Barry Marcus

Rabbi Barry Marcus (born 28 October 1949) is a South African rabbi. He retired as senior minister of Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street in London in 2018 after serving the congregation for over 23 years. He is notable for his rabbinical and pastoral duties in the UK, Israel and South Africa.

In 2015 he was awarded MBE in the New Year Honours for services to Holocaust Education.

Background
Marcus was born in Cape Town, South Africa on 28 October 1949 and raised in Vredehoek, a residential suburb at the foot of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. He attended Herzlia School, a local Jewish school. He served Woodstock Shul where his grandfather, Rabbi Shlomo Dovid Grawitzky had also served as Rabbi from 1929 to 1944. He then moved to Rondebosch shul and Camps Bay Shul. He was drafted into the South African Defence Force in 1968 as part of the compulsory military service for white South African men under apartheid. Afterwards he was awarded a scholarship at Bar Ilan University in Israel where he spent four years. He returned to Cape Town to teach Hebrew at Herzlia School and Arthur's Road Shul in Sea Point. In 1975 he accepted an invitation from South Africa's Chief Rabbi Bernard Casper to be his assistant and youth rabbi in Johannesburg. He also began lecturing in Hebrew at Wits University in the city. In 1981 vandals sprayed an antisemitic Nazi slogan on the wall of his home in Waverley. He served as Rabbi to Waverley Hebrew Congregation, one of the largest Jewish communities in Johannesburg. Before becoming the Rabbi of the Central Synagogue he served as a rabbi in Israel.

Controversy
In 2015 Rabbi Marcus spoke out in defence of John Galliano, fashion designer who was found guilty of racism and antisemitic abuse in 2011.

Following a National Crime Agency investigation beginning in October 2022 into money from the charities Dalaid and the Schwarzschild Foundation being held in Marcus' personal bank accounts, Marcus agreed in January 2024 to return £2.35 million to the two organisations.

Holocaust education
Since November 2008 Rabbi Marcus has been organising educational trips to Auschwitz together with the Holocaust Educational Trust.

Awards and notable appointments
In 2014, Rabbi Marcus was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for Holocaust education and for fostering dialogue and building bridges with Poland. He is a member of advisory board of Lithuanian Jewish Heritage Project.