Former Prime Minister Theresa May has led tributes to Rabbi Jonathan Romain, who has retired from Maidenhead Synagogue after 44 years of leading the community.

Commending Rabbi Romain, 69, on both his character and his achievements, May, who was Romain’s local MP until stepping down earlier this month, said: ““He and I have not agreed on certain issues, but that has not stopped me admiring the superb leadership he has given both to the synagogue and to the wider Maidenhead community.

“He has also played a role in society at large, pioneering greater welcome of mixed-faith couples when many religious groups rejected them. For this he deservedly was awarded the MBE.”

May also lauded Rabbi Romain’s efforts as “one of the early responders in Britain in seeking to find homes for Ukrainian refugees who came here after their country was invaded, finding some 2,000 volunteers to host them”.

May joined nearly 900 members of the synagogue to bid a fond farewell to the religious leader and JC columnist, who has been at the helm of the Berkshire community since he was ordained at Leo Baeck College in 1980.

Synagogue chair Martin Birch shared how the community had grown from 72 families to over 920 under Rabbi Romain's guidance and the “outreach-on-steroids” campaign he had led, saying: “He successfully rebranded the synagogue from being a house of prayer to a community centre, reaching out to Jews in the area who were lapsed, but were persuaded to join up and join in.” 

In 2014, Rabbi Romain established Interfaith Leaders for Dignity in Dying, a group of mixed faith clergy calling for a change in the law to allow terminally ill, mentally competent adults the choice of an assisted death.

He is also chaplain to the Jewish Police Association, and, until recently, chaired and help found the Accord Coalition, an alliance of religious and non-religious groups committed to campaigning against religious discrimination in state-funded faith schools.

During his farewell party, Rabbi Romain reminisced about the various highlights of his time at Maidenhead Synagogue, noting trips taken to places across Europe as well as India and China, and a production of Fiddler on the Roof that involved over 100 members of the synagogue.

He said: “I often felt I had never done a day's work but had just been paid to do my hobby. What was key were the relationships I had built up, but that it was a two-way process, and when I lost my son [Benedict, who drowned on his honeymoon 18 months ago], what helped me most was not theology but community and the waves of support that engulfed me.”

He ended his speech by saying: "In the last few weeks, I've often been asked: Will I miss you? Yes, I will miss you, each and every one of you."

Rabbi Romain will now take on a national role as convenor of the Reform Beit Din, dealing with status cases, such as conversion, adoption and divorce.

Rabbi Dr René Pfertzel will be taking over as the rabbi of Maidenhead Syagogue, leaving his pulpit at Kingston Liberal Synagogue.