Mirvis now last rabbi standing in chief search

Justin Cohen - Friday 30th November 2012

The minister of Finchley United Synagogue is the only candidate currently in the race to succeed Lord Sacks as Chief Rabbi, writes Justin Cohen.

Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland who has served the Kinloss 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.

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Other big names linked to the job over the months have gradually been ruled out or indeed ruled themselves out.

Writing on his blog this week, Mill Hill United’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 US 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 US and what sort of man he would like to see at its spiritual helm". The Jewish News understands the committee is still actively looking at other potential candidates.
Shimon Cohen, spokesman for the US, said this 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."

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