From Louis to Lindsey

Miri Freud-Kandel

at JW3 7th February 2022

This is a recording of an event that was not hosted by us, but is made available and will be available to the rest of our readers.

Return of the 2015 dialogue between

Rabbi Francis Nataf and Rabbi Chaim Weiner

Thursday 11th May 2023 in central Finchley

What is the Purpose of Synagogue Today

Matt Plen and Simon Eder in Discussion

Event held on 18th April 2021

This extra video is now available to non Books site members.

Saving Judaism from the Extremes

The legacy of Leopold Zunz

Simon Eder Study Group April 2017

Simon looked at the extraordinary parallels between Zunz and Jacobs and asked, as much of world Jewry has veered ever further to the right, –  can the Middle Way be restored?

It is the 200th anniversary of the publication of the groundbreaking article On Rabbinic Literature. In twenty pages, Zunz – son of an assistant Cantor – created critical Jewish scholarship. Described as a “Jewish Luther” he uncovered the power of science as applied to our tradition and its texts. He was a trail blazer for all who follow, among them Rabbi, Louis Jacobs. What is the legacy of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement? What are the extraordinary parallels between Zunz and Jacobs? As much of world Jewry has veered ever further to the right – can the Middle Way be restored?

Limmud Panel 2018 – Is Theology Dead?

Louis Jacobs, alongside Abraham J. Heschel and others, deplored the behaviourism that has taken root among Jews. They maintained that we must consider our belief structure and relate it to our identity an behaviour, avoiding the easy way of conformism. Our panelists will convey their personal approaches to Judaism and ask can we fight the trend?

Limmud 2017

Rabbi Cardozo lectured and discussed topics that must be of great interest to Friends of Louis Jacobs and to all those interested in religious politics and Torah truths.

Rabbi Nathan Cardozo and Elie Jesner

What makes a great leader and believer a deviant? R Dweck has been labelled, as was R Jacobs as “poisonous.” This discussion looks at the concerns and impact of Rabbinic exclusion.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Rabbi Cardozo “Is the Torah Really from Heaven”

These two videos occupy the bulk of the 2 hour lecture. Unfortunately we were unable to record the whole lecture and are missing the last and important 20 minutes. Anyone with this part recorded, video or audio please do get in touch!

Video 1

Video 2

The Rubens at Limmud 2017

Siyyum and Melaveh Malkah – November 2017

We celebrate the completion of the major part of the Louis Jacobs web site having located, scanned, edited and uploaded all the 500 plus articles of the bibliography. You will watch contributions from those involved in the development including our main editor Ezra Margulies as well as song and supper. This was a relaxed and very enjoyable evening!

Lecture 1 – Havdalah – Chazan Jason Green

Lecture 2 – Ezra Marguiles – Rabbi Danny Newman

Lecture 3 – Elie Jesner – Paula Jacobs – Anne Sommers – Simon Eder (apologies for video)

Lecture 4 – Ivor Jacobs – Siyyum itself Rabbi Jeremy Gordon

60th Anniversary of We Have Reason To Believe

2017 marks sixty years since the publication of Rabbi Louis Jacobs’ seminal work, We Have Reason to Believe.

Lecture 2 – Rabbi Zev Farber

Q and A – Chaired by Simon Eder

Change in English Law and Halacha

Sir Bernard Eder and Rabbi Chaim Weiner

These videos cover the far-reaching discussions between two leading voices from the worlds of both the English judiciary and the Rabbinate.

Q & A

The 1985 Lubavitch New York Library case

Presented by Simon Eder, assisted by Ivor Jacobs

Walk into a Chabad House almost in any part of the world and the late Rabbi Jacobs is held in the highest regard, given his testimony in the court case concerning the ownership of the Chabad library.

This event uncovers the huge controversy surrounding this case that split the family of the man some still consider to be the Messiah. What do we learn of the profound leadership of the late Menachem Mendel Schneerson z”l? Just what lay behind Rabbi Louis Jacobs’ expertise and immense interest in the Lubavitch movement?

Drawing on recently discovered archival material from the trial itself, Simon takes us on a journey charting the history of the movement, unravelling along the way its various power struggles, psychological intrigues and family deceptions! What he asks does the library in question, how it came to be and how it survived say about the Chabad movement.

Judaism and The Land – Holy or Unholy Alliance?

With the birth of modern Zionism, the concept of Jewish nationhood surfaced for the first time in a few millennia, and has since re-shaped Judaism beyond recognition. The Zionist movement initially faced widespread distrust, but over the course of time, succeeded in gaining virtually universal endorsement, particularly since the Shoah. And yet the questions posed by Israel’s emergence remain: how to reconcile Jewish nationalist aspirations with universalism? How to balance the secular with the sacred? Belief in God’s providence with human endeavour? Justice for Jews with the rights of the Arabs?

This event, featuring two leading experts, explores the fragmentation of Judaism since the haskalah and the birth of modern Zionism, with a particular focus on the development of religious Zionism and its relationship to the Land of Israel before and after the 1967 War. We will discover how the religious narrative over the Holy Land has changed over time, whether the concepts of ” Adam” and “Adamah” complement or clash, and how they impact the politics of religious Zionism.

Prof Colin Shindler’s presentation

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Prof David Newman’s presentation

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Q & A 1

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Q & A 2

Beyond the Law – Transitioning from Halakha to Ethics

A lecture by Prof William Kolbrener on 12th February 2016.

A central tension for committed Jews is that between halakhic observance and personal morality, between traditional law and a sense of ethical progress.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik is usually identified with the former positions, as championing ‘Halakhic Man’ and the ‘Halakhic Mind’ over more personal and subjective visions of ethics.  The story, however, is not so straightforward, and it turns out that a careful reading of his work shows him transitioning from a strictly halakhic worldview to a more fluid one wherein ethics is born from the depths of our subjectivity.

This talk will explored this development, considered both the personal and historical circumstances which led Rabbi Soloveitchik to undergo this transition.  It also considered the reasons why this shift has not been fully appreciated, and why the depiction of him as the archetypal ‘halakhic man’ have persisted so strongly in contemporary Jewry.

William Kolbrener is Professor of English Literature at Bar Ilan University in Israel, where he lectures on Renaissance literature, philosophy and theology.  He has written – on the Jewish world – for Haaretz, the Forward, the Washington Post, Commentary, the Jerusalem Post among others venues. His Open Minded Torah: Of Irony, Fundamentalism and Love was published by Continuum in 2012; his new The Last Rabbi: Joseph Soloveitchik and Talmudic Tradition is published by Indiana

One of the most exciting aspects of the educational work of the Louis Jacobs Foundation is the ability to host speakers of the highest calibre from around the world. We were extremely excited to welcome Professor William Kolbrener, a thinker, teacher and writer of the highest order.

Professor Kolbrener was raised in a Reform community in America, and found his way towards an Orthodox community in Israel via Columbia and Oxford Universities.  His spiritual searching was first documented in his book Open Minded Torah, which Rabbi Lord Sacks commended in the following words “When a great and capacious mind, blessed with sensibility and sensitivity, engages in conversation with the timeless texts of Torah, the result is both enlightening and enthralling… All whose Judaism is reflective and thoughtful will be enlarged by it.”

His thought since then has developed and deepened, and has come to perhaps its fullest fruition in his new book on Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, “The Last Rabbi“.  As he says in the introduction, it is not a straightforward work of admiration, but rather “a product first of melancholy disillusionment not only in Soloveitchik but in the current institutions and practices of reading throughout the Jewish world… [it] aspires to provide a more complex critical assessment of Soloveitchik’s work, one that is attentive to the voice that captivated his students (as well as myself), and also to those occluded, even repressed voices, to which scholars have given less attention.”

In the Jewish Chronicle’s review of the book, Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski sang its praises, reflecting that in “commanding an extraordinary range of sources – where else might Freud, Corinthians, Donne and Adam Phillips share a page in a book about an Orthodox rabbi? – the author… demonstrates that his transition from English professor to polymath is complete.”

Jewish Attitude to Jesus

Dr Louis Jacobs ‘Spertus College Commencement Address’

Late 60’s (?) address to Spertus College in Cincinnati by video, recorded in London.

Own Books

Having written almost 50 books Louis Jacobs looks at them all.

Prof. Paul Franks – What do Jews think of Gentiles?

Lecture given on Sunday 13th November 2016 as part of the Honest Theology project.

Many Jews are proud that their Judaism is not exclusivist in the way that some other religions are: non-Jews are not condemned as such; they too are valued by and bonded to God, if not by the Mosaic then by the Noahide covenant. There is also an idea that the righteous among the nations have a place in the world to come. However, there is another less comfortable strand of Jewish thought, which emphasises the difference between the souls of Jews and non-Jews, and sometimes seems to regard non-Jews as made in the likeness but not in the image of God. Some versions of Judaism, far from marginal, are in fact highly exclusivist.

This lecture confronts this line of thinking honestly and openly, and explores whether it might in fact be more nuanced, with some inclusive and universalist ideas emerging alongside the more challenging ones.

Prof. Franks pays particular attention to the thought of Isaiah Horowitz (1565-1630), author of the highly influential Shnei Luhot ha-Berit (Two Tables of the Covenant); to Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86), philosopher and author of the controversial Pentateuch translation, Netivot ha-Shalom (Paths of Peace); Naftali Herz Weisel (1725-1805), poet and author of the notorious open letter, Divrei Shalom ve-Emet (Words of Peace and Truth); and Pinhas Eliyahu Horowitz of Vilna (c.1731-1805), author of Sefer ha-Berit (Book of the Covenant), one of the greatest Jewish best-sellers of the last few centuries.

Main lecture followed by Q & A

Karen Armstrong interviews Louis Jacobs – November 1984

Karen Armstrong interviewing Rabbi Louis Jacobs for Paths of Faiths in November 1984. Karen Armstrong formulates her questions so as to emphasize the unique features of the Jewish faith, attempting to discern the dynamics inherent to Judaism, the variety of experiences and movements which characterize contemporary Jewish practice, and the ways in which these differ from other religions.

The conversation covers a wide variety of topics, thereby demonstrating the breadth of Louis Jacobs’s knowledge. It starts with the Jewish conception of God, and the ways in which in contrasts with Christian understandings of Jesus as the incarnation of God, and then moves on to mystical experiences of the divine in kabbalah and hasidism. Karen Armstrong then turns towards traditional Jewish practice, asking Rabbi Jacobs to offer some insights on Jewish prayer, Torah study, and halakhic observance. They conclude, finally, with more contemporary issues, including feminism, the relation to the land of Israel, and post-Holocaust theology.

The interview covers the first 26 minutes of the video. We apologize for the poor quality.

Limmud 2015 – Modern Orthodoxy In Crisis: A Reaction Against Fundamentalism?

Limmud Conference, December 2015: A panel discussion featuring Elie Jesner, Rabbi Ysoscher Katz (Chair of the Talmud Department at Yeshivah Chovevei Torah) and Rabbi Lila Kagedan (graduate of Yeshivat Maharat) on fundamentalism within the Modern Orthodox community in the United States, Israel, and England. They commented on the phenomena of ‘labels’, boundaries and identity in Modern Orthodoxy, which appear most notably in the debates on women’s issues in Judaism. The conversation then moved on to cover racism and ultranationalism in contemporary religious Zionism. The panel answered questions from the audience in the last few minutes of the session.

Limmud 2015 – Modern Orthodoxy in Crisis: Moving Forward

Limmud Conference, December 2015: A panel discussion with Elie Jesner, Rabbi Norman Solomon, and Ben Crowne discussing the future of Modern Orthodox Judaism in England. The participants offered insightful comments on the United Synagogue and the brand of Orthodoxy it purports to represent, and discussed the potential for future developments within and beyond the boundaries of the United Synagogue.

Apologies for the sound interference from the next door session!

Limmud 2015 – Do we still have reason to believe?

Limmud Conference, December 2015: Following short introductions by Ivor Jacobs and Ezra Margulies on the general aims of the Friends of Louis Jacobs project, Simon Eder presented, in this session, a concise and articulate analysis of Rabbi Louis Jacobs’s doctrine of liberal supernaturalism, based on a wide array of primary sources.

Four study sessions by Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg

Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg held a series of four study sessions to mark the 40th anniversary of the New North London Synagogue. The sessions covered the main theological writings of Rabbi Jacobs. These videos and audio recordings were taken towards the end of 2014 and represent an excellent introduction to Rabbi Jacobs’s thought and his impact on Anglo-Jewry.

First Session

Part 1

Part 2

Second Session

Third Session

Fourth Session

Why and When Halacha Changes – Finding Our Way Back to a Halachic Dynamism in Mainstream Judaism

A dialogue between Rabbi Chaim Weiner, Masorti Av Bet Din and Rabbi Francis Nataf, an Orthodox Jerusalem based educator. This was held in March 2015 and brought up many issues pertinent to the ongoing discussions on the challenges to Centrist Judaism.

Limmud 2014 Sons of Controversial Rabbis – Ivor Jacobs, Julian Levy, David Newman, joined by Ian Gold

From the Limmud Catalogue – The son of the subject of the ‘Jacobs Affair’ and the sons of two Rabbis who backed the rebel, in conversation about their fathers, themselves and the community. Ivor Jacobs, David Newman and Julian Levy explore what influenced their fathers and themselves. They are joined by Ian Gold whose father, also a Minister was sympathetic to Rabbi Jacobs predicament but stayed out of the public debate. This session should provide frank insights into their Judaism and the state of Anglo-Jewry.

Limmud 2014 Personal Reflections on the “Jacobs Affair” and the 50 following years.

From the Limmud Catalogue – The “Controversy” affected community and family. Ivor, supporting his dad, became a Masorti fanatic. In the year that he died Louis Jacobs was hailed as the “greatest Jew.” Ivor then founded www.louisjacobs.org, an educational resource and a “label” barrier breaker. This illustrated session will cover how the controversy continues to impact us.

Jewish Book Week – Miri Freud-Kandel in conversation with James Kugel and Simon Hochhauser – part 1

A conversation between Miri Freud-Kandel from the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, renown Bible scholar James Kugel, and former president of the United Synagogue Simon Hochhauser, during Jewish Book Week in 2013.

The discussion starts off with attempts to frame Modern Orthodoxy historically and ideologically. James Kugel makes some helpful observations about the development of Modern Orthodoxy in Germany and in the United States, before allowing Simon Hochhauser to comment on the values which govern the movement: a sense of steadfast allegiance to halakha combined with a commitment to modernism. Miri Freud-Kandel completed these responses with insights into the philosophies of leading figures in the history of Modern Orthodoxy, highlighting the differences between Samson Raphael Hirsch’s torah im derekh erets, 20th century American versions of torah umadah, and Chief Rabbi Sacks’s torah vehokhmah.

The speakers moved on to the issues of the boundaries of Modern Orthodoxy, rabbinic authority versus individual autonomy, and the different advantages and limitations which arise from placing labels on religious ideologies. Finally, they discussed the political context in which debates surrounding Modern Orthodoxy take place.

In the last ten minutes, the panel answered questions from the audience.

The conversation was highly stimulating, addressing some critical questions raised over the past years in the Orthodox world.

Jewish Book Week – Miri Freud-Kandel in conversation with James Kugel and Simon Hochhauser – part 2

The concluding minutes of the Q&A session between Miri Freud-Kandel, James Kugel, and Simon Hochhauser on Modern Orthodoxy at Jewish Book Week.

Limmud 2012 – Panel on Modern Orthodoxy – part 1

Ivor Jacobs chaired a panel on “Modern Orthodoxy: what’s in a name anyway?” at Limmud, with Daniel Sperber, Yaffa Epstein, and Herzl Hefter as guest speakers. Each member of the panel starts the session off with a short introduction indicating their own views on Modern Orthodoxy. Yaffa Epstein used some personal anecdotes to offer some insights into the tension between authority and individualism. Herzl Hefter followed with some impressions, discussed through the lens of Maimonidean theology, on intellectual honesty on matters which challenge the theological underpinnings of Orthodox beliefs (such as darwinism, biblical criticisim, and so on). Finally, Daniel Sperber outlined two philosophies of Judaism which differ over openess to the surrounding culture and contemporary developments. The conversation which ensued touched on all these themes in great depth, and was followed by a Q&A.

Limmud 2012 – Panel on Modern Orthodoxy – part 2

The concluding minutes of the Limmud panel “Modern Orthodoxy: what’s in a name anyway?” with Ivor Jacobs, Yaffa Epstein, Daniel Sperber, and Herzl Hefter.

Limmud 2013 James Kugel in Discussion with Norman Solomon

What does it mean to believe in divine Torah? How have Jews understood it in the past and what can we make of it today? This video features two leading scholars for a discussion and insights into this central issue on modern Jewish thought.

Rabbi Jeremy Gordon at Masorti Yom Limmud 2104 on Rabbi Jacobs background

Examining the reasons in the make up of Rabbi Jacobs and his early career that led to the stance he took on his religious understanding and values.

Prof. Paul Morris – Louis Jacobs’s “Heretical Sermon” on the Theology of Revelation

Prof. Paul Morris, in this lecture, comments on Louis Jacobs’s lifelong interest in heresy. He focuses particularly on Jacobs’s essay, published in a festschrift in honour of R. Seymour J. Cohen in 1991, on a series of responsa on the topic of heresy written by the late medieval Vilna rabbi Ephraim b. Jacob hakohen (see the essay here).

Prof. Morris reviews extensively the different approaches to heresy espoused by Jewish sages from the late antiquity to the modern period, which often react to contemporary heretics (such as Spinoza or, according to the mitnaggedim, R. Shlomo Zalman of Lyady) and heretical movements (most prominently in Jewish history karaism, sabbateanism, and frankism). He notes, however, that the threat of herem, or excommunication, which accompanied accusations of heresy, was rarely actualized. The speaker then reviews, using sources relating to the “Affair”, the allegations against Jacobs’s heresy and the calls for a formal excommunication issued by certain voices in Anglo-Jewry.

Finally, Prof. Morris examines a sermon entitled ‘Revelation’ delivered by Louis Jacobs at the New London Synagogue in 1964, with the view of considering its content and assessing whether it does constitute heresy or not.

Prof. Michael Fishbane – Images of God

A lecture delivered by Prof. Michael Fishbane on 10th March 2013.

Prof. Fishbane starts with a distinction, first suggested by Franz Rosenzweig, between material and formal images of the divine: the former make statements about God’s body, faculties, or actions; while the latter relate to God on a symbolic level. He then lists a number of material images of God present in the Bible, and discusses the ways in which the Sages negotiated such images in a formalistic fashion in midrashic literature. He shows that although late Antiquity Jews felt bound by the commandment against idols to interpret divine imagery figuratively, they nontheless avoided depicting the deity as absolutely transcendent. They did not hesitate to read the biblical text against the grain, in accordance with their theological orientation, in order to maintain their belief in a personal God. In their view, divine images were linguistic devices designed to educate the individual about God’s nature and actions.

The speaker then moves on to medieval Jewish authors, including Maimonides, the Ravad (Abraham b. David of Posquières), and the author of the Zohar, and their respective, conflicting approaches to the subject of anthropomorphisms and divine imagery. He concludes, finally, with Rosenzweig’s insights, turning the question on its head to discuss the modern Jew’s experience of the divine.

Dr. Miri Freud-Kandel – Is Theology a Good Jewish-ology?

A presentation by Dr. Miri Freud-Kandel from the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies at the New London Synagogue in December 2011. Dr. Freud-Kandel offers some insights on the place of theology in Judaism and its relationship to ritual and practice.

Judaism is generally seen as an organic, non-systematic religion in which ritual develops from particular historical circumstances rather than theological debate. The absence of sophsticated reflections on the divine in Jewish sources highlights the problem of theology in the Jewish context. In the modern period, Moses Mendelssohn and Samson Raphael Hirsch argued that Judaism was devoid of dogma, and should be characterized by its emphasis on ritual rather than faith. Similarly, Jewish communities around the world tend to privilege political and social concerns over principles of belief. It is worth asking, therefore, whether theology matters at all in Judaism?

Dr. Freud-Kandel explains that Louis Jacobs viewed theology as the individual’s quest to find meaning in their Judaism. Only a sound system of belief, he argued, could successfully secure the individual’s commitment to ritual and encourage the transmission of Judaism to future generations. Yet while insisting on the critical role of theology, Jacobs also recognized the impossibility to construct a definitive Jewish theology, precisely because of his emphasis on the individual. Hence the performance of ritual implies the beliefs in God, covenant, and revelation, gives these abstract concepts a means for practical implimentation. These therefore need to be discussed and refined in order to sustain Jewish practice.

A Q&A session follows the lecture.

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove – The Insoluble Contradictions in the Life and Thought of Louis Jacobs – part 1

A paper delivered by Rabbi Dr. Elliot Cosgrove at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies on Louis Jacobs’s life and thought.

Cosgrove starts by noting that most of Jacobs’s comments on the reconciliation between the authority of Scripture and critical discourse were hardly new. Numerous scholars in the Jewish world, and especially beyond (among Christian circles) in the 1950s, had addressed very similar concerns about divine revelation. What made Louis Jacobs unique was that he also claimed to be an Orthodox rabbi. He demonstrates that Jacobs’s theological outlook, while innovative and surprising in an Orthodox setting, occurred in the midst of far broader developments in the academic world in the 1950s. These included, for example, the philosophical school of logical positivism, the New Jewish theologians in the United States, or the rising popularity of Christian authors such as C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton. This background is essential, Cosgrove claims, to a proper understanding of the theology of Rabbi Jacobs.

The speaker then moves on the describe the dynamics at work in Anglo-Jewry, particularly in Manchester, during Jacobs’s childhood years. The successive waves of immigration of Eastern European Jews on the one hand, and the very palpable tendency towards acculturation on the other, shaped Louis Jacobs’s outlook during the formative years of his life. He was described early on as a remarkably gifted student by Eliyahu Dessler, his teacher in yeshivah, where Jacobs was the only native-born student. In parallel, the Zionist movement was at work in England in the 1940s, and represented an additional force at work in the Jewish landscape of the time. Louis Jacobs had a foot in all of these spheres.

Upon moving to London, Jacobs discovered yet new horizons: he took a position as assistant rabbi in Eli Munk’s synagogue, with whom he encountered the world of German neo-Orthodoxy and the Hirschian notion of torah im derekh erets, and enrolled for a doctorate at London University under Dr. Siegfried Stein, a renown German scholar, who introduced him to the critical scholarship on the history of Judaism. Yet in the later stages of his career, Jacobs moved away from the paths set by his former teachers, searching for a synthesis of his own. Finally, Cosgrove notes the influence of Dr. Alexander Altmann, also a German scholar and rabbi, whom Jacobs met in the late 1940s. Altmann also combined traditional erudition and a scholarly approach to Judaism, but in a way that did not satisfy Rabbi Jacobs.

Jacobs was exposed to very different philosophies of Judaism during his upbringing, from which he received the tools to negotiate his own religious outlook as a thinker.

Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove – The Insoluble Contradictions in the Life and Thought of Louis Jacobs – part 2

The second part of Rabbi Cosgrove’s lecture, with Q&A, at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Yarnton Manor Library Visit 6th May 2013

Cesar Merchan-Hammann, the Oxford Centre Librarian, showed visitors the Louis Jacobs exhibition and library. This was part of the open day during the Symposium based on the Thoughts of Rabbi Jacobs.

The Jacobs Affair Revisited – Part 1: Martin Aaron & Judge Kenneth Zucker

An evening of lively debate on the legacy of Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs and the impact of the Jacobs Affair at Avenue House in Finchley, organized by B’nai B’rith First Lodge on 5th October 2011, with Judge Kenneth Zucker, QC, Dr. Jonathan Wolfson, Rabbi Chaim Weiner, and Dr. Lionel Kopelowitz.

In this video, the former President of the Lodge, Martin Aaron, offers some introductory comments to the evening’s debate. Judge Zucker then offers some historical and biographical comments on the subject. His presentation covers the Affair, starting with the publication of Rabbi Jacobs’s controversial book, We Have Reason to Believe, and includes some personal comments on the missed opportunity in Anglo-Jewry to appoint an outstanding scholar and theologian at its head. He offers some remarks on the actual content of Rabbi Jacobs’s book, presenting it as an apologetic work written for a religiously committed readership, following in the vein of Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed.

The Jacobs Affair Revisited – Part 2: Dr. Lionel Kopelowitz

Part 2 of the debate on the Jacobs Affair organized by B’nai B’rith First Lodge on 5th October 2011 at Avenue House in Finchley, with Dr. Lionel Kopelowitz, former President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Dr. Kopelowitz comments on Rabbi Jacobs’s involvement in the New West End Synagogue. He mentions the doubts held by many congregants at the prospect of hiring a rabbi trained at the Gateshead yeshiva instead of Jews’ College, and then recalls the few changes that Louis Jacobs introduced to the local schedule: Mincha prayers on shabbat and a weekly shiur, the first of a kind in the United Synagogue. The topics discussed during those weekly classes formed the basis of his book We Have Reason to Believe. Rabbi Jacobs’s main weakness, according to Dr. Kopelowitz, was as a politician. He, and many of his followers, failed to understand the politics at work in Anglo-Jewry and the United Synagogue.

The Jacobs Affair Revisited – Part 3: Dr. Jonathan Wolfson

Part 3 of the debate on the Jacobs Affair organized by B’nai B’rith First Lodge on 5th October 2011 at Avenue House in Finchley, with Dr. Jonathan Wolfson, lecturer at the London School of Jewish Studies.

Dr. Wolfson reviews the Orthodox position on the doctrine of Torah min hashamayim and the various efforts made by modern and contemporary Orthodox thinkers to come to terms with the challenge of biblical criticism. He notes that Rabbi Jacobs was the first British rabbi to attempt a synthesis of academic biblical studies and Orthodoxy, first in We Have Reason to Believe and subsequently in numerous other publications.

He also offers some historical context regarding the Jacobs Affair, mentioning the dynamics at work in Anglo-Jewry in the second half of the twentieth century: the impact of the Holocaust; the tumultuous relationship between Chief Rabbi Hertz and Robert Wayley Cohen, President of the United Synagogue; the growth of the power of the Beth Din under the leadership of Dayan Ambramsky; and the appointment of Chief Rabbi Brody, whose schoalrly credentials were somewhat inferior to his predecessor’s. All these factors, Dr. Wolfson explains, combined to create a ‘perfect storm’ at the centre of which stood Louis Jacobs.

The speaker concludes by offering a more nuanced judgment on the Jacobs Affair, noting that while the United Synagogue’s behaviour towards Louis Jacobs was  condemnable, their decision not to appoint him at the head of Jews’ College and future Chief Rabbi was justifiable in light of his beliefs. He argues that it would be inappropriate for someone to hold the highest position in the community while publically holding views which diverge from the mainstream Orthodox position.

The Jacobs Affair Revisited – Part 4: Rabbi Chaim Weiner

Part 4 of the debate on the Jacobs Affair organized by B’nai B’rith First Lodge on 5th October 2011 at Avenue House in Finchley, with Rabbi Chaim Weiner, Av beth din of the European Masorti Beth Din and former rabbi of the New London Synagogue (between 2000-2005).

Rabbi Weiner comments on his personal relationship with Louis Jacobs, and uses this experience to underscore the fact that the main question Jacobs addressed was not necessarily on what to believe in, but how to establish our beliefs. He would always rely on the evidence at hand, and it is on the basis of the evidence put forward by Bible scholars that he came to question the traditional belief in Torah min hashamayim espoused by the United Synagogue. He would always let the facts guide his religious convictions.

Rabbi Weiner also offers some comments on Jacobs’s legacy. He notes that Masorti Judaism is one of the only movements experiencing growth in European Jewry. He also comments on the number of grassroots initiatives taking place in Anglo-Jewry outside the confines of established movements such as the United Synagoge, the Chief Rabbinate, or Reform, all of which were probably influenced by the Jacobs Affair. The common element between these emerging actors on the Jewish scene is their desire to transcend denominational differences and establishment politics.

Prof. Michael Fishbane 13th March 2011

Quest Winter Lecture by Dr. Ed Kessler Part 1

Quest Winter Lecture by Dr. Ed Kessler Part 2

Prof. Michael Fishbane

Variety in Modern Judaism

Rabbi Jacobs discusses the various Jewish groups which make up the contemporary world.

He begins with a discussion of the charedim. He points out that their approach to religious matters, for example dress, is uncompromising, although the term ultra-orthodox is misleading.

Turning to the orthodox he considers their interaction with and differences from the charedim. He outlines the various programmes of education in both the charedi and orthodox worlds and their ambivalence to secular learning.

Modern orthodox however have a different philosophy to both the charedim and ultra-ortodox, particularly in respect of education. Modern orthodoxy follows Samson Raphael Hirsch’s philosophy of Torah im derech eretz; Torah with worldly study. Secular learning has a value in itself, it is not just a means of preparing to earn an income. Modern orthodoxy plays an active role in Israeli life and has a positive attitude to the scientific study of Judaism.

The philosophy of Judaism as a dynamic religion, as espoused by Zecharias Frankel led to the Conservative grouping. This philosophy allows Conservative Judaism to reconcile contemporary science and social attitudes with religious belief.

Reform Judaism resulted from changes to synagogue services to make them more compatible with dominant religious norms in Germany, influenced by Christianity. Not all suggested reform innovations, such as the abolition of circumcision, were adopted.

The twentieth century saw the growth of the Liberal movement, which did not think that the innovations of Reform had gone far enough.

English Judaism as a Religious Outlook

Rabbi Louis Jacobs reflects in this video upon his past appointments, starting from his early steps as assistant Rabbi in Eli Munk’s Beit Midrash in Golders Green, and concluding with the creation of the New London synagogue and the instigation of the Masorti movement. He offers intimate descriptions of his experience in these communities, each time contemplating the religious outlook of their respective congregants and the various initiatives he undertook to further their development.

He takes the opportunity to offer some insights on what he refers to as minhag Angliya, or more simply, the traditional religious outlook of English Jews. The civility and intellectual integrity which, in his view, characterizes Anglo-Jewry, was lost over the past decades to a more haredi-influenced notion of hashkafah. Rabbi Jacobs debases this shift as ‘inauthentic’, and claims that it was with the intention of upholding the traditional religious outlook of British Jewry that he established the New London synagogue.

Finally, Louis Jacobs offers some insights on recent infighting within the English-Jewish community. He expresses certain reservations concerning the ideology professed by the Masorti movement, and in a similar vein, justifies his opposition to the Stanmore Accords, proclaiming that there is no use of holding back criticism in situations of ideological conflict.

The recording is followed by a short extract on mysticism, in which Rabbi Jacobs offers some reflections on the role of mysticism in contemporary Judaism. He puts forward his belief in the continued relevance of mystical and kabbalistic Jewish sources, each representing forms of expression of the ineffable. He debases, on the other hand, ‘Pop Kabbalah’, or the attraction to mystical excitement or ecstasy professed by a large number of individuals today (including Madonna, Barbara Streisand, or Mick Jager), arguing that such views are based on superstition, and come out as quaint.

Time and Eternity

Rabbi Jacobs reflects, in this video, on the Jewish notions of time and eternity. Faithful to his own convictions, he subjects both concepts to careful scrutiny – examining the biblical and rabbinic understandings of the terms – and draws out the implications of such considerations on a wide variety of theological motifs, including Creation and Revelation, redemption, and messianism. He does not hesitate to problematize traditional or fundamentalist conceptions of time and eternity in light of contemporary historical research, but nevertheless persists in his effort to maintain the relevance of faith in the modern era.

We Have Reason To Believe in Torah Min Hashamayim

This video made available on this site – December 2015

Lecture from 5th February 1995

This video dates from 1995 and records an open lecture at the time of the 30th anniversary of the New London Synagogue. Rabbi Jacobs starts by recalling the background which led to the publication of his controversial book We Have Reason to Believe, and its belated impact in the form of the Jacobs Affair. He then explains the purpose of the lecture: to articulate as clearly as possible his understanding of the doctrine of Torah min hashamayim, in order to refute the widespread accusation held by his opponents that he effectively repudiated the doctrine in his book.

He states from the outset that he doesn’t believe that God dictates every word of the Pentateuch to Moses, and that he does believe in Torah from Heaven.

When defining the terms of the expression Torah min hashamayim, ‘Torah from Heaven’, he notes that nowhere in the Pentateuch is the word ‘Torah’ used to refer to the five books of Moses. Such a designation, as a matter of fact, dates back to the rabbinic period. Similarly, the statement traditionally recited after the reading of the Torah in synagogue – ‘And this is the Torah which Moses placed before the children of Israel, according to the word of God and the hand of Moses’ – is a medieval amalgamation of two biblical verses, which taken separately do not convey such an idea.

Rabbi Jacobs goes on to expand on the notion of Torah in its wider sense: as referring to the whole of Jewish teaching. He develops on the relationship between the Oral and Written Torah, demonstrating that it would be impossible to live by the written word of the Pentateuch without its oral counterpart. In his own words, the Oral Torah ‘creates’ the Written Torah. The Sages therefore understood that the concept of Torah is dynamic, and for that reason, they would not necessarily have condemned the contemporary claim of composite authorship of the Bible as a negation of the doctrine of Torah min hashamayim (M. San. 10:1). The Torah, Jacobs maintains, is an ‘inspired’ work, which originates from God and was mediated through human beings.

He cites some of the scholarly evidence of composite authorship of the Torah to refute the efforts of his opponents, including Chief Rabbi Sacks, who defend the notion that the Pentateuch was revealed in its entirety to Moses on Mount Sinai. According to him, such a belief is untenable in light of biblical scholarship, including the research of Jewish intellectual giants of the modern period such as Heschel or Zunz. In that sense, he claims to formulate the views which the large majority of modern, educated Jews share. Similarly, he insists on contextualizing Maimonides’ thirteen principles of faith, arguing that they should not be taken dogmatically. He concludes, finally, by presenting the challenges which emerge from his own approach and should be addressed by his own followers.

Rabbi Jacobs addresses his audience, in this event, with passion, erudition, and humour. The lecture thus represents an excellent introduction to his theological teachings.

Variety in Traditional Judaism

Rabbi Jacobs offers some historical and religious reflections, in this video, on the variety of religious movements which compose the contemporary Jewish world since the Enlightenment. He starts with the Sephardim, noting that their communities display far greater uniformity than their Ashkenazi peers (in spite of some influence from the European Haskalah movement). He then moves on to present certain familiar hasidic groups, in order of importance in contemporary Jewish society, and offers some explanations concerning their history, their practices, and beliefs.

He starts with Habad – which he refers to as a ‘separate branch of the hasidic movement –  commenting on their dress codes, the distinct emphasis on messianism witnessed among the ranks of its adherents and surrounding its latest rebbe, and the movement’s remarkable organizational structure. Following Habad, he shifts to Satmar hasidim, with comments on the dynasty’s leadership, its staunch opposition to Zionism, and its characteristic parochialism. He subsequently offers some reflections on the Bobover, Belz, Gur, and Munkacz hasidic dynasties, each time drawing from his scholarship in order to demonstrate his familiarity with the subject.

Following his insights into hasidic movements, Rabbi Jacobs moves on to non-hasidic, ‘Litvak’ (Lithuanian) Jews, placing a particular emphasis on their unique style of learning, influenced by the leaders of the yeshivah of Volozhin, and more particularly, R. Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk. Alongside the Lithuanian scholarship produced by the students of Volozhin and Telz, he offers some comments on the musar movement, founded by R. Israel of Salanter. He notes that both phenomena – the analytical method of R. Chaim of Brisk and the musar movement – developed as barriers against parallel developments in late-19^th century Eastern Europe, and explains as a conclusion that both remain popular in Jewish learning institutions to this day.

50 Years of Inquiry: A Retrospect

Rabbi Jacobs published close to 50 books, on subjects spanning between theology and religious practice, mysticism and hasidism, and talmudic studies. In his video, he presents his bibliography, with a number of comments concerning the thesis of each work, their successive republications, and their impact on his career.

Masorti

Rabbi Jacobs shares his thoughts, in this video (shot on two separate days), on the Masorti movement in England – its history, its ideology, and its goals.

He starts his account with the establishment of the New London and New North London Synagogues, founded in the aftermath of the Jacobs Affair as traditional, English Orthodox communities, independent from the United Synagogue. Their first members adopted a liberal stance regarding matters of belief, and felt free to examine important questions regarding religious observance, including such matters as biblical criticism. A breakaway in the Reform community in Edgeware soon led to the establishment of a new synagogue which opted for the label ‘Masorti’ – to stress its conservative approach to observance while clearly remaining distinct from Orthodoxy. In time, the same name was also adopted by the New London and New North London communities, and the Assembly of Masorti Synagogues was formed.

Louis Jacobs also offers some reflections on the similarities and differences between the Conservative movement in the United States, and the Masorti movement in Israel and in England. He does not consider himself the founder of Masorti in England – indicating that the credit should go to Jaclyn Chernett and that his own contribution to the growth of the movement was not necessarily voluntary.

He goes on to define Masorti ideology as a ‘middle-of-the-way road’, involving a strong commitment to religious belief and observance, combined with a pragmatic, non-fundamentalist approach to tradition. He describes the Masorti approach to a variety of themes, including Creation and Revelation, and the ways it differs from the consensus among Orthodox affiliates. He also identifies a number of characteristics unique to the communal life and religious observance of Masorti Jews, touching on the issues of homosexuality, institutional autonomy and conformity, cross-denominational dialogue, outreach, and more. Ultimately, Rabbi Jacobs develops on his understanding of Judaism as a quest – to subject Jewish beliefs to ruthless examination, and at the same time, preserve their relevance in modern times.

Maimonides Lecture One

Rabbi Jacobs presents, in this lecture, a sketch of Maimonides’ life and thought. He starts by noting the scarcity of details available from medieval sources concerning the thinker’s family – his wives, siblings, and children – as well as his physique. The dates and details of his birth (Cordoba, April 1135) and death (December 1204), however, are well known. Maimonides belonged to a prestigious lineage of judges (dayanim) spanning nine generations. He and his family left Cordoba around the age of 13, fleeing persecution, and wondered for over a decade in southern Spain, before moving to Fez (Morocco), and finally settling in Fustat, Egypt (briefly passing through the land of Israel).There, Maimonides found a safe and vibrant intellectual environment, earning a living in jewelry trade, and after the passing of his brother, as a physician.

Rabbi Jacobs notes that Maimonides appears, in his correspondences, as a warm and erudite human being – unlike the elitist, cold portrait that appears from his theoretical works (his halakhic codes and the Guide for the Perplexed). He rose to the position of Court physician in Egypt and advised the sultan on a variety of health issues, and also occupied a prominent position in Egyptian Jewish life. Upon his passing, he was mourned by Jews and Arabs alike, and celebrated as one of the greatest thinkers of his time. His body was then taken to Tiberias, where his tomb remains to this day.

Maimonides’ most important works were his commentary on the Mishnah (1170, at the age of 35); the tremendous, systematic compilation of rabbinic law, the Mishneh Torah; and the Guide for the Perplexed. Rabbi Jacobs offers some historical comments on these works, including the controversies they brought forth concerning theology, commandments, the afterlife, and mysticism. He addresses the Aristotelian background in the Guide for the Perplexed, and also offers some valuable comments concerning their impact in medieval and modern Jewish thought.

Maimonides Lecture Two

In this video Rabbi Jacobs discusses Maimonides system of thought, his philosophy, his view of the cosmos and his attitudes to the commandments. He considers Maimonides’s supreme idea, that Judaism as God’s law has purpose and that a state of intellectual perfection is the supreme achievement.

However it is a mistake to think of Maimonides as a rationalist, in the sense that we mean it. The universe he inhabited was not our universe. For all his greatness he was limited by his picture of the geocentric universe, his own cultural environment and the fact that he lived in the Middle Ages. He could not have faced the sort of questions that we arrive at through modern science, literature and humanities. Nor could his upbringing in an Islamic milieu have enabled him to have the same social attitudes as his contemporaries in Northern Europe.

Judaism as a Developing Religion

This video features some of the reflections which made Louis Jacobs such a unique thinker in Anglo-Jewry. He tackles some of the issues which led to the original Jacobs Affair, including contemporary historical challenges to traditional Jewish beliefs. He starts by noting that the literal interpretation of the biblical account of Creation has yielded, as a result of scientific discoveries and the theory of evolution, to a more nuanced understanding of the text which celebrates the creative power of God. He goes on to advocate that Jews approach the episode of the exodus from Egypt and the revelation on Mount Sinai in a similar way. Since there is no historical evidence in favour of the biblical account, and indeed, since there are multiple inconsistencies in the text, we should strive to interpret the text in a non-literal manner. For that purpose, Rabbi Jacobs distinguishes between history on the one hand, and saga or poetry on the other. The narrative in the Bible seems to be inspired by true historical events, but records them with a special intent so as to emphasize their importance. It is not necessary, for example, to postulate that 2 million Israelites left Egypt (since that does not seem plausible, historically), to celebrate the fact that our ancestors did, quite plausibly, escape from slavery in Egypt. He also questions the historicity of the Patriarchal narrative, particularly in light of the rabbinic depiction of the patriarchs as paragons of virtue. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacobs are described in the biblical text as humble, ordinary human beings, and should inspire us as such.

Having offered these reflections on particular episodes of the Bible, he moves on to consider the issue from a more general perspective. He concedes that it is not always possible to determine what exactly is historical and what constitutes saga – and claims that the question itself is not necessarily relevant. In his view, the Torah is a Torah of Life by virtue of the human progress to which it testifies. In other words, the profound truths of Judaism did not originate from the Torah; the Torah records (in a poetic way) the truths which were brought into this world by our ancestors. It represents the result of the process by which Jewish people gained an awareness of the divine realm and established a relationship with God – or alternatively, by which God brought the people to Him – and it is for that reason that it is considered holy.

Rabbi Jacobs concludes by referring to Judaism as a ‘developing religion’, which he consciously opposes to the notion of ‘evolving religion’. The latter appellation, he claims, suggests that religion is in constant progress. Instead, he posits that the ‘Jewish spirit’ manifests itself in different ways from age to age. Hence a ‘developing religion’ develops according to the pressure of circumstances of each period. The differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews demonstrate, for example, that Judaism is subject to varying cultural influences. A historical approach proves that our practices have survived through time and space by adapting to their environments, and it is our convictions that in doing so, they will remain alive in the future.

Greatest British Jew on the Greatest British Jew

Rabbi Louis Jacobs responds, in this video, to his election as the ‘greatest British Jew’ in the Jewish Chronicle.  He describes the whole enterprise of casting a vote for such a figure as absurd and daft, and demonstrates that the notion of greatness is necessarily subjective. Indeed, the candidates each distinguished themselves in very different fields. Sir Moses Montefiore as a statesman, Hugo Gryn as a public religious figure, Harold Pinter as an artist, or Rosalind Franklin as a scientist, all deserved, in his view, to be recognized as great figures. He denies the accusation, leveled by a number of his opponents in the British-Jewish community, that he ‘engineered’ or benefited from the result of the vote. The entire issue, which blew up into a second Louis Jacobs Affair, caused him embarrassment. He concludes by noting that such controversies, at least, prevent Anglo-Jewry from becoming stagnant. While he does not take issue with people disagreeing on the matter of the vote, he insists that such arguments should take place with respect, honesty, and integrity.

Britain’s Greatest Jew Q & A

In 2005, The Jewish Chronicle readers voted Louis Jacobs as the ‘greatest British Jew’. The vote proved a clear indication of Jacobs’s popularity and influence in the British-Jewish community, and provided the Friends with the opportunity to celebrate his legacy with this Q&A. Reuven Hammer hosted the event, putting forward ten questions from the audience, which Rabbi Jacobs promptly answered. The exchanged touched upon a wide variety of subjects, including inter alia his views on theology and biblical scholarship, conversions, the agunah (chained women) issue, women in religious leadership roles, divisions in Anglo-Jewry, and antisemitism. Louis Jacobs’s responses blended, as always, erudition and humour, and often included some personal anecdotes from his childhood in Manchester, his years in yeshivah, or his experience as pulpit rabbi, scholar, and educator. This event represented an intimate exchange between the rabbi and his admirers.

Koppel Kahanah

In this video, Rabbi Jacobs reflects on his long-standing friendship with and admiration for a teacher and colleague of his, R. Koppel Kahanah. He describes R. Kahanah as a colourful and very influential rabbi, once well-known in the Anglo-Jewish community, but now remembered only be his few disciples. Kahanah came to England from Lithuania just before the outbreak of the Second World War (his wife and daughter, who could not at the time join him in England, perished in the Holocaust). He had studied in the yeshivah of the Chafetz Chaim, and in time made use of his remarkable, photographic memory to acquire an impressive, in-depth knowledge of the Talmud. Upon arriving in England, he lived for some time in Manchester, where Rabbi Jacobs was first acquainted with him. He then moved to Cambridge, where he studied for an MA in law, and befriended Professor David Daube. He eventually settled in London, and was granted an important position at Jews’ College, at a time when the institution was transitioning from ministerial college to rabbinical seminary (granting traditional semicha – or rabbinic ordination – to its graduates).

Rabbi Jacobs offers numerous anecdotes, covering the entire breadth of Rabbi Kahanah’s life. He paints an intimate portrait of the man, full of admiration and humour.

The Position of Women

Louis Jacobs answers a number of important questions, in this video, relating to the status of women in Judaism. Can women be ordained as rabbis or cantors in synagogues? Can they be counted in a minyan? Can they read the Torah, or receive an aliyah? Can they wear tefilin or tsitsit?

He discusses each of these questions independently, combining halakhic and historical arguments. The video therefore offers an accessible insight into the Jewish legal sources which relate to the topics under consideration, and the complex process of halakhic decision-making which leads a rabbi to posit on an issue. Rabbi Jacobs also reveals some fascinating facts regarding the status of women in Temple or Talmudic times. As always, he tackles the challenges with great integrity. On some issues, he demonstrates that there is little room in halakha for change (for women reciting the priestly blessing, for example). In relation to some other questions, such as whether women could become rabbis or cantors, he reveals that there is no prohibition involved, but that each community should act independently, according to the will of its members.

Ages of Sages

Rabbi Jacobs discusses the significance of the Ten Commandments in Jewish thought. He questions the assumption that they sit at the heart of revelation. How do we understand the two versions of the Ten Commandments? Rabbinic tradition presents a range of views. Equally, there are different ways of understanding them today.

Historically, the role of the Ten Commandments played a greater or lesser role in Jewish life, depending upon external circumstances.

Rabbi Jacobs discusses the relation of the Ten Commandments to the other biblical injunctions, which traditionally number 613 and their role as symbols of Jewish loyalty. The Ten Commandments both need to be amplified, and to understood in their simplicity. Despite changing social mores we continue to believe in the Ten Commandments as the best guide for society.

10 Commandments

Rabbi Jacobs discusses the significance of the Ten Commandments in Jewish thought. He questions the assumption that they sit at the heart of revelation. How do we understand the two versions of the Ten Commandments? Rabbinic tradition presents a range of views. Equally, there are different ways of understanding them today.

Historically, the role of the Ten Commandments played a greater or lesser role in Jewish life, depending upon external circumstances.

Rabbi Jacobs discusses the relation of the Ten Commandments to the other biblical injunctions, which traditionally number 613 and their role as symbols of Jewish loyalty. The Ten Commandments both need to be amplified, and to understood in their simplicity. Despite changing social mores we continue to believe in the Ten Commandments as the best guide for society.

Two Concepts of Learning

This was the lecture Louis Jacobs was supposed to give to celebrate the move of his library to the Oxford Centre. Due to his illness he was unable to deliver the talk but this video covers much of his intended lecture and was taken just a few days before his death.

Jewish learning today is quite unlike anything in the past. The contemporary extent and support for Jewish learning would have been inconceivable in the past.

There are two attitudes to Jewish learning which differ profoundly. The yeshiva and academic worlds are far apart from each other. Rabbi Jacobs outlines and compares the structure and pattern of learning in each. One is religious-dogmatic, the other academic-historical. He explains what he means by these terms.

Thinkers 1

Rabbi Jacobs offer his person reflections on three leading Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century.

He begins by recounting a public exchange he had with Emmanuel Levinas at a symposium they both attended. Their dispute was about religious tolerance in the pre-modern age and the application of the Talmud to modern philosophy. He then turns to consider traditional doctrines of human and saintly behaviour and their place in Levinas’s philosophy.

Rabbi Jacobs highlights the difficulties that he personally found in Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik’s method, which he feels is hard reconcile with a historical-critical approach. He takes issue with an underlying premise of Rav Soloveitchik’s keynote publication, Halachic Man, illustrating his concerns by pointing out what he considers to be a revealing error.

Finally Rabbi Jacobs turns to Rav A.I. Kook, the first chief rabbi of Palestine. Educated at the highly esteemed but narrowly focused yeshiva at Volozhin, Rav Kook wanted to broaden his outlook. He learnt English, studied Rembrandt’s pictures, in which he saw kabbalistic allusions, and embraced modern technology. Rabbi Jacobs considers various aspect of Rav Kook’s thought, particularly his harmonising of the Genesis account of creation with kabbalistic theory and the reasons behind his tolerant attitude to those who did not observe religion, before discussing the dispute with Chief Rabbi Hertz over Rav Kook’s award of semicha to conscientious objectors during World War 1.

Thinkers 2

Rabbi Jacobs begins by discussing AJ Heschel. He first considers his formative influences, which included his hasidic childhood, the Baal Shem Tov, the writings of the Kotsker rebbe and German secular culture. Peppered as always with anecdotes, personal recollections and quotations from his prodigious memory, Rabbi Jacobs then offers insights into Heschel’s personality and behaviour before outlining his view of Hasidism, its relevance to the modern world and his mystical theology. He closes with further recollections of AJ Heschel’s life.

Rabbi Jacobs then turns to the Rogochover rebbe, one of the outstanding geniuses of the modern world, but less well known outside academic and rabbinic circles. A brilliant scholar of independent mind, the Rogochover would revise the entire Talmud once a month, concentrating on the earlier sources, particularly Maimonides. He was disdainful of later commentators and halachists, neglected the tosefos and rarely considered other authorities. Speaking, as always, without notes, Rabbi Jacobs recounts stories he heard from acquaintances who knew the Rogochover, with a vividity, clarity and humour that almost brings this astonishing character directly into our living rooms.

The Elliot Cosgrove Interview

On a visit to London, Rabbi Dr Elliot Cosgrove of the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York took the opportunity to interview Rabbi Jacobs. They first discuss the influences on Rabbi Jacobs’s thought, particularly the differences between his yeshiva and university experiences and his teachers. Rabbi Cosgrove then asks Rabbi Jacobs how he would characterise his intellectual legacy, and how he may have changed over the years.

Rabbi Cosgrove then asks Rabbi Jacobs how to reconcile a sense of being commanded with an intellectual approach to Judaism. Rabbi Jacobs responds that one cannot master the Talmud unless one believes in it. Yet not everything in the tradition is valuable.

Other questions include whether he has seen a change in theological issues during his career, inter-faith dialogue, the challenges of Jewish life today, surprisingly liberal views in the charedi world and the points in his career of which Rabbi Jacobs is most proud.

The video ends with a short discussion between Rabbi Jacobs and Rabbi Cosgrove on the architecture of the New London Synagogue which was originally built with the bimah in the middle.

Lubavitch

This is a talk given by Rabbi Jacobs after he had retired from his role as the rabbi of the New London Synagogue, when he felt more able to express his personal views more freely. Taking his cue from a controversy in the United Synagogue over the appointment of a Lubavitch rabbi to a communal pulpit, Rabbi Jacobs gives his views on the movement as a whole and their role in Anglo Jewry. He considers the reasons for the movement’s success. He suggests that their popularity reflects an element of decadence in the rejection of post enlightenment intellectualism and secular modernity.

Library

Goral – Lottery

This video is based on a book of Rabbi Jacobs’s jottings. Here he discusses the use of the Bible for semi-magical purposes, known as bibliomancy, and particularly the Lottery of the Vilna Gaon.

The technique involves turning seven pages of the bible and reading the seventh line. It is similar to a seventeenth century Anglo Protestant practice. The number seven represents the meeting of the divine guidance with the holy book, seven being the sacred number.

Rabbi Jacobs surmises that the technique is named after the Vilna Gaon because he challenges Maimonides’s rejection of superstition. Rabbi Jacobs gives some examples, some of which at least are anecdotal, in which this technique was used. He expresses surprise that this superstitious technique was so popular amongst the rational Lithuanian communities.

Rabbi Jacobs then returns to his book of Jottings and explains why he decided to write it.

Favourite Books, Authors & Writing

Rabbi Jacobs first discusses one book in each of his three specialist fields of theology, mysticism, and Talmud.

His choice for theology is Maimonides’s Guide to the Perplexed. However, Rabbi Jacobs owns up to the fact that he is not overly keen on Maimonides, largely because his medieval views are rooted in Greek philosophy. He also finds some of his views, for example on eternity and women, unattractive.

His classic for the mysticism is the Zohar which he finds attractive, particularly the legends of Shimon bar Yohai. He accepts that it might be odd for someone who adheres to rational Judaism to be interested in the non-rational Zohar.

He is unable to name a favourite book on the Talmud, nothing which has been produced has been terribly satisfactory. He would have welcomed a single guide to the Talmud.

Rabbi Jacobs turns to his favourite secular authors. He prefers Edwardian authors, particularly Shaw, Chesterton and HG Wells despite their apparent superficiality. He deals with the question of Chesterton’s perceived anti-Semitism, but believed he had a genius for dealing with religious ideas.

Rabbi Jacobs then reveals which book he would take to a desert island and finally discusses his own experiences of being an author.

Brit and Pidyon Haben – Louis Jacobs

In this video, Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs discusses the two ceremonies associated with the birth of a baby boy; the circumcision and the redemption ceremony of a first born son.

Drawing, as ever, on his extensive command of sources and stories, he explores the rationale behind the circumcision ritual and its details. He discusses Maimonides’s answers to the obvious question, why did God create men with foreskins if they are to be removed?

He considers the proof from the Torah, cited in the Talmud, that women are not obligated to circumcise their sons, and introduces the query of the Tosefot, who ask why we need a biblical verse when it is clear that circumcision is a time bound, positive commandment, for which women are not obligated. R. Hayyim Soloveichik’s response to Tosefot’s question seems forced, but maybe, Rabbi Jacobs suggests, it was badly phrased.

Having touched on the laws of circumcision he looks at the ceremony and the role of the various participants, before discussing the question of hygiene, first raised by 19th century doctors, and the modification of contemporary practice.

Rabbi Jacobs turns to the symbolism of the pidyan haben ceremony. Although it takes place following the birth of a boy, it is a celebration dedicated to the mother, since it is her first born who is redeemed and not necessarily that of the father.

Finally Rabbi Jacobs discusses the conventions and traditions associated with naming the baby. As always his talk is peppered with anecdotes and personal recollections, making this video entertaining as well as educational.

Book Launch

At the New London Synagogue the latest of the books written by Rabbi Jacobs.

Symposium Part 1

Symposium Part 2

Opening Symposium in Oxford Part 1

This video starts with Dr. Miri-Freud Kandel’s remarks on the exciting programme ahead, followed by Dr Cesar Merchan Hamann’s opening of the Louis Jacobs Exhibition. The next two videos are of Dr. Weiss-Halivni lecture, held at Oxford following the opening remarks on January 23rd 2013

Rabbi Weiss Halivni speaks asks “Is the Critical Method Compatible with Orthodoxy?”

This lecture as part of the Oxford Symposium took place in Oxford on 23rd January 2013.

Dr. David Weiss Halvini – Part 3

Oxford Centre Seminar – The Influence of the Holocaust on the Thoughts of Louis Jacobs

A lecture by Miri-Freud Kandel.

Oxford Centre Seminar – The Influence of the Holocaust on the Thoughts of Louis Jacobs – Q and A

A lecture by Miri-Freud Kandel.

Panel Discussion May 6th 2013 at Yarnton Manor – The State of Contemporary Orthodoxy

Miri Freud_Kandel chairs this panel discussion entitled – What is the Relationship between Academic Scholarship on Orthodox Judaism. On the panel are Prof. Tamar Ross, Prof Larry Kaplin and Dr Adam Hertziger.

Panel Discussion May 6th 2013 at Yarnton Manor – The State of Contemporary Orthodoxy. Second video

Concluding the discussion with the final two minutes!

Prof Arye Edrei – Halachic Debate in Israel

Rabbi Daniel Sperber Speaks at South Hampstead Synagogue – First Video

On 27th Jan 2013 Rabbi Sperber spoke on “Traditional Continuity and Innovation – Opposing Halachic Concerns” as the first of the public forum lectures as part of the Symposium on Orthodox Judaism held at The Oxford Centre.

Rabbi Daniel Sperber Speaks at South Hampstead Synagogue – Second Video

The lecture was unfortunately halted due to a member of the audience being unwell. Hence this second video.

Prof. Tamar Ross on The Impact of Feminism on Orthodox Theology

Professor Tamar Ross speaks at South Hampstead Synagogue on May 23rd 2013. Her talk was part of a two lecture evening. The first by Prof James Kugel is contained on another video. Please also view the joint Q and A session. The sessions were chaired by Dr. Miri Freud-Kandel.

Prof. James Kugel – Jews and Bible Scholarship – an Unhappy Marriage?

Held at South Hampstead Synagogue on May 26th 2013 Prof Kugel gave this lecture in the series of community lectures in conjunction with Friends of LouisJacobs.org and The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

Tamar Ross and James Kugel – Q and A following their talks on 26th May 2013