Joseph Dweck

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

In 1995 he married Margalit, daughter of Adina Bar-Shalom[citation needed] and granddaughter of Rav Ovadia Yosef.

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.

Under his guidance, the synagogue flourished, as the original 50 members grew into over 350 families, with Rabbi Dweck deeply involved in all aspects of daily community life.

Rabbi Dweck was elected with a 270–4 vote, a margin believed to be the largest in UK synagogue history.

Dayanim from the Federation and United Synagogue and a large contingent from independent Sephardi communities attended, as well as Emeritus Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who took part in the ceremony."

In his inaugural address Rabbi Dweck said: "The most precious element of [The S&P's] history are the ideas and the thinking that came from my predecessors because of their commitments not only to Jewish life, observance and continuity but also because they taught our Torah within a relevant and rational framework.

As Head of S&P, Rabbi Dweck's responsibilities include: Annual Scholar-In-Residence with the Sephardic Community Alliance Despite no longer living in the United States, Rabbi Dweck has maintained a close and warm relationship with the Sephardic Community Alliance.

[8] 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.

[14] In January 2018, Rabbi Dweck resumed his lectures with a new series at the London Jewish School of Studies, at a sold-out return to Hendon.