Rabbi Michael Boyden was born in London, England and is a graduate in Hebrew Literature from London University. He was ordained by the Leo Baeck College in London and served as the rabbi of Cheshire Reform Congregation near Manchester before making aliyah with his wife and two children in 1985.
He is a past President of the Israel Council of
Progressive Rabbis and serves as the Director of
its national Rabbinic Court. In these capacities, he
represented the Reform Movement on the
Ne’eman Commission established by the Israeli
government to resolve the conversion crisis and
subsequently on the Executive set up by the
Jewish Agency to establish a Joint Institute to
prepare candidates for conversion in
co-operation with the Orthodox and Conservative
streams.
Rabbi Boyden was the founding rabbi of the Ra'anana Reform Congregation in Israel for whom he spearheaded a successful 10-year campaign to be awarded public land by city hall and raise the necessary funds to erect a Synagogue and Community Center there.
Since 2001, he has served as the spiritual leader of "Kehilat Yonatan" in Hod Hasharon, which he established together with a group of committed Jews in the area.
He writes regularly for the Jerusalem Post and is a frequent guest speaker in North America and Europe, where he addresses issues related to the Israel/Palestinian conflict and the challenges facing liberal Judaism in Israel.
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