RELIGION

Ephraim Mirvis

Chief Rabbi

The eleventh Chief Rabbi since the office was established in 1704 led British Jewry through one of its darkest years. In March 2025, he withdrew from an Israeli conference on combating antisemitism after far-right European politicians were invited, demonstrating his commitment to principled advocacy over political convenience. On October 2, just after Yom Kippur services began in Manchester, a terrorist drove into worshippers at Heaton Park Synagogue and began stabbing people, resulting in the death of two men—Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz—and injuring three others. When a massacre at a Bondi Beach Chanukah party killed 15 people in December, Mirvis flew to Sydney and addressed thousands at Central Synagogue, urging Australian Jews not to let their enemies define them. "Our hearts are broken into pieces, but we're standing tall," he said, adding that "nothing will ever stop us from occupying a public place to declare to the world that Jews are a blessing for all of humankind."