David Sevi, Turkish Jewish Community Chief Hazzan and Rabbi, installed as 4th Haham Bashi - Chief Rabbi of Turkey

Haham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) David Sevi in the formal jube (robe) of the Chief Rabbi of Turkey

Turkey’s Jewish community has welcomed its new chief rabbi, David Sevi, installing him in the post yesterday in a ceremony at Istanbul’s Neve Shalom synagogue, nearly a year after the death of his predecessor, Isak Haleva.

Sevi, 70, who had served as the acting chief rabbi since Haleva’s death on January 14, is the fourth hakham bashi (chief rabbi of Turkey) since the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, and the 34rd in office since the days of the Ottoman Empire. Sevi was elected in September after the city’s Jewish community held an internal election. The rabbi was chosen unanimously, with no other candidates running for the position.

He was born in Istanbul to a family with deep roots in Turkey. For decades he has worked to promote Jewish education, preserve the traditional customs of Turkey’s Jewish community and strengthen religious life, according to Israeli media.

Chief Rabbi David Sevi (left) meeting Pope Leo XIV at a recent interfaith gathering in 2025

Sevi also served as the community’s shochet (ritual slaughterer) and as the synagogue’s hazzan (cantor). Last month he was pictured meeting Pope Leo XIV during the pontiff’s first apostolic journey, in Istanbul.

The chief rabbi is expected to lead the Jewish community in the Muslim-majority nation through 2032, with an option for renewing his contract.

Late Chief Rabbi Isak Haleva z”L (right)

Haleva died this year aged 84 after serving as chief rabbi for 23 years.

Though the vast majority of Turkish Jews emigrated to Israel, the United States, and Canada in recent decades, the country still has a Jewish population estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Istanbul, with a smaller hub in Izmir.