The new Rav of Gateshead has arrived in the Tyneside town famed for its yeshivah learning.
Rav Yisroel Mantel from New York was inaugurated last week by the local strictly Orthodox community who voted almost unanimously last autumn to approve his appointment.
He succeeds Rav Shraga Faivel Zimmerman, who left seven years ago to become spiritual head of the Federation of Synagogues in London.
Born in Antwerp, Rav Mantel served in Lucerne, Switzerland before moving to Manhattan to lead the K’hal Adath Jeshurun congregation.
Gateshead’s president Meir Bodner has described him as a Talmud scholar of stature with “decades of experience in rabbonus and communal leadership”.
Last Thursday he was greeted by the community’s children in a walkabout through the streets where he addressed and blessed them.
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