Ber was born in 1957 in the
Yad Eliyahu neighborhood of
Tel Aviv,
Israel. He is the son of Miriam Ita, a descendant of Rabbi
Akiva Eiger through his grandson Rabbi
Leibel Eiger and the
Rebbes of
Izhbitza-Radzin. He studied at the high school yeshiva in Netanya under the leadership of Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook. After graduating high school, he began studying at the Kerem B'Yavneh
Hesder Yeshiva in Yavne. He served in the
IDF as a soldier in the
Nahal Brigade and then spent decades in the reserves. During his years at the yeshiva, he studied the writings of
Rabbi Kook together with Rabbi Uzi Kalkheim. He later studied at the yeshiva's
kollel and was ordained to the city rabbinate by the chief rabbis, Rabbi
Avraham Shapira and Rabbi
Mordechai Eliyahu. In 1986, he was appointed by Rabbi
Chaim Yaakov Goldvicht to serve as a
maggid shiur in
yeshiva. In addition to his role in the yeshiva, he served as the head of the
Midrasha in
Kibbutz Hafetz Haim and head of the
Talpiot College of Education. He served on a rabbinical mission as the head of the Yavne Yeshiva in
Antwerp, and as the rabbi of the
Mizrahi community "Rabbi Amiel". He presented a Torah class on
Kol Chai radio and currently presents a weekly Torah class on the
Kikar HaShabbat website.
Rabbi of Netanya In late 2014, after 26 years in which no one had held the position, Rabbi Bar was elected to serve as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of the city of Netanya. In the election for the position, he received the support of the
Jewish Home Party, The Rebbe of
Sanz, and Mayor
Miriam Feierberg. As part of his role, he established the "Behidur Kashrut" kashrut system within the
kashrut system of the Netanya Rabbinate.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel |thumb In 2024, he ran in the
elections for the
Chief Rabbinate of Israel for the position of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. In the first round of elections, Ber received 40 votes, tying with Rabbi Micha Halevi, the rabbi of
Petah Tikva, who also received 40 votes. In this round, Rabbi Ber won the support of the
Degel HaTorah party, Rabbi
Yaakov Shapira, Rabbi Gavriel Saraf, Rabbi Aharon Friedman, and other rabbis. In a second round of elections held about two month later, Rabbi Ber was elected to the position with a majority of 77 votes, compared to 58 who supported Rabbi Halevi. In this round, Ber gained support from Rabbis Mordechai Greenberg,
Aryeh Stern, Eitan Isman,
David Stav, Elyakim Levanon, and other rabbis from the
Mercaz HaRav and
Kerem Yavne networks. On 4 November 2024, Rabbi Ber declared his allegiance at a ceremony at
Beit HaNassi, and began serving as Chief Rabbi of Israel. == Family ==