This autobiography of one of the worlds leading Jewish religious thinkers and teachers, and the central participant in the dramatic Jacobs affair, begins with his early boyhood in a poor district of Manchester. The story covers his student life at Gateshead and London University, his trips overseas and the showbiz world of Hollywood all of which enhances the books value as
This autobiography of one of the worlds leading Jewish religious thinkers and teachers, and the central participant in the dramatic Jacobs affair, begins with his early boyhood in a poor district of Manchester. The story covers his student life at Gateshead and London University, his trips overseas and the showbiz world of Hollywood all of which enhances the books value as a historical source. For the first time, he provides an extended personal account of the Jacobs affair of the 1960s, the bitter controversy over his theological writings which led to his being ostracised by many representatives of the Orthodox tradition from which he sprang.
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The late Louis Jacobs loved to discuss himself, and this he does in his inimitable chatty yet learned way in this autobiography. Everything is covered, from his early childhood memories, to his days as a youthful Talmudic prodigy in Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler's Gateshead Kollel (where, we learn, in theory there was no rank or leader) to his rapid ascension in the British modern orthodox rabbinate, to the Jacobs Affair, the career-arresting scandal over his supposedly heretical book of Jewish theology
The late Louis Jacobs loved to discuss himself, and this he does in his inimitable chatty yet learned way in this autobiography. Everything is covered, from his early childhood memories, to his days as a youthful Talmudic prodigy in Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler's Gateshead Kollel (where, we learn, in theory there was no rank or leader) to his rapid ascension in the British modern orthodox rabbinate, to the Jacobs Affair, the career-arresting scandal over his supposedly heretical book of Jewish theology We Have Reason To Believe, to his work as a consultant to the movie Yentl. Was he Orthodox? Was he Conservative? Read it and find out what he thought. In all, a very interesting account by a fascinating 20th century rabbi and academic Jewish scholar.
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Louis Jacobs was the founder of Masorti Judaism (also known as Conservative Judaism) in the United Kingdom, and a leading writer and theologian. He was also the focus of what has become known as "The Jacobs Affair" that took place in the British Jewish community in the early 1960s.