Reduction time at Sale

Cash-strapped Sale and District Hebrew Congregation has appointed a part-time minister to replace full-time rabbi, Aaron Lipsey, who has moved to Newcastle.

The south Manchester synagogue, which has a declining membership of 70 families, has taken on Natan Fagleman, who will conduct Shabbat and Yomtov services and take on pastoral responsibilities.

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A couple for Stanmore

Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue has appointed Benji and Aviva Landau as its new assistant community rabbi and rebbetzin.

The couple have a background in youth and educational work.

Rabbi Landau also holds a business studies degree and his wife a degree in history.

His primary responsibility will be to support and develop activities for youth, students and young adults.

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Rabbi urges a bolder approach

One of Britain's most senior Orthodox ministers has called for bolder leadership, saying that too many rabbis are seen as "unworldly and uneducated".

Rabbi Dr Jeffrey Cohen's comments were made in a hard-hitting sermon at Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue on Shabbat.

The former Stanmore minister cited a talmudic story connecting the destruction of the Temple to the failure of rabbis in Roman

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Chief Rabbi selection: how Israel does it

The defining characteristic of the chief rabbi selection process in Israel is that involves secular as well as religious communities.

In a country polarised between secular and religious, this has allowed the rabbinate, which is state-maintained, to be regarded as a national and not just a sectarian institution.

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Time for Jew in the pew to ask searching questions

When the election for president of the United Synagogue was under way, rumours were circulating that the contenders each had his own preferred candidate he would like to see "selected" as the next chief rabbi. The president would de facto become a member of the ambiguous group known as the Chief Rabbinate Trust and could then exert his influence to achieve his aims.

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Reform reject chance to choose Chief Rabbi

The man heading the search for the next chief rabbi wants to give the non-Orthodox community a say in the appointment, in a bold gesture intended to secure communal consensus over the position.

Stephen Pack, the new president of the United Synagogue, says he would like to offer religious groups both to the right and left of central Orthodoxy a role in choosing Lord Sacks's successor.

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Shire leaves Leo Baeck for American challenge

Leo Baeck College vice-principal Rabbi Michael Shire is leaving to become professor of Jewish religious education at Hebrew College, Boston.

Rabbi Shire will move with his wife Rabbi Marcia Plumb - who has been one of the rabbinic team at the Shaarei Tzedek North London Reform Synagogue and taught at Akiva School- and their two children.

He will also serve as dean at the graduate school at H

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