Matt and Sheerelle Marks
Chaplaincy Couple
We are excited to be the first resident Jewish Chaplaincy couple in Brighton in many years and look forward to supporting them during their time at university.
Matt and Sheerelle Marks
Matt grew up in Belmont, a small community in the UK, where he attended several Jewish schools and went on various Bnei Akiva machanot. He went on to study at Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh in Jerusalem for a year and a half before returning to complete a degree in philosophy. Matt worked as a Youth Director in Muswell Hill before returning to Israel for a year of kollel and then teaching English through Teach First. After meeting and marrying Sheerelle, he moved to JFS, where he took on various roles, including KS3 coordinator, head of literacy, and associate senior leader. Matt and his family then joined the Mizrachi UK Fellowship programme in Israel, where he completed his MA in Jewish Education, rabbinic studies, and additional fellowships with LSJS and OUJLIC.
Sheerelle was born in London and moved to Israel with her family at the age of two. They lived in Israel for eight years before returning to London, where Sheerelle attended Independent Jewish Day School and Hasmonean. She then went back to Israel for a “Gap Year” studying at Michlala before returning to London, where she qualified as an Occupational Therapist. Sheerelle volunteered with several charities and organizations throughout her years in London, such as Camp Simcha, Keshet, Kisharon, and GIFT. After meeting Matt, they got married in Israel and returned to London to further their careers until Mizrachi UK offered them the opportunity to study in Israel for several years.
Where are you from?
Matt is originally from Belmont, and Sheerelle grew up in Raanana but moved to Holland Park when she was 11.
Why chaplaincy?
Both Sheerelle and Matt love community work and were excited to engage with people from across the spectrum of Jewish life. Students are often at the most exciting, and transformative stage in their lives and so the questions and experiences they will have during this period will often have ramifications for the entire Jewish community for many years to come.
How can you help students?
We hope to use our roles in the Centre to provide the facilities for students to feel as though they have a home away from home and also provide them with exciting opportunities to engage with the wider community in the area.
What do you enjoy doing most with students?
Creating that safe space to hang out and eat is what we do best, but we also like to dive into the difficult conversations of where our identities intersect and clash.
What do you want students to take away from their Jewish experience at uni?
We hope that students will come away feeling proud of their Jewishness and also see it as a core part of their identity.
What prepared you for this role?
We’re not sure if anything can really prepare you for these kind of roles, but we think the more important thing is to have a positive and open disposition – humility, and an active, listening ear.
Personal interests?
We are both keen on football, art and poetry. Matt has a keen interest in philosophy and Sheerelle likes to play guitar.
Where did you go to yeshiva / university?
Matt went to Birmingham, and then to Birkbeck, and then to CCCU and then to the Hebrew University and is currently studying at the University of Sussex.