Ephraim Mirvis

Jews are frequently compared to the proverbial 'canary in the coal mine,' an enduring signal for when the world is failing to meet its obligations in tackling bigotry. It has never been clearer to me just how widely understood that truism is.

All societies wrestle with the scourge of prejudice, but validating that prejudice in statute makes a virtue of oppression.

Words make a world of difference. Over time, they become charged with inference and allusion and, deployed effectively, they have the power to change the very fabric of our civilisation.

When someone denies the right of Israel to exist, it hurts us, just as an attack on a close member of our family would hurt us.

Holocaust denial, once the preserve of fringe conspiracy theorists, has mutated into Holocaust obfuscation, equivocation, and specious comparison on a larger scale than ever.

The Holocaust remains unique in contemporary Jewish consciousness for its capacity to engender the most visceral grief and abject pain.

Let no Jew, regardless of their circumstances, feel that he or she cannot experience that unique moment of peace when Shabbat begins.

I was honoured recently to accept the position of president of Mizrachi U.K. I did so because I believe our eternal challenge as Jews is both straightforward and also awash with complexity: How to sanctify the innovations of the modern world in accordance with our eternal Jewish values?

In the face of death, we will continue to choose and sanctify life.

As we wander, grieving, in yet another dark moment, amid our pain we must struggle to remember the redemptive power of love and hope.

Life has an absolute value and its preservation takes precedence over other commandments.

Human beings are partners of the Almighty in bringing life into the world, and we are his partners also in healing.

While silence can in some circumstances bespeak noble self-control, it can also signify suppression, oblivion or cowardice.

Ethics, politics and psychology are all far more difficult to understand now that we know the depths to which human nature can sink.

Anti-Semitism is not just a problem for Jews; it is a problem for all of our society.

Free speech may be a right, but only by using it as a force for good in the world do we make it a virtue.

All political parties share in the responsibility to rid our society of anti-Semitism, but we cannot achieve that objective with political posturing or empty promises of action never to be fulfilled.

Shimon Peres was the greatest living example of an unshakable belief in the pursuit of peace against all odds.

I feel very privileged indeed to be appointed to be the next Chief Rabbi.

Britain has been good to the Jews, and the Jews have been good for Britain.

The beth din is the court of the chief rabbi. I see myself taking an active role within the beth din.

The rabbis will find in me personally someone who cares about their future and welfare.

My track record is that I have always sought to work with warmth and in a constructive way with the leaders of other components of the Jewish faith.

'Rabbi' means 'teacher,' and I see the role of chief rabbi as chief teacher.

Open a Jewish daily prayer book used in any part of the world, and Zionism will leap out at you.