Dan and Liat Lieberman are the new rabbinic couple at Liverpool’s Allerton Hebrew Congregation.

Rabbi Lieberman, 25, was associate minister at South Manchester Synagogue. His goal is to build a “bright future” for young Jews on Merseyside and the congregation of 200 member families.

“I intend to look after the older members of the community but I think we can break the down cycle the Liverpool community is experiencing by focusing on young people,” he explained. “There are also so many Jewish students in Liverpool, second to Leeds. If we give them a great experience, they would look to stay in Liverpool.

“My wife is from South Africa, where there is a completely different style of living, enjoying Judaism and not seeing it as a burden.”

Chairman Jonathan Malits said Liverpool had attracted “one of the finest upcoming rabbinic teams. We’ve had wonderful reports of their pastoral abilities.”

Around 120 people attended a farewell reception for outgoing rabbi, Mani Pollak, and his wife Yaffa, who served Allerton from 2009.