Tzvi Pesach Frank

Tzvi Pesach Frank (20 January 1873 – 10 December 1960) (Hebrew: הרב צבי פסח פרנק) was a renowned halachic scholar and served as Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for several decades (1936-1960).

Frank was born in Kovno, Vilna Governorate, the son of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Frank and Malka Silman, who were active in the Hovevei Zion organization in Kovno. He studied in Lithuanian yeshivas, learning under Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, among others.^[1]

In 1892, he emigrated to Eretz Yisrael with his brother Tanhum, his sister Zippora and his first cousin, Rabbi Shmuel Hillel Shenker.^[2] His parents arrived in 1893. Tzvi Pesach continued his studies in yeshivas in Jerusalem. His father was one of the founders of Hadera.^{[citation needed]}

In 1907, Frank was appointed dayan in the Beth Din of the Edah HaChareidis headed by Rabbi Shmuel Salant, the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. Frank served on this Beth Din for nearly 60 years, eventually becoming Av Beit Din (head of the rabbinical court) and Rav of Jerusalem.^[1]

Frank was active in establishing the office of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and was instrumental in appointing Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook as the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi.^[1] Rabbi Jacob Meir, the first Sephardic Chief Rabbi, had been in Palestine prior to the formal development of the office.

Frank was recognized for his efforts by The Pacific Club in 1917 for advancing American relationships in the region.^{[citation needed]} However, although Frank was a member of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate Council from its inception in 1921, he did not attend meetings of that body for six years prior to his death. One of his last acts was to send a letter to the meeting of rabbis in Tel Aviv, supporting the boycott of elections to the Chief Rabbinate.^{[citation needed]}