Michael Melchior
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| Michael Melchior | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Date of birth | 31 January 1954 |
| Year of Aliyah | 1986 |
| Knesset(s) | 15th, 16th, 17th (current) |
| Party | Meimad (in alliance with Labour) |
| Gov't roles (current in bold) |
Minister of Social & |
Rabbi Michael Melchior (Hebrew: מיכאל מלכיאור, born 31 January 1954) is a Danish-Norwegian rabbi, an Israeli politician and leader of the left-wing religious party Meimad, which he represents in the Knesset.
[edit] Background
Born into a dynasty of rabbis in Copenhagen, Denmark (his father, Binyamin (Bent) Melchior was chief rabbi of Denmark from 1969 to 96, and his grandfather Marcus Melchior 1897-1969 was rabbi in Copenhagen from 1934 and chief rabbi from 1947 until his death in 1969, and 1943-45 he headed the Danish Jewish refugees in Sweden), Melchior immigrated to Israel in 1986. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat HaKotel in Jerusalem and is the Chief Rabbi for the Jewish community of Oslo.
He is married to Hanna and has five children and six grandchildren. His son, Rabbi Joav Melchior, became the rabbi for the synagogue in Oslo in August 2006.
In February 2008, Rabbi Melchior opened the first ever ManScan (Manchester-Scandinavia) conference in Hillel House Manchester. He was awarded the George Elias award by the organisers for his work towards Jewish education in and outside of Israel.
[edit] Political career
Melchior became involved in the politics when the Meimad party was formed shortly before the 1999 elections from the movement founded by Yehuda Amital in 1988. The party joined Labour (with which it was friendly, Amital having served as a non-parliamentary minister under Shimon Peres in the early 1990s) and Gesher in forming an alliance called One Israel.
The alliance won 26 seats, with Melchior taking the one reserved for Meimad. He was appointed Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs in Ehud Barak's government. After Barak lost a special election for Prime Minister to Ariel Sharon in 2001, Melchior lost his post, but was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, though he lost his new job in November 2002 when Labour pulled out of the national unity government Sharon had formed.
He was re-elected to the Knesset in the 2003 elections as Meimad's sole representative, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, and Sport when Labour joined the coalition government in January 2005. In June 2006 he became Deputy Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, but again lost his position when Labour pulled out of the coalition.
He retained his seat again in the 2006 elections and currently chairs the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee and the Social-Environmental lobby in the Knesset.
