Chief Rabbi – last man standing?
LONDON – The minister of London’s Finchley United Synagogue, Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, is reportedly the only candidate currently in the race to succeed Lord Jonathan Sacks as Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Commonwealth.
Rabbi Mirvis, the former chief rabbi of Ireland who has served the Finchley community for 16 years, was considered to be among the leading UK contenders from the start of the selection process more than a year ago.
Other big names linked to the job over the months have gradually been ruled out or ruled themselves out.
Writing on his blog last week, Mill Hill United Synagogue’s Rabbi Yitzchak Schochet claimed: “Rumour has it that all candidates bar one have been eliminated. The one remaining candidate is someone who has the respect of the collective rabbinate, has previous experience as a chief rabbi and is spoken of highly by the wider United Synagogue membership.
“The only problem is that the selection committee is deeply split.”
While “there is strong consensus in his favour”, Rabbi Schochet added that “there is at least one vociferous voice on the committee who has his own idea about how he sees the future of the United Synagogue and what sort of man he would like to see at its spiritual helm”.
The UK Jewish News reported that it understands the committee is still actively looking at other potential candidates.
Shimon Cohen, spokesperson for the United Synagogue, said last week had seen “a constructive meeting that reflected the importance of the decision”.
“The committee will proceed to work through further stages of the process before making a recommendation to the consulting group. They propose to meet again shortly.”
JUSTIN COHEN
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