Rabbi Jeremy Lawrence is enjoying a period of study, including advanced courses in mediation and in strategic leadership, having completed 9 years as Senior Rabbi at Finchley United Synagogue, London (“Kinloss”) which he joined in 2014.

He has just joined the Canary Wharf Multifaith Chaplaincy as consultant Jewish chaplain. 

He previously served as Chief Minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney (2005-2014) and Senior Rabbi of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation (1997-2004). 

His spiritual development was guided by his longtime mentor, the late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

Rabbi Lawrence was a founder member of the Auckland Interfaith Council.  He played a significant role in interfaith activity through the state sponsored Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Jews and Moslems.  He has been Jewish Vice President of the Council of Christians and Jews in Auckland and New South Wales.   

Rabbi Lawrence delivered the Jewish welcome to Pope Benedict XVI in St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney as part of World Youth Day. 

Rabbi Lawrence is an accredited Mediator with an MA in Jurisprudence from St Catherine’s College, Oxford.  He trained in arbitration in Australia, where he founded the Jewish Arbitration and Mediation Service (JAMS) and worked closely with the Sydney Beth Din.

He has played key strategic and leadership roles in community development, as religious advisor to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies; representing the community to the NZ Government in the defence of shechita and establishing “Kosher Kiwi”, overseeing and expanding Kosher resources in New Zealand.

Rabbi Lawrence was a research assistant to his mentor Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks for the 1990 Reith Lecture Series.  He authored the chapter on Judaism in “Law and Religion in Public Life” (Routledge 2011) and has been cited in national and international publications on Judaism and medical ethics.  He has been published in The Australian Law Journal and has written several guides to different aspects of Jewish life and thought. 

Jeremy Lawrence is Honorary Principal of Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School.

He is a member of the Global Foundation and participant in the 2017 & 2018 Rome Roundtables on sustainable development.  He has presented at the Limmud, LimmudOz and LimmudSA festivals of Jewish education, the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne and the KAICIID Forum in Vienna.

Rabbi Lawrence is a keen participant and facilitator in Scriptural Reasoning (SR).  He often presents on Jewish medical and business ethics, religion and science, religion and modernity and faith dialogue.

Rabbi Lawrence is an enthusiastic interviewer, broadcaster, popular adult educator, whose hobbies include photography and computer animation as a tool for religious education.

He is married to Mandy, who has a post-graduate qualification in health psychology. They have four children, Rafi, Shira, Bracha and Devora.