Bezalel Rakow (15 May 1927 – 20 July 2003) was a British Orthodox rabbi who headed Gateshead’s Jewish community.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany into a distinguished rabbinical family, Bezalel Rakow was a direct descendant of Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, (author of the Tosafos Yomtov commentary on the Mishnah).
Aged 18, he enrolled in Gateshead Kollel where he obtained rabbinical ordination and gained a reputation as a Talmudic scholar.
In 1964, following his father-in-law's death, he returned to Gateshead to assume his position, thus becoming one of Orthodox Judaism's recognised world leaders.
In 2002, Rabbi Rakow was at the center of debate between Jewish orthodoxy and the features of modernity that he perceived as threatening orthodox values.