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Louis Jacobs
Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer, Jewish theologian, and rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as the "Jacobs Affair" in the British Jewish community. Early career Jacobs was born in Manchester on 17 July 1920. He studied at Manchester Yeshiva, and later at the kolel in Gateshead. His teachers included leading Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler. Jacobs was ordained as a rabbi at Manchester Yeshiva. Later in his career, he studied at University College London where he gained his PhD on the topic of ''The Business Life of the Jews in Babylon, 200–500 CE''. Jacobs was appointed rabbi at Manchester Central Synagogue in 1948. In 1954, he was appointed to the New West End Synagogue in London. Jacobs became Moral Tutor at Jews' College, London, where he taught Talmud and homiletics during the last years of Rabbi Dr Isidore Epstein's tenure as principal. By this time, Jacobs had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New London Synagogue
New London Synagogue is a Masorti Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in St John's Wood, in the City of Westminster, London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation was founded in 1964 by followers of Rabbi Dr Louis Jacobs, following the "Jacobs Affair" in which Rabbi Jacobs was refused employment in the United Synagogue due to alleged heresy. It is the founding synagogue of the Masorti movement in the United Kingdom, which was established in 1985. Its congregation is made up of approximately 500 households and worships in the Ashkenazi rite. The current rabbinic leaders are Rabbi Jeremy Gordon and Rabbi Natasha Mann. History Rabbi Louis Jacobs was an Orthodox pulpit rabbi at New West End Synagogue, when he was offered an appointment as Principal of Jews' College in 1961. However, the then Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Israel Brodie, interdicted the appointment "because of his acobs'spublished views". This was a reference to ''We Have Reason to Belie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semikhah
''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Since then, ''semikhah'' has continued in a less formal way; throughout Jewish history, there have been several attempts to reestablish the classical ''semikhah''. The title of "rabbi" has "proliferated greatly over the last century". Nowadays, ''semikhah'' is also granted for a comparatively limited form of ordination, bestowing the authority to apply ''Halakha'' in specific Jewish settings rather than across the Jewish people writ large. In non- Orthodox Jewish religious movements, rabbinical education often emphasizes the modern roles of rabbis, such as preaching, teaching, counseling, and pastoral work. In recent times, relatedly, some institutions grant ordination for the role of ''hazzan'' (cantor), extending the "investiture" grante ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jews As The Chosen People
In Judaism, the concept of Jews as the chosen people ( ''hāʿām hanīvḥar'') is the belief that the Jewish people, via the Mosaic and Abrahamic covenants, are selected to be in a covenant with God. Israelites being properly the chosen people of God is found directly in the Book of Deuteronomy 7:6 as the verb ''baḥar'' (בָּחַר), and is alluded to elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible using other terms such as "holy people" as ''goy'' or gentile, Book of Exodus 19:6. Much is written about these topics in rabbinic literature. The three largest Jewish denominations— Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism—maintain the belief that Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose. Sometimes this choice is seen by believers as charging the Jewish people with a specific mission—to be a light unto the nations, and to exemplify the covenant with God as described in the Torah. Isaiah and Jeremiah viewed God's loving choice of Israel as a means to teaching mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afterlife
The afterlife or life after death is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's Stream of consciousness (psychology), stream of consciousness or Personal identity, identity continues to exist after the death of their physical body. The surviving essential aspect varies between belief systems; it may be some partial element, or the entire soul or spirit, which carries with it one's personal identity. In some views, this continued existence takes place in a Supernatural, spiritual realm, while in others, the individual may be reborn into World#Religion, this world and begin the life cycle over again in a process referred to as reincarnation, likely with no memory of what they have done in the past. In this latter view, such rebirths and deaths may take place over and over again continuously until the individual gains entry to a spiritual realm or otherworld. Major views on the afterlife derive from religion, Western esotericism, esotericism, and metaphy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Existence Of God
The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and theology. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God (with the same or similar arguments also generally being used when talking about the existence of multiple deities) can be categorized as logical, Empirical research, empirical, Metaphysics, metaphysical, Subjectivity, subjective, or Science, scientific. In Philosophy, philosophical terms, the question of the existence of God involves the disciplines of epistemology (the nature and scope of knowledge) and ontology (study of the nature of being or existence) and the Value theory, theory of value (since some definitions of God include perfection). The Western philosophy, Western tradition of philosophical discussion of the existence of God began with Plato and Aristotle, who made arguments for the existence of a being responsible for fashioning the universe, referred to as the demiurge or the unmoved mover, that today would be c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Documentary Hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Book of Genesis, Genesis, Book of Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Book of Numbers, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). A version of the documentary hypothesis, frequently identified with the German scholar Julius Wellhausen, was almost universally accepted for most of the 20th century. It posited that the Pentateuch is a compilation of four originally independent documents: the Jahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly source, Priestly sources, frequently referred to by their initials.hence the alternative name ''JEDP'' for the documentary hypothesis The first of these, J, was dated to the Solomon, Solomonic period (c. 950 BCE). E was dated somewhat later, in the 9th century BCE, and D was dated just before the reign of Josiah, King Josiah, in the 7th or 8th century BCE. Finally, P was generally dated to the tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Higher Criticism
Historical criticism (also known as the historical-critical method (HCM) or higher criticism, in contrast to lower criticism or textual criticism) is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts to understand "the world behind the text" and emphasizes a process that "delays any assessment of scripture's truth and relevance until after the act of interpretation has been carried out". While often discussed in terms of ancient Jewish, Christian, and increasingly Islamic writings, historical criticism has also been applied to other religious and secular writings from various parts of the world and periods of history. The historian applying historical criticism has several goals in mind. One is to understand what the text itself is saying in the context of its own time and place, and as it would have been intended to and received by its original audience (sometimes called the ''sensus literalis sive historicus'', i.e. the "historical sense" or the "intended se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Judaism, God on Mount Sinai (Bible), Mount Sinai and faithfully transmitted ever since. Orthodox Judaism therefore advocates a strict observance of Jewish Law, or ''halakha'', which is to be Posek, interpreted and determined only according to traditional methods and in adherence to the continuum of received precedent through the ages. It regards the entire ''halakhic'' system as ultimately grounded in immutable revelation, essentially beyond external and historical influence. More than any theoretical issue, obeying the Kosher, dietary, Tumah and taharah, purity, ethical and other laws of ''halakha'' is the hallmark of Orthodoxy. Practicing members are easily distinguishable by their lifestyle, refraining from doing 39 Melakhot, numerous rou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isidore Epstein
Ezekiel Isidore Epstein (; –) was an English Orthodox rabbi, Jewish studies scholar, and Jewish educator. Epstein edited the first complete English translation of the Babylonian Talmud (the ''Soncino Talmud''), served as the headmaster of Jews' College, London, and was the author of ''The Faith of Judaism'', a work of 20th-century Jewish philosophy. He was also the author of numerous scholarly and popular books on Judaism. Biography Epstein was born in Kovno, Lithuania, on 7 May 1893. His father was David Epstein, a bootmaker, and his mother was Malka Epstein. Both parents were Orthodox Jews. The family moved to Paris, France, when Epstein was very young, and, in 1903, moved again to London. There, he attended Old Castle Street School and Raine's Foundation School. At the age of fifteen, he studied Talmud at Great Garden Street's ''beit midrash''. Due to the quality of his work, he was sent to study at the Pressburg Yeshiva under Rabbi Akiva Sofer. (He had also studied i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homiletics
In religious studies, homiletics ( ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or studies homiletics may be called a ''homilist'', or more simply, a ''preacher''. Explanation Homiletics, the art of preaching, studies both the composition and the delivery of religious discourses. It includes all forms of preaching, including sermons, homilies and catechetical instruction. Homiletics may be further defined as the study of the analysis, classification, preparation, composition, and delivery of sermons. The formation of the Lyman Beecher course at Yale University resulted in an increased emphasis on homiletics. The published volumes of this series include information regarding the history and practice of the discipline. Branch of pastoral theology The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' defines homiletics as "that branch of rhetoric that treats of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish culture, Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The Talmud includes the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including halakha, Jewish ethics, Jewish philosophy, philosophy, Jewish customs, customs, Jewish history, history, and Jewish folklore, folklore, and many other topics. The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishnah. This text is made up of 63 Masekhet, tractates, each covering one subject area. The language of the Talmud is Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. Talmudic tradition emerged and was compiled between the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Arab conquest in the early seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jews' College
The London School of Jewish Studies (commonly known as LSJS, originally founded as Jews' College) is a London-based organisation providing adult educational courses and teacher training to the wider Jewish community. Many leading figures in British Jewry have been associated with the School, including Michael Friedländer, Principal from 1865 to 1907; Isidore Epstein, Principal 1948–1961; Louis Jacobs, Moral Tutor 1959–1961; Jonathan Sacks (later Lord Sacks), Principal 1984–1990 and in recent years Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the UK and Commonwealth. Translation works, including for Tanach and the Talmud, were made by "Scholars involved with Jews' College." History The London School of Jewish Studies was founded as Jews' College in 1855, a rabbinical seminary in London. The organisation was re-focused and given its present name in 1999, with an emphasis on providing a broader range of adult educational courses and training to the wider Jewish community. The rabbinic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
