Ephraim Mirvis

Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis (born 7 September 1956) is a South African-born British Orthodox rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1985 and 1992.

Early life and education

Mirvis was born in Johannesburg, Union of South Africa, in 1956, the son of rabbi Lionel and Freida Mirvis. His father was the rabbi of the Claremont and the Wynberg Hebrew Congregations in Cape Town, as well as Muizenberg Shul in the Western Cape; he also served as rabbi in Benoni for a time, during which Mirvis attended local schools. Mirvis says his father preached against the apartheid system, and visited political prisoners held on Robben Island, while his mother was the principal of the Athlone teacher training college, which was then the country's sole college for training black pre-school teachers. His grandfather, Lazar Mirvis, was a Jewish minister in Johannesburg.

Mirvis's cousin is the American novelist, Tova Mirvis. His nephew Shlomo Mirvis is married to Shira Marili Mirvis, the first woman to serve as the spiritual leader of an Orthodox synagogue in Israel.

Mirvis attended Herzlia High School in Cape Town from 1968 to 1973. After moving to Israel in 1973, Mirvis studied at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh from 1973 to 1976 and Yeshivat Har Etzion, in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Alon Shvut, from 1976 to 1978. He studied at Machon Ariel in Jerusalem from 1978 to 1980 and received his rabbinic ordination there.

Other positions held

While living in Ireland, Mirvis was chairman of the Board of Governors of Stratford Jewish Schools, in Dublin, from 1984 to 1992. Mirvis has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis since 1986 and has served as its Associate President since 2013. In 1992, he arranged and hosted the Biennial Conference of European Rabbis at the Western Marble Arch Synagogue and in 2001, he led the first group visit by United Synagogue rabbis to the United States. and recognises the importance of advocating for Kosher food.

Interfaith relations

Christians

Mirvis served as the President of the Irish Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ) from 1985 to 1992. He has participated in dialogue with Church leaders in the UK at Windsor Castle and Lambeth Palace. In 2005, he addressed a CCJ meeting at the Synod of the Church of England.

Muslims

Mirvis was the first United Synagogue rabbi to host an address by an imam, Mohammed Essam El-Din Fahim, in his synagogue. He has also led a delegation of members of his community to the Finchley Mosque and initiated a joint project between his synagogue and the mosque for a Jewish-Muslim public service day on 25 December. Mirvis was named his successor as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth on 17 December 2012. He took office on 1 September 2013.

His appointment was welcomed by the Conference of European Rabbis. Jeremy Newmark, chief executive of the secular Jewish Leadership Council in the UK, called the appointment "immensely popular."

Views

Mirvis was an advocate for the freedom of Soviet Jewry as Chairman of the Irish National Council for Soviet Jewry from 1984 to 1992. In 1986 he lobbied successfully against the request of a Dutch Nazi war criminal, Pieter Menten, to reside in Ireland. Mirvis has led campaigns to improve the quality of life, safety and security in and around synagogues in the United Kingdom and Lond

Shortly after beginning his tenure, Mirvis announced that he would become the first Chief Rabbi to aaattend the annual Limmud Conference, a move which was considered extremely controversial at the time and a departure from the approach of his predecessor Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

Israel

As Chief Rabbi of Ireland and before the opening of an Israeli Embassy in Ireland, he represented Israel's interests at government level and in the media. In 1999, he led a group of British rabbis on a solidarity trip to Israel. Since 1997, he hosted the annual Bnei Akiva Yom Ha'atzmaut service at Finchley shul where it is still held. adding that the conflict was used as a cover to voice antisemitic sentiment.

Women's role in Judaism

Mirvis has supported the expanding of women's roles in Orthodox Judaism. In 2012, he appointed Lauren Levin as Britain's first Orthodox female halakhic adviser, at Finchley Shul in London. He also supports Shabbat prayer groups for Orthodox women, saying, "Some of our congregations have women prayer groups for Friday night, some Saturday mornings. This is without women reading from the Torah. But for women to come together as a group to pray, this is a good thing." He also supports women becoming United Synagogue trustees, and Orthodox women reciting Kaddish. The part-time training course, known as the Ma'ayan Programme, is 18 months long and is the first such course in the United Kingdom. Mirvis also upholds the normative Orthodox Jewish positions that female rabbis and same-sex marriages are not permitted.

LGBT

In September 2018, Mirvis issued a guide on the well-being of LGBT+ pupils in Orthodox Jewish schools. The guide was the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It upheld the traditional prohibitions against the act of homosexuality, but was nevertheless considered controversial by some Haredi and Hasidic Orthodox groups, in part because it made clear that the Torah still demands "sensitivity to the feelings of everyone, including LGBT+ people", and that there should be a zero-tolerance approach to either homophobic or transphobic bullying or disregard for their wellbeing. He also stated "Young LGBT+ people in the Jewish community often express feelings of deep isolation, loneliness and a sense that they can never be themselves. Many are living with the fear that if they share their struggles with anyone they will be expelled, ridiculed and even rejected by family and friends. They may even be struggling with a loss of emunah (faith, trust in God) and the fear of losing their place of acceptance and belonging in the Jewish community." in British politics by stating in The Times that the Labour Party candidate Jeremy Corbyn was unfit for high office. While allowing that "Convention dictates that the Chief Rabbi stays well away from party politics – and rightly so", he added that the forthcoming elections constituted an exception, since "the very soul of our nation is at stake". and over perceived inadequacies in the Labour Party's handling of anti-Jewish racism. Such racism was incompatible with British values.

Achievements

Following his appointment, he created the ‘Centre for Community excellence’. This new department of the Office of the Chief Rabbi provides guidance and seed funding to Jewish communities, in order to promote the most creative and dynamic programming ideas. One of his most successful campaigns is ‘Shabbat UK’ which was based upon the Shabbat Project, which originated in South Africa. The campaign encourages all Jews, regardless of religious affiliation or level of observance to engage better with Shabbat and reaches tens of thousands of people across the country.

In 2017, when Rabbi Joseph Dweck, Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Jewish community in the UK, made controversial comments about aspects of Jewish law, including on homosexuality, a bitter scandal erupted which threatened to split the Orthodox Sephardic Jewish establishment. It was Mirvis who stepped in to defuse the row, enabling Dweck to remain in his position although several rabbis still opposed this and one prominent Sephardic Rabbi lashed out at the Chief Rabbi claiming he had sold out the United Synagogue to Reform.

Honours, awards and recognition

Mirvis received the Jerusalem Prize for Education in the Diaspora in 1990, on behalf of the Stratford Jewish Schools, from the President of Israel, Chaim Herzog. He has received honorary doctorates from Touro College and Middlesex University.

In 2024, The Jerusalem Post named Mirvis to its "50 Most Influential Jews" list alongside Ammiel Hirsch, Hirschy Zarchi, and Yuda Drizin for "spiritual guidance in trying times".

Mirvis was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the Jewish community, interfaith relations and education.

Personal life

Mirvis married Rhodesian-born Valerie Kaplan in Israel. They have four sons, Hillel, Daniel, Noam and Eitan, and nineteen grandchildren. Their eldest child, Liora Graham, died of cancer in 2011.