Rabbi Dr Sidney Brichto (21 July 1936 – 16 January 2009) was a British Liberal

Liberal Judaism

Liberal Judaism , is one of the two forms of Progressive Judaism found in the United Kingdom, the other being Reform Judaism. Liberal Judaism, which developed at the beginning of the twentieth century is less conservative than UK Reform Judaism...

 rabbi. He was born in Philadelphia into an immigrant Orthodox Jewish family. As an adolescent, he began to reject religious orthodoxy in favour of Progressive Judaism

Progressive Judaism

Progressive Judaism , is an umbrella term used by strands of Judaism which affiliate to the World Union for Progressive Judaism. They embrace pluralism, modernity, equality and social justice as core values and believe that such values are consistent with a committed Jewish life...

. He studied in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, before being ordained in 1961. The same year he moved to England to do post-graduate work at University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 and also became Associate Minister of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St John's Wood. In 1964 he became the first Executive Director

Executive director

Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...

 of (as it was then) the Union of Liberal and Progressive Synagogues, now known as Liberal Judaism.

Brichto was also a prolific author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

, having written extensively in the Jewish and national press.
His most recent project was the publishing of a series of new translations of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, both the Old and New Testaments. The project is entitled "The People's Bible". Rabbi Brichto believes that the concept of God is more important than questions of his existence. Equally, the Bible is relevant not because of the veracity of its stories, but because of the morality of its myths. His translations aim to achieve accessibility as literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, and to do this, he controversially added sections to improve readability and removed large areas of non-consequential material to the appendices.

, he had published:

• "Genesis" (the book of Genesis, ISBN 0-9537398-0-5)
• "The Conquest of Canaan" (the books of Judges
  Book of Judges
  The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
  
   and Joshua
  Book of Joshua
  The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
  
  , ISBN 0-9537398-4-8)
• "Samuel" (the two Books of Samuel
  Books of Samuel
  The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
  
  , ISBN 0-9537398-1-3)
• "Song of Songs" (the books The Song of Songs
  Song of songs
  Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
  
  , Ruth
  Book of Ruth
  The Book of Ruth is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible, Tanakh, or Old Testament. In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is included in the third division, or the Writings . In the Christian canon the Book of Ruth is placed between Judges and 1 Samuel...
  
  , Lamentations
  Book of Lamentations
  The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
  
  , Ecclesiastes and Esther
  Book of Esther
  The Book of Esther is a book in the Ketuvim , the third section of the Jewish Tanakh and is part of the Christian Old Testament. The Book of Esther or the Megillah is the basis for the Jewish celebration of Purim...
  
  , ISBN 0-9537398-2-1)
• "St. Luke & The Apostles" (the Gospel of Luke
  Gospel of Luke
  The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
  
   and Acts of the Apostles
  Acts of the Apostles
  The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...
  
  , ISBN 0-9537398-3-X)
• "The Genius of Paul" (the letters of Paul
  Pauline epistles
  The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul as the first word, hence claiming authorship by Paul the Apostle. Among these letters are some of the earliest extant Christian documents...
  
  , ISBN 0-9537398-5-6)
• "Moses" (divided into "Book 1: Moses, Man of God" and "Book 2: The Laws of Moses") (the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers
  Book of Numbers
  The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
  
   and Deuteronomy, ISBN 0-9540476-8-0)
• "Apocalypse" (Gospel of John
  Gospel of John
  The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
  
   and Book of Revelation
  Book of Revelation
  The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
  
  , ISBN 0-9540476-9-9)

Rabbi Brichto also wrote a guide to Jews and Jewish life, "Funny... you don't look Jewish" (ISBN 1-899044-00-0) in which he explores, among other things, anti-Jewish prejudices against the reality of Jewish culture and life.

His autobiography, 'Ritual Slaughter: Growing Up Jewish in America' (ISBN 0-954-04761-3), provides detailed information of Rabbi Brichto's upbringing and move away from Orthodoxy.

He was married to Cathryn and has a daughter and three sons.

External links

• Obituary, The Times
  The Times
  The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
  
  , 20 February 2009