Mark Winer Is First American Rabbi Honored by Queen Elizabeth
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
An American-born rabbi was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II.
Rabbi Mark Winer, a British subject and a U.S. citizen, is believed to be the first American rabbi to be so honored.
The awards, including knighthoods, were announced on Monday.
Winer, 71, received the honor for services to interfaith dialogue and social cohesion in the United Kingdom. He said in a statement that he was “humbled and thrilled” to accept the honor.
For 30 years, he led congregations in the United States before moving in 1998 to London, where he spent 12 years as senior rabbi of the Reform West London Synagogue of British Jews. Winer is founder of the international interfaith charitable initiative FAITH: The Foundation to Advance Interfaith Trust and Harmony.
Among the other recipients of New Year’s honors from the Queen are several Jews, both born in Britain and elsewhere.
In total, more than 1,000 people were honored by the queen in advance of the new year, a British tradition since at least 1890.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
