David Rosen (rabbi)

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For other persons named David Rosen, see David Rosen (disambiguation).

Chief Rabbi David Rosen is the former Chief Rabbi of Ireland(1979-85) and currently serves as the President of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) that represents world Jewry in its relations with other world religions. He is Director of Interreligious Affairs and Director of the Heilbrunn Institute for International Interreligious Understanding of the American Jewish Committee.

Rabbi Rosen is the Interfaith Advisor of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and a member of the Chief Rabbinate's Commission for Interreligious Dialogue. He is International President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace; Hon.Pres.of the International Council of Christians and Jews; on the Executive of the World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace; and on the Exec. of the World Economic Forum's C-100 for promoting relations between Islam and the West.

In November 2005, Pope Benedict XVI made Rabbi Rosen a Knight Commander of the Order of Gregory the Great in recognition of his contribution to Jewish-Catholic reconciliation ( Rabbi Rosen is the first Israeli citizen and the first Orthodox rabbi to receive this honor, which was also the first papal knighthood of the present Pontificate.)In December 2006, Rabbi Rosen received the Raphael Lemkin Human Rights Award for having founded the organization Rabbis for Human Rights.

Before being appointed Chief Rabbi of Ireland,he was the Senior Rabbi of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in South Africa (The Green and Sea Point Hebrew Congregation, Cape Town) and served as a judge on the Cape Beth Din (Rabbinic Court.)

Rabbi Rosen was one of the signatories of the historic Alexandria declaration of Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders from the Holy Land. As a vegetarian he has spoken out against factory farming practices from a Jewish perspective. He has written that "the current treatment of animals in the livestock trade makes the consumption of meat produced in this manner halachically unacceptable as the product of illegitimate means." [1]