Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis was born on 7 September 1956 and is an Orthodox rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.
37 Facts About Ephraim Mirvis
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Ephraim Mirvis served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1985 and 1992.
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Ephraim Mirvis's father was the Rabbi of the Claremont and the Wynberg Hebrew Congregations in Cape Town; he served as Rabbi in Benoni for a time, during which Mirvis attended local schools.
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Ephraim Mirvis has written that 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.
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Ephraim Mirvis's grandfather, Lazar Mirvis, was a Jewish Minister in Johannesburg.
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Ephraim Mirvis attended Herzlia High School in Cape Town from 1968 to 1973.
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Ephraim Mirvis studied at Machon Ariel in Jerusalem from 1978 to 1980 and received his rabbinic ordination there.
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Ephraim Mirvis has a deep interest in chazanut and has studied voice and Jewish cantorial music in Jerusalem.
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Ephraim Mirvis has been certified as a shochet and mohel.
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Ephraim Mirvis is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
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In 1982, Ephraim Mirvis was appointed Rabbi of Dublin's Adelaide Road Synagogue and Chief Rabbi of Ireland in 1985, serving at this post until 1992.
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In May 1996, Ephraim Mirvis was appointed rabbi at the Finchley United Synagogue, known as Kinloss, in London.
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Ephraim Mirvis is the founder rabbi and honorary principal of Morasha Jewish Primary School and founder and President of the Kinloss Community Kollel.
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Ephraim 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.
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Ephraim Mirvis has been the Religious Advisor to the Jewish Marriage Council since 1997.
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Ephraim Mirvis has served on the Council of the London School of Jewish Studies, on the Steering Committee of the Encounter Conference and the Singer's Prayer Book Publications Committee.
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Ephraim Mirvis was Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue from 1999 to 2002.
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Ephraim Mirvis has been a Patron of Prisoners Abroad, a human rights and welfare charity, since 2014.
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Ephraim Mirvis served as the President of the Irish Council of Christians and Jews from 1985 to 1992.
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Ephraim Mirvis has participated in dialogue with Church leaders in the UK at Windsor Castle and Lambeth Palace.
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Ephraim Mirvis was the first United Synagogue rabbi to host an address by an imam, Dr Mohammed Essam El-Din Fahim, in his synagogue.
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In 2016, Ephraim Mirvis launched the 'In Good Faith' programme, in partnership with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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In 2012, Ephraim Mirvis was named as a possible successor to Jonathan, Lord Sacks as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, along with Rabbi Harvey Belovski, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Rabbi Michael Broyde, Rabbi Warren Goldstein, and Rabbi Michael Melchior.
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Ephraim Mirvis was named his successor as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth on 17 December 2012.
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Ephraim Mirvis's appointment was welcomed by the Conference of European Rabbis.
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Ephraim Mirvis was an advocate for the freedom of Soviet Jewry as Chairman of the Irish National Council for Soviet Jewry from 1984 to 1992.
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Ephraim Mirvis has led campaigns to improve the quality of life, safety and security in and around synagogues in the United Kingdom and London in particular.
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Shortly after beginning his tenure, Ephraim Mirvis announced that he would become the first Chief Rabbi to attend 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.
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Ephraim Mirvis has supported the expanding of women's roles in Orthodox Judaism.
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In 2016, Ephraim Mirvis launched a new qualification for female educators to be advisers on Jewish law in the area of family purity and as adult educators in Orthodox shuls.
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Ephraim Mirvis has made strides to encourage women to participate in advanced Jewish learning, creating a series of events to encourage them to do so under the brand Neshama.
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In September 2018, Ephraim Mirvis issued a guide on the well-being of LGBT+ pupils in Orthodox Jewish schools.
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In late November 2019, Ephraim Mirvis made an unprecedented intervention in British politics by stating in The Times that the Labour Party candidate Jeremy Corbyn was unfit for high office.
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Ephraim 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.
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Ephraim Mirvis has received honorary doctorates from Touro College and Middlesex University.
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Ephraim Mirvis was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to the Jewish community, interfaith relations and education.
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Valerie Ephraim Mirvis was a front-line Child Protection Social Worker until May 2012.