Britain's Chief Rabbis and the Religious Character of Anglo-Jewry 1880-1970 - Hardcover

Benjamin J. Elton

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0719079659 ISBN 13: 9780719079658

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2009

Synopsis

This book presents a radical new interpretation of Britain's Chief Rabbis from Nathan Adler to Immanuel Jakobovits. It challenges existing scholarship in a provocative and original examination drawing heavily on primary sources and using a multi-disciplinary approach spanning history, theology and sociology. It examines the theologies of the Chief Rabbis and by placing them in their proper intellectual context seeks to reveal and explain their impact on the religious life of Anglo-Jewry. It claims that as the Chief Rabbis' theology formed the basis for their policies and that their policies were hugely significant in the development of Anglo-Jewry, they were a major force in shaping the Anglo-Jewish community's religious character. In particular, this book overturns the argument that there was a significant shift to the right in the chief Rabbinate during the period studied, and thereby sets out a new interpretation of the most important event in Anglo-Jewish religious history in the twentieth century, the Jacobs affair. In doing so, the book develops a new and improved typology of the Jewish response to modernity in general, which can be used to elucidate modern Jewish history in a number of different contexts. It is therefore a contribution both to the neglected are of Anglo-Jewish religious history, and the history of modern Judaism as a whole. It will be of interest to the student of Anglo-Jewry, of Judaism in the modern period, of the effects of modernity on religion in as a whole, and general reader alike.

About this title

Product Description:

Benjamin J Elton presents a radical reinterpretation of Britain's Chief Rabbis from Nathan Adler to Immanuel Jakobovits; and by placing them in their intellectual context, reveals their impact on the religious life of Anglo-Jewry.

About the Author:

Benjamin J. Elton is Honorary Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies and is an official at the Judicial Appointments Commission

About this edition

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0719079659
• ISBN 13: 9780719079658
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272