Joseph Haïm Sitruk ( he, יוסף סיטרוק‎; 16 October 1944 – 25 September 2016) was a former Chief Rabbi of France, a position he held from June 1987 to 22 June 2008. Born Joseph Sitruk in

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, after suffering a stroke in 2001 and recovering he added the name "''

Haim The name ''Haim'' can be a first name or surname originating in the Hebrew language, or deriving from the Old German name ''Haimo''. Hebrew etymology Chayyim ( he, חַיִּים ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Haim ...

''" to his name in line with Jewish tradition. Sitruk graduated as a rabbi in 1970 following his studies in a rabbinical school, and was named Rabbi of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

before becoming the assistant of the Chief Rabbi Max Warchawski. In 1975, Sitruk became Chief Rabbi of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. In 1987 he was elected to occupy the post of Chief Rabbi of France. He was then re-elected for two more seven-year terms. On 16 March 2007, Sitruk was selected as a Commander of the

Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. Sitruk lost his bid for re-election as Chief Rabbi of France on 22 June 2008, against Rabbi

Gilles Bernheim Gilles Uriel Bernheim (; born 30 May 1952) is a French-Israeli rabbi who was formerly the Chief Rabbi of France. Born in Aix-les-Bains, Savoie, in 1952, he was elected by the general assembly of the Central Consistory chief rabbi of France o ...

, who had previously run against him on the 1994 Chief Rabbinate elections and failed. Sitruk was

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

. Though he may not have held religious and

moral authority Moral authority is authority premised on principles, or fundamental truths, which are independent of written, or positive, laws. As such, moral authority necessitates the existence of and adherence to truth. Because truth does not change, the princi ...

over all Jews in France, his charisma earned him a certain reverence, especially among

Sephardi Jews Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

. He was married and the father of 9 children. He was also the president of the

Conference of European Rabbis The Conference of European Rabbis (CER) is the primary Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe. It unites more than 700 religious leaders of the mainstream synagogue communities in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief ...

. Sitruk died on 25 September 2016 at the age of 71.Former Chief Rabbi of France, Joseph Sitruk, passes away
/ref>

References

1944 births 2016 deaths Chief rabbis of France French Orthodox rabbis Sephardi rabbis Tunisian emigrants to France 20th-century Tunisian rabbis 20th-century French rabbis People from Tunis French people of Tunisian-Jewish descent Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur 21st-century French rabbis {{France-rabbi-stub