Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis (born 7 September 1956) is an 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, 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; he also served as rabbi in Benoni for a time, during which Mirvis attended local schools. 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. His grandfather, Lazar Mirvis, was a Jewish minister in Johannesburg.
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.
At the same time, Mirvis obtained a BA in education and classical Hebrew from the University of South Africa and received certification from Yaakov Herzog Teachers College as a high school teacher in Israel.
Mirvis has a deep interest in chazanut and has studied voice and Jewish cantorial music in Jerusalem. He has also been certified as a shochet and mohel. He is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.
Career
Rabbinical appointments
In 1982, Mirvis was appointed Rabbi of Dublin's Adelaide Road Synagogue and Chief Rabbi of Ireland in 1985, serving at this post until 1992. From 1992 to 1996, he was the rabbi of the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London, after the previous holder of the position, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, became Chief Rabbi in 1991.
In May 1996, Mirvis was appointed rabbi at the Finchley United Synagogue, also known as Kinloss, in London. There, he founded and directed a community-based, adult education programme, the Kinloss Learning Centre, which has drawn hundreds of participants on a weekly basis since 2003 and has served as an educational model emulated by other communities. Mirvis is the founder rabbi and honorary principal of Morasha Jewish Primary School and founder and President of the Kinloss Community Kollel.
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.
Mirvis has been the Religious Advisor to the Jewish Marriage Council since 1997. He 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.
He was Chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue from 1999 to 2002. As the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations, he is also the President of the London School of Jewish Studies.
He has been a Patron of Prisoners Abroad, a human rights and welfare charity, since 2014.
Interfaith collaboration
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.
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.
In 2016, Mirvis launched the ‘In Good Faith’ programme, in partnership with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The initiative is a way of bringing Anglican and Jewish clergy together so that they might encourage their respective congregations to work on interfaith projects together.