Kehillas Federation’s Yeshurun synagogue in Edgware has announced the appointment of Rabbi Avinoam and Rebbetzin Haddas Czitron as its new Rabbinic leadership, following the departure last year of Rabbi Alan Lewis to the Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation.
Rabbi and Rebbetzin Czitron, who were both raised in Israel, led Liverpool’s Childwall Hebrew Congregation from 2019 to 2022, after which they moved to Borehamwood, becoming the community Rabbinic couple and head of the Beit Midrash programme at Yavneh College.
Following a unanimous nomination by Yeshurun’s selection committee, they spent a packed Shabbat in Edgware this week. The programme included an informal Q&A session, shiurum to both the main minyan and the YAM alternative minyan and some time spent with the youngest members of the community, known charmingly as the ‘YAMlets’. On Sunday, at an EGM the Yeshurun membership voted overwhelmingly in favour of their appointment.
Rabbi and Rebbetzin Czitron are expected to make their permanent move to Edgware in January, along with daughters Odeliya and Miriam.
The Yeshurun is one of Edgware’s oldest communities, having been established by the Federation. As its sixth Rabbi, Rabbi Czitron follows in the illustrious footsteps of his predecessors, who include Rabbi Getsel Ellison z”tl, author of the ‘Ha’isha V’hamitzvot’ series of books, and more recently Dayan Gershon Lopian z”tl.
Speaking following the Czitron’s appointment, Yeshurun chairman Adam Tash said: “Rabbi and Rebbetzin Czitron were the unanimous choice of the selection committee after an extensive recruitment process, a decision then ratified overwhelmingly by the membership. We are eagerly looking forward to their leading our community into a very bright future.”
Rabbi Czitron said: “It is with deep hakarat hatov that Haddas and I accept the honour of being the Rabbinic Couple of Yeshurun. Yeshurun has long been a beacon of Torah, tefillah and chesed, and I am humbled to join this remarkable community.”