Mark Goldsmith (born July 1963) is a British rabbi in the Movement for Reform Judaism. He is Senior Rabbi at Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue, a post he took up in 2019. [1] He was previously a rabbi at North Western Reform Synagogue and a vocational programme tutor at Leo Baeck College in London. [2]
Goldsmith was born in July 1963. [3] He trained for the rabbinate at Leo Baeck College [4] and was ordained in 1996. [5] He chaired the Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK from 2011 to 2013, and until 2006 was rabbi at Finchley Progressive Synagogue. [6] He has a particular interest in Jewish business ethics. [7]
Goldsmith is married, with two daughters. [6]
Lionel Blue was a British Reform rabbi, journalist and broadcaster, described by The Guardian as "one of the most respected religious figures in the UK". He was best known for his longstanding work with the media, most notably his wry and gentle sense of humour on Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He was the first British rabbi publicly to declare his homosexuality.
Reform Judaism is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relatively traditional in comparison with its smaller counterpart, Liberal Judaism, though it does not regard Jewish law as binding. As of 2010, it was the second-largest Jewish religious group in the United Kingdom, with 19.4% of synagogue-member households.
The Sternberg Centre for Judaism, in East End Road, Finchley, London, is a campus hosting a number of Jewish institutions, built around the 18th-century Finchley manor house.
The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries with 1,275 affiliated synagogues, of which 1,170 are Reform, Progressive, or Liberal and 105 Reconstructionist. It claims to represent a total of some 1.8 million people, both registered constituents and non-member identifiers. The WUPJ states that it aims to create common ground between its constituents and to promote Progressive Judaism in places where individuals and groups are seeking authentic, yet modern ways of expressing themselves as Jews. It seeks to preserve Jewish integrity wherever Jews live, to encourage integration without assimilation, to deal with modernity while preserving the Jewish experience, and to strive for equal rights and social justice.
Leo Baeck College is a privately funded rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education. Based now at the Sternberg Centre, East End Road, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, it was founded by Werner van der Zyl in 1956 and is sponsored by The Movement for Reform Judaism, Liberal Judaism and the United Jewish Israel Appeal. It is named after the inspirational 20th-century German Liberal rabbi Leo Baeck.
Jacqueline Hazel "Jackie" Tabick is a British Reform rabbi. She became Britain's first female rabbi in 1975. She is convenor of the Movement for Reform Judaism's Beit Din, the first woman in the role, and until its closure in 2022 was also Rabbi of West Central Liberal Synagogue in Bloomsbury, central London.
Rabbi Professor Anthony Michael "Tony" Bayfield is a Reform rabbi and former President of the Movement for Reform Judaism, the second largest organisation of synagogues in Britain.
North Western Reform Synagogue at Temple Fortune in north west London. The synagogue was built in Alyth Gardens in 1936, on land carved out from the West London Synagogue’s cemetery in Hoop Lane. Alyth is one of the largest Reform synagogues in the United Kingdom. It has around 2500 adult and 1000 child members. In 2021 its members approved a £6 million upgrade to the synagogue building.
Golders Green Jewish Cemetery, usually known as Hoop Lane Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery in Golders Green, London NW11. It is maintained by a joint burial committee representing members of the West London Synagogue and the S&P Sephardi Community.
Brighton and Hove Reform Synagogue is a synagogue in Hove, Sussex, England. It has 500 adult members.
Laura Naomi Janner-Klausner is a British rabbi and an inclusion and development coach who served as the inaugural Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism from 2011 until 2020. Janner-Klausner grew up in London before studying theology at the University of Cambridge and moving to Israel in 1985, living in Jerusalem for 15 years. She returned to Britain in 1999 and was ordained at Leo Baeck College, serving as rabbi at Alyth Synagogue until 2011. She has been serving as Rabbi at Bromley Reform Synagogue in south-east London since April 2022.
Werner van der Zyl was a rabbi in Berlin and in London, where he came in 1939 as a refugee rabbi from Germany. He was the prime mover and first director of studies of the Jewish Theological College of London. The college was inaugurated in 1956 and was renamed Leo Baeck College shortly afterwards at his suggestion.
The Wimbledon Synagogue, a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism, is a synagogue in the London Borough of Wandsworth at Queensmere Road, Wimbledon Park, on the boundary with the London Borough of Merton. Its Rabbi is Adrian Schell and its Chairs are Ruth Bragman and Andrew Arwas.
Sybil Ann Sheridan is a writer and British Reform rabbi. She was chair of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK at the Movement for Reform Judaism from 2013 to 2015 and was Rabbi at Wimbledon and District Synagogue in south west London. As of 2020 she is part-time rabbi at Newcastle Reform Synagogue.
Sylvia Rothschild is a British Reform rabbi. Together with Rabbi Sybil Sheridan, she was Rabbi of Wimbledon and District Synagogue in south west London, from 2003 to 2014, in the first ever rabbinic job share in England. She was Rabbi of Bromley Reform Synagogue from 1987 to 2002, and is currently the Rabbi at Lev Chadash in Milan.
Danny Rich is a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Barnet. He was, until 2020, the Senior Rabbi and Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism in the United Kingdom.
Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue, a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism, is a Reform Judaism congregation at 118 Stonegrove, Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It was formed in 2017 as a result of the merger between the Edgware & District Reform Synagogue (EDRS) and the Hendon Reform Synagogue (HRS) communities. EDRS originated in 1934 as "Edgware and District Progressive Jewish Fellowship" and in February 1935 became “Edgware and District Reform Synagogue”. HRS was founded in 1949 and its first building, in 1955, was in Danescroft Avenue. The two communities merged in 2017, and the merged community is located on the site of the former EDRS. It is now the largest synagogue in Europe; its membership includes 2500 families.
Hendon Reform Synagogue, a member of the Movement for Reform Judaism, was a synagogue in Hendon in the London Borough of Barnet. The community was founded in 1949. Its senior rabbi was Steven Katz, who succeeded his father, Arthur Katz.
Deborah Kahn-Harris is the Principal of Leo Baeck College, a rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education, based at the Sternberg Centre, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet. She was appointed to the post in September 2011. Kahn-Harris, a graduate of the college, is one of the first woman rabbis to lead a mainstream rabbinic seminary.
Miriam Berger is a British Reform rabbi, and the Principal Rabbi of Finchley Reform Synagogue in London.