Continuing the QUEST

The Louis Jacobs Foundation – Development and Appeal 15th September 2024

Reflections for the Days of Awe Edited by Adam Zagoria-Moffet and Simon Eder as well as securing funds for much of the coming year.

The We Have Reason to Believe – Sessions 1-11

A Retrospect of the “Jacobs Affair”. Introduction: What is Meant by God

Why the Bible Began

A conversation between Professor Jacob Wright and Simon Eder in July 2024.

Cambridge University Press Professor Wright’s new book. We were delighted to welcome him to introduce us to his important work that he wrote, as professor of Hebrew Bible at Candler School of Theology – Emory University, USA

Launch of stories of New North London Synagogue

Held at the New North London Synagogue in November 2023. In the chair, Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, interviewing, authors, Elaine Grazin and Ivor Jacobs, Ronnie, Cohen, founder member, Bruce Regal, Chair, and Nicki Tiefenbrunem, Synagogue CEO.

November 2023 Launch of Louis Jacobs & The Quest for a Contemporary Jewish Theology

Introduced by Ivor Jacobs, Miri Freud-Kandell is interviewed by Rabbi Adam Zegaria-Moffet at this very successful event held at Bigwood Hall, London.

Continuing the Quest, with Ben Winton Fromson – Lectures 1-6

Do We Have Reason To Believe in God – A series of online lectures during the Covid period.
With Ben Fromson

Being Jewish Today

Event took place 15th December 2019 Simon Eder Interviews Rabbi Tony Bayfield  Q&A 

Rabbi Francis Nataf and Rabbi Chaim Weiner

Event took place 7th November 2019 

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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. To mark this anniversary two outstanding thinkers of the Jewish world today held a public discussion on what has changed in Orthodoxy’s approach to revelation since Jacobs’ landmark publication. They also discussed the extent to which these changes can… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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,… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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… Continue Reading ➨

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