Beit HaMidrash Visits the Chief Rabbi at Home

Monday, 8th March 2010

Twenty-eight pupils in Years 10-UVI – Immanuel College Beit HaMidrash regulars – were invited to the house of the Chief Rabbi, Lord Sacks, in St John’s Wood on Monday 8th March.

The visit, a question-and-answer session around the dining-room table, focussed on the topic of ‘Judaism and the Modern World’.  Lord Sacks opened the session using the Gemora's description of the learning relationship between Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish to explain the constructive benefit of questioning.

The topics raised by the Chief Rabbi’s young visitors ranged from why Judaism demands more of the individual than just being a "good person" to exposition of the concept of kedusha – ‘holiness’; from how we are meant to relate to the evil of Amalek in the twenty-first century to an exploration of the relationship of Torah and Science.
The Director of the Beit HaMidrash, Rabbi Eliezer Zobin said, “This learning session was an incredible experience for our students.  To have the opportunity to meet the Chief Rabbi, to speak freely with him and raise any question, and to hear him so clearly explain some of the concepts behind Jewish thinking was inspiring for everyone.” 

For more photos of this event, please click here.