Tribute to Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto z''l

by Rabbi Danny Rich

Dear Cathryn, Anne and Daniel, Jonathan and Adam, family and friends,

It is an honour to have been asked to say a few words about Sidney Brichto’s towering influence in the Liberal Jewish world. In the Autumn of 1962 Senior LJS Rabbi Leslie Edgar arranged for a young, American Reform Rabbi who was coming to London to study, to work part time here at the LJS. It is reported that the student concerned (Sidney Brichto) had contacted both Leslie Edgar and Dr Van der Zyl at the West London Synagogue. The latter suggested he come to see him once he came to England; the former offered him a position in advance. How might the history of the Liberal and Reform movements have differed if the responses had been reversed?

In March 1964, Sidney Brichto was appointed ULPS’s first Executive Director, and for the next 25 years his tenure – during which he was assisted by Rosita Rosenberg, who eventually succeeded him– was characterised by leaps forward: in congregational development, in financial stability, in democracy and organisation, in the Movement’s attitude to Israel and in its profile within the British Jewish community.

There appear to have been few areas of Liberal Jewish activity where Sidney did not have a major influence. Even before his appointment, in the year of his arrival in England, Sidney founded the highly regarded ULPS Evening Institute based at the West Central Liberal Synagogue.

I will not enumerate all of Sidney’s fundraising efforts; suffice to say that he would not have accepted the current situation where the level of Liberal Judaism’s reserves might merit a Brown/Darling bail-out! Since my appointment I have been immensely grateful to Sidney for the deal he struck with the Central Conference of American Rabbis for royalties arising out of its use of material from our liturgy, for the proceeds of the 75th Anniversary Appeal over which he presided, and for his initiative and support – alongside Cathryn – for the current successful Liberal Judaism Council of Patrons.

There are two particular aspects of Sidney’s work I want to recall. First, his confidence in the values and possibilities of Liberal Judaism saw him chair a proactive ULPS development committee from 1966 onwards. Despite the fear expressed by some members of existing established congregations, Sidney used his charm and political nous to involve himself in the founding of communities including Northwood & Pinner, Nottingham, Kingston, Reading and Barkingside. Concerning Barkingside, Sidney demanded proof of the viability of the congregation and was subsequently joined by prospective members who packed out the Board Room at the old Montagu Centre. Kingston was founded in 1967 and I am told that it was Sidney who persuaded an enthusiastic group of founders that naming it the Moshe Dayan Synagogue might not be such a wise idea.

The second of Sidney’s skills was his ability to identify and support individuals whom he thought would make suitable Liberal rabbinic leaders. He persuaded his life long friend, Frank Hellner, to cross the pond to serve Finchley for several decades and in 1984 he discovered an HUC rabbinic student, Neil Kraft, whom he tempted to the United Kingdom where he served Woodford and South London. His foresight was demonstrated by a note he wrote to Alex Popper, then Chairman of the Rites and Practices Committee of the recently established Pinner Area Group, concerning a Mr Goldstein of whom Sidney wrote, “I, myself, am very impressed by Mr Goldstein and I feel he will be one of the most promising ministers in our movement.” How prophetic he was! Lest anyone is in any doubt Andrew Goldstein recently completed more than 40 years at Northwood and is regarded both inside and outside Liberal Judaism as an exemplary congregational rabbi.

Sidney, however, was not content that Liberal Judaism should develop for its own sake. He firmly believed it had a role to play in the wider community. Sidney’s personality, interests and exuberance could not contain him in the Liberal Jewish fold alone and, while I must not steal the thunder of others, he became a leading Liberal Jewish voice in so many parts of the Jewish community and beyond. In 1966 he was one of the first pair of national Liberal Jewish Deputies to the Board, and in 1967, working behind the scenes, he secured what is still known as the Brichto letter from Rabbi Rose, secretary to the recently appointed Chief Rabbi to the United Hebrew Congregations, Dr Immanuel Jakobovits. It reads as follows:

Anent the copy of your letter to Mr David J Goldberg of Dublin that you sent to the Chief Rabbi, he has asked me to confirm his agreement with your statement that ‘no responsible orthodox authority would ever deny that where a marriage took place in a Liberal Synagogue which could just as well have taken place in an Orthodox Synagogue, the children of such a marriage could become members and indeed could be married in an Orthodox synagogue.

Sidney was a man of radical and creative thought who did not shy away from a challenge, and perhaps his most well-known internal difficulties arose around Israel. In an interview with Rosita Rosenberg, the co-editor of Liberal Judaism, the First Hundred Years, Sidney observed: “I had to communicate what I felt … my American background had demonstrated that Zionism could operate within a Liberal Jewish background.” Sidney therefore oversaw the establishment of a ULPS Israel Committee, the appointment of the first ULPS shlicha in 1978, and numerous other Israel-orientated initiatives.

The current and future success of Liberal Judaism is built upon the enormous contribution which Sidney made but I hope, Cathryn, you will forgive me if I end on a personal note. I have lost a teacher and friend of nearly 30 years, someone who encouraged me from the moment he heard I was interested in the rabbinate. I shall miss him.