#126: Behind the Bima: Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis

rabbis Ephraim Goldberg Philip Moskowitz and Josh Brody are taking you behind the bema the BRS Rabbi schmooze about contemporary issues and talk to special guests who give up behind the scenes look at how they got to where they are and what keeps them going welcome to behind the bema good evening Wednesday night nine o'clock I'm not laughing over joined by my dear friend and colleague and Superstar partner in Jewish life Rabbi Joshua Brody and we're here to take you behind the Beamer we're gonna take you behind the bema's very special night tonight the cusp of the incredible holiday where we're going to stand together arm and arm we're going to accept and receive the Torah together but tonight was an incredibly special program in Boca Raton where are you right now what is that background I'm actually in the Jewish Federation I don't know any other Jewish Federation in the whole world that took its main theater where you have the graduations and the plays and turned it into a basement was set up for you know almost 300 people and it was just a beautiful beautiful show of actors of people caring for one another how many people how many were there there were 300 seats set up maybe not everything was taken but it was really just a special evening to uh to show to show that that uh that unity and uh what better night to do it you told me let's do it before shovel was tonight is the night Matan Torah would be tomorrow so that's amazing I gotta say it was incredible see a packed room of people and um that's it the recreation of harcina all these different Jews and United by Torah commonality we're living in a polarized world so much that divides us and it was a real Unity night a real celebration and unity through Torah right what could be better Torah is the common language Torah is it and uh it was amazing it was amazing and special to be part of it and to learn and to connect and see the diversity in that room the best part of it is that harcinai wasn't a one-time event because every time we open a book and study our sacred Torah we are back at harsinai but our Cena the event was one time but this partner in Jewish life Jewish learning is going to be going on every week at BRS I can't wait to launch it can't wait to be part of it but you can only you gotta sign up also I'm in 200 300 people in a room every week who are from different backgrounds observant non-observant and studying together United by that common language of Torah so exciting yeah and just like to see everyone really enjoy tonight I mean they were there were people to make this the wasn't so simple but yeah the ones that worked really really worked you know we said oh it's over and you know I said you can't really build a relationship in 30 30 minutes learning with someone yelled out yeah you can that's great it was great those relationships Toyota's a great uniter you know we could focus on the things that divide us and we'll be divided or we could focus on the things that unite us and the things that unite us far outweigh the things that divide us far outweigh we have a whole history we have a whole Destiny we have a cultural language we have laws we have a Torah there's so much that unites us it's just a question of what we're focused on it really is it is everybody sacks we had some great clips of him uh talking about yeah very appropriate tonight we're gonna have on Chief Rabbi Mervis his predecessor the great Rabbi sacks I will say that I'm so excited about Robin Mervis he's a real scholar and he's a true mention he also is a Visionary and Robin Mervis is is amazing in his own right but but hearing and watching Rabbi sacks tonight I I really got emotional because every time you think about how so abruptly he was taken from us right most of us didn't know just how sick he was and and he had so much more to say to share to articulate he was such a unique Voice such a scholar so beloved by everybody and and you know it's such a loss to be bereft of so many leaders better by sacks which is such one of a kind and it just felt like there was still so much more for him to say and teach and inspire it's a huge loss yeah and it's funny because it's really been no one else that stepped into that that space that that you could imagine all these different groups or organizations you would invite him to speak because yeah he brought everyone together that doesn't exist right now there isn't charging that person or there are people there are leaders who really are in many ways Irreplaceable and it's uh it's a big loss and it's a big loss you're getting pumped for shavuas you ready all set no yeah well now I got to start writing I'm gonna write I mean putting together the Sheeran but yeah yeah class it's a great Torah spurt right it's like growth that's just Outburst of Torah it's exciting because it really is I can't I'm just I'm excited I'm excited about you loose okay we made it through actually I just don't you know what I'm just wondering right now count last night did I miss on the last night at the end of the program and that last night when you count 49 days seven weeks and you're like yes you did it it's like the finish line of America um it's super exciting yeah wow you excited about Chevrolet I'm excited we got a great theme in fact I got I got a bunch of swordfish I got my first one done I'll be a long night here Boca Raton Synagogue our theme is love Power of Love is the theme power of love and all this year and we got a ton of Shear not only through the night but we got Day morning afternoon evening we've got beginner Advanced we got khaburas we've got women's shiram we've got Farnam stay up all night we got the Safari group doing their thing and the and the shible doing their thing and we've got teen and youth and and we've got um a boys program and a girls program and family style learning and there's just there's something for everyone the question is not can you find your thing it's it's are you are you looking because there's there's something for everyone and that's always exciting a theme of Love or start out tomorrow night my first talk is on on what is love all the mitzvos what is Love Got to Do With It Is Love involved in the tour of the midst of love and then I'm speaking about Ai and love because you know anything about that let me tell you chat gbt since you introduced it to me on the show that was the first time I ever heard of it and I didn't understand this I started playing around with it and I'm sure I'm probably not even scratching the surface but in my own very small way it has changed my life I am I am an author I am the writer I have ideas they're my original ideas so no one can claim that I'm taking certain ideas I have in my head I just can't formulate them so well I throw them into this machine boom comes back I love it and I've used it time and time again in the last few weeks I don't have it I haven't downloaded it I don't want to be tempted by it I'm not using it you don't need it but I'm getting sure about it well okay I'm just telling you because in the amount of time that it takes me to do the the come up with the thought and and write it you're already you've already written the entire article I don't know about that but but uh but my I'm actually a lot of people are speaking about halacha and Ai and I'm not going that angle at all I'm not a very different angle which is how do we relate to God's love of us and our love for God meaning they're all these articles you could look into it of of people who fell in love with Bots and chat gbt and AI their programs I won't even mention the names of these apps they had a romantic notion to them in fact there were people committed suicide and there was mental health challenges that were introduced by people who were texting back and forth and really felt they fell in love and and when the app changed the romance feature of it and that was deprived of them they got incredibly depressed so is God just like Chachi BT is God is like like AI because they talk about an AI God AI could get to that point of knowing everything there is to know instantaneously and accessible and available to everybody so again lahav dilba the same way you could have a billion people who all put into chat gbt at the same time or use AI at the same time and it can respond to all so is that lahab deal God that all these people can pray and he could respond to all at once but then is there no emotion is God just a robot so what do we learn about love what do we learn about God from AI that's that's the next talk then we're doing one on how to love people who are in your family or or your friends who are on a different direction than you which is I think more increasing people are navigating that how to love the people in your family who are choosing a different Derek than you so we've got we've got a bunch of uh as well Firefly on the AI topic here there are certain people that have been given the gift that they understand how to use grammar they know how to put together sentences and and write there are others and it could be because I you know jec never fully prepared me I don't know that's just the way I feel maybe they did maybe they could have done a better job maybe I could have done more homework I don't know but I've always had thoughts that I like I I think I can express them verbally when it comes time to put them in on a piece of paper it never never works for me to be able to see a nice finished product there is a book coming out soon I'm going to have a book on the Parsha my original thoughts all right by Josh Brody and Chachi we're gonna do a book signing it's gonna be amazing also in the news and then we're going to get to our our esteemed incredible guest Chief Rabbi sir Ephraim Mervis um but I saw on the news today that our friend former pandemic guest former prime minister of Israel naftali Bennett and his mother sued a rabbi who um publicly and and went viral on that person's social media 700 000 people said enough Telly Ben it's this and that he's anti-religious and he's miserable he's not even Jewish his mother's not Jewish so good for naftali and his mother myrn about it and they sued this Rabbi and they won today or yesterday they won the rabbi at the end had to apologize admittee was wrong the the court is still going to decide the fine Natalia said all that money will go to Charities not interested in the money that's the part I'm proud of he said you can't just say whatever you want to say it came with an internet connection and a camera and a microphone just spew rhetoric and hate and say whatever you want to say say including falsehoods and lies so he took down his first Rabbi and I happened to know he's going after another who yeah I'm not going to use any names wasn't you someone who spoke about you and me but he's going after another I want to do a class action suit how do I get in on this because I'd also like to hold them accountable but you know what good for enough Telly I love that you could look the other way and who cares and he's just feeling nonsense but apparently these two rabbis spewed such hate and Venom and nonsense that it changed the search algorithm that if you put in like naphtali Bennett's mother it automatically like adds like Christian or non-jew meaning people can really negatively impact things through lies like Words matter all Sticks and Stones whatever that song Or rhyme is about Sticks and Stones it really does matter and good for enough Telly and you know what one by one anyone who says if all of our listeners right now start saying that I'm let's say a cheap Rabbi then in a few months they will come up on Google that I'm the chief rapper yeah okay let's try this give it a shot it's all by the way America right now go for it let me just tell you something somebody's very prominent who might be celebrating a simcha this weekend in our community told me for x amount of money any Rabbi can be made the most famous Rabbi in the world with with um I forgot the number he said was like like a million followers and be the best known and change yeah for money absolutely do anything which is which is really disheartening to think that what you are consuming is not really by your choice like there's not free will the whole thing is programmed and you know we have an air conditioning issue we're looking at and replace one of our air conditioners I was talking about my cell phone about it and then I go on my computer and I see an ad for air conditioning because it's listening oh it's so weird it's not weird it's listening it's not even debatable anymore your devices are listening to you and then they are selling you based on you and when you walk into Target there's facial recognition of the store camera studying which aisle you went to and products you looked at and then they're selling that data so that you're then on your computer your phone and you're being trying to be sold something else I'm gonna go into Target with a disguise I'm gonna get like a fake beard and just showed up put on a mask of somebody else some tissues check some interesting aisles anyway a lot going on bottom line is we got more shooting to prepare we got a lot going on what a privilege and honor it is recently was the coronation we spoke about a little bit last week you mentioned you didn't watch any of it but a lot of Pomp and Circumstance and tradition and ritual and we don't really relate to that here in America but it's very interesting for the UK jury and no one better to share about that than Chief Rabbi Mervis I've come to know him we've partnered on a few things and really very special it's got to be big shoes to fill to follow Lord Jonathan Lord Rabbi Jonathan sacks but he's more than Phil dumb he's found his own pair of shoes and he's making his own footsteps and making his own difference and he's really a special person in his own right and it's a real honor to have a mom without any further Ado what an honor to be joined by Chief Rabbi Mervis what a privilege and pleasure it is to welcome the chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi sir Mervis thank you so much for allowing us to go behind the bema with you from across the pond to spend time together again thank you for joining us lovely to be with with you and lovely to have this opportunity to have a nice chat so Chief rabbit there's so much we want to talk about and discuss in terms of your incredible work and vision and a vision for the future of of UK Anglo jury but before we do very much still fresh in everyone's mind of course is the recent coronation of the king in which you played a unprecedented role in participating and certainly we all watched and were enamored I quoted you here in our shul and celebrated the difference between so many centuries ago that what happened to the Jews at a coronation versus your hospitality that you were offered and your participation could you share a little bit about what what that whole weekend meant to you I saw from havedella the little video you made but are you still are you still beaming with pride and were you touched and inspired and how do you think the experience of being present at that Carnation will impact next Rosh Hashanah for you when we gather to coronate the King of Kings actually there was a joke circulating in our circles and that is people were saying well at what point in the coronation will will the chief Rabbi Ed and they said well he'll try to get there by hamillis so so that's safely yeah but um thank you for asking me uh Baruch Hashem I had an enormous Hut to represent Jewish communities of Great Britain and the Commonwealth at the uh coronation and any cupboard which was given to me did not relate to me personally but rather it was me on behalf of Jews and to Judaism and we are blessed to be living at a time when in 21st century Britain it is important that all Faith should be recognized and respected and we are particularly blessed to have a king and queen who go out of their way to ensure that members of all faiths have the freedom to practice their religion openly and with pride and it was in this particular context that the king and queen extended the invitation to my wife and myself to stay with them in Saint James's Palace part of which is Clarence House where the king and queen themselves resided to the same complex and to provide facilities for us to keep Shabbat so that it would be in walking distance for me over Shabbat to get to Westminster Abbey and of course there had been a precedence because in 1902 Chief Rabbi Hermann Adler walked from a synagogue to Westminster Abbey honor Shabbos for the coronation of king Edward VII that was the last time that a coronation had been held on Shabbat and of course for us there are issues in halacha relating to attendance at a church service and of course how Shabba stick was this particular experience but certainly abating and I had gone into the matter in great detail when there is an invitation from the Melech himself to attend and very interestingly you if you look at the actual gearsa of the invitation it's King Charles the Third commands and then your name to attend so that you have an actual civil of the Melech that's something which we accept and in important Mission Ava that one should be present and also on Shabbat it was important that I'd be present and as you mentioned they respected our Shabbat regulations in a most extraordinary way it really is it really is incredible and it is reinforcing for people who keep Shabbos and are inspiring others that you shouldn't have to compromise we live in a world which is willing to if we respect ourselves other will respect us too as high up as the king and queen who allowed the chief Rabbi to participate without a microphone and offering hospitality and kosher food and I think it wasn't only extraordinary about the king and queen it's extraordinary about you and the statement that to reach those levels or participate one need not compromise Shabbos and hopefully that will give the confidence and courage to others to embrace Shabbos without compromise because we can participate anywhere if we're if we take pride and we respect ourselves others will respect us too the the chief Rabbi have a relationship with with Charles now King Charles before the coronation what what was that personal relationship like when when the cameras are off and the newspapers aren't covering is there a warmth is there a relationship that that precedes the actual coronation so um the first time I met him was at my installation as chief rabba on the 1st of September 2013 we invited him to attend as Prince of Wales heir to the throne we didn't expect him to be available um September is a time when the royal family is always on holiday in Scotland you might recall that that was the problem at the time when Diana died in a car crash it was the end of August it was during their holiday period and they were up in Scotland and with the queen come back to London and and so on there was that entire drama yet Charles at the time said I will break off my holiday and I will come back to London for a day for the synagogue service it was the very first time that a member of the royal family attended a school service for the installation of a chief Rabbi and from that moment onwards we established a very close report um I visited Israel twice with him once was when he went to the funeral of Shimon Paris and the other which was more significant was a visit in its own right uh when he came on the 27th of January 2020 for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and uh I accompanied him on various uh very significant visits within yerushalayim on that occasion um and I've got to know him enormously well you asked about his character yes there's great warmth uh and by the way Camilla as well both of them show enormous warmth and we've had some very special and Precious Moments together and literally just three days before the coronation my wife and I were guests of the king and queen at their garden party in Buckingham Palace where we we had great conversations in anticipation of the coronation and um but it's not special relating to me myself it's the way he relates to all people and the way in which he wants to genuinely be the defender of all faiths and with regards to the impact of the coronation and Shabbos what you said before is absolutely correct a lesson that I've learned time and again in my life is that the more that we respect our Traditions the more people will respect us and we had a reception last week that I hosted um for all the couples who have got married during the past year uh under the auspices of my office because all couples getting married in the UK need to register their message their marriages through our office so we had an enormous crowd and there was only one subject they wanted to discuss with me and that was the coronation um and I picked up on a number of really wonderful comments for example one couple said when it comes to Winter we won't hesitate asking our bosses to leave early in order to get home for Javas another person said I've got an examine University on shovel art and I was going to just go and ride it thanks to seeing the consequences of respect for Yiddish kite I'm going to ask for special dispensation people have been empowered and you know people are standing tall as you do today and it's not just within the UK I'm getting that impression that it just has a global impact so let's take advantage of that in order to enable people to know we've got so much to be proud of and when we're proud of it other people are supportive of us oh for sure now the question is did the chief Rabbi invite Charles or command Charles to come to the installation that's the that's the first question but I I'm curious actually as an American um who admires and and has enjoyed several trips to the UK to to England um you know our our experience of watching the royal family is Unfortunately today in our time and for this generation a little bit of a reality show and and headlines and the celebrity culture of of the royal family and the challenges in it very different I'm sure than the the British experience and and we have Brits in our community who I see the way they their excitement over the coronation and anything surrounding the royal family I wonder whether and originally you know from South Africa also is a different perspective that you come with do you think that British jury does the fact that there's a monarchy for the country impact their religious experience in a way that we're missing in America and I mean that throughout the Torah and tanach and throughout Camara one of the metaphors of Hashem is a malach is a king and for us in America you could say president certainly we haven't seen presidents in that dignified light of late but we don't see presidents as a monarch as a king pump and Circumstance and royalty and tradition and ancient traditions and and and England does have that in the UK does have that one of the things I saw about the Carnation that I think is very good is the coronation was surrounded by tradition and ritual and ceremony much of it we don't relate to it's unfamiliar we don't understand but the world was admiring and that can only be good for the Jewish people that are traditions and ritual and ceremony should should earn the same admiration so do you think I'm sorry for the long-winded question but the question is do you think that the average Jew in the UK has a different experience with Hashem because they have the metaphor of melach in a way that if you don't have exposure to royalty in a royal family and you're not a subject that you're lacking so it's I think it's a great question and the way I put it is there is greater potential for a stronger connection with the military it won't necessarily be the case but there is that potential you know um being able to to behold the presence of this of a sovereign of Flesh and Blood reminds us of the godlet of and also there is an aura surrounding a king of flesh and blood um and I have felt it on a number of occasions we were speaking earlier about the occasions in which I got to know Prince Charles as he was then um and I remember the very first time meeting him when he was King and there was a very different atmosphere so the queen had died and uh it was on the Friday between her death and the funeral that the new king because he became the Monarch instantly he invited Faith leaders to Buckingham Palace and this was part of the schedule that had been pre-planned for decades before because everything is planned well ahead of time um and it so happened that it fell at the time when Shabbos was coming in and he rescheduled this event to take place before Shabbat so that I would be able to get home for shutters wow so that he could attend and I'd always remember the moment he walked into the room there were just about 30 of us and he came into one of the great Halls of Buckingham Palace and when he stepped inside there was an aura you could feel it you know who was blind and there was an occasion where the king went past and Russia knew the exact moment at which to say the bracha because he felt the presence of malhot and that is real and I felt it at the coronation I wasn't waiting for it to come it suddenly hit me when I had that of seeing the king and the queen right in my line of sight with their crowns on their heads I just felt something extraordinary and then you say Allah that we've got three times a day plus eight additional moments we want so certainly our experience of the king of flesh and blood can magnify our connection to hakadoshburgu and with regard to monarchy in general it's a system that does work you know people ask is it a good system and as you questioned you know what about certain standards of morality and and life and schlumbai that they might or might not have within their family Circle but let's have a look at the national leadership of other great countries today how well are the leaders shaking over there and I'd say given all the assistance that exist in the performances of various leaders I settle for the one we've got here in Great Britain and certainly it provides an opportunity to set a tone for the people and also what you were saying earlier is absolutely correct we see Timeless Traditions making an impact on timely opportunities and the fact that the coronation is steeped in Tradition that's something that everybody picked up on and it was a great advertisement for not inventing right now for the needs of the moment but digging deep into our past to gain inspiration from the past for the sake of our future absolutely wow yeah first of all thank you so much it's great great a big honor to have you on the show you know here in Boca Raton we place actus Unity as a as a priority we really try our best to bring different rabbis and Jewish Community leaders together but we don't have a rabbi a chief Rabbi that's on the top doing it and and making sure that that it happens as as the chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom do you do you place that as a priority after all you're not a rabbi of a Shoal you're the rabbi of of the entire United Kingdom and you represent every Jew so are there things perhaps that we could learn from what you do and how much of a priority is it to to try and unite the United Kingdom so we referred earlier to my installation ceremony in 2013 and in my address that I gave at the time I highlighted the importance of Jewish Unity for me that is Central it is absolutely crucial there is a lovely little idea it is simple but for me enormously powerful which I use often and that's the origin of the Hebrew word for had so why is hand a yet the reason is in each hand you've got 14 joints three in each finger and two in the thumb that's a total of 14 14 is your Dullard and that is the answer that's the origin of the term handed it's not a cute little idea it's mummish the origin and when two you didn't come together and they shake hands or they hold hands you've got Yad and Yad and that's the origin of the word you did a friend and you did in turn 14 and 14 adds up to 28 which spells which is so the greatest source of color of strength for amisrael comes from our you did comes from out togetherness um and you know the person says why the word gum explained the gum refers to our who because when we are dwelling together in unity and in Amity and in Friendship is within our racks and you know interestingly for us we're still in the Omer that's our minha Anglia we go from rush to roscoodes and if one thinks about it there's nearly two months of the Jewish calendar devoted to teaching us about the ills and the poisonous nature of sinach the whole Amer period where to tell me that Kiva didn't learn from what happened at the urban abide the three weeks some gedalia and yet after closer to Millennia we still as a nation haven't yet learned that lesson and what is happening right now in Israel I think is exceptionally worrying and throughout the Jewish World so yes Jewish Unity must be a top priority for us all how do we practically pursue that how do you bridge the gaps of the things that divide right the the different denominations within Judaism and different levels of observance or different hashgraphic approaches and and how does one navigate the principles is beautiful and we agree but in in navigating it in practice are there are there programs or exercises or projects that the chief rabbis initiated that we can learn from and replicate so I'd say two things first of all family if everyone with in their own family circles would have Shalom bite and would engage with then the world would be different but my second point I have developed a particular approach which I I announced publicly from the moment I became Chief rabbi um I don't know if you and your listeners are familiar with the sport called cricket um and the way I presented is we all need to be batters and not Bowlers so I suppose in a baseball context but correctly if I've got it wrong we need to be the Batters and not the pitchers would that make sense yes okay so we need to score runs for our team as opposed to trying to get the other team out so in this context when I became Chief Rabbi I declared no one would ever hear from my lips a public condemnation of other streams of Judaism not to my right nor to my left nobody will hear me publicly criticizing Reform Judaism in private I would make my views clear and we have had indeed a lot of very horrific conversations but something wonderful happened as a result of my statement because once I made that statement the others stopped condemning Us in public and my point of view is we need to be proud for what we stand for we need to Define ourselves in terms of what we're proud of within ourselves and not to Define ourselves according to what we are against that's a weakness of human character and through scoring runs for our own team through magnifying what we stand for for saying we believe that we have the authentic true religious tradition that academic who has gifted us without referring negatively to others that's the best way to move forward and if others want to present themselves in that way and there is a particular model that I use it's attributed to her of cook but my my research reveals that perhaps he didn't say it but it's it's the example of the symphony orchestra so in the symphony orchestra you've got different instruments each one makes its unique sound but under the Baton of the conductor they produce beautiful Harmony together and that must be the way that uh the way Shalom is not by not having arguments so we need to leave the space for others to be able to express themselves in their way we need to respect them for that and under the Baton of human coexistence we can produce Harmony mariben shallow the Shalom we have is through math locket it's not to agreeing to everything that others say that that is because we respect the people concerned and and respect their right to express themselves in the way they wished it well in the same way that Israel has a Sephardic Chief Rabbi and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi has there ever been a push in the United Kingdom to say well you're the Orthodox Chief Rabbi but we want to have a more liberal Chief Rabbi as well so I am officially the chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew congregations of the Commonwealth so officially That's Great Britain and another 52 countries okay enormous Mega right so basically identity my authority in Australia New Zealand and Canada and and India and Pakistan to to various others and each has its own mindset and I only hear from these countries when they're in real trouble at one point the United States correct I mean we were were we part of the United States so and by the way I I'm not asking for it more than enough absolutely but in reality at a practical level I'm responsible for um United Hebrew congregations of of Great Britain and that amounts to mainstream Orthodoxy so many within haredi circles would have their rabbis and they would not look to me to be their official RAV and certainly in the non-orthodox world they don't look to me and I genuinely believe that with the rav we need to earn respect we need to show that it's not just because we've received something as a hereditary factor or because we have a title that we need to have that respect we need to earn it we need to show that our leadership is something worthwhile to follow and uh Baruch Hashem what we've always had in the United Kingdom has been towering Chief rabbis who have gained the respect of all sectors of Judaism because of the leadership that they have shown and I've been particularly blessed to be a fly on the world to see the wonderful leadership of Chief Rabbi Emmanuel chakovitz and also Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sachs both of whom were outstanding ambassadors of kalalisro now of course there's politics and of course there are those who are applying for positions and equal opportunities of leadership but there are ways of dealing with it and when one engages in situations uh with tarike Shalom I think that we can actually achieve a harmonious way of moving forward and Baruch Hashem that's what we've been blessed with is first of all it's a perfect segue because I wanted to ask the chief Rabbi follows this distinguished line of Chief rabbis which I imagine when when recruited and installed in that position can be somewhat intimidating we had the privilege of having a very wonderful relationship with Chief Rabbi sax who came to our community several times and lady jacobowitz came to our community and spent a Shabbos here it can be I imagine intimidating and of course Chief Rabbi Mervis has has contributed in extraordinary ways in no way do I mean to compare or diminish but I wonder for you as you were installed and took the office is it intimidating to say where will I make my contribution how can I distinguish myself minimally how can I continue the wonderful work they did given how extraordinary they were so it's an enormous effort for me to occupy the position that I occupy and extraordinarily since 1704 I'm only the 11th Chief Rabbi wow so that's quite amazing and here on the wall alongside me but you don't see it I've got the either photographs or portraits of my ten predecessors and that's it um and and the weight of of History rests very heavily on my shoulders but you know every generation needs its own leadership and its own style um I don't finding it find it intimidating at all I find that I'm enormously blessed uh to have have them in Search and for me to have the opportunity to build on uh their successes and you know there's a thriller which I continuously save and investors first we have to find Grace in favor and only afterwards we should seek to be popular in the view of people and if everything we do then we'll be able to take the courageous decisions that we need to take um to have uh hopefully responsible leadership and conviction leadership that that one needs in a position such as this so we need an enormous amount of uh Seattle and those who came before me bless me always because I'm able to learn from their experiences does how does the chief Rabbi deal with you know in a much smaller scale as as rabbis and and public leaders we also deal with this and always can use physic how does the chief Rabbi not become distracted or brought down by criticism there's so little criticism of the chief Rabbi but for the denominations or segments and it's hard to navigate we live in such complicated times and people wish you were more outspoken about this or less outspoken about that or showing more leadership on this controversial issue or taking a position on that and I'm sure the chief Rabbi gets emails or texts or personal uh encounters where people offer their unsolicited feedback and criticism how does the chief Rabbi not allow that to bring him down weigh him down or be distracted from the the mission I think that's an ongoing issue for all rubber name in whatever capacity we we serve our communities and certainly for me and my position I live in one of the world's biggest uh fishbowls and uh you know constantly people are talking and commenting and uh and it's fine it's okay because actually such a stage provides us with an enormous opportunity for the potential of kids that if one is being noticed then you may say Hashem may we be blessed to have a positive impact on others um I think when it comes to criticism the first question we have to ask is are they right or are they wrong and we need to be courageous enough often to acknowledge maybe we didn't make the best decision or maybe we did uh um nobody is perfect and when one reaches a decision and we reached the decision not just at when but because one is consulted one has read up one has taken their advice um in order to teach us even though he didn't need to so too whatever the decisions we take we need a consultant that's a crucially important matter and particularly with very important and critical decisions one needs to know that one is hopefully doing the right thing and and to act with humility certainly courage but also humility and when one feels that one is doing the absolutely right thing for clally Israel it's absolutely fine any criticism that comes one's way okay it happens obviously one shouldn't be foolish to take decisions where the criticism will come from the majority of claudi Israel you know we have to bear in mind outstanding and and also there's a lovely lesson that I always bear in mind and that is to be a great leader you need to be one step ahead of your followers to be a poor leader you will be two steps ahead of them be one step ahead says an example don't sit in your seat to occupy the positions that they want you to don't allow your followers to lead you you must be there to lead them be one step ahead but if you are two steps ahead if you're too far ahead and they can't grasp what you are about and they don't get it and you haven't brought them into your confidence then they're going to criticize they might even Rebel so one needs a lot of Seiko and most of all one are you able to be in touch with the other Chief rabbis in around the world because they are in similar circumstances As You Are I don't think that any two Chief rabbis are in are in some of the circumstances some of us are in quite comparable circumstances um so for example I do have some very close connections uh Chief rabaheim Corsair of France is a close friend and colleague of mine and and we're in touch regularly uh Chief Robert recorded the seni of of Rome um there are many others whom we engage with continuously together with senior rabbis who don't have the title Chief robot and and others from whom we always have to gain knowledge advice and inspiration how did how did not only the chief rabbi's life change from going from a local Rabbi to the chief Rabbi but the family of the chief Rabbi is it hard for for the family to now have that level Spotlight or be exposed to that criticism and in what ways did becoming Chief Rabbi in what ways did they meet your expectations in what ways did they surpass meaning did you discover things about being Chief Rabbi that you never dreamed of in other parts of Chief Rabbi that that you didn't know and you wish wouldn't be so I've been blessed because I'm now the chief Rabbi for a second time when I was 28 years old I was elected to become Chief Rabbi of Ireland um and I had arrived in Ireland at the age of 25 was the Rev of a Kiki La there which was my first position in the rabbin it and the chief Robinette of Ireland is a very historic one Chief Rabbi Herzog had been the chief Rabbi Chief Robert that's had been the chief rabbit together with other distinguished rabbis and our Island at the time when I was Chief Rabbi was a relatively small but still Dynamic Community with a full infrastructure um of Jewish institutions um and there was an absence of an Israeli representative because uh there were there were no political ties between Ireland and Israel at the time as a result of the influence of the Vatican over Ireland at the time so I had an enormous amount of experience of representing the Jewish community of Ireland at the highest possible political level and also representing Israel's interests um and therefore that experience of being Chief Rabbi Island for eight years prepared me well for my current experience and I think most of all as being Chief Rabbi it's very much like being a rough you've got responsibility you've got people you need to work with you've got the nutmegs and having an Asic connector is a crucially important element of everything that we do and I owe so much to my rabbanate who is a wonderful partner of mine in everything that we do she's somebody in her own right she works full-time as a senior social worker and at the same time she and I are are very much Partners in in the spiritual leadership of the community and we're blessed by Russ Hashem with us wonderful children who are a great support to us at all times wow you know I'm just wondering when it comes to to Aliyah you know as rabbis here in the United States so we encourage people to make Ali Goldberg always says if you're not making Aliyah for any legitimate reason should at least struggle with the with the with not if but when not if but when so so the question is we don't have any official connection to to the government in the United States but does does the chief rabbi's relationship to the government does that become a little complicated I represent the Jews living United Kingdom how do I encourage them to leave the United Kingdom so it's a great question it's an ongoing dilemma and it and it's a dilemma which comes from a good place Baruch Hashem that we have the opportunity to make earlier in our time and that we have midi natives to be a great source of inspiration and we're also in a better position than you are because to hop over to Israel it's four and a half hours as opposed to a much longer journey and we've very much take advantage of that and within our communities we are blessed to have children and grandchildren who are living in Israel we're exceptionally proud of that many of us myself included have children who've served in sahal and um Israel is is very much a central element of our Jewish faith and of our Jewish life within political circles my experience is that those who are not anti-semites get it they understand we have a special action with the country called Israel and at the same time we are fully fledged integrated British citizens proud of our British identity and there is no conflict of identity Those Who start off at the starting point of not being well disposed towards us find problems with that um but certainly we are blessed to be able to be British enjoy British Society to be fully included within British Society we have had British Jews at the highest possible level of British Society um and uh you know we need on a few occasions we nearly had a Jewish prime minister they lost the elections next time round if labor wins the election next year then we'll have a Jewish prime minister's wife and the nation doesn't add an eyelid over it and and is fully inclusive of people and currently we've got a Hindu prime minister um and it's not an issue with regard to his leadership we're spoken about the past and we've spoken about the present let's talk a little bit about the future um none of us have a crystal ball but but for for a significant amount of time already I remember many have been very pessimistic of the future of of UK or British jury the rise of anti-Semitism Jeremy Corman even even within Parliament factors factions of it um are is the chief Rabbi optimistic pessimistic are we seeing a spike in anti-Semitism I will say as an American for a long time we felt safe and secure and pointed our finger at Europe and England wondering why any Jews would remain there on their their mind there's no future to Jews in France and in England what are they still doing there why don't they see that and now we've seen these last couple of years of course this spike in significant rise not only in anti-Semitism on the streets but in our own equivalent of parliament in our own congress with Rashida talib's recent uh nakpa event and and so on so it turns out you know when you live in a glass house don't don't throw stones and don't point fingers there's several pointing back at you so is the chief Rabbi optimistic pessimistic of the future for jury in the UK and in America for that for that matter well let me speak about the UK I leave America um I'm very optimistic we've got a great Jewish Community here um the UK is one of the only countries outside of Israel which is seeing a growth in the Jewish population year round year is extraordinary we now have reached the 70 Mark of all Jewish children attending schools wow um across the board primary school and secondary school are in Jewish Education um wonderful schools representing all the different hashgraphers uh great khashrut facilities social and cultural facilities um anti-Semitism is a growing problem and you'll be aware of the years of the Jeremy corbyn leadership of the labor labor party and how that problem became exacerbated in the UK and Baruch Hashem we were able to contribute to the neutralizing of that problem it hasn't gone away but certainly Baruch Hashem we have been blessed that it didn't enable labor at the time to lead the country so we are here with our eyes open um and with all that Baruch Hashem we are blessed um and it we are so blessed to have madinati Israel today and to be able to receive inspiration and guidance and to have that question as well and and we always encourage Aliyah but for those who choose to live in this country Bas rat Hashem may we have a great future wow wow that's great is there any special initiatives that you're working on right now for the for the future of the Jewish community many um so I I don't know where to start and what to highlight we are very active in the area of interfaith activity hello you're still with me I'm still with you my screen has changed yeah um so boric Hashem at Interfaith level um I am proactively involved at the highest Global level in terms of Jewish Muslim relations and the Abraham Accords have opened Windows of opportunity for us within the Middle East which we are grasping hold of with both hands and there are some very exciting developments in that uh entire area within our own communities we uh developed what we call Project welcome post pandemic to guarantee that our numbers of people coming to our mainstream shows should be at the very least as many as those who are coming pre-pandemic and we're doing Baruch Hashem well in that regard it's an enormous challenge as I know is the case in communities right around the world but we are indeed doing well we have numerous specific programs relating to education that's informal education I have a department in my office called the center for Community excellence for which I've raised significant sums so that my office can fund uh programs ensures to qualify for the funding it has to be something that has never been done before so for example coming up to Shavuot we have 25 communities in the UK who are putting on Chevrolet programs that they've never put put on before and we need to be makhadesh all the time we have to be creative um you know the Hebrew word for yours I don't have to tell you this you know comes from shinun being repetitive because you're in and you're around the calendar is the same that's the channel but within the Shana you've got the the months which is an opportunity it's Timeless it's from academic who eternally relevant but within our Torah way of life we have to have that element of in terms of our presentation making it fresh making it relevant it's exactly what you've been doing in Boca Raton um and which I I applaud you so much for your world leaders at a programming level how you have transformed a community and we're trying to emulate what you have achieved here in the UK and we must never ever be complacent um you know I always speak about the three great challenges of the Jewish people today and they are the three A's they all start with the letter A anti-Semitism assimilation and apathy the first two are visible the third one is hidden apathy is the top challenge we have we cannot be complacent we need Hitler we need passion we need to be proactive dreaming up and actually activating new systems new activities new programs in order that emits Hashem we should move forward Chief Robert has been a tremendous honor and we're grateful for your not only conversation today but your leadership and vision which spreads far beyond the UK and and the responsibilities the how many countries are in the Commonwealth 52 at the last count it changes and does the chief Rabbi travel does does he visit the other direct interactions and responsibilities to those 52 countries so I I can only do what I what I'm humanly capable of as I mentioned before we delegate and each kahilla has its own Dynamic and I know which I've baked in and which Rabbi and which authority looks after things on on our behalf and some of the communities take our leadership very seriously particularly in Australia and New Zealand in India now we have a strong connection and in various other commonwealth countries some of which are in Africa which have some teeth issues at the time but if you take a commonwealth country such as Canada they don't need me it's only the UK barakas in there they're terrific but we still have connections and and uh formal activities um so it's an enormous and and a great Scott well we thank you for for that vision for the leadership for the efforts we learned so much and much we'll continue to put into practice so thank you for sharing with us about the coronation and about and about so much more great pleasure and a huge circle to you and for everything you're doing thank you so the product that is the current chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew congregations of the Commonwealth and you heard how many countries are under the Commonwealth it's really pretty extraordinary thank you my brother there Rabbi bro day Rabbi Brody there can you hear we are back where my brother's mic is still not on he's muted but he's coming back any second right now he has changed locations in the Commonwealth he is back oh my gosh how many countries how many Jews how many people and and what a vision and what a mention what a sweet sweet nashama the chief Rabbi is I don't know if I'm allowed to say that but it comes across the sweetness and how genuine he is so it was real honor to have him we love him and he's an incredible inspiring uh character he's uh he's definitely doing some great things can't wait to see me interested in the country is Chief rabbis right United Commonwealth and uh I spoke recently I met with her by uh Goldstein of uh South Africa Chief Rabbi South Africa exciting things to come we're gonna hopefully partner on something really excited about so you got South Africa's got a chief Rabbi and the United Kingdom's got a chief Rabbi Ireland's got a chief rabbi France has a chief Rabbi does Australia yes they did United States actually had a chief rabbi it had for a very short time in Chief Robin Francis yeah and it basically killed him being the chief Rabbi right yeah but maybe it's time to bring it back but those countries are are all the Orthodox Community has an infrastructure like he was talking about all the couples who got married under his auspices who opened a file with his office I saw you were excited no I'm saying it's all centralized and there's something to be said about that the intermarriage rates are so much less and the assimilation you could speak about South Africa South Africa where I think the majority are not observant but the non-observants they'll identify with the Orthodox or observant community and they still function in terms of their marriages and registrations and conversion and everything is still done in that way so because of all that the intermarriage numbers are much much lower aren't they yeah it is and it's funny because I remember going to school in South Africa growing up with my father we'd go Friday night we'd go I was in the choir back in the day he was in the choir in the garden school and uh we would go to school there but most people would wouldn't wouldn't uh walk most people were driving but it was an orthodox they were Orthodox there was nothing there was really nothing else structure entirely differently they're very very different and but what he said about 70 of the children in his community are in day schools I mean that's incredible yeah what is a huge number by the way I want to say from a member of our community look what she writes Could Teach the World about artists I lived in France and England the Passaic in New Jersey and Lakewood and finally Boca I never saw such actors and balanced places our BRS in Boca so levana thank you thank you for watching Livonia thank you for writing that appreciate it thanks the world to us that is so special I just saw something you know you were talking about your shearing for uh for Swiss and the theme of love and you know and I just saw I would hit the the wire right now it's kind of timely with a lot of your top with the names of your topics yeah yeah certain singer who passed away so the singer just passed away a lot of a lot of the names they share you know might have been just talking about that do you know that do you know that orthodoxies are 0.02 percent of the population sorry point two percent of the population Orthodox are 0.2 percent of the population but 20 of altruistic kidney donors in America that's great yeah I remember that statistic that's passion we had a great job we celebrated the many members many I say many many because more than one is many who've generously donated their kidneys to clean strangers what a weekend and we have a member a couple members who received kidneys whose lives were saved they're only alive today because they got a kidney would you do it if you got matched like if I thought about this already I can't I tried I tried to get swabbed I've got certain health issues I know I know I look like I'm the perfect specimen of health and I feel great I got to tell you but the rabbit has given me wonderful gifts including them things that preclude me from being kidding but my wife was so blown away by the weekend so excited by it she's in mozay Shabbos when one of our own Dr Danny agyon brain surgeon donated his kidney and had never met the recipient and mote Shabbos at the a-time cats concert at our shul the parents of his recipient came up and expressed their endless gratitude and what a moment brought everyone to tears was unbelievable so my wife when she swapped Sunday morning and you know what she said to me I actually wrote about it in my article this week everyone could check it out on our website but she said to me she comes and she goes I said what's the matter she goes you know I never win anything I never get picked for anything I'm sure I'm not going to be a match and I was like wouldn't that be great like you're swabbed you did your pardon if you don't match you don't have to have surgery and give up a kidney and I don't have to drive carpool for a couple weeks so like you'll feel you did your part she's like are you kidding me I desperately want to match like how long do you thinking within a couple days maybe they'll call but I never win so probably not they never pick me that's what makes her special but but she's also not special she's very special but she's not special in that the whole weekend was so inspiring that I think that was the sentiment so many people had which was like I thought you're gonna say she got called no no no not yet but um I did ask renewal whether they would cover the carpool if she if she was a match it's actually really funny because I think Danny again the doctor said that he's not by Nature a giver I think by by Nature a lot of us are selfish and he did it because he just wants to to kind of make him the type of person that wants to give I love my article this week and I told a few stories in there about who's really the donor and who's the recipient because the donors will tell you they got more than they gave and the recipients they gave the donor the opportunity to find this meaning and purpose so kidney donation or transplant is an extreme example but the truth is every time we do something nice or kind or share our resources our time who's the giver who's the taker who's the donor who's the recipient it's a big chivalist lesson from Russ in that really interesting check out the article there are other parts of our body that we can donate or kidneys are like really the only thing I'm saying while we're alive I'm saying like why we're liver you can donate cornea is a retinas um yeah I think there are other there are other there's the whole question of brain death is brain death and therefore live no I'm saying if I'm alive right now and I match can I can't give someone my heart because I'm gonna die definitely the kidney is the major one kidney's major okay and we yeah and we've taken over that like the the the Jews wow there's an interesting question though one of our members stopped me on Sunday at a wedding Sunday forgot when and he said you know it's beautiful the weekend blew me away super amazing he's a physician too he said but there is one thing that troubled me and he said you know we're taking care of our own like maybe all these Orthodox Jews done any kidneys because they essentially go to Jews so maybe they should be giving to non-jews but I wasn't bothered by it as much because I felt you know we we donate money to Jewish causes disproportion of the non-jewish because this is a right I give my brother a kidney but maybe not a stranger so the Jewish people are a lot of brother I like that so I think people take care of their family and their own and it's sort of reflective of how we're supposed to feel again going into one people Unity and all that I love it actually really excited about and by the way I really okay I just counted uh sphere and I'm pretty sure I can't I remember last night I counted so I just finished Hashem so yeah you got it 49 seven weeks and I do want to give credit this year to the OU the OU's nightly email reminder definitely helped nice well speaking of the OU I'm going to New York for a wedding next week one of our great teachers everybody sugarman's making another wedding and the next line I'm staying because I'm very excited with the OU we're partnering Boca Raton Synagogue again our podcast behind the shot be out of the Shadows poker let's try that again Boca Raton Synagogue and Out of the Shadows are partnering with the OU and we're doing a mental health maze mental health month and we're doing in in Lawrence in the five towns with Rabbi Trump at young as well Lauren Cedarhurst uh Dr Norman Blumenthal and I will be doing a panel discussion on mental health and I think others as well so I'm looking for this next Wednesday night to our Global community in the New York area you are it's not being streamed but you're more than invited in person we'd love to see you there and if you want us to bring behind the bema to Lawrence Cedarhurst to some fun place we'll bring behind the beam on the road too could do that we could do that Brody closes out any thoughts are you teaching what subject are you teaching and shivers oh so I'm actually talking about what happens when you have in-laws that become either a become or they're just not religious they're not from so what's the the obligation to to honor them as your uh yeah or even your parents I said they're not religious what's the where you'd say it's obviously your parents give it off aim but okay there's questions it's not so simple and let's try and understand what the what the challenges are what do you want to be teaching in so I I love it I am to me it's a favorite slot it might not be a lot of people at the 5 a.m slot or 4 30 whatever it might be but the people that are there are there for a reason mostly the coveted 430 it is not but yeah there's a good chance that the half of the you know let's say there's five people so two might be sleeping but no but you are giving it this year for the first time a second time into a second exactly we're doing an 8 A.M slot on the second day so we get a rerun and anyone can come and join that Global Community if you want to come hang out in Boca for Swiss we got a lot of great stuff happening we did that several of the Moscow do you mean we're we're teaching the subject a couple times some people can't make it up through the night so you know we've got learning night Day Afternoon Around the Clock yeah but I'll do I will say that I mean when you start out first night at 11 p.m or midnight I think even 11 8 11 p.m 11 15. let's say it's a pretty popular sheer gotta get a couple more than just a handful of people there but um what was I gonna say A.M but uh yeah there might not be a lot of it might not be a lot of people but you know we get it going oh I was gonna say oh I know what it is you when you when you do it's probably a little bit of pressure because there's a lot of people there let's just say the 430 shoots here it's not a lot of pressure and you know let's just say not a lot of questions there are some some advantages to that slot I guess like okay I'm preparing I'm preparing his luck it would be 50 people there but whatever it is it is what it is it's quality not quantity it's quality exactly all about the quality well congratulations I want another beautiful Unity night Unity program tonight really proud of our community come together Jews of every type on the eve of chivalus Jews of every background sitting together no politics no disagreements just Torah just total who produced that Torah that we learned can't tell you oh I did in partnership with others yeah it's a it's a it's a closely guarded it's like the coke recipe but all traditional Toro sources all exactly and that's the key is just if you keep it traditional there's no one's going to argue on the on the original no pushing the envelope there wasn't there was no push you don't need to you don't need to push the envelope it's so funny because one lady actually called me last night and she said it's a little put off because on the questionnaire there's three questions in your age bracket um how you identify as a as a Jew reform conservative Orthodox unaffiliated because I felt a little uh a little put off I said well how else do you want me to be able to understand who who's coming to the table I gotta I said I want to ask if you're politically real you know conservative or liberals though the Yankees are the Mets yeah so I'm just trying it's the only way I can do it and then someone else called me later and they're like they're like yeah but I don't think any Orthodox Jews are going to show up at a program like this so they said that's all going to be you know the the Orthodox aren't interested in joining with another another denomination and and other Jews so I said actually it's about 50 Orthodox I said how can you prove that I said because I could have reforms everyone filled out who they are is I know it's it's a lot of Orthodox it's unbelievable to know that back in the day back in the day Dr J Keane and I a handful of people we ran singles events we called it the Jewish singles Network and we ran all from Florida from Palm Beach all the way down to Keys remember you know instead of each Community just traveling things for singles by itself let's bring the community together and one of the things we did we rented out the Diplomat Ballroom the Diplomat Hotel and we had a massive speed dating and we made it two age groups and I remember 30 to 50 and 51 see seven I don't remember exactly the age groups and then three denominations which we made up better names like tradition but essentially reform conservative Orthodox to so six groups of speed dating and they got closed out unbelievable huge turnout was incredible so I remember this woman called and she's like I want to sign up for the um for the Reform Group in this age group I'm like I'm so sorry that's closed out she goes you know I really grew up more conservative so put me in the conservative yeah and so I'm so sorry that one's also closed out she goes you know I've always seen myself as becoming more observant I'm hoping to be you know what put me in the apartment one right so you know for the sake of dating you never know what people are willing to do it's amazing it's amazing so Mazel Tov Network we want to wish all of our uh our wonderful listeners and uh people on this fun Journey behind the Beamer stay happy stay healthy stay holy should be a beautiful sure it's a beautiful Kabbalah Satora we should receive the Torah and we should do it hand in hand United together yeah plus yard equals you did which is unbelievable take care everybody have a happy beautiful