The prominent London businessman was unimpressed. Dayan Yisroel Yaakov Lichtenstein, the new rosh beis din of the Federation of Synagogues, one of the United Kingdom’s four Orthodox synagogue bodies, had approached him about a shidduch between the man’s son, a budding talmid chacham, and the daughter of a rosh yeshivah. But the businessman wasn’t interested in the match. “I don’t want my son to become a rosh yeshivah,” he said.

Recalling this story some 26 years later, Dayan Lichtenstein smiles ruefully. “I told him I was personally insulted by his intransigence,” he says. “After all, by insisting that becoming a rosh yeshivah was not a worthy pursuit for his child, what was he saying about my career choice?”

Fast forward to 2015, and things are quite different. Today, askanim and successful business owners encourage their sons to advance in learning and marry the daughters of klei kodesh; Torah is at the top of their list of priorities.

“Put simply, Dayan Lichtenstein has played a revolutionary role in the London kehillah,” says Rabbi Eliezer Lieber Schneebalg shlita, rav of the Machzikei Hadass shul in Edgware, who has worked closely with the dayan over the years. “In the beis din, Dayan Lichtenstein made changes that gave the man on the street confidence in dinei Torah and steered them away from taking cases to the secular courts.”

Rosh beis din of the Federation, Dayan Lichtenstein is the spiritual head of the organization’s 14 constituent and seven affiliated shuls, which range from chareidi establishments located in the heart of Golders Green, to architecturally grand synagogues which now have only a handful of aging members. He gives regular shiurim to the Federation’s rabbanim, taking their sh’eilos and advising them on the practical and pastoral challenges that come their way.

Rabbi Dovid Tugendhaft is the young rav of one of the Federation’s newest member shuls, the Nishmas Yisrael kehillah in Hendon. Comprised of 130 member families, largely yeshivah graduates and young professionals, the community is thriving. Rabbi Tugendhaft finds the support provided by Dayan Lichtenstein invaluable.

“I’ve come to realize that in this day and age, when people ask sh’eilos they expect answers straight away and are far more likely to abide by the response if they do get it immediately,” Rabbi Tugendhaft says. “The fact that Dayan Lichtenstein is available to the rabbanim and members of the kehillah, even at unsociable hours, is something that can’t be underestimated.”