Nationality British Spouse Rabbi Sybil Sheridan Name Jonathan Romain Positions Rabbi | Denomination Reform Judaism Children Four Role Writer | |
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Organisation Maidenhead Synagogue, The Movement for Reform Judaism and others Birth name Jonathan Anidjar Romain Books Faith and Practice: A Guide to Reform Judaism Today | ||
Rabbi Jonathan Romain vs Michael Brown • Was Jesus the Jewish Messiah?
The Rabbi Dr Jonathan Anidjar Romain MBE (born Hampstead, London, England, 24 August 1954) is a writer and broadcaster and minister of Maidenhead Synagogue in Berkshire, England. He has a PhD in the history of British Jewry. He writes for The Times, The Independent,The Guardian, The Huffington Post, and The Jewish Chronicle and appears on radio and television.
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Actions and views
From 2007 to 2009, Rabbi Romain chaired the Movement for Reform Judaism's Assembly of Rabbis, and for several years was one of the judges for both The Times Preacher of the Year competition and the BBC's Frank Gillard Awards for religious programmes.
He is chaplain to the Jewish Police Association, a board member of the Three Faiths Forum, and chairs the Accord Coalition, which he helped found as an alliance of religious and non-religious groups committed to campaigning against religious discrimination in state-funded faith schools.
In November 2012 he established Inter-faith leaders for Dignity in Dying (IFDiD), an inter-faith group of clergy, now numbering 50 leaders of many religious affiliations who support the aims of Dignity in Dying. The group calls for a change in the law that would allow terminally ill, mentally competent adults the choice of an assisted death. In July 2014 he welcomed Lord Carey's support for the Assisted Dying Bill, describing the former Archbishop of Canterbury's intervention in the debate as "a breath of fresh air" and saying that Carey's change of view on the issue showed "it is possible to be both religious and in favour of assisted dying".
In 2013 he launched a campaign for recognition of Judaism in China.
His perspective on same-sex marriage is that marriage should be open to all. He argues that "anyone who takes sacred religious texts literally needs to move on with the times... The Bible is not the literal word of God, but the inspiration of God, as perceived by people of that era and subject to the limitations of the period. It therefore has to constantly adapt according to new knowledge and new insights."
He supports the legalisation of brothels, referring to Genesis and pointing out that “it is not for nothing that it [prostitution] is known as the oldest profession,” adding: “It may be more messianic to want to end the sex trade altogether, but perhaps it is more religious to seek to channel it safely.”
In 2014, on the issue of women becoming bishops in the Church of England he was quoted as saying: "Women have long been accepted as rabbis and have gone on to occupy positions of religious authority in both major synagogues and Jewish institutions. Those who thought Judaism would collapse when this happened have been proved resoundingly wrong and I am sure the same will be found in the Church."
Honours
In 2003, he was appointed MBE for his pioneering work in helping mixed-faith couples nationally, a theme covered in his book Till Faith Us Do Part (HarperCollins).
Personal life
He is married to Sybil Sheridan, Rabbi of the West London Synagogue and former Chair of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis. They have four adult sons together.