The Rabbi Sacks Legacy has appointed its first director of education to increase school engagement with the teachings of the former Chief Rabbi.

Rabbi Cobi Ebrahimoff, the former headteacher of the Independent Jewish Day School, is taking up the new part-time role.

The values expounded by Rabbi Sacks, he said, “are more important today than ever, which is the reason I am so passionate about this job.

“When so many of our values are challenged in Israel and in modern society, Rabbi Sacks had a unique way of building a bridge - which enabled us to celebrate our Jewish values not only within the Jewish community but also within the wider community, because Judaism has so much to give the world and so much to say on all aspects of life.”

He will remain as executive head of the King Solomon International school in Israel but is giving up his role as rabbi of the United Synagogue’s youth division, Tribe.

He has two immediate aspirations - to extend the Communities in Conversation programme of learning which has marked Rabbi Sacks’s yahrzeit in autumn.

“I want to encourage more schools and communities to join because there is far more potential,” he said.

He is also hoping to introduce inter-school events where the legacy of Rabbi Sacks can be collectively celebrated.

Noting the success of the Etgar inter-school quiz to promote general Jewish knowledge, he is looking to do something that will increase understanding of Jewish ethics and values.

His work would not be simply for schools that run more advanced Jewish study, he stressed. ““This is for everyone.”

The Legacy already publishes a number of educational resources online, distilled from the writings of Rabbi Sacks, who died in November 2020.