Rabbi Zahavit Shalev

Rabbi Zahavit Shalev
Interim Rabbi 
rabbizahavit@westminstersynagogue.org
Rabbi Zahavit typically works Tuesday-Thursday, and some Shabbatot.

Rabbi Zahavit’s journey towards the rabbinate has been slow but steady.

Born in Israel, she grew up in Golders Green in an Orthodox Jewish family, eventually finding her way towards more progressive Jewish spaces.

In her twenties, (alongside her official career in publishing) she began teaching on an adult Jewish literacy course and helped set up a chavura (a pop-up Jewish space run by a group of friends). And then she met David, her husband, who whilst technically Jewish, was part of a large Quaker family.

She taught her first conversion student at New North London Synagogue whilst on maternity leave following the birth of their first child. After their second child, she relaunched and became the co-ordinator of the conversion programme at the shul and also began working with mixed-faith couples at Reform Judaism.

After their third child, she took a pastoral counselling course, joined the rabbinic team at NNLS and enrolled in rabbinic training at Leo Baeck College. She graduated in 2019, gaining distinction for her MA rabbinic dissertation on the theology of sleep. She says:

"I became a rabbi because I’m a people person, and Jewish life is a brilliant technology for building and sustaining communities. The ritual, music, and gestures of synagogue services are powerful cues enabling us to trust one another and thrive spiritually. 

I don’t have the temperament for scholarship, but I love learning and enjoy teaching non-specialist audiences. My role is removing the barriers for anyone who has made the (superb!) choice to explore Jewish life and wisdom"

Alongside her work at NNLS, Rabbi Zahavit also served a very different, tiny community, New Essex Masorti. She enjoys all rabbinic work: 1-2-1 conversations, teaching and preaching to adults, and doing fun/creative/silly family education. Rabbi Zahavit loves reading - both literature and the social sciences. She was a judge on the 2025 Wingate Literary Prize. Her favourite genre of Jewish literature is midrash (rabbinic fan fiction) and Jewish liturgy, so under-appreciated as a way into Jewish thought.

Rabbi Zahavit’s husband, David, works for a large educational organisation. He is a passionate music fan whose superpower is booking tickets. Their children are 21, 19, and 15.

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