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, and later the third Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel from 1964 until 1972. He was a leader of the Mizrachi movement and was awarded the Rabbi Kook Prize for Rabbinic Literature in 1954.

Born in Brisk, he was the son of Eliyahu and Sheina Unterman. He was named after the city's rabbi, Rabbi Isser Yehuda Malin, who had died about ten years earlier in Jerusalem. In his childhood, he was considered a prodigy and studied with the local rabbi and dayan Simcha Zelig Riger. In 1898, at age 12, he was invited to be part of the founding core of the Etz Chaim yeshiva in Maletz under the leadership of Rabbi Zalman Sender Kahana Shapira. He briefly studied at the Mir Yeshiva but returned to Maletz, where he became a prominent student of Rabbi Shimon Shkop. After his marriage to Rachel Leah Yellin, he studied at the kollel of Volozhin Yeshiva, where he was also ordained as a rabbi by Rabbi Raphael Shapiro, the head of the yeshiva. During his studies in Volozhin, Rabbi Unterman opened a yeshiva in the nearby town of Vishnevo and served as a rabbi in several Lithuanian communities, including Mohilev and Mstibovo. After World War I, he served as a rabbi in Lunovlya and later in Grodno.

Rabbi Unterman was a Zionist and one of the prominent rabbis who supported the ideology of the Mizrachi. In 1922, at the third Mizrachi conference in Poland, he delivered a central speech opposing the Uganda Plan, stating:

"I do not advocate for a Zionism based on the negation of poverty and pressure in the diaspora, as such Zionism may lead to a failed initiative like establishing a Jewish state in Uganda. Zionism needs a soul, a strong spiritual foundation based on the heritage of generations."

In 1923, under the influence of Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, leader of Litvak Jewry, Rabbi Unterman moved to England and served as the rabbi of Liverpool. He quickly overcame the language barrier and became an active figure in the local Jewish community. He established an umbrella organization for all the Jewish communities in the area, brought in students from Europe to strengthen the local yeshiva, and founded the Liverpool Academy for Torah Studies.

During World War II, Rabbi Unterman worked on behalf of Jewish refugees from Germany who were treated as enemy subjects by England. He risked himself by visiting them in detention and visiting members of his community who were dispersed to find shelter.

After the passing of Rabbi Moshe Avigdor Amiel in 1945, Rabbi Unterman was appointed as the Ashkenazi rabbi of Tel Aviv. He refused to immigrate to Eretz Yisrael using the general immigration quota and instead received a special immigration permit from the British as a "British expert in the rabbinate."

In Tel Aviv, Rabbi Unterman established a kolel named "Shevet Meyehuda" and wrote halachic responses and various articles, compiling his main responses in his work: Shevet M'Yehuda. Together with the Sephardi rabbi of the city, Yaakov Moshe Toledano, he founded the special court for agunot issues.