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Werner van der Zyl
Rabbi Werner van der Zyl.jpg
Religion Judaism
Denomination Reform Judaism
Personal
Nationality German until 1939;
British
Born (1902-09-11)11 September 1902
Schwerte, Germany
Died 10 April 1984(1984-04-10) (aged 81)
Palma, Majorca, Spain
Spouse Anneliese (Less)
Children 1 daughter: Nikki
Position Director of Studies
Organisation Leo Baeck College
Began 1956
Ended 1968
Buried Hoop Lane Jewish Cemetery, Golders Green
Semicha Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, Berlin
Religion Judaism
Position Senior Rabbi
Synagogue West London Synagogue
Began 1958
Ended 1968
Religion Judaism
Position Minister
Synagogue North Western Reform Synagogue, London
Began 1943
Ended 1958
Religion Judaism
Position Rabbi
Synagogue New Synagogue, Berlin
Began 1935
Ended 1938/9
Religion Judaism
Position Rabbi
Synagogue Rykestrasse Synagogue, Berlin
Began 1932
Ended 1935

Werner van der Zyl (11 September 1902 – 10 April 1984) was a rabbi in Berlin and in London, where he came in 1939 as a refugee rabbi from Germany. He was the prime mover and first director of studies of the Jewish Theological College of London. The college was inaugurated in 1956 and was renamed Leo Baeck College shortly afterwards at his suggestion.

Career

Van der Zyl was born in Schwerte, Germany. A trained chazan, he received his rabbinical training at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin, where he was a pupil of Leo Baeck, qualifying in 1933. The University of Giessen awarded him a doctorate in 1931. He was Rabbi at the Rykestrasse Synagogue, Berlin from 1932 to 1935 and at the New Synagogue, Berlin from 1935 to 1938/9.

Van der Zyl came to Britain in 1939. During World War II the British Government interned him at Kitchener Camp in Sandwich, Kent and then at Mooragh Internment Camp [1] on the Isle of Man as an "enemy alien". He was released from internment in 1943 and became Minister at North Western Reform Synagogue, remaining there until 1958. While serving as minister at North Western Reform Synagogue, and at the West London Synagogue, where he was Senior Rabbi from 1958 to 1968, he oversaw the creation of the Jewish Theological College of London (later Leo Baeck College), sponsored by the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, and the College's subsequent additional sponsorship by the Liberal Judaism Movement.

He retired in 1968 to Majorca where he held the post of honorary rabbi to the Jewish community in Palma.

He was a founder and President of Leo Baeck College, London; President of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain (now known as the Movement for Reform Judaism); and Life Vice President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Personal life

Van der Zyl was the father of artist, poet, public speaker and voice actress Nikki van der Zyl, whose daughter-in-law Marie van der Zyl is President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Death and legacy

Van der Zyl died in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in 1984 and is buried at Hoop Lane Jewish Cemetery in Golders Green.

An annual lecture is held in his memory at Leo Baeck College. In April 2013 Leo Baeck College announced the appointment of Rabbi Maurice Michaels as its first Van der Zyl Head of Vocational Studies, a post named in honour of the College's founder.

His family papers are held at the University of Southampton.

See also

  • Leo Baeck College
  • Movement for Reform Judaism
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