Reverend Bornstein, born in London in 1908, was educated at Hackney Downs Secondary School and attended evening classes at Yeshiva Etz Chaim. He then entered Jews College in 1925 and with scholarships attended UCL and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He lectured in History and religion at the Jewish Higher Education Centre before serving at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue in 1938. In 1941 he was appointed chaplain to the Jewish Forces and sadly died on active service in the Middle East in 1943.