Chanoch Ehrentreu

Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu (born 1932 in Frankfurt-am-Main) served for many years as the head of the United Synagogue's Beth Din. He retired from the post in December 2006.

Early life

Dayan Ehrentreu was born in Frankfurt in 1932 to Rabbi Jonah and Rebbitzen J. Ehrentreu. His mother was the daughter of Abraham Heckscher, the venerated parnes of the Hamburg congregation. His paternal grandfather was the Munich Rov, the Gaon HaRav Chanoch Ehrentreu after whom he was named. His father was arrested on the morning after the Kristallnacht pogroms in November 1938 while trying to save Torah scrolls from the burning synagogue. He was eventually released and took this opportunity to escape, with the help of family and friends to England.^[1]

Gateshead

Ehrentreu was the Rosh Kollel (principal) of the Sunderland Kollel which has been situated in Gateshead since 2000.

Manchester

Ehrentreu was Av Beth Din (Hebrew: Father [i.e. Head] of the Beth Din), and Communal Rabbi of Manchester.

London

Dayan Ehrentreu was appointed to the post of Rosh Beth Din in London by Lord Jackobovits. He was known as the Rosh Beth Din (rather than the traditional "Av" Beth Din) as the title of Av Beth Din is formally held by the Chief Rabbi. By dint of his workload as well as convention of his office, the Chief Rabbi is not involved in Beth Din work. Serving together with Ehrentreu during his tenure were Dayan Kaplan, Dayan Menachem Gelley, Dayan Abraham, Dayan Binstock, and Dayan Yitzhak Berger (Consultant). The Chief Rabbi commented when Ehrentreu announced his retirement, "The Dayan possesses a rare combination of authority, wisdom, compassion and understanding of our community."^[2]

Dayan Ehrentreu is a chairman of "Eternal Jewish Family", an organisation founded by Rabbi Leib Tropper to reinforce stringent standards for conversion.

The Eruv controversy

In March 2003, after many years, Ehrentreu successfully negotiated the construction of an eruv in London. The eruv itself is an 11-mile enclosure in northwest London encompassing some of the city's Jewish neighborhoods, including Golders Green and Hendon, plus much of Hampstead Garden Suburb and some of Finchley.

Although established with the help of Rabbi Alan Kimche, Rabbi Jeremy Conway and others, its halachic validity was strongly contested by many other prominent London Rabbis^[3]. The controversy was re-ignited in 2008, when supporters of the eruv distributed brochures to local Jewish homes, which aimed to demonstrate the eruv's halachic validity. The rabbinic opponents of the eruv were unconvinced, and reiterated their position that usage of the eruv amounts to a desecration of the sabbath^[4].

Notwithstanding the controversy over the North West London eruv, its establishment set a precedent, with eruvs having now been established in Edgware^[5], Elstree/Borehamwood^[6] and Stanmore^[7] under the supervision of the London Beth Din and, at least in the case of Edgware, with Dayan Ehrentreu's guidance.

Following Dayan Ehrentreu's lead, Eruvs have been planned for other Jewish communities throughout England, notably in Manchester, where the plans are supported by the leading Charedi authority, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneebalg of the Machzikei Hadass community^[8]. However, an attempt to construct an eruv in the Charedi community of Stamford Hill in 2008 was scuppered due to the fierce opposition of Rabbi Ephraim Padwa, the principle rabbinic authority for London's charedi community^[9].

The Louis Jacobs controversy

Ehrentreu was involved in another controversy in the summer of 2003 when he banned Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs from taking part in a synagogue service on the Sabbath before his granddaughter's wedding. This led to heated debate in the Jewish community with some condemning the decision as petty and vindictive, whilst Ehrentreu and Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks argued that Jacobs could not appropriately say the blessing on being called up to read the Torah, because of his beliefs about its authorship. ^[10][11]

References

1. ^ "Rebbetzin J. Ehrentreu o"h" [1]
2. ^ "Beth Din head retires" [2]
3. ^ "The NW London eruv controversy" [3]
4. ^ "Eruv friends go on glossy PR offensive" [4]
5. ^ "Edgware Eruv" [5]
6. ^ "Elstree & Borehamwood Eruv"[6]
7. ^ "Stanmore Eruv" [7]
8. ^ "Manchester Eruv - Haskomos" [8]
9. ^ "Not In My Back Yard" [9]
10. ^ "Obituary of Rabbi Jacobs in the Times" [10]
11. ^ "Obituary of Rabbi Louis Jacobs in the Daily Telegraph" [11]

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Name	Ehrentreu, Chanoch
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Date of birth	1932
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