Widely expected it may have been, but the Chief Rabbi’s confirmation that he will be attending this year’s Limmud is no less welcome for that. Limmud is British Jewry at its best — and an export of which we can all be proud. It is inclusivity made real. So it was not merely wrong that Lord Sacks refused to have anything to do with it, it was plain bizarre. It was also an indication of who called the shots, because left to his own devices he might well have been more accommodating. But in this, as in so much else, the former Chief Rabbi refused to act against the entrenched views of his dayanim.
Rabbi Mirvis has thus, in his first important decision, made clear that he will not be dictated to and in doing so has dragged the Beth Din along with him. That is all to the good, and augurs well for the future.
