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We are proud to announce that Rabbi Daniel Rowe has been appointed as our new Executive Director with immediate effect. He takes over from Rabbi Naftali Schiff who has led our organisation with distinction since 1999 and will now become the non-executive Chairman. Rabbi Schiff will now devote more of his time to the other organisations he has been instrumental in developing including GIFT and JRoots, as well as Aleinu, Chazak, Chazon, the Forum for Jewish Leadership and Legacy Live.
Rabbi Rowe has worked together with Rabbi Schiff since 2004. During that time Rabbi Rowe has been Educational Director of Aish UK, and has overseen our cutting edge educational initiatives that have played a crucial role in enhancing Jewish identity and commitment amongst teens and students across the country. In addition, he been responsible for the creation and development number of programmes including the Forum for Jewish Leadership and the Aleinu Conference, together with the JLE, Seed and the RCUS. He also played an instrumental role in helping bring Aish and JLE together on campus for the Genesis Programme. Most recently, alongside his responsibilities at Aish UK, Rabbi Rowe has served as Coordinator for the Chief Rabbi’s Shabbat UK for the last two years, playing a leading role in in the initiative which saw over 120,000 people taking part in community events across the UK in 2015.
Under Rabbi Schiff, Aish UK has transformed from a small organisation with a single summer programme into a nationwide informal educational and social network active in the vast majority of Jewish schools, university JSocs and running many young professional programmes every year. We currently run hundreds of programmes employing over 50 people including 25 educators that engage thousands of people across the UK.
Commenting on the appointment Rabbi Schiff said: “Rabbi Rowe’s track record, both as an educator and a facilitator is sensational. Apart from his brilliant intellect and piercing insight, Aish is now blessed with the Mensch I have been privileged to meet and work alongside for so many years. We are thrilled that Daniel will now take our wonderful organisation forward. Aish has a vibrant and exciting future and I am confident that we will go from strength to strength under Daniel’s guidance and leadership.”
Rabbi Rowe said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for me to take forward the inspirational work Aish UK has done in schools, universities and across the Jewish community. We cannot underestimate the immense contribution of Rabbi Schiff in changing the face of the UK Jewish community. I know that he will continue to guide our organisation whilst focussing on and developing his many other projects for the benefit of Jews in the UK and worldwide.”
Speaking of the appointment, Chief Rabbi Mirvis said: “Rabbi Daniel Rowe is one of our community’s greatest assets with a unique ability to enthuse and inspire those around him. In particular his tireless work on Shabbat UK showed just what an extraordinary talent he is and I know that he will excel in his new role at Aish UK.”
