FAITH AGAINST REASON:
Religious Reform and the British Chief Rabbinate, 1840-1990
By Meir Persoff
Introduction by Todd M. Endelman, William Haber Professor of Modern Jewish History, University of Michigan
VALLENTINE MITCHELL
ISBN: 9780853036708 and 9780853036791
xxxi + 476 pages
Paperback - 9780853036708 - $34.95/£19.95
Hardback - 9780853036791 - $79.95/£50.00
(available discounted at websites of leading booksellers)
From the Reform secession of the 1840s and the founding of Liberal Judaism six decades later, to the 'Jacobs Affair' and the rise of Conservative (Masorti) theology towards the end of the twentieth century, the British Chief Rabbinate has faced challenges and controversy on an ever-deepening scale. Using contemporary accounts, broadsides and hitherto unreleased private papers, Faith Against Reason is an incisive and compelling contribution to an understanding of the fissures and fragmentation besetting Anglo-Jewry in modern times. At its core are the mavericks, ministers, grandees and God-fearers who grappled with the currents and complexities of the hour -- and with each other -- in their pursuit of communal power and pulpit supremacy. The chroniclers of Anglo-Jewry have not always been kind to Britain's Chief Rabbis. In truth, the verdicts have been mixed, and sometimes muted, but, with communal censure and strife continuing unabated, they have become increasingly forthright as the centuries have turned. In Faith Against Reason, some of these verdicts are subjected to scrutiny; others emerge and, with them, a clearer picture of the Chief Rabbinical stance on religious pluralism.
"Meir Persoff’s is the first comprehensive account of the battles that Britain’s Chief Rabbis fought against those, both within and without the United Synagogue, whose approach to Judaism was more flexible than their own. This religious strife remains a hallmark of the Anglo-Jewish community, and Persoff’s book is a treasure trove of primary sources illuminating how British Jewry arrived at this point. It sheds light on episodes both well-known and obscure, elucidating what was at stake in each. It strives for objectivity, forswearing both hagiography and polemic, wisely leaving the reader to reach his or her own judgment."
-- From the introduction by Todd M. Endelman
"Faith Against Reason is superb, a complicated story extremely well told. Meir Persoff is an experienced journalist, and this is demonstrated throughout the book to its overall advantage. Drawing together a vast mass of unexplored material, it is a major contribution to the history of our community – a great attraction to the general reader, a gem for the Anglo-Jewish history buff, and an indispensable tool for the serious historian of British Jewry."
-- Elkan Levy, former president of the United Synagogue
