Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits (8 February 192131 October 1999) was the
from 1967 to 1991. Prior to this, he had served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland and as rabbi of the
Fifth Avenue Synagogue
The Fifth Avenue Synagogue (קהלת עטרת צבי, Congregation Ateret Tsvi) is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 5 62nd Street (Manhattan), East 62nd Street between Fifth Avenue (Manhattan), Fifth and Madison Avenue (M ...
in New York City. In addition to his official duties he was regarded as an authority in
medical ethics
Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...
from a Jewish standpoint. He was knighted in 1981 and became the first Chief Rabbi to enter the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
in 1988 as Baron Jakobovits.
Biography
Jakobovits was born in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...
,
East Prussia
East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...
, Germany (now
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad ( ; rus, Калининград, p=kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat, links=y), until 1946 known as Königsberg (; rus, Кёнигсберг, Kyonigsberg, ˈkʲɵnʲɪɡzbɛrk; rus, Короле́вец, Korolevets), is the largest city and ...
, Russia), where his father Julius (Yoel) was a community rabbi. The family moved to
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
in the 1920s, where his father became
rabbinical judge on the ''
beth din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
'' of the Grossgemeinde, but fled Germany in 1938 to escape
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
persecutions. In the United Kingdom he completed his higher education, including a period at the
Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London, studying under and receiving
semicha
Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...
(rabbi ordination) from the Rabbis
Elya Lopian
Eliyahu Lopian (1876 – 21 September 1970), known as Reb Elyah, was a leading rabbi of the Mussar Movement. As a disciple of the Kelm Talmud Torah method, he was known for his strictness with respect to order and self-control.
Biography
Elya ...
,
Leib Gurwicz
Aryeh Ze'ev (Leib) Gurwicz (1906–20 October 1982) was an influential Orthodox rabbi and Talmudic scholar. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Elyah Lopian and best known as Rosh Yeshiva of the Gateshead Yeshiva in Gateshead, England, where he taugh ...
and
Nachman Shlomo Greenspan
Rabbi Nachman Shlomo Greenspan ( he, נחמן שלמה גרינשפן; 1878 – August 1961) was a Talmudic scholar, rosh yeshiva of Etz Chaim in London, and an author of a number of works about the Torah.__NOTOC__
Early years
Greenspan was born ...
. He also studied in
Jews' College
The London School of Jewish Studies (commonly known as LSJS, originally founded as Jews' College) is a London-based organisation providing adult educational courses and training to the wider Jewish community. Since 2012 LSJS also offers rabbinic ...
and the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
(
BA and
PhD,
University College
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
).
He married
Amélie Munk of Paris, the daughter of a prominent rabbi, who would support his community work throughout his life.
[Obituary]
The couple had six children. Lady Jakobovits died in May 2010, and was buried alongside her husband, on Jerusalem's Mount of Olives.
His first position was as rabbi of the
Brondesbury
Brondesbury (), which includes Brondesbury Park, is an area in the London Borough of Brent, in London, England. The area is traditionally part of the Ancient Parish and subsequent Municipal Borough of Willesden, one of the areas that merged to ...
synagogue. In 1949, at the relatively young age of 27, he was appointed Chief Rabbi of the declining Jewish community of Ireland. This was to be a stepping stone towards a greater rabbinical career, and in 1958 he assumed the rabbinate of
Hermann Merkin
Hermann Merkin (born 1907 in Leipzig, German Empire, Germany, died March 9, 1999 in New York City) was a German-born American businessman and philanthropist.
Biography
Merkin's father, Leib Merkin was a successful furrier in native Leipzig. In the ...
's
Fifth Avenue Synagogue
The Fifth Avenue Synagogue (קהלת עטרת צבי, Congregation Ateret Tsvi) is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 5 62nd Street (Manhattan), East 62nd Street between Fifth Avenue (Manhattan), Fifth and Madison Avenue (M ...
in New York, a position he held until 1966, when he was called to the Chief Rabbinate of the
United Hebrew Congregation of the British Commonwealth. He held this position until his retirement in 1991.
He was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
on 22 July 1981 and was created a
life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...
on 5 February 1988, as Baron Jakobovits, of
Regent's Park
Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
in
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
*Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality
*Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
*Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
*Greater (song), "Greate ...
, becoming the first rabbi to receive this honour. In 1987 he was given a
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
DD by the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, the first Jew to receive such a degree. In 1991 he received the
Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...
for Progress in Religion.
In the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
he became known as a campaigner for traditional morality. Jakobovits aroused considerable controversy
[Ellison, George T. H. and Goodman, Alan H. ''The Nature of Difference: Science, Society, and Human Biology''. 2006, page 106.] when, after the discovery of a possible genetic explanation for homosexuality, he suggested that he saw no "moral objection for using genetic engineering to limit this particular trend". While he did not advocate abortion, he did describe homosexuality as "a grave departure from the natural norm which we are charged to overcome like any other affliction"; if there were genetic explanations for homosexuality, "the errant gene" should be "removed or repaired" to prevent the "disability".
In a speech in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, Jakovites made a speech saying that
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
was an invented term that aimed to "uproot existing moral order."
Jakobovits died of a
cerebral haemorrhage
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
on 31 October 1999, and was buried on the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
Other functions
Jakobovits was also the president of the
Conference of European Rabbis
The Conference of European Rabbis (CER) is the primary Orthodox rabbinical alliance in Europe. It unites more than 700 religious leaders of the mainstream synagogue communities in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief ...
, in which capacity he worked on standardising and regulating
religious conversion
Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...
to
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
.
Ideas and philosophy
Jakobovits was a firm adherent of the "German-Jewish" ''
Torah im Derech Eretz
''Torah im Derech Eretz'' ( he, תורה עם דרך ארץ – Torah with "the way of the land"Rabbi Y. Goldson, Aish HaTorah"The Way of the World", Ethics of the Fathers, 3:21/ref>)
is a phrase common in Rabbinic literature referring to variou ...
'' philosophy, having a broad knowledge of religious subjects as well as secular culture and philosophy. This made him a unique spokesperson for
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
, as he was able to transmit ideas to a wide audience which would otherwise not have achieved dissemination.
Jakobovits was the most prominent figure in 20th century Jewish
medical ethics
Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...
, a field he virtually created on his own. He was also a pioneer in religious
bioethics
Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...
. His speciality was the interaction between medical ethics and ''
halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
''. Thanks to his academic training in Ireland, Rabbi Jakobovits approached his comprehensive volume, ''Jewish Medical Ethics'', in light of
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
medical ethics
Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. T ...
, with which he often compares Jewish ethics. Whether developing or disputing his analysis, subsequent Jewish
bioethicists
Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...
have utilised his work on abortion,
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different eut ...
, the history of Jewish medical ethics,
palliative care
Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...
, treatment of the sick, and professional duties. Likewise, he is credited with popularizing the viewpoint that Judaism supports the nearly absolute
sanctity of life
In religion and ethics, the inviolability of life, or sanctity of life, is a principle of implied protection regarding aspects of sentient life that are said to be holy, sacred, or otherwise of such value that they are not to be violated. This ca ...
.
His political stance was conservative, and he was particularly close to
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...
. When a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
report titled ''
Faith in the City
''Faith in the City: A Call for Action by Church and Nation'' was a report published in the United Kingdom in autumn 1985, authored by the authored by Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie's Commission on Urban Priority Areas. The report create ...
'' was published in December 1985 criticising Thatcher's policies, Jakobovits responded by attacking its underlying philosophy.
Jakobovits argued that work rather than welfare should be the over-riding aim of government policy: "Cheap labour is better than a free dole".
[(Young, 1991) p.423-4] More controversially, Jakobovits contended that inner-city black people should learn from Jewish experiences in America. There, he argued, Jews had worked themselves out of poverty, educated themselves, integrated into the host culture and nurtured a "trust in and respect for the police, realising that our security as a minority depended on law and order being maintained".
Jakobovits also took a conservative view on trade unions, criticised ''Faith in the City'' for not mentioning the role of trade unions, arguing that "The selfishness of workers in attempting to secure better conditions at the cost of rising unemployment and immense public misery can be just as morally indefensible as the rapaciousness of the wealthy in exploiting the working class".
Within Judaism, he held mildly
Zionistic
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...
views. He maintained that sooner or later
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
would need to negotiate the territory it conquered during the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
; which made him a controversial figure, as he mentioned these views publicly.
Works
* ''Jewish Medical Ethics'' (1959/1975)
* ''Jewish Law Faces Modern Problems'' (1965)
* ''Journal of a Rabbi'' (1966)
* ''The Timely and The Timeless: Jews, Judaism and Society in a Storm-tossed Decade'' (1977)
* ''If Only My People: Zionism in My Life'' (1984)
* ''Dear Chief Rabbi: From the Correspondence of Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits on Matters of Jewish Law, Ethics and Contemporary Issues, 1980–1990'' (1995)
* ''Lord Jakobovits in Conversation'' (2000)
See also
*
History of the Jews in Ireland
The history of the Jews in Ireland extends back several centuries. Although the Jewish community in Ireland has always been small in numbers (not exceeding 5,500 since at least 1891), it is well established and has generally been well-accept ...
Notes
References
*
Bermant, Chaim. ''Lord Jakobovits; the Authorized Biography of the Chief Rabbi''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Limit 1990. .
* Jakobovits, Immanuel. ''Jewish medical ethics : a comparative and historical study of the Jewish religious attitude to medicine and its practice.'' New York : Bloch Pub. Co., 1959 and 1962.
* __________. ''Dear Chief Rabbi: from the correspondence of Chief Rabbi Immanuel Jakobovits on matters of Jewish law, ethics, and contemporary issues, 1980–1990''. Hoboken, N.J. : KTAV Pub. House, 1995. This volume of rabbinic
responsa
''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...
was edited by Jeffrey M. Cohen.
* Jakobovits, Immanuel. ''Journal of a Rabbi.'' NY: Living Books, 1966.
*
External links
*
Obituary ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 1 Nov 1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobovits, Immanuel
1921 births
1999 deaths
Chief rabbis of the United Kingdom
Chief rabbis of Ireland
Bioethicists
Life peers
Knights Bachelor
20th-century British rabbis
Templeton Prize laureates
Jewish medical ethics
Alumni of University of London Worldwide
British Orthodox rabbis
Ordained peers
Clergy from Königsberg
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Holders of a Lambeth degree
Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
Jewish British politicians
People from East Prussia
German emigrants to England
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Rabbis from London
Jewish ethicists