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Louis Jacobs
Saturday, July 1st, 2006 10:56 pmRabbi Dr Louis Jacobs, the founder of Masorti Judaism in the UK, died today. I'm sure you'll have plenty of places to read elsewhere of his legacy; I'd like to talk here instead a little of how he came across to me, the two times I met him.
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livredor will remember my fretting about missing a talk by him a couple of years ago, when I had just got involved with Masorti Judaism; I wanted to hear him speak whilst I still could. Well, in the end I did get to hear him speak; ploni_bat_ploni, who was expressing the same desire more recently, will now not get the opportunity.
I first time I heard him talk, at a book launch last year, it was evident his knowledge was encyclopaedic, not just of Jewish law and lore, but also of all branches of secular learning—which was impressive, for a product of the Orthodox yeshiva world (he attended the yeshiva in Gateshead). I talked in a previous post about how he was giving away his library, but had probably got most of it memorised anyway; Rabbi Chaim Weiner, speaking in Assif today, talked about how when once R. Jacobs was shown a Bar Ilan database that would allow you to search a huge library for rabbinical responsa, R. Jacobs replied, "It's very good, but to be honest, I can't see why anybody would need it!"
The second time I met him, he was bareheaded, much to my astonishment, as I've never encountered any other non-Reform rabbi going bareheaded. I asked him how come he was bareheaded; he replied, "This is an academic event. When I'm in a religious context, I cover my head; when I'm in a secular context, I do not." I said, "I thought it had been universal since the time of the Rambam to keep the head covered at all times." He said, "Only when praying. As recently as the middle of the nineteenth century, the disciples of Samson Raphael Hirsch were arguing about whether one had to cover the head the rest of the time."
As a result, I took to thinking of him, and describing him to people, as one of the last examples of nineteenth century Orthodoxy (before Orthodoxy moved (in reaction to Reform) to the right).
livredor will remember my fretting about missing a talk by him a couple of years ago, when I had just got involved with Masorti Judaism; I wanted to hear him speak whilst I still could. Well, in the end I did get to hear him speak; ploni_bat_ploni, who was expressing the same desire more recently, will now not get the opportunity.I first time I heard him talk, at a book launch last year, it was evident his knowledge was encyclopaedic, not just of Jewish law and lore, but also of all branches of secular learning—which was impressive, for a product of the Orthodox yeshiva world (he attended the yeshiva in Gateshead). I talked in a previous post about how he was giving away his library, but had probably got most of it memorised anyway; Rabbi Chaim Weiner, speaking in Assif today, talked about how when once R. Jacobs was shown a Bar Ilan database that would allow you to search a huge library for rabbinical responsa, R. Jacobs replied, "It's very good, but to be honest, I can't see why anybody would need it!"
The second time I met him, he was bareheaded, much to my astonishment, as I've never encountered any other non-Reform rabbi going bareheaded. I asked him how come he was bareheaded; he replied, "This is an academic event. When I'm in a religious context, I cover my head; when I'm in a secular context, I do not." I said, "I thought it had been universal since the time of the Rambam to keep the head covered at all times." He said, "Only when praying. As recently as the middle of the nineteenth century, the disciples of Samson Raphael Hirsch were arguing about whether one had to cover the head the rest of the time."
As a result, I took to thinking of him, and describing him to people, as one of the last examples of nineteenth century Orthodoxy (before Orthodoxy moved (in reaction to Reform) to the right).
