Charles Berg (rabbi)

Rabbi Charles Berg, born Karl Rauchtenberg (1911–24 November 1979), was the first non-Orthodox rabbi to be ordained in England. He came to the United Kingdom in 1939 as a refugee from Nazi Germany, having been interned in Sachsenhausen concentration camp following Kristallnacht.[1][2]

Rabbi

Charles Berg
Personal
Born
Karl Rauchtenberg

1911
Treptow, Berlin
Died24 November 1979
ReligionJudaism
NationalityGerman until 1939; British
DenominationReform Judaism
PositionRabbi
SynagogueBournemouth Reform Synagogue 1948-1952; Wimbledon and District Synagogue 1953–1974
BuriedGolders Green Jewish Cemetery
Semicha1952

After assisting Rabbi Werner van der Zyl at Kitchener Camp, a camp for Jewish refugees in Sandwich, Kent,[3] he served in the British Army's Pioneer Corps and, at the end of the Second World War, was involved in the interrogation of Konrad Adenauer.[1]

Berg started his rabbinical training at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin[2] and continued it privately. He received his semicha in 1952 after being examined by Rabbis Leo Baeck, Arthur Lowenstamm and Dr Max Katten, becoming the first non-Orthodox rabbi to be ordained in England.[1]

He served as Rabbi at Bournemouth Reform Synagogue from 1948 to 1952.[1] In 1953 Wimbledon and District Synagogue appointed him as its first rabbi.[4] When he retired in 1974, the community had grown to 750 members.

He died on 24 November 1979 and is buried at Golders Green Jewish Cemetery.[1]

References
  1. Epstein, Jon and Jacobs, David (2006). A History in our Time: Rabbis and Teachers Buried at Hoop Lane Cemetery. Movement for Reform Judaism. p. 19.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Fackenheim, Emil L; Jospe, Raphael (eds) (1996). Jewish Philosophy and the Academy. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, in conjunction with the International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization. p. 244. ISBN 0-8386-3643-8.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  3. "Kitchener camp". Kitchener Camp. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. "60 years of memories of Wimbledon & District Synagogue". www.jtrails.org.uk. 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
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