Anthony Michael "Tony" Bayfield is a

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

and former President of the

Movement for Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, formally the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005, is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relat ...

, the second largest organisation of synagogues in Britain.

Early life and education

Bayfield was born in 1946 in

Ilford, Essex Ilford is a large town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a population of 168,168 in 2011, compared to 303,858 for the ...

(now in

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

), the elder son of Sheila (née Mann) and Ron Bayfield, a head teacher. He was educated at the Royal Liberty Grammar School in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

. He studied law and had a doctoral place at the

Cambridge Institute of Criminology The Institute of Criminology is the criminological research institute within the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. The Institute is one of the oldest criminological research institutes in Europe, and has exerted a strong influence ...

and then moved to the

Leo Baeck College Leo Baeck College is a privately funded rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education. Based now at the Sternberg Centre, East End Road, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, it was founded by Werner va ...

to train as a rabbi. He received rabbinic ordination (''

semicha ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

h'') in 1972 from rabbis

John Rayner Rabbi John Desmond Rayner (30 May 1924 – 19 September 2005) was a Berlin-born British Liberal Jewish rabbi. Early life He was born in Berlin as Hans Sigismund Rahmer in 1924. He left Berlin in 1939 on one of the last Kindertransports. The K ...

, Hugo Gryn and

Louis Jacobs Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer, Jewish theologian, and rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as the "Jacobs Affair" in the Bri ...

Career

After ten years as a congregational rabbi at

North West Surrey Synagogue The North West Surrey Synagogue is a Reform Judaism, Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Oatlands Drive in Weybridge, Surrey, England, in the United Kingdom. The community was founded in 1968 and is a member of the Movement for ...

, Bayfield became director of the

Sternberg Centre The Sternberg Centre for Judaism, in East End Road, Finchley, London, is a campus hosting a number of Jewish institutions, built around the 18th-century Finchley manor house. It was founded to facilitate a number of Reform and Liberal Jewish ...

for Judaism in

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

in 1985. He was head of the

from 1994 (when the organisation was known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain) until 2011. From 2011 to 2016 he was President of the organisation.

Honours and awards

Bayfield was awarded a CBE in the 2011 New Year Honours List for services to

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...

. London's National Portrait Gallery holds a photographic portrait of him by

Don McCullin Sir Donald McCullin (born 9 October 1935) is a British photojournalist, particularly recognised for his war photography and images of urban strife. His career, which began in 1959, has specialised in examining the Social documentary photograph ...

Personal life

Tony Bayfield married Linda Rose, a teacher and Jewish educator in 1969; she died in 2003. In 2011, he met Jacqueline Fisher, whom he married in a small ceremony in June 2021. Bayfield has three children and six grandchildren. His younger daughter, Miriam Berger, received ''semichah'' in July 2006 and is a respected rabbi in her own right. Bayfield is a member of

Finchley Reform Synagogue Finchley Reform Synagogue is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 101 Fallow Court Avenue, North Finchley, in the Borough of Barnet in London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation is a member of the Movement for Re ...

(FRS).

Publications

Bayfield is a specialist in modern Jewish thought and contemporary

. He also specialises in Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim dialogue and has published quite widely in this area. Bayfield has also written about

Christian–Jewish reconciliation Christian−Jewish reconciliation refers to the efforts that are being made to improve understanding and acceptance between Christians and Jews. There has been significant progress in reconciliation in recent years, in particular by the Catholic C ...

Works

*''Prejudice (Jewish responses)'' (1973). London: Michael Goulston Educational Foundation *''Churban: The murder of the Jews of Europe (Jewish responses)'' (1981). London: Michael Goulston Educational Foundation *''Sinai, Law and Responsible Autonomy: Reform Judaism and the Halakhic Tradition'' (1993). London:

Reform Synagogues of Great Britain Reform Judaism, formally the Movement for Reform Judaism (MRJ) and known as Reform Synagogues of Great Britain until 2005, is one of the two World Union for Progressive Judaism–affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. Reform is relat ...

* (with Sidney Brichto and Eugene Fisher) ''He Kissed Him and They Wept: Towards a Theology of Jewish-Catholic Partnership'' (2001). London:

SCM Press SCM Press is a British publisher of theology, originally linked to the Student Christian Movement. The company was purchased by Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1997. In 2018, ''Church Times'' reported that 100 titles from SCM Press and Canterbury ...

* (with Tony Brayfield and Marcus Braybrooke) ''Dialogue With a Difference: Manor House Group Experience'' (1992). London:

*"September 11: The Case Against Us All" in Roger Boase (ed.) ''Islam and Global Dialogue – Religious Pluralism and the Pursuit of Peace'' (2005),

Farnham, Surrey Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the administrative counties of England, county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the ...

Ashgate Publishing Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...

* (with Alan Race and Abdullah Siddiqui, eds.) ''Beyond the Dysfunctional Family: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Dialogue With Each Other and With Britain'' (2012) London:

CreateSpace On-Demand Publishing, LLC, doing business as CreateSpace, was a self-publishing service owned by Amazon. The company was founded in 2000 in South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, So ...

*''Being Jewish Today – Confronting the Real Issues'' (2019). London:

Bloomsbury Publishing Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

References

Sources

* The

* ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayfield, Tony 1946 births Living people 20th-century British rabbis 21st-century British rabbis Alumni of Leo Baeck College Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge British Reform rabbis Christian and Jewish interfaith dialogue Christian–Islamic–Jewish interfaith dialogue Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Jewish English writers People educated at the Royal Liberty Grammar School People from Ilford 20th-century English writers 20th-century English male writers 21st-century English writers