One rabbi who heard him over the two-day conference said that he was “clearly an inspiring speaker, a genius on a par with the Chief Rabbi”. But he added: “I don’t think anyone seriously thinks he will be chief rabbi.”
But another colleague said that Rabbi Soloveichik, 35, was a “great guy with great potential. He could be a candidate. I have emphasised to people at the top that they must appoint someone of international reputation, someone who is head-and-shoulders above everyone else.”
A third rabbi also left the conference “highly impressed” with Rabbi Soloveichik, but said it was “a commonly held view that the next chief rabbi should be a home-grown product”.