Jeremy Rosen
Encyclopedia
Jeremy Rosen is an Orthodox rabbi, author, and lecturer. He is best known for advocating an approach to Jewish life that is open to the benefits of modernity and tolerant of individual variations while remaining committed to halacha (Jewish law). His articles and weekly column appear in publications in several countries, including the Jewish Telegraph
and the London Jewish News, and often comments on religious issues on the BBC. He is director of Yakar Educational Foundation in London
, and chairman of the Faculty for Comparative Religion (F.V.G.) in Antwerp.
Rosen was born in Manchester, England on September 11, 1942, the eldest son of Rabbi Kopul Rosen
and Bella Rosen. His thinking was strongly influenced by his father, who rejected fundamentalist and obscurantist approaches in favor of being open to the best the secular world has to offer while remaining committed to religious life. Rosen was first educated at Carmel College, the school his father had founded based on this philosophical orientation. At his father's direction, he also studied at Be'er Yaakov Yeshiva in Israel (1957–1958 and 1960). He then went on to Merkaz Harav Kook (1961), and Mir Yeshiva
(1965–1968) in Jerusalem, and in between he attended Cambridge University (1962–1965), graduating with a degree in Moral Sciences.
In 1966, while still at Mir Rosen, he spent three months as rabbi of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation in Zimbabwe
(then called Southern Rhodesia
). A member of the congregation at that time recalls:
Rosen began his full-time rabbinic career in 1968 at the Giffnock and Newlands Hebrew Congregation in Glasgow
. A portrait of him painted by David Donaldson
during that time is part of the Royal Scottish Academy
collection.
In 1971, Rosen was asked to become headmaster of Carmel College, upon the sudden resignation of the headmaster who had succeeded his father after his death in 1962. He was appointed principal in 1980. Carmel College, which was originally founded as a boys' boarding school, had become coeducational in 1969. Rabbi Rosen felt the school had become a rather secular imitation of English public schools, and worked to turn it back into a more proactively religious Jewish school. He believed in keeping the school small and selective, and sought to maintain the goals of high academic and cultural standards, while also upgrading the quality of the Jewish education.
Constant financial pressure, as well as difficulties in finding competent Jewish staff, eventually led Rabbi Rosen to resign in 1984. He took a sabbatical in Israel, where he lectured at the WUJS Institute in Arad and at Ben Gurion University of the Negev with Rabbi Pinchas Hacohen Peli
. While at Ben Gurion he began work on his PhD on Wittgenstein and Religion, which he completed in 1994.
After this sabbatical, Rosen returned to the rabbinate, choosing a small but independent Orthodox synagogue in central London called The Western Synagogue. Most of its members had moved away from the area, but it had its own burial grounds and was financially secure. Rosen felt that the independence of the Western Synagogue provided him the opportunity to reach different communities and constituencies, and a platform from which to offer an alternative and more open Orthodox viewpoint than what he saw as the increasingly narrow and controlled atmosphere of the mainstream Orthodox rabbinate. He became Chief Rabbi Jackobovitz's cabinet member for Interfaith Affairs, which he regarded as his one concession to the mainstream United Synagogue.
When, in 1990, the Western Synagogue merged with Marble Arch Synagogue under the auspices of the United Synagogue, Rosen declined to come under the authority of the mainstream religious authorities. After helping as a temporary rabbi during the transition, he moved to Antwerp, Belgium, where he became chairman of the Faculty for Comparative Religion (F.V.G.). For the next seven years, he taught at Brussels under the aegis of C.E.J.I., while also working in his wife's family business. In 1997, Rosen moved to New York
, where he worked as an educational and rabbinic consultant, teaching and advising schools and communities on developing new programs and improving their performance.
He returned to London in 1999 to head the British branch of the Yakar Educational Foundation, which had been founded by his younger brother, Michael (Mickey) Rosen, to further the teachings of their late father. (The name "Yakar", the Hebrew for "precious", is formed from the acronym of his name, Yaacov Kopul Rosen.) At the same time, he became rabbi of the Yakar Kehilla, the synagogue associated with the foundation.
In 2003, Jeremy and Mickey Rosen sold the buildings and assets of the Yakar UK location, applying the funds toward the establishment of a Yakar location in Tel Aviv
, in addition to its primary location in Jerusalem. After that time, the Yakar Kehilla began holding services at the Independent Jewish Day School in Hendon
. In 2006, Rosen resigned from Yakar Kehilla, to focus more time on new writing endeavors.
Rosen now writes and lectures as a freelance teacher and preacher, spending his time mainly in New York but also frequently in London, Antwerp, and Jerusalem.
He was married to Vera Zippel, from Milan, Italy, in 1971. They had four children, Anushka, Jacky, Natalia, and Avichai. The marriage was dissolved in 1986, and in 1988 he married Susana Kaszirer from Antwerp, Belgium.
Jewish Telegraph
The Jewish Telegraph is a British Jewish newspaper. It was founded in December 1950 by Frank and Vivienne Harris, the parents of the current Editor, Paul Harris.-Founding:...
and the London Jewish News, and often comments on religious issues on the BBC. He is director of Yakar Educational Foundation in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and chairman of the Faculty for Comparative Religion (F.V.G.) in Antwerp.
Rosen was born in Manchester, England on September 11, 1942, the eldest son of Rabbi Kopul Rosen
Kopul Rosen
Rabbi Dr. Yaacov Kopul Rosen was born in London in 1913. He trained for the rabbinate in Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London, and in Mir Yeshiva in Lithuania. He was the rabbi of the Higher Crumpsall Synagogue in Manchester from 1938 until 1942...
and Bella Rosen. His thinking was strongly influenced by his father, who rejected fundamentalist and obscurantist approaches in favor of being open to the best the secular world has to offer while remaining committed to religious life. Rosen was first educated at Carmel College, the school his father had founded based on this philosophical orientation. At his father's direction, he also studied at Be'er Yaakov Yeshiva in Israel (1957–1958 and 1960). He then went on to Merkaz Harav Kook (1961), and Mir Yeshiva
Mir yeshiva (Jerusalem)
The Mir yeshiva , known as the Mirrer Yeshiva or The Mir, is an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. With 6,000 students, it is the largest yeshiva in Israel. Many of the students are from the United States and Canada. It is also believed to be the largest yeshiva in the world...
(1965–1968) in Jerusalem, and in between he attended Cambridge University (1962–1965), graduating with a degree in Moral Sciences.
In 1966, while still at Mir Rosen, he spent three months as rabbi of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
(then called Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
). A member of the congregation at that time recalls:
"After Rabbi Yesorsky passed away there came to Bulawayo a rabbi unlike any we had ever known--Jeremy Rosen. ALL the girls fell in love with him. He was a really special person and left a lasting impression on the whole community. He made the religion become very much a living entity and not something that belonged to the rabbi and the synagogue goers."
Rosen began his full-time rabbinic career in 1968 at the Giffnock and Newlands Hebrew Congregation in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. A portrait of him painted by David Donaldson
David Donaldson
David Donaldson was Painter and Limner to Her Majesty the Queen in Scotland.Born David Abercrombie Donaldson at Chryston, Lanarkshire in 1916. He studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1932–37 and won the Director’s Prize in 1936...
during that time is part of the Royal Scottish Academy
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
collection.
In 1971, Rosen was asked to become headmaster of Carmel College, upon the sudden resignation of the headmaster who had succeeded his father after his death in 1962. He was appointed principal in 1980. Carmel College, which was originally founded as a boys' boarding school, had become coeducational in 1969. Rabbi Rosen felt the school had become a rather secular imitation of English public schools, and worked to turn it back into a more proactively religious Jewish school. He believed in keeping the school small and selective, and sought to maintain the goals of high academic and cultural standards, while also upgrading the quality of the Jewish education.
Constant financial pressure, as well as difficulties in finding competent Jewish staff, eventually led Rabbi Rosen to resign in 1984. He took a sabbatical in Israel, where he lectured at the WUJS Institute in Arad and at Ben Gurion University of the Negev with Rabbi Pinchas Hacohen Peli
Pinchas Hacohen Peli
Pinchas Hacohen Peli was an Israeli modern Orthodox rabbi, essayist, poet and scholar of Judaism and Jewish philosophy.-Early life:...
. While at Ben Gurion he began work on his PhD on Wittgenstein and Religion, which he completed in 1994.
After this sabbatical, Rosen returned to the rabbinate, choosing a small but independent Orthodox synagogue in central London called The Western Synagogue. Most of its members had moved away from the area, but it had its own burial grounds and was financially secure. Rosen felt that the independence of the Western Synagogue provided him the opportunity to reach different communities and constituencies, and a platform from which to offer an alternative and more open Orthodox viewpoint than what he saw as the increasingly narrow and controlled atmosphere of the mainstream Orthodox rabbinate. He became Chief Rabbi Jackobovitz's cabinet member for Interfaith Affairs, which he regarded as his one concession to the mainstream United Synagogue.
When, in 1990, the Western Synagogue merged with Marble Arch Synagogue under the auspices of the United Synagogue, Rosen declined to come under the authority of the mainstream religious authorities. After helping as a temporary rabbi during the transition, he moved to Antwerp, Belgium, where he became chairman of the Faculty for Comparative Religion (F.V.G.). For the next seven years, he taught at Brussels under the aegis of C.E.J.I., while also working in his wife's family business. In 1997, Rosen moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, where he worked as an educational and rabbinic consultant, teaching and advising schools and communities on developing new programs and improving their performance.
He returned to London in 1999 to head the British branch of the Yakar Educational Foundation, which had been founded by his younger brother, Michael (Mickey) Rosen, to further the teachings of their late father. (The name "Yakar", the Hebrew for "precious", is formed from the acronym of his name, Yaacov Kopul Rosen.) At the same time, he became rabbi of the Yakar Kehilla, the synagogue associated with the foundation.
In 2003, Jeremy and Mickey Rosen sold the buildings and assets of the Yakar UK location, applying the funds toward the establishment of a Yakar location in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, in addition to its primary location in Jerusalem. After that time, the Yakar Kehilla began holding services at the Independent Jewish Day School in Hendon
Hendon
Hendon is a London suburb situated northwest of Charing Cross.-History:Hendon was historically a civil parish in the county of Middlesex. The manor is described in Domesday , but the name, 'Hendun' meaning 'at the highest hill', is earlier...
. In 2006, Rosen resigned from Yakar Kehilla, to focus more time on new writing endeavors.
Rosen now writes and lectures as a freelance teacher and preacher, spending his time mainly in New York but also frequently in London, Antwerp, and Jerusalem.
He was married to Vera Zippel, from Milan, Italy, in 1971. They had four children, Anushka, Jacky, Natalia, and Avichai. The marriage was dissolved in 1986, and in 1988 he married Susana Kaszirer from Antwerp, Belgium.
General references
- Who's Who 2007: an Annual Biographical Dictionary (159th ed.). A & C Black. ISBN 978-0-7136-7527-6
- Seven Years at Carmel College