Britains Chief Rabbis and the religious character of Anglo-Jewry 1880-1970

by Elton, Benjamin J.

• ISBN13: 9780719079658
• ISBN10: 0719079659
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-12-15
• Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PR

Summary

This book presents a radical new interpretation of Britain's Chief Rabbis from Nathan Adler to Immanuel Jakobovits. It examines the theologies of the Chief Rabbis and seeks to reveal and explain their impact on the religious life of Anglo-Jewry. Elton 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. This fascinating study develops a new and improved typology of the Jewish response to modernity, and is therefore a contribution to the neglected area 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, and general reader alike.

Author Biography

Benjamin J. Elton is Honorary Research Fellow at the London School of Jewish Studies.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	p. vii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Religious and historical context
Introduction	p. 3
Historical context	p. 21
Jewish religious responses to modernity: a typology	p. 40
Intellectual context: theology and theologians	p. 52
Theology and policy, 1891–1946
The theology of Hermann Adler	p. 71
The religious policy of Hermann Adler	p. 108
The theology of J.H. Hertz	p. 164
The religious policy of J.H. Hertz	p. 199
Post-War developments
From the Second World War to the Jacobs Affair	p. 241
The religious character of the Chief Rabbis and of Anglo-Jewry	p. 264
Bibliography	p. 274
Index	p. 287
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