Ephraim Borowski
Revision as of 07:13, 28 October 2026 by Geography Bot (talk | contribs) (Link company and institution names; give Companies House addresses in full)
Director of the Jewish Council of Scotland and honorary secretary of Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue and Eastwood Jewish Community Centres
Ephraim Joseph Borowski MBE is a Glasgow philosopher and Jewish communal official. A former head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Glasgow, he has been director of the Jewish Council of Scotland (formerly the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, SCoJeC) since 2002.[1][2] He is honorary secretary of Eastwood Jewish Community Centres and secretary of Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue.[3][4]
Academic career
Borowski was president of the Glasgow Jewish Students' Society in 1969.[5] In June 1982 the Jewish Chronicle reported that he was to resign as chairman of the Northern Region Chaplaincy Board to take up a six-month visiting fellowship at Balliol College, Oxford.[6] He became head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Glasgow, an elected member of the University Court and president of the Glasgow Association of University Teachers. He is the author of the Collins Dictionary of Mathematics, and was president of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow.[2][7]
Communal roles
- Giffnock and Newlands Hebrew Congregation: chairman of the synagogue in September 2002, when the Herald quoted him after the death of Yonatan Jesner.[8] He was one of the trustees, with Michael Goodman, Evelyn (Evy) Yedd and Bernard Louis Cohen, who disponed the congregation's site at 222 Fenwick Road to Eastwood Jewish Community Centres for "ZERO POUNDS (£0)", with a date of entry of 20 October 2022. The deed gives his address as 19 Norwood Drive, Giffnock, Glasgow, G46 7LS. He signed it in Giffnock in late October 2022, witnessed by Derek David Livingston.[9]
- Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue: elected secretary in June 2022.[10] The synagogue lists him as one of its honorary life presidents.[11] He is a trustee on the OSCR register, is named as secretary in the 2025 accounts, and signed them with the treasurer, Brian Fox.[4][12]
- Eastwood Jewish Community Centres: honorary secretary; he signed EJCC's 2025 accounts with Brian Fox.[3][13]
- Scottish Council of Jewish Communities / Jewish Council of Scotland: director since 2002.[1] A 2007 Jewish Chronicle profile described him as "Glasgow born and bred", "until recently vice-president of the local Jewish representative council" and a "founder member of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities".[14] In October 2010 the paper described him as "director of SCoJeC" when he briefed the Scottish Labour leader,[15] and in June 2015 it reported that he met Nicola Sturgeon with other Jewish leaders.[16] In June 2021 it reported a leadership dispute at SCoJeC, describing Borowski as having "served as the organisation's director in a voluntary capacity for 22 years", and that a replacement was planned.[17] In April 2022 it quoted him on Nazi-looted art held by Glasgow Life,[18] and in December 2022 it reported that he outlined communal demography to SNP MPs.[19] In 2010 he told the Jewish Chronicle that SCoJeC was planning research on antisemitism in Scotland.[20] In 2021 he met the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, with Rep Council president Paul Edlin, and later met Ian Blackford and Kirsten Oswald at Giffnock Shul.[21] The Jewish Council of Scotland lists him as a consultant and as the ex officio member for BEMIS.[22]
- Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and Board of Deputies of British Jews: in his own account he has been vice-president of the Rep Council and chair of the Board of Deputies' regional deputies, and he was appointed MBE in 2008 "for my service on behalf of the Jewish Community".[1] He has also been vice-chair of the Board's Defence Division, and chaired the Police Scotland National Independent Strategic Advisory Group on diversity matters.[2]
- Tayside and Fife Jewish Community: trustee on the OSCR register.[23]
Companies House
Companies House lists Ephraim Joseph Borowski, born November 1949, at 19 Norwood Drive, Giffnock, Glasgow, G46 7LS, the address given in the 2022 disposition, with these appointments:
- BEMIS (Scotland) (SC200547): director, 24 February 2003 – 25 September 2025; occupation "Retired Lecturer".[24]
- Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (SC000887): secretary from 28 March 1998; director, 27 March 1996 – 24 May 2006 and 1 June 2008 – 3 March 2010.[25]
- Beechcroft Homes Ltd (SC176292): director and secretary, 27 July 1998 – 1 October 2008.[26]
- Tutors International (2009) Ltd (03884665): director, 26 November 1999 – 21 August 2004.[27]
- SIFC (Scotland) Ltd (SC232506): director and secretary, 7 June 2002 – 8 April 2003.[28]
- Faith in Community (Scotland) (SC288937): director, 6 July 2007 – 20 September 2016, under a separate Companies House officer record at 4 Norwood Drive, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, G46 7LR.[29] The company was converted into a Scottish charitable incorporated organisation, Faith In Community Scotland (OSCR SC036787, Companies House CS006044), on 13 December 2022. The charity has been registered since 16 August 2005 and is based at 200 Balmore Road, Glasgow, G22 6LJ. Its purposes are "the prevention or relief of poverty", "the advancement of citizenship or community development" and "the promotion of religious or racial harmony", and it says it supports "local faith groups in their work to tackle poverty". Its income was £221,855 and its spending £263,968 in the year to 31 March 2026. The register lists eight trustees: Lucy MacLeod, Anne Marie Peffer, Ian Galloway, John Geggan, Martin Johnstone, Farkhanda Chaudhry, Marilyn Shedden and Kenneth McGeachie.[30]
Affiliations
- Jewish Council of Scotland – director
- Eastwood Jewish Community Centres – trustee; honorary secretary
- Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue – trustee; secretary; honorary life president
- Giffnock and Newlands Hebrew Congregation – chairman (2002); trustee (2022)
- Tayside and Fife Jewish Community – trustee
- BEMIS (Scotland) – director, 2003–2025
- Faith in Community Scotland – director, 2007–2016
- Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow – president; secretary
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ephraim Borowski, witness statement on behalf of the Jewish Council of Scotland, Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 University of Glasgow, "Corporate Law, Religion and Social Responsibility" (speaker biographies), accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Eastwood Jewish Community Centres, Trustees' Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st August 2025, via Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue, Trustees' Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st August 2025, via Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Jewish Telegraph, Glasgow JSoc Centenary Dinner photo gallery jewishtelegraph.com, November 2012.
- ↑ "Chaplaincy Claims", Jewish Chronicle, 11 June 1982.
- ↑ "Scotland's Jews: Community and Political Challenges", Institute for Jewish Policy Research, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ "Buried in Jerusalem, the bomb victim from a Scottish suburb", The Herald, 21 September 2002, online, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Disposition by the Trustees of Giffnock and Newlands Hebrew Congregation to Eastwood Jewish Community Centres, date of entry 20 October 2022, prepared by Mitchells Roberton Ltd, Glasgow (presented for first registration in the Land Register of Scotland as title REN156620).
- ↑ Giffnock Synagogue, officers and council elected June 2022, Facebook, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue, About us giffnockshul.co.uk, archived 21 March 2025.
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue (SC049806) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Eastwood Jewish Community Centres (SC048957) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 13 April 2007, p.04
- ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 8 October 2010, p.X02
- ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 12 June 2015, p.9
- ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 25 June 2021, p.30
- ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 1 April 2022, p.12
- ↑ Jewish Chronicle, 16 December 2022, p.30
- ↑ "Scottish Jewish groups row over racism", Jewish Chronicle, June 2010, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, "GJRC News Archive", jewishglasgow.org, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Jewish Council of Scotland (JCoS) Glasgow Jewish (jewishglasgow.org), accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Tayside and Fife Jewish Community (SC012108) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, BEMIS (Scotland) (SC200547): officers, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow (SC000887): officers, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, Beechcroft Homes Ltd (SC176292): officers, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, Tutors International (2009) Ltd (03884665): officers, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, SIFC (Scotland) Ltd (SC232506): officers, accessed 27 October 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, Faith in Community (Scotland) (SC288937): officers, accessed 28 October 2026.
- ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Faith In Community Scotland (SC036787) Scottish Charity Register, accessed 28 October 2026.