Norman Solomon (born 31 May 1933) is a British

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

, professor, and scholar in the field of

Jewish studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...

and Jewish–Christian relations.

Biography

Norman Solomon was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

in 1933 and attended

Cardiff High School ) , established = 1895 (Creation of earliest of predecessor schools) , closed = , type = Public (magnet) secondary , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Stephen Jones , r ...

and

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

. He attained rabbinic ordination at Jews' College (

London School of Jewish Studies 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 ...

) in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

and a Ph.D. at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. He served Orthodox congregations in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, London and

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. He was later director of the Centre for the Study of Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations at the

Selly Oak Colleges Selly Oak Colleges was a federation of educational facilities which in the 1970s and 1980s was at the forefront of debates about ecumenism - the coming together of Christian churches and the creation of new united churches such as the Church of ...

, Birmingham and a Fellow in Modern Jewish Thought at the

Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS) is a recognised independent centre of the University of Oxford, England. Its research fellows teach on a variety of undergraduate and master's degrees in Oriental studies, and it publishes ...

. He was also lecturer in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He currently holds the position of Professor of Judaica at the

Graduate Theological Foundation The Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF) is an American nonprofit interreligious institution of higher learning, originally founded in Indiana but now centered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Unlike traditional residential theological schools, the ...

. A former Vice President of the World Congress of Faiths, a Patron of the International Interfaith Centre and an Adviser to the

International Council of Christians and Jews The International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ) is an umbrella organization of 38 national groups in 32 countries worldwide engaged in the Christian-Jewish dialogue. Founded as a reaction to the Holocaust, many groups of theologians, hist ...

, he has been actively involved in

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

with Christians and Muslims. He has written five books and over seventy articles on a wide range of issues in the fields of Jewish studies and Jewish–Christian relations. He has also edited a number of volumes in these fields. His major works include his books ''Judaism and World Religion'', ''The Analytic Movement: Hayyim Soloveitchik and His School'', ''The Talmud: A Selection'' and ''Torah from Heaven''.

Publications

* ''Judaism and World Religion'' (1991) * (1991), "The Soloveitchik Line (On Interfaith Dialogue)," Dan Cohn-Sherbok (ed.), ''Problems in Contemporary Jewish Theology'', pp. 225–240 * ''The Analytic Movement: Hayyim Soloveitchik and His School'' (1993) * ''A Very Short Introduction to Judaism'' (1996) * ''Judaism: A Brief Insight'' (1996) * ''Historical Dictionary of Judaism'' (1998) * ''The Talmud: A Selection'' (2009) * ''Torah from Heaven'' (2012)

As co-editor

* Norman Solomon,

Richard Harries Richard Douglas Harries, Baron Harries of Pentregarth, (born 2 June 1936) is a retired bishop of the Church of England and former British Army officer. He was the Bishop of Oxford from 1987 to 2006. From 2008 until 2012 he was the Gresham Profes ...

Timothy Winter Abdal Hakim Murad (born: Timothy John Winter; 15 May 1960) is an English academic, theologian and Islamic scholar who is a proponent of Islamic neo-traditionalism. His work includes publications on Islamic theology, modernity, and Anglo-Muslim ...

(eds): ''Abraham's Children: Jews, Christians and Muslims in Conversation'', pp 9–17, London and New York:

T & T Clark T&T Clark is a British publishing firm which was founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1821 and which now exists as an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. History The firm was founded in 1821 by Thomas Clark, then aged 22 and who had a Free Church ...

(2005). (hardback); (paperback)

References

Sources

His CV at the centre for Jewish Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Norman British Orthodox rabbis 20th-century British rabbis 21st-century British rabbis Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Manchester Clergy from Cardiff 1933 births Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford Living people Academics of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies Graduate Theological Foundation faculty Welsh rabbis