Dayan Menachem Gelley

Dayan Gelley was born in Newcastle and studied at Gateshead Jewish Boarding School, Sunderland Yeshiva (which was headed by his father, currently Rabbi of KAJ in Washington Heights) and Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, before moving to the Gateshead Kollel. He trained as a Dayan at Batei Din in the United States and Israel and joined the London Beth Din in 1993. He has lectured extensively on Jewish law and has, over the years, had a close relationship with Golders Green, Finchley and Hampstead Garden Suburb United Synagogues. He is an external examiner for Birkbeck, University of London and is the Rabbi of the Ohr Chodosh Synagogue in Golders Green.

The Eruv Controversy

In March 2003, after many years, Dayan Gelley, together with Dayan Ehrentreu of the London Beth Din, successfully negotiated the construction of an eruv in London. Although established with the help of Rabbi Alan Kimche, Rabbi Jeremy Conway and others, its halachic validity was strongly contested by many other prominent London Rabbis due to political but not halachic reasons. The eruv itself is an 11-mile enclosure in northwest London encompassing some of the city's Jewish neighborhoods, including Golders Green and Hendon, plus much of Hampstead Garden Suburb and some of Finchley.