Meir Soloveichik on British Chief Rabbi Short List

Meir Soloveichik

By JTA July 13, 2012

Three U.S. rabbis are among those being considered to become Britain’s chief rabbi.

Meir Soloveichik

Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University and associate rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, is expected in London in a few days for meetings with British Jewish leaders, the Times of Israel reports.

He is the great-nephew of the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik, the long-time leader of American Modern Orthodoxy until his death in 1993.

A senior British community leader told the website that Soloveichik had the behind-the-scenes backing of the current chief rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks. Sources close to Sacks, however, deny that the chief rabbi is backing anyone.

In addition to Soloveichik, other foreign candidates rumored under consideration include Emory law school professor Rabbi Michael Broyde; Rabbi Daniel Beller, a British rabbi who made aliyah 15 years ago; and Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt of the Riverdale Jewish Center in New York, according to the Times of Israel.

The main two candidates in England are widely assumed to be Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis of Finchley United Synagogue and a former chief rabbi of Ireland; and Rabbi Harvey Belovsk of Golders Green United Synagogue, another prestigious shul in the heart of Jewish London, the reported added.

Sacks is to step down in September 2013.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO