SHULA JACOBS,
NEW and BRILLIANT Upload!Originally delivered as a session at Limmud Conference 2007. As I write it’s almost a year since Rabbi Jacobs died. I miss phoning him with my questions on halakhah, philosophy and theology. I miss his teaching, his humour and his anecdotes about ... Continue Reading ➨
The Philosophy of Conservative Judaism
Originally published in New London Forum: Journal of the New London Synagogue, 1:1 (April 1983). Conservative Judaism, as a movement, arose in the U.S.A. but now has followers in other parts of the world, some of whom, while accepting more or less ... Continue Reading ➨
Hagbahah and Gelilah
Originally published in New London News: Journal of the New London Synagogue, 2:9 (September 1971), pp. 1-2. Hagbahah (“lifting”) is the name given to the rite of elevating the Sefer Torah. The Talmud understands the rite to be a symbolical ... Continue Reading ➨
‘A Very British Jew’ – Elliot Cosgrove
Originally published in Jewish Quarterly, Autumn 2006, pp. 23-5. A VERY BRITISH JEW Elliot Cosgrove assesses the lifetime achievement of Rabbi Louis Jacobs. Over a lifetime of achievement, Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs juggled the multiple profiles of ... Continue Reading ➨
Alexander Altmann, ‘Studies in Religious Philosophy and Mysticism’
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 1 August 1969, p. 19. Studies in Religious Philosophy and Mysticism. By A. Altmann. Routledge & Kegan Paul. £3. The many friends and admirers of Dr Altmann in this country will welcome this ... 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 ➨
Health law and medical ethics
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle. Date unknown: The members of a certain religious sect refuse to have blood transfusions. As a fundamental tenet of their creed, they maintain that, according to the Bible, blood should not be taken. ... Continue Reading ➨
World religions and interfaith
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle. Date unknown: Is there any objection to the symbol of the cross in artwork? I know of one Jewish school in which a master was advised to cover or remove any crosses which appeared in pictures of an ... 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 ➨
Bemidbar
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle. A non-Jewish author once wrote that, while a good deal of the Bible was an exciting read, of much relevance to him, he failed to see any value in the opening chapters of the Book of Numbers. These ... Continue Reading ➨
Obituary of Menahem Mendel Schneerson
Originally published 13th June 1994. Some words were cut off from the paper scan. Gone the way of all the earth Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, who had died aged 92, was the spiritual head or Rebbe of the Brooklyn-based Lubavitch movement in ... Continue Reading ➨
Lubavitch Messianism – The Traditional and the New
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, June 1994. Messianism: the traditional and the new With the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of blessed memory, a considerable number of whose followers believed that he would reveal himself as the ... Continue Reading ➨
Aaron M. Schreiber, ‘Jewish Law and Decision-Making: A Study Through Time’
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 9 January 1981. Jewish Law and Decision-Making: A Study through Time. By Aaron M. Schreiber. Temple University Press, Philadelphia. $29.50. The main thesis of this stimulating book (consisting ... Continue Reading ➨
Simchah Raz, ‘A Tzaddik in Our Time: The Life of Aryeh Levin’
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle. A Tzaddik In Our Time: The Life of Aryeh Levin. By Simchah Raz. Translated from the Hebrew, revised and expanded by Charles Wengrov. Feldheim, Jerusalem-New York. $12.50. Rabbi Aryeh Levin, the hero ... 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 ➨
A Few Thoughts on Maimonides
Originally published in The New London Forum: Journal of the New London Synagogue, 3:2 (June 1985). Maimonides or the Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) was born in Cordova, Spain, eight hundred and fifty years ago. He is undoubtedly the most ... Continue Reading ➨
Jewish Life in Harvard
Originally published in The New London Forum: Journal of the New London Synagogue, 3:3 (November 1985). Jewish life in Cambridge, Massachusetts, centres on the Harvey-Radcliffe Hillel, which it is no American over-statement to describe as a ... Continue Reading ➨
Herut, Freedom
Sermon probably delivered in the late 1950s. “And if the Holy One, Blessed be He, had not brought us out of Egypt, then we and our sons and our sons’ sons would still be slaves in Egypt.” The best way of truly describing a thing is to point out ... Continue Reading ➨
An ancient affair that never really ended – JC column by Chaim Bermant
Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 31 December 1993, p. 19. Does anyone remember the Jacobs Affair? If people have forgotten, they are likely to be reminded in the coming months. The affair erupted in 1962, when Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs ... Continue Reading ➨
Faith and Reason: A Modern View
Originally published in Jewish Heritage, Spring 1963. True faith remains unshakable even under the scrutiny of reason. The Jewish tradition is great enough to provide room for many differing interpretations. It was Bahya ibn Pakuda 800 years ... Continue Reading ➨