Mark Winer

Last updated

Rabbi Mark Leonard Winer MBE (16 December 1942) is an American interfaith activist and scholar. In the 2014 UK Honours List published in the London Gazette on December 30, 2013, Queen Elizabeth II named Rabbi Winer a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "promoting interfaith dialogue and social cohesion in London and the UK." [1] [2] The MBE was awarded for Rabbi Winer's work in building community and interfaith relations during his tenure as Senior Rabbi of the West London Synagogue of British Jews, a Movement for Reform Judaism synagogue, from April 1998 to September 2010, and for his continuing interfaith leadership in London and the UK after his retirement from West London Synagogue through FAITH UK. [3]

Contents

In May 2013, Rabbi Winer was appointed the Director of the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Studies of St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida, the diocesan university of the Archdiocese of Miami. He is also Adjunct Professor of Religion at St. Thomas. Rabbi Winer has been the President of FAITH: the Foundation to Advance Interfaith Trust and Harmony, a US public charity, since he founded it in 1995. He founded a sibling British charity with the same name, registered with the UK Charity Commission, in 2010. He has served as Chairman of the International Interfaith Task Force for the World Union for Progressive Judaism since 1998.

Early life

Rabbi Winer was born in Logan, Utah on December 16, 1942 and raised in Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Harvard University magna cum laude in 1964 and earned a PhD with highest distinction in 1977 at Yale University in Sociology, Comparative Religion, Contemporary Jewry and Race and Ethnic Relations. He was ordained as a rabbi in 1970 at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City.

Career

Rabbi Winer served as a congregational rabbi for over 30 years in the United States, serving Temple Emanuel in Orange, Connecticut; Temple Beth David in Commack, New York; and the Jewish Community Center / Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains, New York. Rabbi Winer has been Rabbi Emeritus of Kol Ami since 1998.

Prior to becoming senior rabbi at West London Synagogue in 1998, [4] he was the president of the National Council of Synagogues (USA). [5] He has been involved in several international events, including resolving the issues that led to the Treaty between Israel and the Vatican. He was also a key negotiator for the release of Ethiopian Jews and the resolution to the dispute over the Carmelite convent at Auschwitz.

He was designated twice as Chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Westminster, in 2000–2001 for Councillor Michael Brahams, and in 2008–2009 for Councillor Louise Hyams.

Family

Rabbi Winer married Suellen Mark Bleifer on July 3, 1978. Suellen is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). Together, Mark and Suellen have three children, Beth (married to Charles), Adam (married to Brett), and Rachel, and four grandsons, Matthew and Jason Michel, and Zachary and Luke Bleifer.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reform Judaism</span> Denomination of Judaism

Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous search for truth and knowledge, which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the theophany at Mount Sinai. A highly liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by lessened stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding halakha as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and great openness to external influences and progressive values. The fundamental difference is the approach to Torah and the implications of that approach. The Orthodox believe that it comes directly from God and so cannot be changed. Since its founding in Germany in the 1800s, Reform Judaism has undergone profound modifications of the Torah and prayer liturgy over the past two centuries, resulting in a contemporary understanding of Judaism that diverges substantially from the original teachings.

Liberal Judaism is one of the two WUPJ-affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom founded by Claude Montefiore. It is smaller and more radical in comparison with the other one, the Movement for Reform Judaism. It is considered ideologically closer to American Reform Judaism than it is to the British Reform movement. As of 2010 it was the fourth largest Jewish religious group in Britain, with 8.7% of synagogue-member households.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Sacks, Baron Sacks</span> British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author, and politician (1948–2020)

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the United Kingdom, he was the Chief Rabbi of those Orthodox synagogues but was not recognized as the religious authority for the Haredi Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or for the progressive movements such as Masorti, Reform, and Liberal Judaism. As Chief Rabbi, he formally carried the title of Av Beit Din (head) of the London Beth Din. At the time of his death, he was the Emeritus Chief Rabbi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movement for Reform Judaism</span> Jewish denomination in the UK

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. On 17 April 2023, Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism announced their intention to merge as one single unified progressive Jewish movement. The new movement, which may be called Progressive Judaism, will represent about 30% of British Jewry who are affiliated to synagogues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackie Tabick</span> British Reform rabbi (born 1948)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom</span>

The Nederlands Verbond voor Progressief Jodendom is the umbrella organisation for Progressive Jews in the Netherlands, and is affiliated to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. It was founded in 1931.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournemouth Reform Synagogue</span>

Bournemouth Reform Synagogue, also known as BRS, is a Reform Jewish synagogue of over 500 members in the heart of Bournemouth, England.

Rabbi John Desmond Rayner was a British Liberal Jewish rabbi. He was born in Berlin as Hans Sigismund Rahmer. He left Berlin in 1939 on one of the last Kindertransports. The Kindertransport programme brought around 10,000 children to the UK. Both his parents, Ferdinand Rahmer and Charlotte Landshut, were murdered in the Holocaust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kol Ami of Frederick</span> Reform synagogue in Frederick, Maryland, US

Congregation Kol Ami is a Reform synagogue in Frederick, Maryland, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Warnick Buchdahl</span> American rabbi

Angela Warnick Buchdahl is an American rabbi. She was the first Asian-American to be ordained as a rabbi, and the first Asian-American to be ordained as a hazzan (cantor). In 2011 she was named by Newsweek and The Daily Beast as one of America's "Most Influential Rabbis", and in 2012 by The Daily Beast as one of America's "Top 50 Rabbis". Buchdahl was recognized as one of the top five in The Forward's 2014 "Forward Fifty", a list of American Jews who had the most impact on the national scene in the previous year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denise Eger</span> American rabbi

Denise Leese Eger is an American Reform rabbi. In March 2015, she became president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in North America; she was the first openly gay person to hold that position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalili Foundation</span> UK-based interfaith and intercultural charity

The Khalili Foundation is a UK-based charity promoting interfaith and intercultural understanding through art, culture and education. Its founder and chairman is the London-based philanthropist, art collector and scholar Sir David Khalili. A Persian Jew who grew up in Iran, he is notable for having the world's largest private collection of Islamic art. Established in 1995, the foundation has created interfaith and intercultural links through "cultural, academic, sporting and educational programmes".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Janner-Klausner</span> British rabbi

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.

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.

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.

Congregation Kol Ami is a synagogue located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and, according to the synagogue, it serves 25% of the Jewish families in Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South African Union for Progressive Judaism</span>

The South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ) is an affiliate of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and supports 11 progressive congregations. The SAUJP estimates that it represents around 6,000 South African Jews and around 10 per cent of the overall Jewish population residing in South Africa. In 2020 a study by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research showed that 12% identified as Progressive and that in relative terms the progressive strands are increasing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Jacobi</span> British Liberal rabbi

Rabbi Harry Martin Jacobi was a rabbi in the United Kingdom, where he came in 1939, via The Netherlands, as a refugee from Nazi Germany. He has been described as "a formative figure in the founding and growth of Liberal Judaism in the UK and Europe".

Rabbi John Simon Levi is an Australian Progressive rabbi and author. He was the rabbi at Melbourne's Temple Beth Israel for many years and was a founder of Melbourne's King David School.

The city of Frederick, Maryland is home to a small but growing Jewish community. With roots dating to the colonial era, Frederick's Jewish community is home to three synagogues, a Hebrew school, and a Jewish community center.

References

  1. "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 24.
  2. Rashty, Sandy (30 December 2013). "New Year Honours..." The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  3. Rocker, Simon (27 May 2011). "Winer Comes Back to Promote Tolerance". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  4. The Month, Issues 1585–1596, Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 2000, p. 12
  5. "The World Union for Progressive Judaism – Our Newsletter". World Union for Progressive Judaism. 13 November 2006. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2011.