- Lionel Blue
Lionel Blue (born
6 February ,1930 ) is a British Reformrabbi , journalist and broadcaster. He was the first openlygay British rabbi. Born in theEast End ofLondon , he was the only son of a mastertailor .Blue read
History at Balliol College, Oxford and Semitics at theUniversity of London before being ordained as a rabbi in 1960. He spent time in theArmy but was discharged after anervous breakdown brought on byanxiety over hishomosexuality .He is best known for his longstanding and respected work with the media, most notably the wry and gentle sense of humour on "
Thought for the Day " onBBC Radio 4'sToday programme . He is also widely respected in the UK as a journalist, cook and author.Life as a rabbi
Between 1960 and 1963, he was the minister of the Settlement
Synagogue andMiddlesex New Synagogue. He then became theEurope an Director of theWorld Union for Progressive Judaism . In 1967, he began a long-term engagement as lecturer atLeo Baeck College in London.Coming out
Blue was the first British rabbi to publicly declare his homosexuality and published "Godly and Gay" in 1981. He has been openly gay since the 1960s and has had three male live-in lovers. However, his memoirs reveal that he was close to marrying Joanna Hughes, a fellow student he met at Balliol College in 1950.
He is an occasional guest speaker of the [http://www.jglg.org.uk/ Jewish Gay and Lesbian Group] . He is also a patron of
Kairos dn, an organisation for gays andlesbian s.He met his current partner, Jim, in 1981 by answering a personal advertisement in "
Gay Times ".Broadcasting career
For more than 25 years, Blue has been a regular contributor to
BBC Radio 4 's "Thought for the Day ". In September 2006, a return trip to his childhood home in London's East End to mark the 350th anniversary of Jewish life in Britain was the subject of [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5336130.stm an evocative audioslideshow] on theBBC News website .Health
He was diagnosed with
epilepsy at the age of 57; however, he has to date successfully controlled his disorder withmedication .During an operation, in 1997 a
surgeon discovered atumour which tests proved to bemalignant . He went on to receiveradiotherapy andhormonal treatment to reduce any further growth.Books
*"A Backdoor to Heaven" (Fount, 1985)
*"Kitchen Blues" (ISIS Large Print, 1986)
*"Bolt from the Blue" (Hodder & Stoughton, 1986)
*"Tales of Body and Soul" (Coronet, 1995)
*"My Affair with Christianity" (Hodder & Stoughton General, 1999)
*"Sun, Sand and Soul" (Hodder & Stoughton General, 1999)
*"Kindred Spirits" (Fount, 1999). His autobiography,
*"Hitchhiking to Heaven" – Autobiography (Hodder & Stoughton General, 2004)Rabbi Lionel Blue quotes
*"I don't believe
death is the end. This world is like a corridor, like a departure lounge in anairport . You make yourself comfortable and get to know people - then your number comes up and you're called."
*"well good morning Sue and good morning John and good morning everybody". Typical opening for a thought for the day
*"Women provide the Flesh. Men control the Flesh. Or so I am told.". in-joke used on religious holidaysExternal links
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/content/articles/2007/10/25/faith_rabbi_lionel_blue_20071025_feature.shtml BBC Norfolk 2007 interview]
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