COPY OF A LETTER ADDRESSED TO OSCAR B. DAVIS, ESQ., AND OTHERS FROM SIR ISAAC WOLFSON, BART., PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED SYNAGOGUE 21st February, 1964 Dear Mr. Davis, I have most carefully considered with my colleagues your letter of 17th February. ... Continue Reading ➨
The "Jacobs Affair"
Letter from the New West End Synagogue Board Management to Isaac Wolfson
17th February 1964 The President, United Synagogue, Woburn House, Upper Woburn Place, London, W.C.1. Dear Sir Isaac, The following resolution was unanimously carried at a meeting on the 13th February of the Board of Management of the New ... Continue Reading ➨
Chronological Precis from the Board of Management of the New West End Synagogue
Sent to congregants on 27 February 1964 by Oscar B. Davis (Warden), in preparation for General Meeting to be held on 1 March. FROM THE BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF THE NEW WEST END SYNAGOGUE 27th February 1964 Dear Congregant, In connection with the ... Continue Reading ➨
Cyril Abelson’s ‘Letter to a Student’
Extract from July 1963, from a correspondence which took place between Cyril Abelson and a student at Oxford University, Mr. Blank, on the subject of the teachings of Louis Jacobs. Click on the picture to read the piece. ... Continue Reading ➨
Minutes of Israel Diaspora Trust Working Party on Jewish Status Meeting
Meeting originally held on 27 July 1989 at The Montagu Centre. THE ISRAEL DIASPORA TRUST WORKING PARTY ON JEWISH STATUS 27 July 1989 Present: Judge Israel Finestein QC, Rabbi Hugo Gryn, Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs, Dr Lionel Kopelowitz, Rabbi Dr Abraham ... Continue Reading ➨
The Conversion Problem and the New London Synagogue
Paper written in 1976. This communication does not deal with the wider question of intermarriage or of Judaism as a missionary religion. Its concern is with the severely practical and immediate problem facing a would-be convert to Judaism or a ... Continue Reading ➨
Minutes of a joint Beth Din working party meeting
DRAFT Minutes of the first meeting of the Beth Din Working Party held at the New London Synagogue on Monday, 14th July 1975. Present: Rabbis Henry Goldstein, Louis Jacobs, Michael Leigh, Marcel Marcus, Dow Marmur and Michael Standfield. ... Continue Reading ➨
‘Determination’ from a Neturei Karta magazine
Originally published in Comment, by Tomchei Neturei Karta, 2:12 (Sivan 5724/May 1964). It is not our particular aim to attend the general diversary trends that afflict the body of Jewry, especially when the distress meets that section of the ... Continue Reading ➨
Saga Over Jacobs’s Granddaughter’s Admission at JFS
In 1986, Paula Jacobs applied to study at the Jewish Free School. The school leadership and United Synagogue handled her application very poorly, leading to the following correspondences with the family. Click on the picture to read the ... Continue Reading ➨
Meeting of the Council of Assembly of Masorti Synagogues
Notes of discussion recorded in November 1988. Click on the picture to read the minutes of the Council Meeting. ... Continue Reading ➨
Three Views on the Jacobs Controversy
Originally published in Mosaic, 11 (Autumn 1964). Click on the picture to read this piece in Mosaic. ... Continue Reading ➨
A Curious Broadside – A Castigation by Jerusalem Haredi rabbis?
In the winter of 1995, Rabbi Jacobs received this puzzling letter, signed by a number of prominent haredi religious authorities from Jerusalem, as well as European colleagues of theirs. Undeterred by its tone, and in fact, rather confused by some of ... Continue Reading ➨
The Garnethill Controversy
In June 1966, the Garnethill Hebrew Congregation in Glasgow gathered its members to vote on the synagogue's affiliation to the United Synagogue, in a hope to severe its connection and join instead Louis Jacobs's New London Synagogue as an ... Continue Reading ➨
Reflection on the Affair in the Jewish Telegraph, 1980
Originally published in the Jewish Telegraph, 5 September 1980. Aubrey Rosen examines the split which rocked Anglo-Jewry 20 years ago. It is about twenty years ago that Louis Jacobs all but succeeded in splitting the Anglo-Jewish community over his ... Continue Reading ➨
The golden calf that Orthodoxy must slay
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 18th October 2013. It’s time to say goodbye to the belief that the Torah we have was a word-for-word version from heaven. Rabbi Dr Solomon is the author of Torah from Heaven; the Reconstruction of ... Continue Reading ➨
A Record of Conversations and Impressions of the visit of Rabbi Dr Jacobovits insofar as they concern the New London Synagogue
Unpublished, personal record of events leading up to Louis Jacobs's meeting with Immanuel Jacobovits, July-August 1966. Thursday July 28th 1966: At around 7 p.m. there was a telephone call from Captain Meyers, Sir Isaac Wolfson’s secretary, to say ... Continue Reading ➨
Rabbi Jacobs’ on the views of Anglo-Jewish youth – JC article
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle. Rabbi Jacobs on views of Anglo-Jewish youth Jewish Chronicle Reporter A forecast that the future of the Anglo-Jewish community would lie with thinking people who adopted a “middle-of-the-road” ... Continue Reading ➨
The Jacobs Affair – An Orthodox View from the U.S.A.
The excerpt was cut out of a book. We could not find the original source, nor could we figure out anything about the 'Rabbi Miller' appearing in it. We apologize for the lack of clarity which might result from the reading. The Jacobs Affair Rabbi ... Continue Reading ➨
There is an urgent need for a self-critical truth-seeking voice
Originally published in The Times. The issues behind a bitter row 50 years ago are still crucial today, says Jonathan Wittenberg. “When I was having my little affair,” my teacher Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs liked to joke. But the Jacobs Affair, as ... Continue Reading ➨
Rejoinder to Rabbi Schochet
Originally published in Masorti Matters, March 1995, pp. 1-4. “I challenge the Chief Rabbi to state clearly and unambiguously that he believes Moses to have written every word of the Chumash at the dictation of God and that he rejects totally all ... Continue Reading ➨
