Top Jewish seminary welcomes new rabbinic scholars

A college that trains rabbis and educators for the progressive Jewish community both here and abroad is welcoming five new students onto its rabbinical programme this September 2023.

From an eclectic mix of backgrounds, Leo Baeck College’s (LBC) latest cohort include a molecular biologist, an artist activist, and a former civil servant who is also a professional musician.

LBC is a preeminent institution of Jewish scholarship and learning. The overwhelming majority of Liberal and Reform rabbis in the UK, and many abroad, trained at LBC.

Students spend five years at the College training for the rabbinate.

Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris, Principle at Leo Baeck College said: “Progressive Judaism and our communities across the UK and beyond should feel reassured that world class rabbinic training and continuity for our future generations continues to go from strength to strength. This is a particularly exciting time for the College as we prepare to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the first ordination of openly LGBTQiA+ rabbis in Europe.”

Rachel Berkson, 44, is a member of Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue, Cambridge. Rachel read Lech Lecha at her bat mitzvah, and soon after started journeying around northern Europe pursuing a career in molecular biology. In parallel with a PhD in Scotland, postdoctoral research in Sweden, and lecturing at a medical school in England, Rachel spent many years volunteering with small and far-flung Jewish communities. She returned to her hometown of Cambridge in 2017 to work as an education specialist.

Emily Carp, 30, is a proud daughter of the north of England. After graduating from the University of Manchester in 2014 with a BA (Hons) in Middle Eastern Studies, she volunteered in an elementary school in Ashdod. Since then, she has worked for a financial services company and Hillel Ontario in Toronto. Emily‘s love for Jewish life stems from growing up at Menorah Synagogue, singing with the choir since she was 12 years old, and holding various community roles over the years. Coming from a family with deep roots in both the Spanish and Portuguese and Reform communities of Manchester, she is particularly enthusiastic about working with Northern progressive Jewish communities.

Hava Mirviss-Carvajal, 28, was born in New York and raised in London, with Litvak and Conversa heritage. She is one of the roshim of Queer Yeshiva, and is a member of South West Essex and Settlement Reform Synagogue. She is beyond excited to be a humble part of the vibrant future of Jewish life in the UK.

Tim Motz, 36, grew up at Weybridge Reform Synagogue and is now a member of New Stoke Newington Masorti, where he is a trustee and regularly leads services. Tim read German and Hebrew at Oxford, where he wrote about the Buber-Rosenzweig bible. Tim has trained as a Ba’al Tefillah with the European Academy of Jewish Liturgy and is currently studying at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He started his professional career as a civil servant at Defra and the EU Commission, before moving into environmental social enterprise, and most recently GOV.UK. He will be studying at the College as a Masorti student.

Dr. Jennifer Verson, 55, is a member of Liverpool Reform Synagogue. Jennifer is
passionate about the role of Jewish cultural heritage in peace building. Her doctoral work in this area traced back the migration of Liverpool Reform’s Czech Memorial Scroll and involved working with performance and scriptural reasoning to create new forms of meaningful Shoah remembrance. After migrating from Chicago when her daughter was a baby, she began advocating for other migrant and refugee mothers and is the founding member and Artistic Director of Migrant Artists Mutual Aid (MaMa).

Full details of the rabbinic training programme can be found here.