A string quartet greeted guests as they entered the historic candlelit sanctuary of Bevis Marks. Sunday's installation of the senior rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation, Rabbi Joseph Dweck, was "like a wedding", one visitor said.
Religious leaders from across the Anglo-Jewish spectrum, from Liberals to Lubavitch, came to celebrate the arrival of the fresh-faced new leader, aged just 39, at the community's oldest congregation.
Dayanim from the Federation and United Synagogue and a large contingent from independent Sephardi communities attended, as well as Emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, who took part in the ceremony.
"We are privileged today to welcome to British Jewry an outstanding leader," declared Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis from the pulpit. Rabbi Dweck was " well worth listening to," he said. "It is not just what he says, but how he says it and how he lives up to the values that he speaks about."
The congregation's Emeritus Spiritual Head, Rabbi Abraham Levy hailed Rabbi Dweck as "exciting, learned and tolerant".
The California-born rabbi sported a distinctly un-American outfit - top hat and a clerical gown and collar rarely seen in Orthodox synagogues nowadays. In his address, he recalled that tears had welled up in his eyes on his first visit to Bevis Marks, in the City of London, a year ago. The congregation's history ran deeper than buildings, artefacts and customs, he said.
"The most precious element of its history are the ideas and the thinking that came from my predecessors because of their commitments not only to Jewish life, observance and continuity but also because they taught our Torah with a relevant and rational framework.
"This trend of traditional observance, coupled with immersion in the world and society, is the crowning glory of our Sephardi tradition."
Expressing his desire to encourage a "high-definition" Jewish identity, he said he would explore such questions as: "How do I hold fast to my heritage and remain at the cutting edge of the world's development?"
Following the service, the 500 guests went on to a reception at the Plaisterers' Hall sponsored by the philanthropist Naim Dangoor.
"I was impressed," said Liberal chief executive Rabbi Danny Rich. "Rabbi Dweck is an articulate spokesman for modern Judaism. I think he'll be good news for the Anglo-Jewish community."