An overview of the history of the Musar movement in Judaism. Rabbi Jacobs reviews the history of musar literature starting in the Middle Ages. He then explains how Musar coalesced into a movement as a response to modernity and the rise of hasidism, under the leadership of the highly charismatic R. Israel Lipkin (Salanter, 1810-1883)…....
The Mussar Movement – 30th June 1986
An overview of the history of the Musar movement in Judaism. Rabbi Jacobs reviews the history of musar literature starting in the Middle Ages. He then explains how Musar coalesced into a movement as a response to modernity and the rise of hasidism, under the leadership of the highly charismatic R. Israel Lipkin (Salanter, 1810-1883)…. Continue Reading ➨
Divorce in Islamic & Jewish Law – 14th November 1989
A joint session between Leo Baeck and the Islamic College based in London on the subject of divorce in Islamic and Jewish Law. In the first part of the recording, three faculty members of the Islamic College (Sheikhe Dr Ismail Abd Halim; Balkis Binti Abu Bakar; and Moulana Rage) share legal, religious, and statistical insights…...
Who Wrote the Talmud? – 1st June 2000
Recording of the 2000 Aryeh Dorfler Memorial Lecture at Leo Baeck College, in which Louis Jacobs provides insights into the composition of the Babylonian Talmud. After briefly explaining the historical background, with the Mishnah and the Palestinian Talmud, Jacobs presents the stama’im, the anonymous compilers and editors of the Babylonian Talmud, whom he refers to…...
Probability in Rabbinic Law – 10th October 2002
A Talmud shiur (traditional lecture) delivered by Louis Jacobs focusing on a passage in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Hullin Rabbi Jacobs starts by explaining the concepts of probability and the rule of the majority – through case studies in kashrut, levirate marriage, and puberty – which are essential in order to achieve a proper gasp…...
The Red Heifer – 14th June 1983
Rabbi Jacobs takes his audience, in this shiur (traditional lecture), through the numerous homiletical interpretations of the concept of the red heifer (parah adumah). He briefly explains the function of the ritual of the red heifer in the Temple period, linking death, contamination, and purity, before moving on to the contexts in which this strange…...
Lex Talionis – 26th April 1988
Few passages in the Bible have generated more controversy than the principle of lex talionis, the law of compensation (‘An eye for an eye’). Rabbi Jacobs, in this shiur (traditional lecture), even asserts that no passage has been more misunderstood. Jacobs outlines the role the lex talionis has played in rabbinical literature and Jewish-Christian polemics…....
Responsa on Israel – 6th July 1989
Rabbi Louis Jacobs delivers a lecture on the importance of the Land of Israel in halakhic literature. He starts with a historical overview, exploring the tension that existed in the late Antiquity between Israel and Babylon. While semikhah (rabbinical ordination) existed solely in the former, only in the latter did a system of enforcement exist,…...
Mishpatim Legal Interpretations – 24th January 1984
In this shiur (traditional lecture), Rabbi Jacobs offers a linear commentary of the concluding verses of chapter 20 of the book of Exodus, in the Torah portion of ‘Mishpatim’. He starts with verse 22 and reads through the rest of the passage, each time using the biblical text as a springboard for observations and comments…...
Re’eh – 5th February 1985
A shiur (traditional lecture) on the first half of chapter 14 of the book of Deuteronomy, in the Torah portion of ‘Re’eh’. Rabbi Jacobs starts by noting that the juxtaposition of self-mutilation and the dietary laws originates in the division of chapters in the Bible adopted by medieval Christians, which was never really considered authoritative…...
Mishpatim Shiur – 8th February 1983
A shiur (traditional lecture) on beginning of the Torah portion of ‘Mishpatim’. Rabbi Jacobs spends over forty minutes unpacking the first verse, “And these are the judgments which you shall set before them”, explaining among other things the relation between this section of laws and the other two in Leviticus 19 and Deuteronomy 20; expounding…...
The Bat Kol – 2nd July 1987
Rabbi Jacobs examines in this lecture whether and how God communicates truths, ideas, or propositions to human beings after the Torah was given. He starts by explaining the tension inherent in canonical sources on the issue: while on the one hand, no new revelation can occur after Sinai, since it would imply that God changes…...
Fundamentalism and Jewish Observance – June 1997
Rabbi Jacobs starts this lecture by defining the term ‘fundamentalism’, delving into its Christian origins and assessing the problems raised by its application to Judaism. The debates which occurred between liberal and fundamentalist Christian theologians, he explains, had certain Jewish antecedents, in such a figure as Abraham Ibn Ezra for example. He then goes on…...
Laws of Leprosy – 28th April 1987
A shiur (traditional lecture) analyzing the laws of leprosy. Rabbi Jacobs reads through the biblical text of Leviticus 14:33-57, which outlines the treatment of the contaminated house, and then develops by reference to interpretations in the Mishnah, Talmud, and in subsequent periods. He demonstrates that the Sages and rabbis throughout the ages endeavoured to blunt…...
Love Thy Neighbour – 28th June 1998
In this lecture, Rabbi Jacobs provides a broad overview of interpretations of Leviticus 19: 18, ‘Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.’ He starts off with the plain meaning of the verse, in its biblical…...
Talmud Shiur – 29th June 1983
This shiur (traditional lecture), geared particularly towards beginners in the study of Talmud, explores the topic of holiness and asceticism in an extract from tractate Ta’anit (11a). Rabbi Jacobs reads through the sugya (passage), offering linear comments of historical and theological relevance throughout. Although the section he studies may appear, at first, rather chaotic, he…...
R. Pinchas and his Pious Donkey – 26th February 1987
A superb opportunity to hear Rabbi Jacobs deliver a shiur (traditional lecture) on Talmud. He reads through the aggadta (story) of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair and his donkey, in tractate Hulin 7a-b, offering linear comments throughout. The emphasis is on the narrative structure of the sugya (passage) and the various literary devices used by the…...
Hasidism and Messiah – 3rd July 1996
In this lecture, Louis Jacobs analyses the doctrine of messianism in hasidic thought. He notes that since hasidism was anchored within traditional Judaism, it certainly did not forsake the expectation that a messiah would arise and deliver Israel, but rather, that the movement switched the emphasis which many Jews placed on messianism and directed it…...
Hassidic Attitudes to Sexuality – 8th December 1993
Louis Jacobs, a rabbi and scholar of hasidism, and Eduardo Pitchom, a psychoanalyst, offer some insights into hasidic attitudes towards sexuality. Rabbi Jacobs notes that various motifs arose, throughout the history of hasidism, around the issue of sexuality, in parallel with the movement’s broader development. While they adhered to the Jewish tradition, and therefore could…...
Where Hassidism Differed – 1st June 1993
Rabbi Jacobs starts this lecture with an overview of the origins and early history of hasidism. He notes that the term ‘hasid’ existed well before the 18th century, appearing as early as in biblical and rabbinic literature, to denote exceptionally pious, scrupulous individuals, who stood out not necessarily for their erudition, but rather as God-seekers…....