Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel

Chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine and the State of Israel

Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel (, born 23 May 1880, died 4 September 1953), sometimes rendered as Ouziel, was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 until his death in 1953.

Ben Zion Meir Hai Uziel was born in Jerusalem, where his father, Joseph Raphael, was the chief justice of the Sephardi community of Jerusalem, as well as president of the community council. At the age of twenty he became a yeshivah teacher and also founded a yeshivah called Mahazikei Torah for Sephardi young men.

In 1911, Uziel was appointed Hakham Bashi of Jaffa and the district. There he worked closely with Abraham Isaac Kook, who was the spiritual leader of the Ashkenazi community. He spoke fluent Arabic, and believed in peace and harmony between the two parties. He made "Love truth, and peace" the motto of his life. This verse (Zechariah 8:19) hung framed above his desk and was inscribed on his note paper.

Uziel issued many rulings in throughout his career. Some of these rulings include:

Converts should be accepted even if we know for certain that they will not fulfill the commandments. Autopsies can be performed, and even as a study tool for trainee doctors. Uziel does not make a distinction between Jews and non Jews with regards to autopsies. Women can vote and can be elected to public office. There is no halachic grounds for preventing a woman from serving on a Beth din, but that societal norms preclude this from happening. Permitted birth control and abortions in cases where it may harm the mother, or in the case of mamzerut.