Mortimer Epstein

Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire (today Kaunas, Lithuania), Mortimer (Mordecai) Epstein was raised in Manchester in a traditional family. He obtained rabbinic ordination in Breslau and completed his doctorate in Heidelberg before returning to London, where he worked for the liberal Jewish Religious Union as well as the Orthodox United Synagogue. Epstein was an academic writer: he translated a number of Werner Sombart’s books and essays into English, edited The Annual Register for more than two decades, served on the board of the Jewish Historical Society of England and the Central Council for Jewish Education, and was a managing editor of the Jewish Chronicle.