Inaugural Isaiah Berlin Memorial Lecture by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

The Oxford University Chabad society inaugurated a new annual lecture in honour of the centenary of Oxford Jewish philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin. The Isaiah Berlin memorial lecture on Jewish philosophy was delivered by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz at the David Slager Chabad Jewish student centre in Oxford in the presence of about 100 people.

Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM (1909 – 1997) was a philosopher and historian of ideas, regarded as one of the leading liberal thinkers of the twentieth century. He excelled as an essayist, lecturer and conversationalist; and as a brilliant speaker who delivered, rapidly and spontaneously, richly allusive and coherently structured material, whether for a lecture series at Oxford University or as a broadcaster on the BBC Third Programme, usually without a script. Many of his essays and lectures were later collected in book form.

Born in Riga, now capital of Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire, he was the first person of Jewish descent to be elected to a prize fellowship at All Souls College, Oxford. From 1957 to 1967, he was Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory at the University of Oxford. He was president of the Aristotelian Society from 1963 to 1964. In 1966, he helped to found Wolfson College, Oxford, and became its first President. He was knighted in 1957, and was awarded the Order of Merit in 1971. He was President of the British Academy from 1974 to 1978. He also received the 1979 Jerusalem Prize for his writings on individual freedom.

Berlin's work on liberal theory has had a lasting influence. His 1958 inaugural lecture, "Two Concepts of Liberty", famous for its distinction between positive and negative liberty, has informed much of the debate since then on the relationship between liberty and other values.

The inaugural lecture was opened by Rabbi Eli Brackman, director of the Oxford University Chabad Society, who welcomed Rabbi Steinsaltz and Berlin’s family members, including Mr. Peter Halban and daughter Tania Halban, who were present and supported the establishment of the annual lecture in honour of Sir Isaiah.

The lecture was part of a series of lectures hosted this year at the Oxford University Chabad Society on Isaiah Berlin, by renowned philosophers, including Prof. Jerry Cohen, Prof. Alan Ryan and Dr. Roger Hausheer on Berlin’s philosophy and life.

Rabbi Brackman explained that the memorial lecture by Rabbi Steinsaltz was dedicated to the celebration of Jewish life and history in Oxford, rather than Berlin’s philosophy per se, marking the fact that Berlin, in the 20th century, was the fifth Jewish professor in about 800 years of Oxford University, founded in the 1220’s. The annulment of the Christian vow necessary to enter Oxford was in 1856.

Following an introduction by Chabad Society president, Babak Someth (Keble College), Steinsaltz pointed out the connection of Isaiah Berlin to the Oxford University Chabad society, as Berlin is direct descendent of the Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1813), the founder of the Chabad movement in the 18^th century.

Rabbi Steinsaltz described Berlin, who he knew intimately, as the last true intellectual in England. He described an intellectual as someone who is intellectually curious about everything and is able to find a novelty in every idea. He said that such a person doesn’t necessarily have to be a professor at Oxford; it could be a shoe maker.

Rabbi Steinslatz, who shares many characteristics with Berlin, particularly as a social critic and historian of ideas, in addition to being a prolific author of over 60 books including his landmark 38 volume translation and commentary of the Talmud, launched a critique on western culture.  

He explained that western culture is the dominant culture today and has spread far beyond the West to former communist states, and as far as Japan, China and some Muslim countries. He said that also includes Israel, which is essentially part of western culture, as England and France.

He defined western culture as the void of a great Christian culture, which has left over expressions, building, superstitions, including anti-Semitism, the belief that Jews killed a deity who anti-Semites themselves no longer believe in.

Essentially, western culture is a reversion to a belief system that proceeded Christianity; Paganism. They still believe in Gods but they are similar to Pagan G-ds, albeit in different forms.

The pagan G-d of Baal, which means master, is currently in the form of lust for power and money. Other modern Gods include sex and fame. It is true that these G-ds always existed in history but not as an end in itself, as today, in such a naked form.

Is Jewish culture compatible with western culture?

Jewish culture used to be compatible with Christian culture, which proceeded western culture; they both spoke the same language with the same monotheistic belief system. Indeed, there were differences between Jews and Christians and Jews were killed and died in the name of these differences but they had a shared foundation.

Today, western culture has nothing in common with Jewish culture. It is like the Pagan world, with which Jews also had nothing in common with.

This alienation was represented by the Biblical Patriarch Abraham who stood alone, apart from the entire culture surrounding him; he simply said “no” to it.

This defiance of his contemporary culture is best expressed in the Hebrew Biblical text in Genesis, where it says “Echad hayah Avraham”, which can be interpreted as Abraham was alone.

Jewish culture has not changed from the times of Abraham. Abraham said no to his contemporary pagan culture then and Judaism says no to similar western culture today, which has developed and been dominant for the last two hundred years. Steinsaltz claims there is nothing in common between Jewish culture and western culture.

Rabbi Steinsaltz concluded with an anecdote. He quoted Gottfried Leibniz in his work on theodicy in 1710, who said that this world is the best of all possible worlds that can exist. Voltaire said, this world is the worst of all possible worlds that can exist. Steinsaltz concluded by saying if we were to look at this question from a Jewish point of view, I would answer in the following way: "We are living in the worst of all possible worlds in which there is still hope."