Rabbi Bruno Italiener
(6 February 1881 - 17 July 1956)

Rabbi Italiener was born in Burgdorf, near Hanover. He was a rabbi in Darmstadt (1907-1927) and of Hamburg Tempel (1928-1939). He then escaped to London and served as rabbi of the St. George's Settlement Synagogue (early 1940s), assistant rabbi of the West London Synagogue (1941-1949), a post created especially for him, and rabbi of Southport Reform Synagogue. (Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History, p.461 and A History in our Time - Rabbis and Teachers Buried at Hoop Lane Cemetery, 2006, p.16)

Rabbi Harry Martin Jacobi, MBE
(19 October 1925 - 24 April 2019)

Rabbi Jacobi (born Heinz Hirschberg in Berlin) escaped Germany, initially to the Netherlands in 1938, and then to Britain in 1940 arriving as a Kindertransport refugee. Nearly all his close family members, who remained in Germany, perished in the Holocaust. He officiated as lay minister and reader to the traditional Aberdeen Hebrew Congregation (1953-1956) and in 1961 he was ordained as a reverend and as a rabbi in 1971. He served as minister of Southgate & District Liberal Synagogue (now Southgate Progressive Synagogue) (1956-1975), Wembley and District Liberal Synagogue (now Mosaic Liberal Synagogue) (1975-1982) and Zurich Liberal Synagogue (1982-1990), retiring in 1990 and returning to Britain. In semi-retirement Rabbi Jacobi served as minister of South Bucks. (Liberal) Jewish Community (1990-1995 or possibly c.1997-c.2002) and Eastbourne Liberal Jewish Community (2004-2007) and for ten years was the Chair of the Liberal Judaism Rabbinic Board (now the Beit Din). He was awarded an MBE in 2006. He is the father of Rabbi Dr. Margaret Jacobi (Birmingham Progressive Synagogue) and Rabbi Richard Jacobi (East London & Essex Liberal Synagogue). (JYB listings and "Who's Who" entries, Liberal Judaism Tribute 25 April 2019.)

Rabbi Richard Jacobi

Rabbi Jacobi was ordained in 2008. He served as minister of Woodford Liberal Synagogue (2007-2016) and its successor congregation, East London and Essex Liberal Synagogue (part-time, 2017 to present - December 2018). (Profile of Rabbi Jacobi on Liberal Judaism's website.)

Rev Nathaniel Jacobs, BA
(3 June 1895 - August 1981)

Rev. Nathaniel Jacobs (m. Rose) was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, his father, Rev. David Jacobs, being the local minister, and studied at universities in London and Glasgow. From 1916 he briefly served as minister of Devonport Synagogue, Plymouth, Devon, an offshoot of the main Plymouth congregation where his father had earlier served as minister. Rev. N. Jacobs later served as junior minister of Garnethill Synagogue, Glasgow, and headmaster of the Queen's Park Hebrew School, Glasgow. He then accepted his first post in the non-Orthodox sector, serving as minister of Bradford Reform Synagogue from about 1923 until 1927, which he left to take up the post of minister of the United Israelite Congregation of Jamaica, Shaare Shalom Synagogue, Kingston, Jamaica. After returning to Britain, he served on Lord Nathan's staff in London during World War II. Subsequently. he was appointed as defence officer and secretary of the Council of Manchester and Salford Jews, and also served as an officer of a number of other Manchester Jewish charities until the mid-1950s. In 1957 he became minister of the Pretoria Progressive Jewish Congregation (PPJC), South Africa, serving until his retirement in 1972, whereupon he was appointed minister emeritus. ("Tradition and Change" by Kershen & Romain, p.122; "The Jews of Plymouth" by Helen Fry, p.39; "Helping with Enquiries" by Rabbi Louis Jacobs, p. 91; PPJC website; and Jewish Year Book listings and Who's Who entries.)

Rabbi Neil Janes

Rabbi Janes, MA (m. Michelle) was ordained in 2006 He served as rabbi of Finchley Progressive Synagogue (2006-2010), an associate minister of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John's Wood (2011-2015) and a rabbi of the West London Synagogue (2015-2020). He was then appointed as rabbi of South Bucks. (Liberal) Jewish Community from November 2020. (Biography on Reform Judaism's website, accessed 3 February 2019, News Reports and communication from West London Synagogue.)

Rabbi Leah Jordan

Rabbi Jordan holds an MA in Jewish Studies from King’s College London, and a BA in English Literature from the University of Kansas and received rabbinic ordination from the Leo Baeck College, London and served as part-time minister of Norwich Liberal Jewish Community (2013-2018) and Kehillah North London (1920 to present - October 2021). (Congregations' websites and JC report.)

The Rev. Morris David Joseph
(18 May 1848 - 17 April 1930)

London-born Rev. Joseph was initially an orthodox minister serving as minister of the North London Synagogue (1868-1874) and Liverpool Old Hebrew Congregation (1874-1882) before becoming senior minister of the West London Synagogue (1893-1930). (Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History and A History in our Time - Rabbis and Teachers Buried at Hoop Lane Cemetery, 2006)

Rabbi Oliver Spike Joseph

Rabbi Joseph received his rabbinic ordination at the Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies. He served as part-time minister of Elstree & Borehamwood Masorti Community (2015-2018) and a member of the rabbinic team at the New North London Masorti Synagogue (from mid 2018 to August 2021.

Rabbi Emily Yael Reitsma-Jurman

Toronto-raised Rabbi Reitsma-Jurman (initially known as Rabbi Jurman) served as assistant rabbi of Edgware & District Reform Synagogue (inducted 2015), continuing in such capacity following the merger of that congregation to form the Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue (2015 - December 2020). From January 2021, she was appointed associate rabbi at the West London Synagogue. (Website of the Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue and former website of Edgware & District Reform Synagogue and Jewish News report. )

Rabbi Dr. Shamai Kanter
(27 March 1930 - 27 December 2018)

Boston-Rabbi Kanter was ordained in 1955. He was an assisting rabbi at the West London Synagogue (1958) and subsequently served as rabbi of several congregations in North America, including Congregation Beth-El, Toronto (1958-1962), Temple Israel, Sharon, Mass. (1962-1976) and Temple Beth-El, Rochester, NY (1976-c.2002).

Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber

London-born Rabbi Kanter-Webber studied Politics and International Relations at Sussex University (2011-2014), was a youth worker for LJY-Netzer (2014-2015), an engagement officer at Mitzvah Day (2015-2016) and a community development manager at Finchley Progressive Synagogue (2016-2017). He was ordained in July 2022 at Leo Baeck College, London, and has served as rabbi of Brighton & Hove Progressive Synagogue (BHPS) from August 2022 until present (August 2022). (BHPS's website and personal communication.)

Rabbi Dr. Arthur Katz
(17 February 1908 - 18 May 1996)

Prague-born Rabbi A Katz was ordained in 1933 and was the rabbi in the small Czech town of Soběslav (Sobislau). He was the only Jew from that town to survive the Holocaust, having been out of the country at the time of the mass deportation and murder of the town's Jewish population. He served as an assisting rabbi at the West London Synagogue (1942-1947) and was minister of Hendon Reform Synagogue (c.1950-c.1982). (A History in our Time - Rabbis and Teachers Buried at Hoop Lane Cemetery, 2006)

Rabbi Steven Katz

London-born Rabbi Steven Katz was inducted by his father, Rabbi Arthur Katz, as Assistant Minister of Hendon Reform Synagogue in 1975, but soon after this, his father suffered a serious car accident and so Rabbi S. Katz undertook the burden of running the religious side of the Synagogue, succeeding his father as senior minister of the congregation on his father's retirement (c.1982). He continued in such capacity following the merger of that congregation to form the Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue (2015) until his own retirement in January 2019.

Rabbi Sidney Kay
(25 October 1920 - 24 November 2013)

Manchester-born Rabbi Kay (m. Lily) trained for the ministry aged in his fifties having pursued a career in his father's building firm in Manchester. As a soldier in the British Army, at the close of World War II he was among a small unit dispatched to the notorious Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near Hanover in north west Germany, where he tried to bring comfort to survivors and those on the point of death. He attended Leo Baeck College, London, in the 1970s. Rabbi Kay was minister of Southport Reform Synagogue from 1977 until 1988, when he became rabbi emeritus, continuing to serve as chaplain to local hospitals and prisons. He remained active in the community into his 90s and died in Southport. (JC obituary 13 December 2013 and various reports.)

Rabbi Wolfe Kelman
(27 November 1923 - 26 June 1990)

Rabbi Kelman, who was born in Vienna, Austria and grew up in Toronto, Canada, was ordained in 1950. He was an assisting rabbi at the West London Synagogue (1957-1958) and became one of the leaders of Conservative Judaism in the United States, but chose never to lead his own congregation.

Rabbi Yuval Keren

Israel-born Rabbi Keren was ordained in 2009. He served as assistant rabbi at Hendon Reform Synagogue from 2009 to 2012, having been student rabbi there from 2008 and subsequently served as senior minister of Southgate Progressive Synagogue from 2012 until present (May 2019). (Profile on Southgate Progressive Synagogue's website)

Rabbi Peter S. Knobell

US Rabbi Knobell was interim minister of the North West Surrey Synagogue ("NWSS") from about 1998 to about 1999. He served the congregation while on sabbatical leave as senior rabbi of Beth Emet The Free Synagogue, Evanston, Illinois, USA (1980-2010). (JYB listing and "Our History" on NWSS's website.)

Rabbi Dr. Jakob Jankel Kokotek
(22 June 1911 - 10 September 1979)

Rabbi Kokotek was born in Bedzin, Poland and raised in Germany, arriving in England as a refugee. He served as rabbi/minister of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St. John's Wood (1941-1945), Southgate & Enfield Progressive Synagogue (now Southgate Progressive Synagogue) (c.1946-c.1948), Dublin Jewish Progressive Congregation (1948-1951), Liverpool Liberal Synagogue, Hope Place (1951-1956) and the New Jewish Liberal Association (later known as Belsize Square Synagogue) (1956-1979). (Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History p. 530, A Place to Call Home by Pam Fox, 2011, p.415 and Jewish Year Book listings.)

Rabbi Neil S. Kraft
(d. 27 March 2020)

Boston-born Rabbi Kraft, M.A. was ordained in 1988. He served as minister of Woodford Liberal Jewish Synagogue (c.1985-c.1989) and South London Liberal Synagogue (c.1990-c.2000) and associate rabbi of Edgware & District Reform Synagogue (2002-2015), continuing in such capacity following the merger of that congregation to form the Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue (2015 until his death from (COVID-19) coronavirus in March 2020). (JYB listings and website of the Edgware & Hendon Reform Synagogue.)

Rabbi David A. Kunin
(b. 22 September 1961)

Rabbi David Kunin (m. Shelley) graduated from Brandeis University, in Waltham, Massachusetts, with a degree in Medieval History and then attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York, where he was ordained as a rabbi and received an MA in Judaic Studies. He served as minister of Glasgow New (Reform) Synagogue from 1990 until 1995. He then served in Elmira (New York), San Diego (California), Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), and Tokyo (Japan) before being appointed rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas in DeWitt (New York}. He is the twin brother of of Rabbi Seth Kunin. (History on the congregation's website; JYB listings; Online research.)

Rabbi Seth Kunin
(b. 22 September 1961)

Rabbi Seth Kunin studied at Leo Baeck College, London, and obtained a doctorate at Cambridge University. While in Cambridge, he functioned as minister to the Cambridge Progressive Jewish Society. In 1993, he was appointed as the first full time minister of Nottingham Progressive Jewish Congregation (now Nottingham Liberal Synagogue) but the following year he was offered and accepted a post in the Theology department at Nottingham University and thereafter continued a renowned academic career. He is the twin brother of of Rabbi David A. Kunin. (Nelson Fisher's "Eight Hundred Years - The Story of Nottingham's Jews" (1998).)

Rabbi Dr. Miri Lawrence

Rabbi Lawrence, who grew up in Surrey, England, studied at Leo Baeck College and was ordained in 1992. She served as minister of Ealing Liberal Synagogue (1992-1995) and was subsequently part-time/visiting rabbi for a number of congregations. She was for twelve years the Director of Education at Beginnings Early Childhood Centre at the West London Synagogue gained a doctorate and was appointed as minister of Reading Liberal Jewish Community. In October 2020, she returned to Ealing Liberal Synagogue, serving initially as freelance minister and in a formal capacity from January 2021, and in 2023 she was also appointed as part-time/visiting rabbi at Wessex Liberal Jewish Community, Bournemouth, Dorset

Rabbi Dr. Michael Leigh
(12 November 1928 - 23 May 2000)

London-born Rabbi Dr. Leigh, M.A. served as assistant minister of the West London Synagogue (1958-1963) and later as senior minister of Edgware & District Reform Synagogue (1963-1999), where he received his doctorate while in office and was named as Emeritus Minister after the appointment of his successor. ("Who's Who" entries and listings in JYBs.)

Rabbi John Levi

Rabbi Levi (born c. 1935) was the first Australian-born rabbi to be ordained. He was an assisting rabbi at the West London Synagogue (1957-1958) and joined the Temple Beth Israel of Melbourne in 1960 becoming its senior rabbi from 1974 until his retirement in 1998 and was a founder of The King David School, Melbourne in 1978. (On-line interview and profiles.)

Rabbi Raphael H. Levine

Rabbi Levine, BA, LLB was minister of Liverpool Liberal Jewish Congregation (c.1932-c.1938) and an associate minister of The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John's Wood, London (1938-1941). (A Place to Call My Jewish Home by Pam Fox, 2011, p.415 and JYB listings.)

Rabbi Josh Levy

Rabbi Levy served as assistant rabbi (education) of the West London Synagogue (2004-2008) and was later appointed as a rabbi of the North Western Reform Synagogue (Alyth), Golders Green (2008 to present - January 2020) (Alyth's website, last accessed 20 January 2019)

Rev. E. Lewandowski

Rev. E. Lewandowski served as reader (cantor) of North London Progressive Synagogue (c.1949-1967) and Southgate & Enfield Progressive Synagogue (later Southgate & District Liberal Synagogue, now Southgate Progressive Synagogue) (c.1946-1956). (JYB listings.)

Rabbi Daniel Lichman

Rabbi Lichman studied at Leo Baeck College, London and was ordained in July 2017. He served as student rabbi to the York Liberal Synagogue (2015-16) and helped found and became the (part-time) rabbi-in-residence of the Willesden Minyan (from 2015, initially as student rabbi, until 2019) and which in 2019 united with Shir Hayim, Hampstead, to form Makom Hayim, if which Rabbi Lichman continued to serve as rabbi (2019 to present - January 2021). From October 2017 until present (May 2019), Rabbi Lichman served as chaplain rabbi to university students for the Alliance of Reform and Liberal Judaism. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency Report 10 July 2017, Rabbi Lichman's facebook page, accessed 21 May 2019 and congregations' websites.)

The Rev. Albert Löwy
(8 December 1816 - 21 May 1908)

Rev. Löwy was born in Mährisch-Aussee (Usov), Moravia and came to England in 1840. He served as second minister of the West London Synagogue (1842-1892). See separate Biography on JCR-UK.