MELCHIOR, MICHAEL

MELCHIOR, MICHAEL (1954– ), rabbi and Israeli politician. Born in Copenhagen, the son of Chief Rabbi Bent Melchior, Melchior studied in Israel at Yeshivat ha-Kotel after high school. He was ordained in 1980 and in the same year became the first chief rabbi of Oslo and was largely responsible for the community's renaissance (see norway ; oslo ). After six years he returned to Israel but continued to serve Norwegian Jewry. In Israel he entered politics and was elected to the Knesset in 1999 as a representative of Meimad, a moderate religious party aligned with the Labor Party. In the government he served as minister without portfolio, minister for Diaspora affairs, and deputy minister for foreign affairs.