Yaakov Roja
{{Short description|Interim president of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate.}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Yaacov Roja
| image = יעקב רוז'ה.jpg
| birth_date = {{birthdateandage|1944|02|24}}
| education = Hebron Yeshiva
| employer = ZAKA
| known_for = Identifying remains of fallen soldiers
}}
Yaakov Roja (born February 24, 1944) is a Lithuanian–Israeli Haredi Rabbi,{{Cite web |date=2023-11-13 |title=רב מומחה בזיהוי חללים על הקושי בזיהוי הגופות מהטבח: "לא ייקברו בקבר אחים" |url=https://www.maariv.co.il/news/israel/Article-1051850 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.maariv.co.il |language=he}} and member of the Chief Rabbinate council. On June 30, 2024, he became interim president of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, alongside Rabbi Eliezer Igra who serves as interim president of the rabbinical court, after chief rabbis David Lau and Yitzhak Yosef ended their terms with no successor named. {{cite news |last=Fried |first=Shilo |date=2024-06-30 |title=Who will become Israel's next chief rabbis? A closer look |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/article/byuwztrl0 |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=ynetnews}} He also serves as the city rabbi of Bat Yam and is an expert on identifying battlefield remains. {{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}
Biography
Roja was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in Bnei Brak. He studied in the Yishuv and Hebron Yeshiva.{{Cite web |date=2011-03-08 |title=הרב הראשי של זק"א: עשרות אלפים ייפגעו במלחמה הבאה - וואלה חדשות |url=http://news.walla.co.il/item/1801821 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=וואלה |language=he}}
He served in the engineering corps of the Israel Defense Forces. Soon after he completed his service, the Yom Kippur War broke out and he began the task of identifying bodies of those who fell in battle.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
During the 2014 Gaza War, it was Roja who made the final halakhic decision that identified that soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin were dead.{{Cite web |last=Tuchfeld |first=Michael |date=9 August 2014 |title=How do you determine the death of a soldier, without a body? |url=https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/11/ART2/605/367.html |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.makorrishon.co.il}} He also identified the remains of Naftali Frankel, Eyal Yafarah and Gil-Ad Shaar.{{Cite web |last=ben Porat |first=Ado |date=7 January 2014 |title=Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the Zaka, Rabbi Yaakov Roja: "I testify that the three martyrs were not ruled by a maggot or a worm. According to the doctors, there is no explanation for this phenomenon". |url=https://www.inn.co.il/news/279217 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.inn.co.il}}
He serves as the chairman of the Rabbinical Council of ZAKA and as the chief rabbinate's representative at the National Center of Forensic Medicine. He has the rank of lieutenant colonel in the army and serves as an advisor of the IDF to identify the remains of victims of war.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-01 |title=הרב והמומחה בזיהוי חללים מתקשה להתאושש: "מה שראיתי אחרי הטבח, לא ראיתי בכל הקריירה שלי" |url=https://www.zman.co.il/451085/ |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.zman.co.il |language=he-IL}}
When the Gaza war began with the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel in 2023, Roja was responsible for identifying all the civilian victims.
Roja was principal of Segulah School in Bnei Brak, but moved to Bat Yam to become head of the Aderet Yeshiva.{{Cite web |last=Levi |first=Michal |date=4 April 2019 |title=Rabbi Roja was appointed the Ashkenazi rabbi of Bat Yam |url=https://www.inn.co.il/news/398560 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.inn.co.il}} In 2019, Roja was appointed Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Bat Yam.{{Cite web |last=מנע |first=מיה |date=2019-03-19 |title=הרב האשכנזי הנכנס שהכריז על גולדין ושאול כעל חללים: "האמונה מחזקת" |url=https://www.hashikma-batyam.co.il/news/10854/ |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=השקמה בת ים |language=he}}
On June 30, 2024, he became interim president of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, temporarily replacing Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef until a new Rishon LeZion (Sefardi Chief Rabbi, who normally holds that role) is elected.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
He is the author of [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/61448 Chesed Ve'Emet Nifgashu], a collection of responsa on the laws of mourning.{{Cite web |title=חסד ואמת נפגשו - רוזה, יעקב (page 1 of 168) |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=61448&st=&pgnum=1 |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.hebrewbooks.org}}