Daniel Lichman studied history at Nottingham University prior to completing rabbinic training at Leo Baeck College. He subsequently worked as a rabbi for university students and was the founding rabbi of the Willesden Green based synagogue Makor Hayim.
He is passionate about the study of Jewish thought. He sees in this discipline, and specifically in the legacy of German Jewish thought, keys to renewed visions for Judaisms that contribute a vital voice to the wider community.
The working title of his PhD research is ‘The afterlife of the Hochschule für des Wissenschaft des Judentums in post-war Anglo-Jewry’. This research will assess key themes and concerns present in German Jewish thought and evidenced in the concerns of those associated with the Jewish studies, and rabbinical training, institute the Hochschule für des Wissenschaft des Judentums in the Weimar era. The project will then research the circumstances in which German Jews contributed to the foundation of the London Jewish Theological Seminary, later called the Leo Baeck College. The study will then conduct a thorough study of the later work of the first rabbinic students at the college assessing the extent to which their ideas can be considered a continuation of the pre-war German Jewish milieu of their teachers. This research is likely to include study of the work of rabbis including Leo Baeck, Ignaz Maybaum, Lionel Blue and Dow Marmur.