In traditional (Talmudic) Judaism, decisions were not made by a "Chief Rabbi," but by majority vote:
Three Rabbinic Tales.
That said, it
is part of Jewish tradition that the written word of the Torah may be abrogated by rabbinic decision, when it is determined that following the written rule would be detrimental to the good of the people. It was based on that principle that early rabbis abrogated certain of the laws relating to the forgiveness of debt (which had led to the unavailability of loans to people who desperately needed the assistance), and some 17 years ago, to our Conservative Rabbi's decision to perform commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples.
Abrogation of Laws in Judaism
Overall, though, I'd liken the developments in rabbinic interpretation more to the "originalist" vs "living" approaches to interpretation of the U.S. Constitution than to anything else.