'Agony in the Pulpit: British Rabbis Responding to Nazi Persecution and Mass Murder' Seminar

Despite the massive amount of research on all aspects of Nazi persecution of Jews culminating in the Holocaust, there has not been a systematic analysis of how Jewish religious leaders processed the information that was available to them, how they communicated this information to their congregants---especially at the most significant times of religious calendar (High Holy Days, Pesach) and days of national protest or mourning—when the synagogue attendance was highest. Important themes include how the preachers related the unfolding disastrous events to biblical themes (Cain, Pharaoh, Amalek, Haman) and how they reconciled the current realities with belief in a God who was ultimately in control of all that happened to the Jews. I will focus primarily on passages from sermons, presented chronologically, delivered by Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz, Rev. Dr. Abraham Cohen (Orthodox, Birmingham), Rabbi Israel Mattuck (Liberal, London), and two refugees from Germany: Rabbi Ignaz Maybaum (Reform, London), and Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits (Orthodox, Leeds).