Originally published in Judaism Today, Winter 1999-2000. Ask the Rabbi reveals the true Louis Jacobs, the total Halachist with total faith in God and total intellectual acceptance of the Torah as a prerequisite to understanding all truth. To quote ... Continue Reading ➨
Judaism Knows Saints – A Review of ‘Holy Living’ by Kenneth L. Cohen
Originally published in The Jewish Spectator, Winter 1990. A member of my congregation took issue with me for using the term saints in reference to Jewish righteous personalities. In the opinion of my critic, the term was Christian and ought not ... Continue Reading ➨
Review by Norman Solomon of ‘The Talmudic Argument’
Originally published in Selly Oak Colleges Journal, 1988. The Talmudic Argument: a study in Talmudic reasoning and methodology, by Louis Jacobs. Cambridge University Press. 1964, pp. xvi, 220, £25. The most influential religious work amongst ... Continue Reading ➨
Review by Marc B. Shapiro of ‘The Jewish Religion: A Companion’
Originally published in Judaism Today 4 (Spring 1996), pp. 42-3. THE JEWISH RELIGION: A COMPANION Louis Jacobs Oxford University Press 1995, pp 641 , £25.00 Marc B. Shapiro There are a number of single-volume encyclopedias of Judaism of varying ... Continue Reading ➨
A Review of ‘A Jewish Theology’
Originally published in Common Ground, Spring 1974. A JEWISH THEOLOGY, by Louis JACOBS (Darton, Longman and Todd, £4.75) The difference between “a” and “the” as applied to Jewish, or for that matter any other kind of theology, is clearly a ... Continue Reading ➨
Review of ‘The Jewish Religion: A Companion’ by Erich Segal
Originally published in December 1997. Louis Jacobs was a universally respected orthodox rabbi until 1959, when the publication of his little book We Have Reason to Believe brought him a notoriety he surely never sought. Outraged fundamentalist ... Continue Reading ➨
Review by Neil Gillman on ‘God, Torah, and Israel’
Originally published in Shofar 10:1 (Fall 1991), pp. 153-4. God, Torah, Israel: Traditionalism Without Fundamentalism, by Louis Jacobs. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 1990. 92 pp. $18.00. This slim volume incorporates the text of three ... Continue Reading ➨
Devotion and Fervour – A Review of ‘Hasidic Prayer’ by Harry Rabinowicz
Hasidic Prayer. By Louis Jacobs. Routledge. £3. In the mid-eighteenth century Eastern Europe gave birth to Hasidism, the greatest revival movement in Jewish history. Hasidic philosophy has added a new dimension to daily life and some three ... Continue Reading ➨
John D. Rayner on ‘A Jewish Theology’
Originally published in Pointer: Journal of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, 9:3 (Summer 1974). A Jewish Theology Louis Jacobs. Darton, Longman & Todd, London, 1973. 332 pp. £7.75. A modern Maimonides! To compare a ... Continue Reading ➨
A review of ‘A Jewish Theology’ in The Tablet
Originally published in The Tablet, 2nd March 1974. In his latest work, A Jewish Theology (Darton, Longman & Todd, £4.75), Rabbi Louis Jacobs, one of the most distinguished contemporary Jewish scholars, provides a thorough and up-to-date ... Continue Reading ➨
Bradley Artson – Review of ‘The Schoken Book of Jewish Mystical Testimonies’
Originally published in Conservative Judaism, 16th June 1997. The Schocken Book of Mystical Testimonies Louis Jacobs New York: Schocken Books, 329 pages Rabbi Louis Jacobs is no stranger to the readers of this journal. In his many fruitful years ... Continue Reading ➨
Jewish Theology for the Masses – A Review of ‘The Book of Jewish Belief’ by Chaim Pearl
Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 8th March 1985. The Book of Jewish Belief. By Louis Jacobs. Behrman House Press. New York. Available from Jewish Chronicle Publications at £11.25. This book does not look like a book on Jewish ... Continue Reading ➨
Sage of London embraces past, looks to future – A review of ‘Principles of the Jewish Faith’ by Kenneth L. Cohen
Originally published in the Washington Jewish Week, 18th May 1989. Principles of the Jewish Faith, Louis Jacobs, Jason Aronson Publishers, Northvale, N.J., 1964, republished 1988. pp. 469, $35. It is with some irony that, perhaps the greatest ... Continue Reading ➨
A review of ‘The Sanction for the Mitzwoth’ by Graham Shurek Morris
Originally published in The Jewish Review, 5th January 1964. The bewildered Anglo-Jew whose mind has been assaulted in the popular Jewish press with reports of meetings, protests and angry editorials on the subject of the Communal controversy may ... Continue Reading ➨
Confronting Fundamentalism – A Review of ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’ by Robert Weissman
Originally published in The Jewish Quarterly, Summer 1999. Louis Jacobs, Beyond Reasonable Doubt (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation/Vallentine Mitchell, 1999, £24.95) It was his expert attack on the fundamentalist view of Sinaitic ... Continue Reading ➨
Mysticism Rehabilitated – A Review of ‘Jewish Mystical Testimonies’ by Barry W. Holtz
Originally published in Midstream, August-September 1979. Jewish Mystical Testimonies, edited by Louis Jacobs. Schocken, New York. 270 pp. The past half century has seen a tremendous explosion of interest in the subject of Jewish mysticism. If ... Continue Reading ➨
Ian Leifer – A Review of ‘The Jewish Religion – A Companion’
Originally published in the Edinburgh Star. THE JEWISH RELIGION - A COMPANION edited by Louis Jacobs published by Oxford University Press, 1994, 641pp, £25.00 (ISBN 0-19-82643-1) reviewed by Ian Leifer This is a truly excellent book. Perhaps it ... Continue Reading ➨
Tradition and Integrity – A Review by William Horbury of ‘A Tree of Life’
Originally published in The Expository Times, September 1985. Rabbi Louis Jacobs is well known as a highly distinguished liberal interpreter of Judaism. Many of his works, such as the notable ‘Jewish Theology’ [1973], are immediately accessible to ... Continue Reading ➨
Gilbert S. Rosenthal – Review of ‘A Tree of Life’
A Tree of Life. Diversity, Flexibility, and Creativity in Jewish Law by Louis Jacobs. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984. 310 pages. $29.95. Reviewed by Rabbi Gilbert S. Rosenthal There are roughly three or four basic philosophies of ... Continue Reading ➨
A Review of ‘The Talmudic Argument’
The Talmudic Argument. A Study in Talmudic Reasoning and Methodology. By Louis Jacobs. Pp. xvi + 220. Cambridge University Press, 1984. £25.00. Louis Jacobs here provides an immensely rewarding exposition of nineteen Talmudic sugyot, combining the ... Continue Reading ➨