Ireland's new Chief Rabbi, Dr Yaakov Pearlman, was officially instated at a ceremony in Dublin last night. Leading the attendance at the Terenure synagogue was the President, Mrs McAleese, who was accompanied by her husband Martin.
The induction ceremony was performed by Very Rev Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth.
Also present were the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Ronan Keane; the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Rev Walton Empey; the Roman Catholic auxiliary Bishop of Dublin; the Most Rev Fiachra Ó Ceallaigh (representing Cardinal Connell); Imam Yahya El-Hussein of the Islamic Foundation of Ireland; the Rev Tom Kingston of the Methodist Church, and Pastor Fritz-Gert Mayer of the Lutheran Church.
The Papal Nuncio, the Most Rev Guiseppe Lazzarotto, led members of the diplomatic corps, which included the Israeli ambassador, Mr Mark Sofer.
Two Jewish members of the Dáil, Mr Ben Briscoe and Mr Alan Shatter, also attended.
Lieut Gen Colm Mangan, Army Chief Of Staff, Dr John Hegarty, the provost of Trinity College, and Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski, the president of Dublin City University, were also there as was Prof Enda McDonagh, representing the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, and Dr Dermot Lane, president of the Mater Dei Institute in Dublin.
Rabbi Pearlman is Ireland's eighth Chief Rabbi. He was born and educated in Manchester, but his grandparents and mother were from Lombard Street West, off Dublin's South Circular Road.
As well as his rabbinical degrees he has a doctorate in education and a masters in Jewish history and applied human relations. He is married to Yaffa and they have four children.
