Kopul Rosen

Rabbi Dr Yaacov Kopul Rosen (1913 - 1962) was an important anglo-Jewish rabbi and educationalist.

Rabbi Dr Yaacov Kopul Rosen was born on 4 November 1913, in Notting Hill, London. He trained for the rabbinate in the Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London and in the Mir Yeshiva in Lithuania. He was the rabbi of the Higher Crumpsall Synagogue in Manchester from 1938 until 1942. He became the Communal Rabbi of Glasgow in 1942 and in 1944 he was appointed the Principal Rabbi of the Federation of Synagogues in London.

Rosen died of leukemia in early 1962 at the age of 48, leaving behind his wife, Bella, three sons, Jeremy, Michael and David, and a baby daughter, Angela (Ayelet). All three sons became rabbis.

In 1948 Rosen decided to leave the rabbinate to devote himself to the promotion of Jewish education. He and his wife, Bella, founded Carmel College an independent Jewish boarding school in Oxfordshire, UK.

In 1979 Rabbi Rosen's second son, Rabbi Dr Michael (Mickey) Rosen, founded the Jewish educational organization, Yakar, in memory of his father. (YaKaR is both an acronym for Yaacov Kopul Rosen and means in Hebrew precious.) The stated goal of Yakar is to continue Kopul Rosen's ideals "of a Judaism based on knowledge of Torah, learning and vibrant spirituality that would at the same time be universal, non-denominational, tolerant and open to ideas and intellectual curiosity."

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