The Ten Most Influential Jews

1. Moses (1392 BCE – 1272 BCE) 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe

Undisputedly Moses is the most influential Jew throughout history. Along with God, he is the figure who dominates the Torah. Acting at God's behest, it is he who leads the Jews out of slavery, unleashes the Ten Plagues against Egypt, guides the freed slaves for forty years in the wilderness, carries down the law from Mount Sinai, and prepares the Jews to enter the land of Canaan. Without Moses, there would be little apart from laws to write about in the last four books of the Torah.

Moses is born during the Jewish enslavement in Egypt, during a terrible period when Pharaoh decrees that all male Hebrew infants are to be drowned at birth. His mother, Yocheved, desperate to prolong his life, floats him in a basket in the Nile. Hearing the crying child as she walks by, Pharaoh's daughter pities the crying infant and adopts him (Exodus 2:1-10). It surely is no coincidence that the Jews' future liberator is raised as an Egyptian prince. Had Moses grown up in slavery with his fellow Hebrews, he probably would not have developed the pride, vision, and courage to lead a revolt.

After the leading the Exodus, Moses went up to Mount Sinai and spent 40 days listening to God talking to him, dictating to him the 613 commandments of the Torah (which are encapsulated in Ten Statements, the so-called "Ten Commandments") and also the principles how to apply these commandments (which are referred to as the Oral Law).

Although the Torah -- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy -- are called the Five Books of Moses, Moses was not the author. Moses was the scribe -- the ultimate scribe. God dictated to Moses. And the Torah is considered a direct dictation, which is why the Five Book of Moses have a unique position among all holy books of the Jewish people and a unique authority in the Jewish world.

In this list, Moses is the only prophet who made it to the Top Ten. And it's very clear, the Bible says over and over again, that Moses was unique among all prophets.

And there arose no prophet in Israel like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face.(Deut. 34:10)

2. Rabbi Yochanan Ben-Zakkai (30 BCE - 90 CE)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yochanan_ben_Zakai

Rabbi Yochanan Ben-Zakkai was Av Beit Din of the Sanhedrin which was exiled from Jerusalem to Yavneh forty years before the Destruction of the Second Temple. He was one of the youngest disciples of Hillel.

He is especially noted for the part he played in directly negotiating with the Roman general Vespasian during the siege of Jerusalem, while the militant fanatics killed anyone attempting to leave Jerusalem. Rabbi Yochanan was determined to find a way out of the besieged city. He foresaw that the Romans would soon defeat the rebel forces and destroy Jerusalem, even the Temple – thereby threating Judaism’s very survival. Rabbi Yochanan finally made his way out by pretending to be death and buried in a cemetery outside the city. After foretelling Vespasian that he would be a Caesar, he was granted a request to have the city of Yavneh and its scholars unmarred, thus saving Torah in Holy Land.

When the catastrophic defeat occurred, and both Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, many Jews fell into the deepest depression but not Rabbi Yochanan. He was too busy establishing a new center of Jewish life in Yavneh. When a disciple expressed despair that the Temple’s destruction made it impossible to bring sacrifices and atone for sins, Rabbi Yochanan consoled him: “My son, be not grieved, We have another atonement as effective as this. And what is it? It is acts of loving-kindness, as it is said ‘For I desire mercy and not sacrifice’.” (Hosea 6:6).

Rabbi Yochanan’s academy of Jewish learning in Yavneh soon became a worthy successor to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. More than any figure, he must be credited with establishing a model of a Judaism that could survive without a Temple, without sacrifices, and even without a state.

This placement may surprise many people. I put him surpassing Ezra because of his bravery and brilliance acts to make a breakthrough to save the nation while his contemporary sages acted more passively. Interestingly, Rabbi Yochanan is the only non-Biblical figures that reaches the top five.

3. Ezra (c. 458 BCE – 347 BCE)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra

Ezra, along with Nehemiah, are the two most influential figures in the Jewish return to Israel after the Babylonian Exile. After defeating Babylon in 539 BCE., the Persian king Cyrus The Great wrote an edict that permitted the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple. When Zerubabel led the first batch of Jews to return to the land of Israel, Ezra had to stay behind taking care his aged teacher, Baruch Ben-Neriah. He joined the returnees almost a century later, after his teacher died.

He came home with extra-ordinary power from the king to regulate Jewish affairs in Judea. Soon after his arrival Ezra was compelled to take strenuous measures against marriage with non-Jewish women (which had become common even among men of high standing), and he insisted in a very dramatic manner upon the dismissal of such wives. He then convened an enormous gathering in Jerusalem that lasted for several days, which at the conclusion of which all the Jews who are present pledge not to intermarry, not to do business on the Sabbath, and to give the charity to support the Temple in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 10:31ff).

Jewish tradition regards Ezra as having saved the Jewish people from extinction. His public reading of the Torah democratized the holy document, making it as much a possesion of the commonest Jewish laborers as of the priests. As harsh as Ezra’s measure against intermarriage were, had they not been carried out there might be not Jews today, they probably would simply have assimilated into the religions and lifestyles of their neighbors.

Ezra led the Men of Great Assembly – in Hebrew, Anshei Knesset HaGedolah, which consists of the greatest Jewish men at that time, including the prophets and non-prophets (i.e. Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Nehemiah, Mordechai, etc). They regulated, fixed and formalized all the phases of Torah life to ensure its being a completely organized, self-enforced and self-functioning entity. It therefore:

·         Closed the Scriptures

·         Completed all the chief Takonnot.

·         Formulated and formalized the text of the prayers.

·         Formalized the language of the Oral Law in its exact and permanent form.

So great is the contribution of Ezra to Judaism and the Jewish people, that the Talmud declares: “Ezra would have been worthy of receiving the Torah for Israel had not Moses preceded him” (Sanhedrin 21b).

Thus it is difficult for me not to place him in the second place after Moses. However, comparing to Rabbi Yochanan, firstly Ezra did not joined the return at first place and acted as the initiator of the whole process, secondly he did not have to work single-handedly as there were many contemporary leaders supporting behind him, and thirdly, his life was never in constant danger as in the case of Rabbi Yochanan. In short, if he was not there, there were always other great men who could take his place.

4. Abraham (1812 BCE to 1637 BCE)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham

It is so naturally that the father of the Jewish people could secure his place in this list. The story of the Jewish people does not start from Exodus. In the first book of the Torah we trace Israel’s story from the life of Abraham and Sarah until their offspring develop into a family and then a nation. If Abraham did not accept his mission, there would be unlikely a Jewish nation on earth, even the fate of whole humanity was at stake after they joined Nimrod’s rebellion, resulting in the Great Dispersion. It is said in Mishnah: “There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham. This demonstrates how patient God is, for all the generations kept provoking Him, until the Patriach Abraham came and received the reward of them all” (Avot 5:2).

In fact, it’s noteworthy to state that at least two other major religions agree and acknowledge him as the original founding founder. However if the reason I list Abraham is solely because of the popularity of being the Patriach, I could end up sharing this trophy with Issac and Jacob, and the four matriach as well.

But Abraham deserves this position because the fact that he is the man who introduced (or more accurately: re-introduced) the concept of monotheism to the world, and by the fact that monotheism has been spreaded and practiced throughout the world. According to traditional view, monotheism had existed since the beginning of creation, as the religion of Adam and Eve. Polytheism, on the other hand, was a later development, a consequence of human corruption and sin. On his days, Abraham was not the only man unmoved by idolatry – Noah and Shem were still alive at that time. However, he became the first person that rediscovered this monotheistic belief and took action on spreading the message, while the others failed to do. It is believed that during his journey, Abraham ran a missionary campaign to convert people to faith in one God (Gen 12:5).

Although Abraham has brought one of the greatest revolution to the world, I could not position him into higher rank. Had it not been Moses who institutionalized it some 400 years later, I am not sure if his belief still remains as of today.

5. King David (1037 BCE– 967 BCE)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David

The Bible offers several accounts of David’s ascent to the throne. The David of the Book of Samuel – a brave handsome youth, Goliath’s slayer, captain in the king’s army, skillfull musician, and who maintained a deep friendship with Jonathan, the king’s heir – fed the imagination of future generations and is typical of popular epics. The long centuries during which the people of Israel were ruled by the House of David most likely embellishes these stories with heroic touches.

David was elected king of all the tribes of Israel after winning the civil war against Saul’s son, Ish-Bosheth. During his 40-year reign he extended the borders of his kingdom and brought peace and unity to the nation (known as the First Jewish Commonwealth). With the conquest of Jerusalem from the Jebusites, on the border between the tribes of the south and those of the center and the north, David created a capital for his kingdom and a spiritual center for the entire nation of Israel – a revolution which would influence thousands of years of Jewish history.

David had wanted to build the Holy Temple but a divine edict, however, had forbidden him from doing so. Nonetheless he still leaves a remarkable legacy. Being a skillfull musician, David wrotes hundreds of psalms and songs for use in temple rituals, and to these days they are still the backbone of Jewish prayers. Jewish tradition attributes authorship of the Book of Psalms to David. His merits also reward him a privilege that Mashiach will come only from his descendants.

I put King David in #5 because of the long-lasting legacy he made that affect Jewish people for centuries.

6. Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (c.135-220)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehuda_Ha-Nasi

Rabbi Judah is widely accepted as the compiler of Mishnah. He possesed maximum wisdom and grandeur as it is said in Talmud: “Since the days of Moses, we have not seen either Torah scholarship or grandeur exclusively in one man, until Rebbi appeared.” (Gittin 59a). Besides he also possessed wealth, capital and widespread dominion, it is claimed that: “Rabbi’s stable-man was wealthier than Shabur the king of Persia” (Bava Metsia 85a). He had a close friendship with "Antoninus", possibly the Roman Emperor Caracalla, who would consult Rabbi Judah on various worldly and spiritual matters.

He used this wealth to aid men of wisdom and its seekers, and spread Torah knowledge throughout Israel. He compiled the laws, the words of the sages, and the disagreements which arise ever since the day of Moses till his own days. And he, himself, was one of the transmitter of the Tradition because he was born into a family which had hold the Nasi office for two centuries, hence he got the title Ha-Nasi.

I list Rabbi Judah because his combined possession of wisdom, wealth and influence had him capable to complete the compilation and documentation of the Oral Law. For centuries, the Oral Law has been preserved by each of tradition chains, i.e. teacher-students, father-sons, in many different academies and different families. There were attemps to compile the Oral Law into a single body of document since the day of Ezra, but with no success. His success should also be noted that he had no opposition from the Babylonian Jewry which at that time had already kept their own tradition. His works later became the foundation of Talmud, another major document which defines Judaism.

7. Maimonides (1135-1204)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides

Maimonides (Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon, also known by his Hebrew acronym “Rambam”) was the most illustrious figure in Judaism since the talmudic era. His influence on the future development of Judaism was incalculable. The writings and achievements of this medieval Jewish sage seem to cover an impossibly large number of activities. Maimonides was the first person to write a systematic code of all Jewish laws, the “Mishneh Torah”. He produced one of the great philosophic statements of Judaism, “The Guide to the Perplexed”. He also served as physician to the sultan of Egypt and wrote numerous books on medicine. And in his “spare time” he served as leader of Egyptian Jewish community.

Maimonides’s major contribution to Jewish life remains the Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law. His intention was to make the entire Oral Law accessible to the commonest people; replacing the Talmud, the study of which should henceforth be reserved only to the intellectual people. Despite sometimes intense opposition, the Mishneh Torah later became a standard guide to Jewish practice and served as a model for the future “Shulchan Aruch” (it still failed to replace the Talmud though). Maimonides also formulated a credo of Judaism expressed in thirteen articles of faith which is universally accepted in Jewish world.

During his lifetime, he received many opposition that reacted to his philosophical works and his rationalist view. In the long run, however, Maimonides remained a hero and his influence spreaded from Spain to Yemen. He is one of the few Jewish thinkers whose teachings also influenced the non-Jewish world; much of his philosophical writings in the Guide were about God and other theological issues of general, not exclusively Jewish, interest. As a popular Jewish expression of the Middle Ages declares: “From Moses [of the Torah] to Moses [Maimonides] there was none like Moses”.

8. Rashi (1040-1105)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashi

One of the greatest of Rishonim (the medieval Jewish scholars) is undoubtedly the French-Jewish sage Rashi. His full name is Rabbi Shlomo ben Issac, of which Rashi is the acronym.

Since his death almost a millenium ago, Jews who study either the Torah or the Talmud, Judaism’s two most important works, invariably do so with the help of his commentary. Almost every Talmud editions that have been printed has come out with this French sage’s glosses. In fact, had Rashi not written a Talmud commentary that explained its difficult Aramaic words and guided students through its intricate and often confusing forms of logic, the Talmud might have become a largely forgotten work.

In every printed edition of the Talmud, opposite Rashi’s commentary, is another commentary known as Tosafot. The Tosafot commentary is a creation put together over the two centuries, dominated by five of Rashi’s descendants – two sons-in-law and three grandson. One of the grandsons, Rabbi Jacob Tam (known as Rabbenu Tam), became the leader of French-Jewish community. Rashi and his descendants’s sphere of influence also shaped the world of Ashkenazic Jewry.

The most difficult decision to rank in this list is when comparing Maimonides and Rashi. To this day, Maimonides and Rashi are the most widely studied Jewish scholars. Although Maimonides is regarded as Judaism’s greatest philosopher, Rashi is its greatest commentator. The leadership and scholarship of both men were inherited to their descendants. But while Rashi’s sphere of influence in his lifetime seemed to be limited in French and Germany, Maimonides’s reaches out from Spain to Yemen, including both Sephardic and Askhenazic Jewry and probably extends to the non-Jewish world (Arab and Mediterranean kingdoms). Therefore, I give Maimonides more credits and place him above Rashi.

9. Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488-1575)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Karo

The legal code known as the Shulchan Aruch, compiled by the great Sephardic rabbi Joseph Karo in the mid-1500s, is still the standard legal code of Judaism. When rabbis, particularly if they are Orthodox, are asked to rule on a question of Jewish law, the first volume they consult generally is the Shulchan Aruch. A major reason for its universal acceptance is that it was the first code to list the differing customs and laws of both Sephardic and Askhenazic Jewry. This unique feature was not intended by Joseph Karo, but came through a happy coincidence. At the very time that Karo was compiling his code, a similar undertaking was being planned by Rabbi Moses Isserles of Poland. Isserles, known by his acronym the Rama, was thrown into some despair when he first heard about Karo’s work, for he knew Karo to be the greater scholar than himself. Nonetheless, he soon realized that both Karo’s legal code and his own would not by themselves meet the needs of all Jews. Thus, the Shulchan Aruch was published with Karo’s ruling listed first and Isserles’s dissents and addenda included in italics.

To list Rabbi Joseph Karo and neglect the contribution of the Rama is almost impossible. In reality, we agree to admit that the contribution of Rabbi Joseph Karo is still much greater than the Rama’s. So I pick Rabbi Joseph Karo and leave the Rama in the “Other Most Influential Jews” at the bottom.

10. Israel Baal Shem Tov (c.1700-1760)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baal_Shem_Tov

In the eighteenth century East European Jewry witnessed a great religious awakening. The upheaval following the collapse of the Shabbatean movement, the spread of kabbalistic mysticism among the scholars, as well as popular traditions of mass enthuasism, provided the background for the emergence of a new spiritual movement: Hasidism (from hasidut, meaning “piety”).

The founder of Hasidism was a rabbi from Poland – Israel Baal Shem Tov, also known as Besht by his acronym. A miracle-worker and a healer, an ecstatic mystic and a charismatic leader, the man drew followers and admirers from among kabbalists, rabbis and common people. One of the main teaching of Besht is that the Tzaddik (the religious leader of Hasidim) should serve as a model of how to lead a religious life. After his death, he was suceeded by Dov Baer of Mezhirech (1704-1772), who spread the teaching of the master and transformed the small community into a real movement. Within a few decadeds, numerous new Hasidic groups were formed, each with its own Tzaddik, referred to as a rebbe. The belief in the power and greatness of the Tzaddik became one of Hasidim’s strongest – and most controversial – ideas.

From its very early stages, the movement encountered internal opposition from some traditional rabbi elite labeled as the Mitnagdim (“opponents”). The Mitnagdim feared that the Hasidic movement would become another heretical sect, similar to that of Shabbetai Zevi. However the rivalry between the two groups finally ended when they have to face the same enemy, the European Haskalah movement.

Nonetheless, the Hasidic approach to Judaism significantly differs from that of the Mitnagdim. Hasidism generally places a much greater stress on simcha shel mitzvah – the joy of performing a commandment.

Now Hasidism is widespread around the world. The best known group of Hasidim in the world are the Lubavitcher (also known as Chabad), who are headquartered in Brooklyn, United States. The group is so well-known and popular by their various outreach programs. 

Other Most Influential Jews

(the order is when they arrive in history and their direct/indirect contributions)

King Solomon, First Temple establishment

Elijah/Pinchas, Prophet, Priest, Torah transmitter

Mordechai, the miracle of Purim

Nehemiah, Ezra’s contemporary, Second Temple establishment

Mattathias the Hasmonean, the second commonwealth, the miracle of Hanukkah, Jewish population increasing

Hillel, Talmudic era leading sage, hermeneutic rules 

Onkelos, authoritative Targum Torah translation

Rabbi Akiva, Talmudic era leading sage, textual interpretation method

Hillel II, Jewish fixed lunar calendar system

Rav Ashi, Babylonian Talmud completion

...together with his uncle, Ravina (Bava Metsia 16b), disciple of Rava (Eruvin 66b). However the Talmud was not actually sealed until seventy three years later.

Aaron ben Moses Ben-Asher, the last of Masoretes scholar

Rama, the Askhenazi leading poskim

Rabbi Jacob ben Hayyim, his printed Bible became "textus receptus" version both in Jewish and Xtians world

Rabbi Issac Luria, the school founder of Jewish mysticism

Shabbetai Zevi, false Messiah

Eliezer ben Yehuda, the revival of Hebrew

Albert Einstein, theory of relativity 

David Ben-Gurion, modern Israel state, the third commonwealth (?)

This list is made for fun only to exercise my Jewish literacy skill and I would not expect that everyone will agree with my ranking. If you have your own reasoning to correct my ranking, or you would like to suggest another influential Jewish person, I welcome you to write your comments on this blog.

Source: Jewish Literacy (R. Telushkin), A Historical Atlas of The Jewish People (Eli Barnavi), Introduction to Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Wikipedia