Ephraim Mirvis

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis
Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Mirvis in London, March 2015
Position	Chief Rabbi
Organisation	United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
Began	1 September 2013
Predecessor	The Lord Sacks
Personal details
Birth name	Ephraim Mirvis
Born	1956 Johannesburg, South Africa
Nationality	United Kingdom South Africa Israel
Denomination	Orthodox
Residence	Finchley, London
Parents	Lionel and Freida Mirvis
Spouse	Valerie Kaplan Mirvis
Children	Liora, Hillel, Daniel, Noam and Eitan
Alma mater	University of South Africa
Semicha	Machon Ariel, Jerusalem

Ephraim Mirvis (born 1956) is an Orthodox rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Traditionally the post has entailed that he also serves as the head of all Jews as the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1985 and 1992.

Mirvis was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1956, the son of Rabbi Dr. Lionel and Freida Mirvis. His father was the Rabbi of the Claremont and the Wynberg Hebrew Congregations in Cape Town.He also served as Rabbi in Benoni for a while and Ephraim attended local schools. Mirvis has written that his father preached against the apartheid system, and visited political prisoners held on Robben Island, while his mother was the principal of the Athlone teacher training college, which was then the county's sole college for training black pre-school teachers. His grandfather, Lazar Mirvis, was a Jewish Minister in Johannesburg.

Mirvis attended Herzlia High School in Cape Town from 1968 to 1973. After moving to Israel in 1973, Mirvis studied at Yeshivat Kerem B'Yavneh from 1973 to 1976 and Yeshivat Har Etzion from 1976 to 1978. He studied at Machon Ariel in Jerusalem from 1978 to 1980 and received his rabbinic ordination there.

At the same time, Mirvis obtained a BA in Education and Classical Hebrew from the University of South Africa and received certification from Yaakov Herzog Teachers College as a high school teacher in Israel.