Dear Friends,
Another busy month has passed. The time has come, therefore, for a new blog post, with big events coming your way!
First of all, many new documents have been uploaded on the website. It is certainly worth highlighting some of the more interesting ones:
- A discussion with Solomon Goldman (rabbi at St. John’s Wood synagogue), Mr Zachariah Shuster (former director of the American Jewish Committee), and Alfred Sherman (journalist and economist) on the ‘Non-Religious Jew’
- An interview published in the Journal of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain, which paints an intimate portrait of Rabbi Jacobs
- An early discussion published in the Liverpool Jewish Gazette in 1963 – in the wake of the Affair – on the topic of divine revelation and the need for intellectual integrity; and a reassessment, in 1996, of the impact of the Affair
- A book review, in which Rabbi Jacobs highlights the need for an appreciation of the historical character of halakha in the domain of pesak (adjudication)
- A review, with some critical comments, of the Assembly of Rabbis of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain’s Machzor for the Days of Awe
I mention these ones because they offer some interesting perspectives on Rabbi Jacobs’s religious outlook and philosophy and touch on issues which might interest our readers, such as the Jacobs Affair. I hope you find them as interesting as I did!
It is also worth noting that we’ve starting scanning and uploading some encyclopedia entries written by Louis Jacobs. This warranted some changes on the website, with a new thumbnail now introduces specifically for these entries! These are helpful introductions to a variety of subjects, and also demonstrate the quality of Jacobs’s scholarship. Imagine, indeed, having to write the ‘Hasidism’ entry in the Encyclopedia of Hasidism itself! Many more to come…
Finally, a quick reminder about forthcoming events, surrounding the 10th Annual Louis Jacobs Memorial Lecture. We will be hosting a number of formal talks with Rabbi Jeremy Rosen, between the 10th and 11th July, all of them well worth attending! Bookings and information are available on the website, via the following link!
All the best to our friends and supporters!
Ezra
For information or feedback, please contact info@louisjacobs.org.
