Berel Berkovits
{{Short description|Rabbi who served London's Federation of Synagogues}}
Dayan Avrohom Dov (Berel) Berkovits{{cite web
|url=http://www.chareidi.org/archives5765/ACH65arbrkwtz.htm
|title=Dayan Avrohom Dov (Berel) Berkovits of London zt"l
|author=Mordecai Plaut}} ({{Langx|he|אברהם דב (ברל) ברקוביץ}}; 3 June 1949 – 15 April 2005), known as Berel Berkovits, was a Rabbi and Dayan who served on the beit din of London's Federation of Synagogues. His knowledge of secular law allowed him to extend how he carried out his religious communal service. This covered a range of "contemporary social issues" but most particularly in the area of family law. It was in completing one such attempt on an international level that his years ended.{{cite magazine| magazine=Jewish Action| author=J. David Bleich| author-link=J. David Bleich| url=https://jewishaction.com/tribute/memoriam-dayan-berel-berkovits-zl-hadayan-hametzuyan| title=In Memoriam, Dayan Berel Berkovits, z"l: HaDayan HaMetzuyan| quote = "That tragic event occurred during a short stopover in Jerusalem on Dayan Berkovits' return from Egypt, where he was engaged in a mission associated with his communal responsibilities."}}
Berkovits amendment
Berkovits used his dual skills in Jewish and secular law"He was also a law lecturer at the University of Buckingham." to draft an amendment to Great Britain's 1996 Family Law Act{{cite magazine
|magazine=Jewish Action |author=J. David Bleich |author-link=J. David Bleich |url=https://jewishaction.com/tribute/memoriam-dayan-berel-berkovits-zl-hadayan-hametzuyan
|title=In Memoriam, Dayan Berel Berkovits, z"l: HaDayan HaMetzuyan}} which gave judges discretion to refuse a decree to a divorcing Jewish couple until any issues of Jewish law are cleared up.{{cite news |newspaper=The London Times
|quote=to refuse a decree to a divorcing Jewish couple until any issues of Jewish law are cleared up.
|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/law/article/rabbi-berel-berkovits-whhwmwv6lrn
|title=Rabbi Berel Berkovits |date=May 6, 2005}} "He liked to call this the Berkovits amendment."
Education
His secondary religious studies were at Gateshead Talmudical College."then on to further Jewish studies at Gateshead Yeshivah (seminary)."{{cite web
|title=Berel Dov Berkovits, Rabbi and Dayan (1949 - 2005)
|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Dayan-Berel-Berkovits/6000000000118042060}} and also Mir of Jerusalem.
Family
His father, Rabbi Moshe Dovid Berkovits, was a rabbi in Oradea (Yiddish: גרויסווארדיין{{lrm}} Groysvardeyn) in Romania and subsequently in London. In his youth Dayan Berkovits was close with his maternal grandfather, Rabbi Yosef Adler, and later on was involved with the publication of that grandfather's rabbinical works.
Berkovits was approaching age 56 when he predeceased his mother. Other survivors include siblings, his wife, and four sons.
References
{{Reflist}}
Category:20th-century English rabbis
Category:21st-century English rabbis
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