Gateshead, the British center widely known as a Torah city, is holding a formal enthronement ceremony this afternoon for Rabbi Israel Mantel as its new rabbinic head. The historic event is expected to draw leading yeshiva heads, local rabbis, judges, and the full community.
The post had been vacant since 5780, after the previous chief rabbi, Rabbi Shrage Feivel Zimmerman, left Gateshead to serve as chief rabbi of the Federation community in London. For about five years, community leaders searched for a scholar with the stature to guide what the article calls Europe’s fortress of Torah.
The turning point came about a year ago, when Rabbi Mantel, then serving successfully as chief rabbi of the well-known Kahal Adath Jeshurun community in Washington Heights, New York, announced plans to move to Gateshead to live near his children. Community officials quickly saw an opportunity and asked him to take on the job. After a period of discussions, he agreed.
This week, as Rabbi Mantel arrived officially in the city, residents turned out in large numbers to welcome him with singing and dancing in the streets, accompanied by musical instruments, in a celebration compared to a Torah scroll procession. Near his new home, senior Torah figures including Rabbi Avraham Gurvitz, head of Sunderland Yeshiva Rabbi Yaakov Arנטרוי, greeted him warmly, spoke with him about Torah matters, and accompanied him home ahead of today’s enthronement.
