SHULA JACOBS,
NEW and BRILLIANT Upload!Originally published in Masorti Matters, Summer 1998. 40 years ago William Frankel published Rabbi Louis Jacobs’ most controversial work. It led to The Jacobs Affair and gave birth to the Masorti movement in Britain. In 1954 Rabbi Louis Jacobs ... Continue Reading ➨
Judaism and Self-Expression
Originally published in Giffnock Synagogue Bulletin and in Western Wall, September 1954. The cult of self-expression is one of the most popular in modern times. In its name people have been known to commit the most ridiculous excesses and to have ... Continue Reading ➨
Yitro – The Chosen People
Few of the doctrines of Judaism have been so misunderstood as that of the Chosen People. Shaw, who compared the idea to the Herrenvolk notion of the Nazis; Wells, who considered it an impediment to world unity; the poet who wrote “How odd of God to ... Continue Reading ➨
The New London Synagogue – Platform or Movement?
Originally published in New London Forum: Journal of the New London Synagogue 2:2 (April 1984). Right from the beginning, when the New London Synagogue was founded as an independent congregation, some of its supporters looked forward to, and some ... Continue Reading ➨
Passover – Sons and mystics
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle - Passover Supplement. The more usual sacred or mystical numbers are three, seven and ten. The number four, too, has profound psychological and hence mystical associations. The mind of primitive man ... Continue Reading ➨
The Historical Books of the Bible
A summary of two lectures given by Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs, originally published in Jewish Woman's Review, April/May 1955. The third and fourth lectures in the Bible Course on “The Historical Books of the Bible” organized by the F.W.Z. Education ... Continue Reading ➨
Naso – Giving graciously
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 3rd June 1955. His offering was one silver dish . . . (Num. vii, 13, 25, 31f.) When the lengthy, tedious account of the gifts that the princes brought at the dedication of the Sanctuary is read in ... Continue Reading ➨
Mezuzot and other mitzvot
Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle Supplement, 8 October 1982. Given the importance of home life in Judaism it is not surprising to find there are special laws and ceremonies to be observed by those moving into a new home. In ... Continue Reading ➨
Vayetse – Jacob’s Ladder
Originally published in the Jewish Gazette, Friday 26th November 1971. It is easy to understand why the story of Jacob’s dream should have exercised such a permanent fascination over the hearts of men and why it still does. What could be more ... Continue Reading ➨
Why Masorti marriages are valid
Originally published in November 1995. After a number of unhelpful and ambiguous statements by the Chief Rabbi’s office regarding the validity of marriages and conversions carried out under the aegis of Masorti synagogues, there is still much ... Continue Reading ➨
The Laws of Pesach
A talk by Rabbi Dr. Louis Jacobs on 23rd March 1983 summarised by Michael Rose. Many Jews who are not particularly observant all the year round feel that Pesach is the one time when they should be strict; hence the need for a talk on this vast and ... Continue Reading ➨
Never Again…
Originally published in the Jewish Gazette, Friday 12 October 1973, during the Yom Kippur War. Most of us were at prayer in the synagogue when the news began to filter through that a cowardly advantage had been taken of the advent of Yom Kippur to ... Continue Reading ➨
Vayera – At Home and Abroad
And the Lord appeared unto him . . . as he sat in the tent door . . . (Gen. xviii, 1). Men have sought God in many different ways. Some have sought Him in the desert, the hermitage, the monastery, in religious exercises, in contemplation, in deep ... Continue Reading ➨
Message for the Inter Universities Jewish Federation
Originally published in Babel, the magazine of the Inter Universities Jewish Federation (IUJF) in the late 1940s. FROM THE PRESIDENT Dr. Louis Jacobs Preachers, even former preachers, like the early Talmudists, have a weakness for mnemonics. ... Continue Reading ➨
Emor – Tradition and Progress
And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor fresh ears, until this selfsame day, until ye have brought the offering of your God; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings (Leviticus xxiii, 14). In Temple ... Continue Reading ➨
Shavuot – Experience and Truth
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 8 June 1962. Jewish teaching loves to dwell on the “we will do and we will hear” theme. When God came to give the Torah to His people Israel did not ask “What is written therein?” before accepting, but ... Continue Reading ➨
Ritual and the Seder
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 20 April 1962. The fascination exercised by the Seder nights is universal. Even Jews whose attachment to other observance is lukewarm continue to observe the Seder rites in all their detail, and those ... Continue Reading ➨
The New Centre and the Future of our Synagogue
Originally published in Venture 2.2 (November 1957), pp. 8-10. The great day has arrived. The enthusiasm of a few men of vision has been infectious. Thanks to the devoted efforts and generous donations of public spirited congregants the foundation ... Continue Reading ➨
Jewish Law in the Modern World – An Orthodox View
Originally published in Jewish Monthly 5:1 (1951), pp. 7-17. In approaching any apparent or real conflict between Jewish Law and the modern world Orthodoxy can, of course, take the stand that its laws, being of divine origin, and their development ... Continue Reading ➨
Fred Morgan – Heart and Head
Originally published in The Expository Times 104:3 (December 1992). Of the two books under review, Chaim Nussbaum’s Semblance and Reality: Messianism in Biblical Perspective (Ktav [1991], $16.95, pp. 156. ISBN 0-88125-385-5) and Louis Jacob’s ... Continue Reading ➨