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 ...

Sidney Brichto (21 July 1936 – 16 January 2009) was a British

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

rabbi. He was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

into an immigrant Orthodox Jewish family. As an adolescent, he began to reject religious orthodoxy in favor of Liberal Judaism. He studied in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, before being ordained in 1961. The same year he moved to England to do post-graduate work at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

and also became Associate Minister of the

Liberal Jewish Synagogue The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, or LJS ( he, קהל קדוש לב חדש, ''Qahal Kadosh Lev Chadash'', "Holy Congregation New Heart"), is a house of prayer in St John's Wood, London, founded in 1911. It is the oldest and largest member of Britai ...

in St John's Wood. In 1964 he became the first executive director of (as it was then) the

Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues Liberal Judaism (until 2002: Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues) is one of the two WUPJ-affiliated denominations in the United Kingdom. It is smaller and more radical in comparison with the other one, the Movement for Reform Judaism. I ...

, now known as Liberal Judaism. Brichto was also a prolific

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, having written extensively in the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

and national press. One of his last projects, called ''The People's Bible'', was the publishing of a series of new translations of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, both the Old and New Testaments. Rabbi Brichto believed that the concept of God is more important than questions of His existence. Equally, the Bible is relevant not because of the veracity of its stories, but because of the morality of its myths. His translations aimed to achieve accessibility as

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

, and to do this, he controversially added sections to improve readability and removed large areas of non-consequential material to the appendices.Review
by Mary Kenny in the ''Daily Express'', 3 May 2000 His published works included: *''The New Testament'' (A new translation and modern explanation, ) *''Genesis'' (the book of

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

, ) *''The Conquest of Canaan'' (the books of

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

and

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, ) *''Samuel'' (the two

Books of Samuel The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshu ...

, ) *''Song of Songs'' (the books The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations,

Ecclesiastes Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...

and Esther, ) *''St. Luke & The Apostles'' (the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. Together with the Acts of the Apostles, it makes up a two-volu ...

and

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

, ) *''The Genius of Paul'' (the

letters of Paul The Pauline epistles, also known as Epistles of Paul or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen books of the New Testament attributed to Paul the Apostle, although the authorship of some is in dispute. Among these epistles are some of the earliest extan ...

, ) *''Moses'' (divided into ''Book 1: Moses, Man of God''and ''Book 2: The Laws of Moses'') (the books of

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

, Leviticus, Numbers and

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

, ) *''Apocalypse'' (

Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...

and

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

, ) Rabbi Brichto also wrote a guide to Jews and Jewish life, ''Funny ... you don't look Jewish'' () in which he explored, among other things, anti-Jewish prejudices against the reality of Jewish culture and life. His autobiography, ''Ritual Slaughter: Growing Up Jewish in America'' (), provided detailed information of Rabbi Brichto's upbringing and move away from Orthodoxy. He was married to Cathryn and had a daughter and three sons.

References

*Rabbi Dr Brichto'
own website
provides information about much of the above.

Notes

External links

Obituary
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', 20 February 2009 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brichto 1936 births 2009 deaths Alumni of University College London American emigrants to England British Liberal rabbis Rabbis from Philadelphia English Jewish writers Jewish translators of the Bible 20th-century translators 20th-century English rabbis