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 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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
in 1988 as Baron Jakobovits.
Biography
Jakobovits was born in
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
,
East Prussia
East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
, Germany (now
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...
, Russia), where his father Julius (Yoel) was a community rabbi. The family moved to
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in the 1920s, where his father became
rabbinical judge on the ''
beth din'' of the Grossgemeinde, but fled Germany in 1938 to escape
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
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'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism.
The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...
(rabbi ordination) from the Rabbis
Elya Lopian,
Leib Gurwicz and
Nachman Shlomo Greenspan. 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 teacher training to the wider Jewish community.
Many leading figures in Brit ...
and the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
(
BA and
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
,
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 f ...
).
He married
Amélie Munk of Paris, the daughter of a prominent rabbi, who would support his community work throughout his life.
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 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's
Fifth Avenue Synagogue 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 a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity.
The concept of a 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. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...
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 in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...
in
Greater London
Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...
, becoming the first rabbi to receive this honour. In 1987 he was given a
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...
DD by the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
, 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 ques ...
for Progress in Religion.
In the
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
he became known as a campaigner for traditional morality. Jakobovits aroused considerable controversy
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 is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...
, Jakovites made a speech saying that
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
was an invented term that aimed to "uproot existing moral order."
Jakobovits died of a
cerebral haemorrhage on 31 October 1999, and was buried on the
Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet (; ; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge in East Jerusalem, east of and adjacent to Old City of Jerusalem, Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive, olive ...
in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
.
Other functions
Jakobovits was also the president of the
Conference of European Rabbis, 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 () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
.
Ideas and philosophy
Jakobovits was a firm adherent of the "German-Jewish" ''
Torah im Derech Eretz
''Torah im Derech Eretz'' ( – 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 various aspects of one's interaction w ...
'' 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 a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Oral, as literally revelation, revealed by God in Ju ...
, 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, me ...
. His speciality was the interaction between medical ethics and ''
halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...
''. Thanks to his academic training in Ireland, Rabbi Jakobovits approached his comprehensive volume, ''Jewish Medical Ethics'', in light of
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
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, medi ...
have utilised his work on abortion,
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
, the history of Jewish medical ethics,
palliative care
Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...
, 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 sanctity of life, sometimes described as the inviolability 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 ...
.
Jakobovits' political stance was conservative, and he was particularly close to
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
. When a
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
report titled ''
Faith in the City'' 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".
More controversially, he 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, Jakobovits held mildly
Zionist
Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
views. He maintained that sooner or later
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
would need to negotiate the territory it conquered during the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 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, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
; 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 for more than a millennium. The Jewish community in Ireland has always been small in numbers in modern history, not exceeding 5,500 since at least 1891.
Middle Ages through 16th century
The earliest ...
Notes
References
*
* 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', 1 Nov 1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobovits, Immanuel
1921 births
1999 deaths
Clergy from Königsberg
People from East Prussia
Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom
Chief rabbis of the United Kingdom
Chief rabbis of Ireland
British bioethicists
Crossbench 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
Holders of a Lambeth degree
Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
Jewish British politicians
German emigrants to England
Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
Rabbis from London
Jewish ethicists
Life peers created by Elizabeth II