Due to several requests we are extending this series of audios featuring Rabbi Jacobs, from 2005 recordings. All are also avaialable with video by visiting www.booksof.louisjacobs.org. A free months subscription is available.

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.

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. 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.

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.

Recorded in 2005 Rabbi Jacobs reflects, in this Audio, 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 problematise 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.xn

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.

Comments greatly welcome please via www.louisjacobs.org

PLEAST NOTE THIS VIDEO CONTAINS AN ADDITIONAL SHORT SECTION- A few seconds silence is in between each, so please dont switch off until the music plays.

Replacing this weeks Sedra podcast, we share a recording from Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs z"l "Teaching Videos" Recorded in 2005 by Ivor Jacobs, as part of a series of videos on the Foundations web sites.

Professor Dershowitz discusses the nature of guilt in the Torah’s restitution laws and also the laws concerning Sotah.

Professor Idan Dershowitz completed his undergraduate and graduate training at the Hebrew University, following several years of study at Yeshivat Har Etzion. In 2017, he was elected to the Harvard Society of Fellows. Dershowitz is currently Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Its Exegesis at the University of Potsdam. He is the author of two books: The Dismembered Bible: Cutting and Pasting Scripture in Antiquity and The Valediction of Moses: A Proto-Biblical Book. Senior Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and ancient Judaism in Monash University.

Rabbi Andy Shugerman is a multifaceted Jewish educator and development professional currently serving as the inaugural Development Director at Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this role, he focuses on enhancing the synagogue’s fundraising initiatives and community engagement.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Rabbi Shugerman earned a Bachelor’s degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, where he was a Schiff Undergraduate Fellow. He furthered his studies at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and worked for the Masorti/Conservative Movement in Israel. Rabbi Shugerman received rabbinic ordination and a Master’s degree in Jewish Education from The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 2009 .

Before joining Beth Shalom, Rabbi Shugerman held several significant positions within the Jewish community. He served as the Executive Director of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC) and as the lead professional for Men of Reform Judaism (MRJ). Additionally, he worked as a development consultant and teacher at The Jewish Theological Seminary.