A leading Sephardi rabbi has made an extraordinary apology for a comment he made about the 17th century diarist, Samuel Pepys.

Rabbi Joseph Dweck, senior rabbi of the S&P community in Britain, had picked up on an entry in Pepys’ diaries.

Pepys is, says Rabbi Dweck, “well known in the S&P community for writing about a visit he made to the S&P synagogue in the City of London [Bevis Marks], describing Simchat Torah”.

Entries from Pepys’ diaries are regularly posted on Twitter. A recent entry was an account in Spanish in which Pepys wrote that he had “cavorted with a woman who wasn't his wife”. 

Rabbi Dweck retweeted this entry, “saying with disappointment that ‘some things never change’”.

Rabbi Dweck, who just a year ago was under investigation by rabbinic colleagues for comments referring to homosexual love, has kept a relatively low profile since the storm of criticism against him, led by Golders Green rabbi Aharon Bassous.

He lost his post as a dayan [judge] on the Sephardi Beth Din, but was allowed to retain his position as rabbi of the Lauderdale Road S&P congregation after expressing profound regret for having spoken “in an inappropriate and imprudent manner”.

Rabbi Dweck issued an apology about his Pepys tweet on Tuesday night, saying that he had only meant that “all too often those who seem to be virtuous fall to base vices.

"Although I meant it to point out the poor virtue of the man. I recognise that it was not appropriate for me to tweet intimations of vulgarity to the public."

His tweet, he said, was “not fitting of my office. I deeply apologise and regret having done so. Especially knowing that I remain under high scrutiny and criticism from detractors. My intention was not to publicise immorality, God forbid, but rather to condemn it”.

It is not clear what precipitated Rabbi Dweck’s apology. His harshest critics stay away from social media and are unlikely to have read his original post.