Louis Jacobs (1920-2006) was born in Manchester, England, to a working-class Lithuanian Jewish family. His father made Louis attend synagogue, even though he himself did not. Louis attended secular schools and later entered the Manchester Yeshiva. From there, he went to the Gateshead Kollel, where he pursued advanced Talmudic studies. Jacobs eventually returned to Manchester, where he obtained smicha, rabbinic ordination.

At that time, it was customary for English rabbis to have an academic education in addition to religious studies, so Jacobs enrolled at the University of London, where he studied Semitic language and literature. His tutor, Dr. Siegfried Stein, warned him that, as an observant Jew, he might be bothered by the tenets of what was known as biblical criticism, which held that the Pentateuch was a human, not divine, document, written and edited over an extended period of time. This position was considered heretical, as it contradicted the doctrine that the Torah was revealed in its entirety to Moses at Sinai, thus undermining the authority of halacha. Nevertheless, Jacobs continued his studies in Semitics. He believed that intellectual integrity and observant Judaism could be reconciled, a position that became the focus of his religious life.

In 1948, Jacobs was appointed rabbi of the Central Synagogue in Manchester and in 1954 moved to the New West End Synagogue in London. There he continued his search and in 1957 published the book «We Have Reason to Believe,» in which he summarized the discussions that took place in the course he taught at the synagogue on this topic. In it, Jacobs argued that the value of divine commandments is not diminished by the fact that it was humankind who conveyed His message by writing the Torah, contrary to the traditional position. He argued that «God not only revealed His will to humankind, but He revealed His will through humankind.» Jacobs reinterpreted the idea of ​​»Torah min hashamayim,» «Torah from heaven,» using the analogy of recorded music: «Despite the distortion that results from recording a song, when listening to a record we can still clearly hear the artist’s voice.» For Jacobs, this approach, which he later termed «Halakhic Non-Fundamentalism,» made it possible for modern Jews to remain committed to tradition and religious observance without sacrificing their intellectual honesty.

His stance was not well received by the English Orthodox authorities. The Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Israel Brodie, prevented Jacobs from assuming the leadership of Jews’ College, the Orthodox rabbinical seminary, despite the recommendation of that institution’s governing board. Furthermore, the entire incident was reported in the Jewish press, turning it into a «cause célèbre.» Jacobs wanted to return to his position at the New West End Synagogue, and Brodie also prevented him. This caused members of that synagogue to leave and form the New England Synagogue, with Jacobs as rabbi. The new synagogue spawned a new movement, Masorti, which represented an affront to the central power of the Orthodox Chief Rabbi.

In 2005, a survey of its subscribers by the Jewish Chronicle named Louis Jacobs the most distinguished Jew in the 350-year history of English Jewry. In the more than 50 books he wrote. while remaining observant, Jacobs made the Torah speak the language of our times.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: Articles by Matt Plen, David Newman, Richard Simon, and other sources.