Louis Jacobs and the Quest for a Contemporary Jewish Theology

By Miri Freud-Kandel

For Louis Jacobs, the quest--the process of engaging with and thinking about Jewish faith--was a lifelong pursuit. He offered a model in the 1960s, a period characterized by general religious crisis, of an observant, committed, but intellectually curious Judaism that empowered individual seekers to address challenges to faith. In Orthodox Judaism at the time a battle was under way for religious control. Generating a widespread controversy in British Jewry known as the 'Jacobs Affair', his thought offers a lens for examining the trajectory of Orthodoxy. In a contemporary context marked by the changing cultural and intellectual concerns of a 'post-secular' age, the focus of some of these debates over religious control has shifted. Yet Jacobs' emphasis on a personal quest is as relevant as ever, perhaps more so.

This first book-length analysis of his theology unpacks the building blocks of his thought. It argues that, despite its particularities and limitations, his approach can provide a powerful model for contemporary religious seekers in the context of a growing impetus away from established, denominationally bound forms of religion. Many orthodox believers across a range of faiths continue to prefer the certainty of unquestionable religious truth claims rather than pursuing a subjective search for religious meaning. For those seeking alternative models for the contemporary Jewish quest, a reconsideration of Jacobs' theology can offer valuable tools.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1906764883
• ISBN13: 9781906764883
• Release Date: February 2024
• Publisher: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
• Length: 422 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.4" x 8.8"