Joseph Dweck

Joseph Dweck (born 17 May 1975) is an American rabbi and hazzan, who serves as Senior Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community of the United Kingdom.

Biography
Joseph Dweck was born in Los Angeles, California, into a family of Syrian Jewish descent.

After finishing high school, he studied in Jerusalem at Hazon Ovadia Yeshiva under the tutelage of Sephardi Chief Rabbis of Israel Ovadia Yosef and Yitzhak Yosef. He studied psychology and philosophy at Santa Monica College in Los Angeles and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Arts from Excelsior College in Albany, New York.

In 1995 he married Margalit, daughter of Adina Bar-Shalom and granddaughter of Ovadia Yosef.

From 1996 to 1999, Dweck studied at the YULA Kollel in Los Angeles under Rabbi Nachum Sauer. In 1999 he moved to Brooklyn, New York to become a fellow of the newly established Sephardic Rabbinical College under the direction of Rabbi Shimon Alouf, where he studied for the next seven years and received semikha.

From 1999 to 2014, he served as rabbi of Sha'are Shalom, a Syrian synagogue in Brooklyn. From 2005 to 2008, Dweck also taught Mishna at Barkai Yeshiva in Brooklyn. He assumed the role of Hebrew Principal in 2009, and became Rosh Yeshiva in 2010, a position he held for four years.

In 2013, Rabbi Dweck was appointed Senior Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation of the United Kingdom, later rebranded The S&P Sephardi Community. Rabbi Dweck was elected with a 270–4 vote. On Sunday, 24 September 2014, Rabbi Dweck was officially installed as Senior Rabbi at Bevis Marks Synagogue. In his capacity as Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Dweck serves as the Deputy President of the London School of Jewish Studies; a President of The Council of Christians and Jews alongside Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, The Archbishop of Canterbury and other religious heads; and Ecclesiastical Authority of The Board of Deputies of British Jews. Rabbi Dweck also serves as a member of the Standing Committee of the Conference of European Rabbis. In 2015, he was selected by the Jewish News in conjunction with the Jewish Leadership Council as one of the top ten "young rolemodels at the forefront of British-Jewish life."

Dweck holds a Master of Arts degree in Jewish Education from Middlesex University in collaboration with the London School of Jewish Studies.

Views and controversy
Dweck leans toward rationalism.

In May 2017, Rabbi Dweck delivered a lecture in which he presented his approach regarding the Torah view on homosexuality, declaring that Jewish law does not legislate against the feelings involved (sexual relations, he stated, are prohibited by the Torah). He suggested that contemporary developments on this issue, while problematic, are also "a fantastic development to humanity" as they force humanity to rethink the question of love, and potentially remove the stigma associated with platonic love and affection between men. He preceded his words with caveats and stated his awareness of the controversial nature of the topic, explaining that he had been thinking about it for years and felt the need to discuss it because "no one was talking about it openly in Orthodox Judaism." This lecture proved highly controversial and while some welcomed and supported it, others strongly rejected it, including Rabbi Aharon Bassous and the Beth Din of the prominent Haredi rabbi Nissim Karelitz. Rabbi Dweck issued a clarification letter explaining his Halakhic stance and intentions.

In the wake of the controversy, a rabbinic panel to question Dweck on his statements and teaching was convened, consisting of Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu (Av Beth Din of Europe), Dayan Menachem Gelly (Rosh Beth Din of the London Beth Din), and Dayan Avraham David (Rosh Beth Din of the Sephardi Beth Din). The panel concluded that Dweck could continue his role as the Senior Rabbi of the Sephardi community. The decision was supported by former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. Dweck agreed to step down as dayan of the Sephardi Beth Din, and subject future public lectures to rabbinic review.