Cambridge Synagogue Looks to Campus Rabbi for Leadership

Six years after their arrival to serve the Jewish student population at England’s Cambridge University and provide additional services to the wider community, an independent synagogue in the college town has formally appointed Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Reuven and Rochel Leigh as the institution’s resident rabbi and rebbetzin.

For leaders at the Cambridge Traditional Jewish Congregation, which describes itself as “an Orthodox, but independent and unaffiliated community” and has never before had a resident rabbi, the move is both historic and indicative of the synagogue’s growth.

But for the Leighs, who established Chabad at Cambridge University in 2003, the appointment serves as the continuation of work they’ve done in trying to reach all of the city’s Jews, such as their Ganeinu Child Care for preschoolers and the one-year-old Cambridge Hebrew School, which boasts a student body of 30 pupils aged 2 to 12.

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“When we arrived,” explains Reuven Leigh, “we quickly found ourselves intimately involved with the local Jewish community.”

Prof. Simon Goldhill, the synagogue’s chairman and a fellow at King’s College, said the choice came naturally.

“We are delighted to appoint Reuven Leigh as our new rabbi,” said Goldhill. “Our congregation has never had a rabbi in this way before, and we are really looking forward to the growth of the community. For us, it was crucial that we were appointing someone whom we know well and who knows us. It is a very exciting time for us all.”

Sarah Schechter, a member of the Cambridge Jewish community, said: “The Leighs have made a huge impression on everyone in Cambridge and we’re feeling really positive about what they can do for the community here.”

Future plans call for the building of the city’s first Jewish ritual bath, a move intended to cater to Cambridge’s rising number of young professional and academic families.