MR GAVIN BRODER appears a little too relaxed for someone who is about to be officially inducted as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland. His office in Herzog House, Rathgar, Co Dublin, is calmly cluttered, his desk clear except for a large hardback copy of the Talmud, the 20 volume book on Jewish law.
"It is a tremendous honour to be chosen," he says of tomorrow's ceremony which will see the prestigious title bestowed on him. "Ireland has not had a Chief Rabbi for seven years," he smiles. "I am looking forward to it immensely."
The Very Rev Dr Broder was born in Capetown, South Africa, in 1963 to a family already steeped in Jewish law, ritual and tradition. His father, Irvin, is a rabbi, as was his father in law. He says his parents were his only real role models growing up. "I still have a tremendously close bond with them both, and the greatest respect and admiration for them also," he says. His grandparents originally came from Lithuania and Poland.
Given his background, "the most natural development in the world" for Rabbi Broder was that he embarked on a career driven by scholarly and religious ambition. With his father occupying a prominent role in the Jewish community, the family moved from continent to continent, spending three years in New Zealand before settling down in Britain.
Dr Broder studied the Talmudic aspects of Jewish law, achieving a Rabbinic Diploma at Jews College in London. At London University he studied for and obtained a BA and an MA in Jewish Studies. Soon after he met his wife, Cynthia. Interestingly, given Rabbi Broder's current position, his mother in law was born and brought up in the Lombard Street area of Dublin.
"It was a traditional making of a match, just like in Fiddler on the Roof" he laughs. "My father had been good friends with her father years ago and so it was arranged that we would meet." The couple became engaged 10 days later and now have four sons, Avromi (7), Chananya (5), Eli-Mer (3) and Yechezkel (6 months).
Dr Broder was working as a rabbi in Essex when his name was first proposed as a successor to Rabbi Aphraim Mirvis, who held the position from 1984 to 1992. "Of course, I had to think deeply about it. We had to decide whether the position was suitable for me. My wife and I travelled to Ireland for a weekend and immediately felt good about the place."
The Jewish community in Ireland has dwindled from over 5,000 members in the 1940s and 1950s down to 1,200, most of whom live in Dublin today. How can such a tiny faith hold its own within a predominantly Catholic society? What has caused this drastic decline?
"There is obviously a parallel with the large scale emigration that was occurring in Ireland anyway," he says. "But mostly it has come from young people growing up and just wanting to gain the experience of a wider Jewish community
"They have often moved on to the UK, and while there is an admittedly small community here, you will find that at weddings there are often more people from overseas in attendance than there are Irish guests. It helps that the faith of those who remain here is strong," he says.
He takes pride in the fact that three of our political representatives are of Jewish origin. "Of course Alan Shatter, Mervyn Taylor and Ben Briscoe are great ambassadors for us. Having said that, it would be very obnoxious to suggest that they have achieved their positions because of their religious background. But the high moral code and importance of learning instilled in Jewish children is something that cannot be underestimated," he says.
Neither can the crucial role which Rabbi Broder has been chosen to perform, but there are some who subscribe to the view that the great rabbis of the recent past wielded more authority than their present day counterparts. Dr Broder disagrees and insists that the "rabbinate has not changed, but the world around it has".
"Society as a whole has become less attuned to religion. This has caused people to denigrate the position of rabbi. They will only turn up on your doorstep when there is nowhere else to run to. But to an extent the rabbinate are even better trained now, so their authority, should people choose to acknowledge it, is even stronger," he says.
If he had one hope for his position within the Jewish Irish community it would be to "revitalise" the small but strong religious group.
The framed photographs of all of Ireland's chief rabbis are displayed on a wall directly behind Dr Broder's desk. His eyes rest on the photograph of Dr Yitzhak Herzog, Ireland's first Chief Rabbi and once the Chief Rabbi of Israel. Would Rabbi Broder be interested in being elevated to such a position? He strokes his not insubstantial beard and smiles: "One step at a time".
