The
Boundaries of Heresy
Sunday 29 February 2004 8.30pm
Geoffrey
Alderman, Louis Jacobs, Clive Lawton, David-Hillel Ruben
Chair: Joshua
Rozenberg
‘The Jacobs Affair’ was triggered when Rabbi Louis Jacobs’
appointment as Principal of Jews College was vetoed by the then Chief Rabbi on
the grounds of heresy. In 1964 Rabbi Jacobs founded the New London Synagogue,
which led to the creation of the Masorti movement. Four decades on the
shockwaves continue to reverberate.
To mark the 40th anniversary of this key event in
Anglo-Jewry, the panel of leading heavyweights discussed the ongoing political,
social and theological ramifications, before a packed audience. Geoffrey
Alderman shared some startling revelations from several of the episodes of the
‘Jacobs Affair’. Louis Jacobs gave an eloquent defence of his theological
position and also discussed some of his more recent thinking. Clive Lawton,
speaking for the younger generation, gave an impassioned plea for Anglo-Jewry
to move beyond this event and the eminent philosopher on the panel,
David-Hillel Ruben set out the position of Orthodoxy on the subject of
revelation.
Geoffrey Alderman is
Vice-President of American InterContinental University, London.
His books include Modern British Jewry (1998). He has a weekly column in
the Jewish Chonicle.
Louis Jacobs CBE was Rabbi of the New London
Synagogue for over 35 years. His publications include A Jewish Theology
(1973) and Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1999).
Clive Lawton is a founder and Executive
Director of Limmud and UJIA Fellow at SOAS. He writes a weekly column in the London
Jewish News.
David-Hillel Ruben is Professor
of Philosophy at SOAS and former Director of the London School of Jewish
Studies.
Joshua Rozenberg is Legal
Editor of The Daily Telegraph. Privacy and the Press is published
in March 2004.
