Louis Jacobs

Louis Jacobs was the most original and gifted Jewish theologian of his generation. A rabbi, teacher and intellectual.

But then in 1957 an explosion occurred in the Jewish Community which reverberated throughout the world. Jacobs published a book called We Have Reason to Believe which tore his community apart. It was taken for granted that he would be head of The Jews College in London and then move on to be Chief Rabbi. But because of his book, both these posts were denied to him and, as this book relates, countless doors were slammed in his face. He left the Orthodox Community and founded a new community called Masorti which now has branches all over the world. The repercussions of this 'The Jacobs Affair' continue to resonate in the Jewish community today. And at the time 'The Jacobs Affair' threatened to be the biggest schism in Anglo-Jewish history

We Have Reason to Believe covered such topics as the proof of God's existence, pain, miracles, the after-life. But in three chapters, 'The Torah and Modern Criticism', 'A Synthesis of The Traditional and Critical Views' and 'Bible Difficulties', he took on discussion of 'Modern Criticisms', more specifically textual analysis of the Torah, which suggests that the texts derive from multiple sources, rather than having been given complete in its present form by God to Moses.

This thesis, simply put, caused an eruption and became a matter of huge public interest, far beyond the confines of the Jewish Community. Far beyond the Jewish press, the affair was covered by the whole of Fleet Street, the BBC and ITV. In 1966 Jacobs gave a celebrated interview on the BBC to Bernard Levin. It was not unlike the rumpus caused in Christian circles when Bishop John Robinson published his book at the same time called Honest to God which also reverberates to this day.