#JonathanSacks
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Jonathan Sacks z”l covenant and conversations: Not All as it Seems
Jonathan Sacks z”l covenant and conversations: Not All as it Seems Excerpt from the book of Leviticus weekly reading: from Shemini We err if we think of God as capricious, jealous, angry: a myth spread by early Christianity in an attempt to define itsel
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Jonathan Sacks z”l – Why Do We Sacrifice? Vayikra-5782
Jonathan Sacks z”l – Why Do We Sacrifice? Vayikra-5782 The laws of sacrifices that dominate the early chapters of the Book of Leviticus are among the hardest in the Torah to relate to in the present. It has been almost two thousand years since
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Jonathan Sacks z”l – Servant Leadership Korach 5781
Jonathan Sacks z”l – Servant Leadership Korach 5781 Rabbi Sacks zt’’l had prepared a full year of Covenant & Conversation for 5781, based on his book Lessons in Leadership. The Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust will continue to distribute these we
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Jonathan Sacks - The Courage not to Conform Lech Lecha 5781
Jonathan Sacks – The Courage not to Conform Lech Lecha 5781 Leaders lead. That does not mean to say that they do not follow. But what they follow is different from what most people follow. They don’t conform for the sake of conforming. They
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Jonathan Sacks – Righteousness is not Leadership Noach 5781
Jonathan Sacks – Righteousness is not Leadership Noach 5781 The praise accorded to Noah is unparalleled in Tanach. He was, says the Torah, “a righteous man, perfect in his generations; Noah walked with God.” No such praise is given to Abraham or
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Jonathan Sacks - Taking Responsibility Bereishit 5781
Jonathan Sacks – Taking Responsibility Bereishit 5781 If leadership is the solution, what is the problem? On this, the Torah could not be more specific. The problem is a failure of responsibility. The early chapters of Genesis focus on two stories:
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Jonathan Sacks – Succot In a Nutshell
Jonathan Sacks – Succot In a Nutshell THE TORAH tells us to: “Live in succot for sev-en days: All native-born Israelites are to live in succot so that your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in succot when I brought them o
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Jonathan Sacks -The Arc of the Moral Universe - Parshat Ha'azinu
Jonathan Sacks -The Arc of the Moral Universe – Parshat Ha’azinu In majestic language, Moses breaks into song, investing his final testament to the Israelites with all the power and passion at his command. He begins dramatically but gently, callin
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Jonathan Sacks - "Building the Future" Watch Part 3
Jonathan Sacks – “Building the Future” Watch Part 3 Here is the third in my series of three drashot as we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The subject of this talk is “Building the Future”. This series is generously spo
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Jonathan Sacks - Faith and Insecurity Part I of 3
Jonathan Sacks – Faith and Insecurity Part I of 3 As we approach the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, we all know things are going to be a little different this year. Many people won’t be able to get to shul due to the various restrictions in place.
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Jonathan Sacks - Be Silent and Listen (Ki Tavo 5780)
Jonathan Sacks – Be Silent and Listen (Ki Tavo 5780) Office of Rabbi Sacks · Be Silent and Listen (Ki Tavo 5780) During our first Coronavirus lockdown, there was one question I was asked more than any other: What about prayer? Just when we n
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Jonathan Sacks - Does Love Conquer All? Ki Teitse 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Does Love Conquer All? Ki Teitse 5780 Our parsha contains more laws than any other. Some of them have generated much study and debate, especially two at the beginning, the law of the captive woman and that of the “st
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Jonathan Sacks - A Sage is Greater than a Prophet
Jonathan Sacks – A Sage is Greater than a Prophet In Shoftim, Moses speaks about the great institutions of Judaism: courts, judges, officers, Kings, Priests, Levites and Prophets. In the case of the Prophet, Moses says in the name of God: I will rai
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Jonathan Sacks - The Good Society
Jonathan Sacks – The Good Society Moses, having set out the prologue and preamble to the covenant and its broad guiding principles, now turns to the details, which occupy the greater part of the book of Devarim, from chapter 12 to chapter 26. But be
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Jonathan Sacks - The Infinite Game
Jonathan Sacks – The Infinite Game The popular author and TED lecturer Simon Sinek recently published a book entitled The Infinite Game.[1] Based on the distinction first articulated by James P. Carse,[2] it is about the difference between two types
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Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - A message for Tisha B'Av during the coronavirus pandemic
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks – A message for Tisha B’Av during the coronavirus pandemic Here is a short message as we head towards Tisha B’Av – which begins this evening – and will be marked in strange and difficult circumstances bec
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Jonathan Sacks - Followership
Jonathan Sacks – Followership In the last month of his life, Moses gathered the people. He instructed them about the laws they were to keep and reminded them of their history since the Exodus. That is the substance of the book of Devarim. Early in t
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Jonathan Sacks - The Hidden Meaning of the Bilam Story
Jonathan Sacks – The Hidden Meaning of the Bilam Story Many questions have rightly been asked about the story of Balak and Bilam and the would-be curses that turned into blessings. Was Bilam a true man of God, or was he a fraud, a magician, a sorcer
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Jonathan Sacks - Kohelet, Tolstoy and the Red Heifer
Jonathan Sacks – Kohelet, Tolstoy and the Red Heifer The command of the parah adumah, the Red Heifer, with which our parsha begins, is known as the hardest of the mitzvot to understand. The opening words, zot chukat ha-Torah, are taken to mean, th
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Jonathan Sacks - How Not to Argue
Jonathan Sacks – How Not to Argue Korach was swallowed up by the ground, but his spirit is still alive and well, and in the unlikeliest of places – British and American universities. Korach was the embodiment of what the Sages called, argument no
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Jonathan Sacks - What is going on?
Jonathan Sacks – What is going on? In March 2020, whilst launching a new book,[1] I took part in a BBC radio programme along with Mervyn King, who had been governor of the Bank of England at the time of the financial crash of 2008. He, together wit
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Jonathan Sacks - Coronavirus: Loneliness and Faith
Jonathan Sacks – Coronavirus: Loneliness and Faith I have long been intrigued by one passage in this week’s parsha. After a lengthy stay in the Sinai desert, the people are about to begin the second part of their journey. They are no longer travel
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Jonathan Sacks - The Blessing of Love
Jonathan Sacks – The Blessing of Love I confess to a thrill every time I read these words: Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord make His face
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Jonathan Sacks - A Life of Vertical & Horizontal Responsibility: Shavuot During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Jonathan Sacks – A Life of Vertical & Horizontal Responsibility: Shavuot During the Coronavirus Pandemic Join the Chief Rabbi and Rabbi Lord Sacks as they explore the powerful dual responsibility conferred upon us at Sinai. Coming up to Shavu
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Jonathan Sacks -Egalitarian Society, Jewish-Style (Bamidbar 5780)
Jonathan Sacks -Egalitarian Society, Jewish-Style (Bamidbar 5780) The parsha of Bamidbar is generally read on the Shabbat before Shavuot, z’man matan torateinu — “the time of the giving of our law,” the revelation at Sinai. So the Sages, believing
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Jonathan Sacks - The Ethic of HolinessJ
Jonathan Sacks – The Ethic of Holiness Kedoshim contains the two great love commands of the Torah. The first is, “Love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:18). Rabbi Akiva called this “the great principle of the Torah.” Th
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Rav. Jonathan Sacks - Israel, the Home of Hope
Rav. Jonathan Sacks – Israel, the Home of Hope As we approach Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’Atzmaut here is a short video, the audio of which is taken from a double CD of words and music about Israel that my office produced in 2008. The full
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Jonathan Sacks - Limits Shemini 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Limits Shemini 5780 The story of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s two eldest sons who died on the day the Sanctuary was dedicated, is one of the most tragic in the Torah. It is referred to on no less than four separate occasions. It turn
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Jonathan Sacks - What do Pesach and Hamilton have in common?
Jonathan Sacks – What do Pesach and Hamilton have in common? Dear Friends, As we approach Pesach, and if you want a break from the preparations, please take a few minutes to watch my short video below that explores what Pesach and Lin-Manuel Miranda
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Jonathan Sacks - Left- and Right-Brain Judaism
Jonathan Sacks – Left- and Right-Brain Judaism The institution of the Haftarah – reading a passage from the prophetic literature alongside the Torah portion – is an ancient one, dating back at least 2000 years. Scholars are not sure when, where,
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Jonathan Sacks - The Prophetic View of Sacrifice
Jonathan Sacks – The Prophetic View of Sacrifice Sacrifices, the subject of this week’s parsha, were central to the religious life of biblical Israel. We see this not only by the sheer space devoted to them in the Torah, but also by the fact that
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Jonathan Sacks - Communities and Crowds & Video-Coronavirus
Jonathan Sacks – Communities and Crowds & Video-Coronavirus Melanie Reid is a journalist who writes a regular column for The (London) Times. A quadriplegic with a wry lack of self-pity, she calls her weekly essay Spinal Column. On 4 January 2020, sh
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Jonathan Sacks - Moses Annuls a Vow
Jonathan Sacks – Moses Annuls a Vow Kol Nidre, the prayer said at the beginning of Yom Kippur, is an enigma wrapped in a mystery, perhaps the strangest text ever to capture the religious imagination. First, it is not a prayer at all. It is not even
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Jonathan Sacks - The Therapeutic Joy of Purim
Jonathan Sacks – The Therapeutic Joy of Purim There’s something very strange about Purim. It is notably a festival of joy, “Yamei mishtei b’simcha”. And not only is the day itself a joyous one, but uniquely, we begin that joy two weeks befor
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Jonathan Sacks - What Do We Receive When We Give?
Jonathan Sacks – What Do We Receive When We Give? The Lord spoke to Moshe, saying, “Tell the Israelites to take an offering for Me; take My offering from all whose heart moves them to give” (Ex. 25:1-2). Our parsha marks a turning point in the r
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Jonathan Sacks - Crossing the Sea
Jonathan Sacks – Crossing the Sea Our parsha begins with an apparently simple proposition: When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the land of the Philistines, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face
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Jonathan Sacks - "Evil happens when people let it happen..
Jonathan Sacks – “Evil happens when people let it happen.. “Evil happens when people let it happen, and our best defence against it is never to forget where evil leads.” As we approach International Holocaust Memorial Day and the
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Jonathan Sacks - Faith in the Future
Jonathan Sacks – Faith in the Future Some measure of the radicalism that is introduced into the world by the story of the Exodus can be seen in the sustained mistranslation of the three keywords with which God identified Himself to Moses at the Burn
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Jonathan Sacks - The Angel who did not know he was an Angel
Jonathan Sacks – The Angel who did not know he was an Angel The story of Joseph and his brothers, spread over four parshiyot, is the longest and most tightly-scripted of all the narratives in the Torah. Nothing is there by accident; every detail cou
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Jonathan Sacks - A Palace in Flames Lech Lecha 5780
Jonathan Sacks – A Palace in Flames Lech Lecha 5780 Why Abraham? That is the question that haunts us when we read the opening of this week’s parsha. Here is the key figure in the story of our faith, the father of our nation, the hero of monotheism
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Jonathan Sacks - The Genesis of Love Bereishit 5780
Jonathan Sacks – The Genesis of Love Bereishit 5780 In The Lonely Man of Faith, Rabbi Soloveitchik drew our attention to the fact that there are two accounts of creation. The first is in Genesis 1, the second in Genesis 2-3, and they are significant
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Jonathan Sacks - The Festival of Insecurity
Jonathan Sacks – The Festival of Insecurity What exactly is a sukkah? What is it supposed to represent? The question is essential to the mitzvah itself. The Torah says: “Live in sukkot for seven days… so your descendants will know that I ha
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Jonathan Sacks - Let My Teaching Drop as Rain Ha'azinu 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Let My Teaching Drop as Rain Ha’azinu 5780 In the glorious song with which Moses addresses the congregation, he invites the people to think of the Torah – their covenant with God – as if it were like the rain that waters t
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Jonathan Sacks - The Torah as God's Song Vayelech 5780
Jonathan Sacks – The Torah as God’s Song Vayelech 5780 At the end of his life, having given the Israelites at God’s behest 612 commands, Moses gave them the final mitzvah: “Now therefore write down for yourselves this song and teach it to
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Jonathan Sacks - Not Beyond the Sea
Jonathan Sacks – Not Beyond the Sea When I was a student at university in the late 1960s – the era of student protests, psychedelic drugs, and the Beatles meditating with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – a story went the rounds. An American Jewish wo
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Jonathan Sacks - A Nation of Storytellers
Jonathan Sacks – A Nation of Storytellers Howard Gardner, professor of education and psychology at Harvard University, is one of the great minds of our time. He is best known for his theory of “multiple intelligences,” the idea that there is not
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Jonathan Sacks - The Politics of Memory Eikev 5779
Jonathan Sacks – The Politics of Memory Eikev 5779 In Eikev Moses sets out a political doctrine of such wisdom that it can never become redundant or obsolete. He does it by way of a pointed contrast between the ideal to which Israel is called, and t
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Jonathan Sacks - The Religious Significance of Israel
Jonathan Sacks – The Religious Significance of Israel The long journey is nearing its close. The Jordan is almost within sight. We have read the long itinerary of stops along the way. Finally we are reaching the end of the list of encampments, and G
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Nothing found for 2019 07 18 Jonathan Sacks The Crown All Can Wear Pinchas 5779
Israel Seen is a labor of love and is a portal to the other side of Israel. We provide content from a wonderful array of innovative, interesting, and dynamic Israelis. Our content is rich in vision, compassion, education and understanding of the human con
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Jonathan Sacks - Losing Miriam Chukat 5779
Jonathan Sacks – Losing Miriam Chukat 5779 It is a scene that still has the power to shock and disturb. The people complain. There is no water. It is an old complaint and a predictable one. That is what happens in a desert. Moses should have been ab
