RABBI LORD JAKOBOVITS – IN MEMORIUM
Friday 22nd November (21st Marcheshvan), marks the twenty-fifth yahrzeit of HaRav Lord Immanuel Jakobovits z”l, Chief Rabbi from 1967 to 1991. He passed away on 31st October 1999, 21st Marcheshvan 5760.
Rabbi Jakobovits was born on 8th February 1921 in Königsberg. He was knighted in 1981 and in 1988 he became the first Chief Rabbi to be appointed to the House of Lords. His sudden death, aged 78, was a devastating blow for Anglo-Jewry and indeed, for world Jewry. His loss was felt especially keenly in St Johns Wood where Lord J was a much loved and revered figure.
At his funeral on the Mount of Olives, Israel’s then Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, applied to Rav Jakobovits the verse from the parasha. Efron addressed Abraham with the words: Nesi Elokim Ata Betochenu – ‘You are a prince of G-d among us!’
As a phrase out of context, it is a beautiful tribute to the late Chief Rabbi. He had been knighted and ennobled and the Jewish world shared in his nachas!
But the late Rav JB Soloveitchik points out that there is a sharper edge to this encomium or praise. The whole verse reads: “You are a prince of G-d among us! bury your dead in the choicest our graves.”
In his dialogue with Abraham, Efron was emphasising that Abraham was now part of local society (“among us”). In order to bury his wife, Abraham must be prepared to give up the right to live apart from them. Efron in effect was saying: Abraham, you are now one of us, and as such you must bury your dead in a site that belongs to us (“our graves”).
At the beginning of this encounter, Abraham had spelled out to Efron and his people how he saw their relationship: “I am a stranger (ger) and a resident (toshav) among you.” In some ways I am part of you (toshav – resident.) I participate in the local economy, I pay my taxes etc. Yet in other ways, I am and always will remain totally separate from you (ger – stranger) because of my relationship with G-d and my worship of Him. When Abraham saw that Efron’s people failed to understand this, he responded in unmistakable terms: Vayedaber Itam Lemor – “He spoke to them saying.” The word dibbur indicates sternness and precision. Abraham was telling them, in effect: Your offer is generous, but I cannot accept it. I want a grave that is set apart from yours, at the edge of the field.
Abraham sets out for us the role model of both engaging with the world and yet standing apart from it. Both Rabbi Lord Jakobovits, and after him, Rabbi Lord Sacks, are outstanding representatives of individuals who have been recognised at the highest levels for their contribution to wider society and yet were able to be totally true to their Jewish values.
May they be an example and a blessing to us all.