Turkish chief rabbi Ishak Haleva has died at the age of 84, the country’s chief rabbinate says.
Haleva had been the chief rabbi of Turkey since 2002, when he replaced David Asseo. He served as a member of the Presidium Council of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, and lectured on Jewish history and Hebrew at Marmara University and Sakarya University.
Members of the Turkish Jewish community, which numbers around 14,500, mourn him on social media, saying that he was well-loved and known for his interfaith dialogue efforts.
Haleva was born in Istanbul in 1940 and was ordained as a rabbi in Israel by former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef after studying at Yeshiva Porat Yosef in Jerusalem. He is survived by his wife and four sons.
No word has been given on who will replace him.
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