Rabbi Romain to leave Maidenhead shul after 40 years
ONE OF Britain’s best-known rabbis, Dr Jonathan Romain, is to retire from the pulpit in the summer after more than 40 years as spiritual leader of Maidenhead Synagogue.
The author of 19 books and a regular voice on broadcast media, Rabbi Romain will take up his new position as convenor of the Reform Beit Din at the end of July, before he turns 70 the following month.
His successor will be Rabbi René Pfertzel, who has led Kingston Liberal Synagogue for seven years.
While the Maidenhead congregation was founded in the 1940s, Rabbi Romain was its first rabbi when he arrived in 1980.
Explaining his career path, he said: “Normally, newly ordained rabbis, as I was back then, start with a small community, move on to a larger one and then progress accordingly. But the congregation here began to grow rapidly, and I found myself looking after an everexpanding shul, and I stayed with it.”
He said that the community “had the lovely problem of constantly outgrowing our building and [we] have had to either move or rebuild four times”.
He attributed the congregation’s huge growth during his tenure, from 72 families to 947, to the rebranding of the synagogue from a house of prayer to a community centre.
“I honestly don’t care if people come to services on a Saturday, the film evening on a Sunday or the walking group midweek,” he said. “It’s coming that counts and being part of the community in whatever way they feel comfortable.”
Rabbi Romain was a pioneer in outreach to mixed-faith couples, encouraging communities to find ways to welcome rather than exclude them, for which he was recognised with an MBE in 2004.
He has written on Anglo-Jewish history, Reform Judaism and – the theme of recent books, Confessions of a Rabbi and The Naked Rabbi – his rabbinic experiences. For over 20 years, Rabbi Romain has written for the JC column, Rabbi, I Have a Problem.
TV appearances include an edition of Songs of Praise filmed at the synagogue.
Beyond the Jewish community, Rabbi Romain chairs Dignity in Dying, campaigning to legalise assisted dying.
Rabbi Pfertzel said: “It is an honour and privilege to follow in the footsteps of a rabbi of the stature of Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain. I am very much looking forward to joining the thriving and vibrant community of Maidenhead and adding my stone to this beautiful edifice.”