Tributes from communal and interfaith leaders have been paid to Malcolm Malits, emeritus rabbi of Liverpool's Allerton Hebrew Congregation, who died on Monday night, aged 93.
Involved at Allerton for almost half-a-century, he was made an MBE in 1999 for services to the Merseyside community and received an award for his interfaith work in 2007 from the John Moores University and the Council of Christians and Jews.
Liverpool's senior rabbi Lionel Cofnas remembered him as "a wonderful colleague. He was kind, humble and personable and always showed the Jewish and wider community great warmth and sincerity."
CCJ chief executive Rev David Gifford said Rabbi Malits had been "an early pioneer of interfaith dialogue between Christians and Jews and very active in the north of England. His gentle character belied his determination to open up new relationships and create greater understanding."