Closed Doors, Open Minds British Jery}}}s Secret Disputations [Hardcover]

For some twenty years from the late 1960s, and thereafter following a brief pause, representatives of British Jewrys religious orientations held closed-door meetings at the Chief Rabbis residence in attempts to bridge their communal and halachic differences. So secret were they that barely a word broke through, and until now the details of their often fiery disputations  both verbally and in writing  have never been revealed. In an exclusive glimpse into this shrouded arena, Closed Doors, Open Minds presents an important new chapter in Meir Persoffs acclaimed series on the British Chief Rabbinate, deftly unraveling the manifold theological and ideological strands of its multi-hued tapestry.In Closed Doors, Open Minds, the distinguished former [Jewish Chronicle] journalist Meir Persoff documents the history of this dialogue [between Orthodox and Progressives]. It is a rigorous, balanced and thoughtful presentation, made all the more striking because what one might have expected to be a straightforward liaison between the religious leaders of British Jewry turned out to be an emotional and spiritual roller coaster for its participants.Now a freelance writer and editor, Meir Persoff edited the London Jewish Chronicles news, features, arts, Judaism, letters and obituaries sections during a distinguished forty-year career on the paper. He has written extensively on Jewish topics, and served on the Jewish Book Council and as president of the IsraelJudaica Philatelic Society. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, he earned his PhD from Middlesex University, London, for his research into the British Chief Rabbinates relationship with the non-Orthodox movements.Preface Foreword, by Aubrey Newman Chapter I, 19451960: Strife and Sanctity Chapter II, 19601970: Gestures and Concessions Chapter III, 19701980: Disputes and Divisions Chapter IV, 19801990: Dissent and Disunity Chapter V, 19902000: KlS(