A leading religious leader will speak at the University of Aberdeen next week at an annual lecture held to promote a greater understanding and knowledge of the history and culture of Jewish people.
Senior Rabbi of Scotland, Rabbi Moshe Rubin, will deliver the 2025 Hay of Seaton Memorial Lecture.
The Lectureship is named in honour of Malcolm Hay of Seaton, a distinguished historian and the last Laird of Seaton in Aberdeen.
The massacre of the European Jews in wartime Germany deeply disturbed him and ignited a lifelong quest to highlight the history of Jewish culture and anti-Semitism.
After his death, his widow left a bequest in her own will in 1981 to the University of Aberdeen to establish a memorial lecture series to promote greater understanding of the Jewish people and culture and to combat anti-Semitism
The 2025 event is the first time the endowed lecture series has taken place since before Covid.
Rabbi Rubin is Senior Rabbi of the Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue in Glasgow. Since 2013 he has also served as the Senior Rabbi of Scotland and Head of the Glasgow Beth Din. Born in New York, Rabbi Rubin was raised and educated in America, Israel, and the United Kingdom.
Professor Philip G. Ziegler, Convenor of the University’s Hay of Seaton Committee said: “We are delighted to see the return of the Hay of Seaton lecture at the University of Aberdeen and look forward to an insightful evening with Rabbi Rubin.
“The bequest plays a vital role in promoting understanding of Jewish history and culture in Scotland and beyond.
“With a focus on the influencers of Jewish life in Scotland, Rabbi Rubin’s lecture will continue to realise the aims of the bequest in an engaging and scholarly manner.”
The Hay of Seaton Memorial Lecture 2025 will take place on Wednesday October 22 in the Linklater Rooms at 5pm. Refreshments will be available before the lecture in the same venue from 4.30pm.