Touro College President and CEO Dr. Alan Kadish announced today that Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth of the United Kingdom, will receive an honorary degree and address the graduates of the 42nd annual commencement exercises at David Geffen Hall in Lincoln Center on May 30.
“Touro College is proud that Rabbi Mirvis will be sharing his wisdom with our graduates as they embark on a new phase of their lives,” said Dr. Kadish. “For his life-long commitment to strengthening Jewish education and unifying the larger Jewish community, we are pleased to extend him Touro’s highest honor.”
Rabbi Mirvis is the 11th chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth since the post was introduced in 1704. He was installed in September of 2013 in an historic ceremony attended by Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, the first time that a member of the Royal Family has attended a service for the installation of a chief rabbi. Rabbi Mirvis succeeded Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
The chief rabbi is one of the most respected rabbis in Europe, and he represents the Jewish community within Royal and government circles. He is the spiritual head of the Jewish communities of the Commonwealth and is associate president of the Conference of European Rabbis. He was appointed to the chief rabbi’s cabinet in 1996 and was chairman of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue.
Previously, Rabbi Mirvis was rabbi of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation, chief rabbi of Ireland and rabbi of the Marble Arch and Finchley (Kinloss) communities. He is a trained chazan, shochet and mohel. In Finchley he transformed the community into the fastest growing community in the United Synagogue of the UK. He founded the Kinloss Learning Center and the Kinloss Kollel and he was founding rabbi and honorary principal of Morasha Jewish Primary School.
Born into a rabbinical family in South Africa, Rabbi Mirvis is a graduate of Herzlia High School in Cape Town, Yeshivat Kerem BeYavne, Yeshivat Har Etzion, the University of South Africa and Machon Ariel in Jerusalem, where he was ordained. Rabbi Mirvis and his wife, Valerie, have four sons and seven grandchildren.
At commencement, baccalaureate and associate degree candidates will be presented from six of Touro’s schools dedicated to enhancing Jewish heritage: Lander College of Arts and Sciences–Flatbush; Lander College for Men in Queens; Lander College for Women–The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School in Manhattan; the School for Lifelong Education in Brooklyn; Machon L’Parnasa– Institute for Professional Studies, also in Brooklyn and Touro College Los Angeles.
At the conclusion of the 2016 commencement season, the Touro College and University System will have awarded doctor of philosophy, doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of pharmacy, juris doctor, master’s, baccalaureate and associate degrees to students from 29 schools and colleges located in the US and around the world.
