United Synagogue welcomes its youngest president

Saul Taylor, at 43 the youngest of three candidates aiming to become president of the United Synagogue, was elected to the post on Monday night, clearing more than twice the votes of his nearest rival Claire Lemer, with 144 votes to her 71. Marc Meyer, the French-born former chair of Hendon Synagogue, finished third with 27 votes.

Describing his election as “the privilege of my lifetime”, Taylor paid warm tribute to his rivals, whom he said had fought a “fair and honest’ campaign in the bid to succeed outgoing president Michael Goldstein , retiring after eight years in office.

In his first speech to members of the US Council, Taylor recalled the two films made about the wartime initiative of Lt Commander Ewen Montague, whose idea to dress up a corpse in a British army uniform, complete with fake papers to fool the Nazis, became known as Operation Mincemeat.

Montague went on, after the war, to become president of the United Synagogue — but Taylor did not reveal any bodies or skeletons in his closet. Instead he said he was “deeply aware of the weight of this office and the quality of leaders who have come before me”, and pledged his commitment “to representing the communities. I will fight every single day, both alongside you and for you to make sure our United Synagogue remains the home for all our families for future generations  — and that work starts right now”.

Among the first to congratulate the new leader was Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies. He said: “Mazaltov to Saul Taylor… his election shows the leadership of the community moving to a new generation,”

In his final address as president, Michael Goldstein reflected on the major challenges of the last eight years for the 56-strong communities which make up the US, including dealing with the effect of Covid and the fall-out from the October 7 Israel massacres and the consequent effect on diaspora communities.

But as well as the challenges, he said, there were highlights, including spending £50 million on rebuilding existing communities and growing new ones — particularly the brand new Mill Hill East — and bringing in four provincial communities under the US umbrella.

He and the chief executive Jo Grose both expressed the hope that the new leadership would build on these successes. Goldstein also thanked the rabbinate and the chief rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, for their continuing help and support over the years.