Scotland’s only native rabbi, Rabbi Mendel Jacobs, addressed politicians at Edinburgh’s Holyrood Parliament last week.
Rabbi Jacobs, minister of Glasgow’s Shul in The Park, was invited to lead the Scottish Parliament’s Time For Reflection – a weekly address of up to four minutes by speakers drawn from Scotland’s different faith groups.
"One of the main distinguishing features of the creation of man is that man was created as a single being - unlike all other species, which were created in large numbers. That indicates emphatically that one individual has the capacity to bring the whole of creation to fulfilment," he told Members of the Scottish Parliment.
"That means," he explained, "that every human being, regardless of time, place and personal status, has the fullest capacity - and the duty - to rise and attain the highest degree of fulfilment and to accomplish the same for creation as a whole."
Rabbi Jacobs was accompanied by his wife Tzirl Jacobs who teaches at the Glasgow Lubavitch cheder and adult-learning classes for women.
They later met with Ken Mackintosh, Member of the Scottish Parliament for Eastwood, and presented him with a Scottish Jewish Tartan skullcap made from 100% pure Scottish wool.
Rabbi Jacob's address can be seen here:
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