New York rabbi all set to fill the Gateshead void

During his visit to Tyneside, he will deliver sermons and shiurim and meet members of the community, who afterwards will be asked to vote on his appointment. In a letter to members of the community last month, Gateshead president Meir Bodner said it was “with great pleasure and genuine excitement” that Rav Mantel had agreed to stand as a candidate.

Describing the rabbi as a Talmud scholar of stature, he said he had “decades of experience in rabbonus and communal leadership” who was renowned also for his “deep dedication” to the needs of his community. “His wisdom, warmth and commitment to tradition have earned him admiration and respect from across the Torah world,” Bodner wrote.

Before moving to the US, Rav Mantel had served in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge (photo: ymblanter/Wikimedia Commons)[Missing Credit]

Adath Jeshurun’s trustees told its members that Rav Mantel had informed them that he had been “advised that he will be offered the position as Rav in Gateshead.

“The Rav noted that this position was offered him several years ago but he turned it down because he did not want to leave our kehillah [community] at that time.”

After consultation with leading rabbis in Israel and the US, Rav Mantel and his rebbetzin “made a very difficult decision that it has become necessary to move closer to their children and grandchildren. The Rav feels that both he and his Rebbetzin are getting older and the time has come to make such a move.”

It is understood that they have a daughter in Edgware.