Britain's chief rabbis and the religious character of Anglo-Jewry, 1880-1970 / Benjamin J. Elton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Elton, Benjamin J., author.

Series:

Manchester Religious Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Orthodox Judaism--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Orthodox Judaism.

Orthodox Judaism--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Chief Rabbinate--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Chief Rabbinate.

Chief Rabbinate--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Jews--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Jews.

Jews--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (290 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Britain's Chief Rabbis were attempting to respond to the new religious climate, and deployed a variety of tactics to achieve their aims. 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. The book begins with the study of Nathan Marcus Adler, Chief Rabbi from 1845, and it then explores how in 1880 Hermann Adler became Delegate Chief Rabbi on his father's semi-retirement to Brighton. In the pre-modern era, and for a while after, rabbis saw themselves and were seen as the heirs of the rabbinic tradition, whose role first and foremost was to rule on matters of religious law. The book argues that the Chief Rabbis' response to modernity should be viewed in the context of Jewish religious responses that emerged following the Enlightenment and Emancipation. It sketches out a possible typology of those responses, so that Chief Rabbis can be placed in that context. Chief Rabbis were members of the acknowledgement school, which contained a number of different theological currents: romantic, scientific, aesthetic and nostalgic. Hermann Adler was the Chief Rabbi during his time, and his religious policies were to a great extent motivated by his religious ideas. Joseph Herman Hertz's theology placed him in the traditional group within the acknowledgement school, although he was influenced by its scientific, romantic and aesthetic branches.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

List of illustrations

1. Introduction 2. Historical context3. Jewish religious responses to modernity – a typology4. Intellectual context: theology and theologians5. The theology of Hermann Adler6. The religious policy of Hermann Adler7. The theology of JH Hertz8. The religious policy of JH Hertz9. From the Second World War to the Jacobs Affair10. The religious character of the Chief Rabbis, and of Anglo-JewryBibliographyIndex

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 24 Apr 2026).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-5261-2996-5

OCLC:

1085664707