Rabbi Barry Marcus (born 28 October 1949) is a South African rabbi. He retired as senior minister of Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 2018 after serving the congregation for over 23 years. He is notable for his rabbinical and pastoral duties in the UK, Israel and South Africa. In 2015 he was awarded MBE in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

for services to

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Education.

Background

Marcus was born in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa on 28 October 1949 and raised in

Vredehoek Vredehoek (, ) is a residential suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, located at the foot of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. It is sandwiched between the two neighbouring suburbs of Oranjezicht and Devil's Peak Estate, the latter of which is oft ...

, a residential suburb at the foot of

Table Mountain Table Mountain (; ) is a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa. It is a significant tourist attraction, with many visitors using the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, cableway or hik ...

and Devil's Peak. He attended Herzlia School, a local Jewish school. He served Woodstock Shul where his grandfather, Rabbi Shlomo Dovid Grawitzky had also served as Rabbi from 1929 to 1944. He then moved to

Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch ...

shul and

Camps Bay Camps Bay (Afrikaans: ''Kampsbaai'') is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, and the small bay on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula after which it is named. In summer it attracts many South African and foreign visitors. History The ...

Shul. He was drafted into the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...

in 1968 as part of the compulsory military service for

white South African White South Africans are South Africans of European descent. In linguistic, cultural, and historical terms, they are generally divided into the Afrikaans-speaking descendants of the Dutch East India Company's original colonists, known as Afr ...

men under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

. Afterwards he was awarded a scholarship at

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

where he spent four years. He returned to Cape Town to teach Hebrew at Herzlia School and Arthur's Road Shul in

Sea Point Sea Point (Afrikaans: ''Seepunt'') is an affluent and densely populated suburb of Cape Town, situated in the Western Cape, between Signal Hill and the Atlantic Ocean, a few kilometres to the west of Cape Town's Central Business District (CBD). M ...

. In 1975 he accepted an invitation from South Africa's Chief Rabbi Bernard Casper to be his assistant and youth rabbi in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. He also began lecturing in Hebrew at

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The university has its roots in ...

in the city. In 1981 vandals sprayed an

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

Nazi slogan on the wall of his home in Waverley. He served as Rabbi to Waverley Hebrew Congregation, one of the largest Jewish communities in

. Before becoming the Rabbi of the Central Synagogue he served as a rabbi in Israel.

Controversy

In 2015 Rabbi Marcus spoke out in defence of

John Galliano John Charles Galliano (born 28 November 1960) is a British fashion designer. He was the creative director of his eponymous label John Galliano and French fashion houses Givenchy and Dior. From 2014 to 2024, Galliano was the creative director ...

, fashion designer who was found guilty of racism and

abuse in 2011. Following a

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investigation beginning in October 2022 into money from the charities Dalaid and the Schwarzschild Foundation being held in Marcus' personal bank accounts, Marcus agreed in January 2024 to return £2.35 million to the two organisations.

Holocaust education

Since November 2008 Rabbi Marcus has been organising educational trips to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

together with the

Holocaust Educational Trust The Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) is a British charity, based in London, whose aim is to "educate young people of every background about The Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today." One of the Trust's main achievements ...

Awards and notable appointments

In 2014, Rabbi Marcus was awarded the Knight's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

for

education and for fostering dialogue and building bridges with Poland. He is a member of advisory board of Lithuanian Jewish Heritage Project.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, Barry 1949 births Living people 20th-century English rabbis 21st-century English rabbis English Orthodox rabbis Jewish educators Members of the Order of the British Empire Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Rabbis from London South African rabbis People from Cape Town 20th-century South African rabbis 21st-century South African rabbis

Background

Controversy

Holocaust education

Awards and notable appointments

See also

References