#sacks
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Jonathan Sacks z”l : Freedom Means Telling the Story KI TAVO
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Freedom Means Telling the Story KI TAVO Here’s an experiment. Walk around the great monuments of Washington D.C. There, at the far end, is the figure of Abraham Lincoln, four times life-size. Around him on the walls of the
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Hate KI TEITSE
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Hate KI TEITSE It is by any standards a strange, almost incomprehensible law. Here it is in the form it appears in this week’s parsha: Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egy
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Power from the Outside or Self-Restraint from Within SHOFTIM
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Power from the Outside or Self-Restraint from Within SHOFTIM This summer, we’ve seen riots on the streets of London and Manchester on the one hand, Tripoli on the other. On the face of it there was nothing in common between
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Making Poverty History RE’EH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Making Poverty History RE’EH Listen to these stories. Behind them lies an extraordinary insight into the nature of Jewish ethics: Story 1. Rabbi Abba used to bind money in his scarf, sling it on his back, and place it at th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Why Civilisations Fail EIKEV
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Why Civilisations Fail EIKEV What is the real challenge of maintaining a free society? In parshat Eikev, Moses springs his great surprise. Here are his words: Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God… Otherwise,
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Idea that Changed the World VA’ETCHANAN
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Idea that Changed the World VA’ETCHANAN It is one of the great stories of all time, and Moses foresaw it three thousand years before it happened. Here he is speaking in this week’s parsha: See, I have taught you decr
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Tisha b’Av – The New Antisemitism is Not the Old Antisemitism
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Tisha b’Av – The New Antisemitism is Not the Old Antisemitism “The new antisemitism is not the old antisemitism, but it tells us that the world’s oldest virus of hate has mutated again. The tears of Tisha b’Av h
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Natural or Supernatural? MATOT-MASEI
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Natural or Supernatural? MATOT-MASEI The book of Bamidbar draws to a close with an account of the cities of refuge, the six cities – three on each side of the Jordan – set apart as places to which people found innocent of mur
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Pacing Change PINCHAS
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Pacing Change PINCHAS Embedded in this week’s parsha is one of the great principles of leadership. The context is this: Moses, knowing that he was not destined to lead the next generation across the Jordan into the promised l
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: A People That Dwells Alone? BALAK
Jonathan Sacks z”l: A People That Dwells Alone? BALAK The dictionary defines epiphany as “a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something; a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realisation.” Th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l On Radical Islam & How To Defeat It
Jonathan Sacks z”l On Radical Islam & How To Defeat It The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, spoke to J-TV as one of our first-ever interviews in 2016. We decided to share the interview again which was produced in light of his book
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Jonathan Sacks z”l : Descartes’ Error CHUKAT
Jonathan Sacks z”l : Descartes’ Error CHUKAT In his 2011 bestseller, The Social Animal, New York Times columnist David Brooks writes: We are living in the middle of the revolution in consciousness. Over the past few years, geneticists, neurosc
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Taking It Personally KORACH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Taking It Personally KORACH When we read the story of Korach, our attention tends to be focused on the rebels. We don’t give as much reflection as we might to the response of Moses. Was it right? Was it wrong? It’s a
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Jonathan Sack z”l: What Made Joshua and Caleb Different? SHELACH LECHA
Jonathan Sack z”l: What Made Joshua and Caleb Different? SHELACH LECHA The twelve men sent by Moses to explore the land of Israel came back with a wholly misleading report. They said: “We cannot go up against those people, for they are stronger th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Leadership BEHA’ALOTECHA
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Leadership BEHA’ALOTECHA In this week’s parsha, Moses has a breakdown. It is the lowest emotional ebb of his entire career as a leader. Listen to his words to God: “Why have You treated Your servant so bad
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Jonathan Sacks z”l Liminal Space BAMIDBAR
Jonathan Sacks z”l Liminal Space BAMIDBAR In English, the book we begin this week is called Numbers, and for an obvious reason. It begins with a census, and there is even a second count toward the end of the book. On this view, the central theme of
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Jonathan Sacks – The Rejection of Rejection BECHUKOTAI
Jonathan Sacks – The Rejection of Rejection BECHUKOTAI There is one aspect of Christianity that Jews, if we are to be honest, must reject, and that Christians, most notably Pope John XXIII, have also begun to reject. It is the concept of rejection i
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Jonathan Sacks – Minority Rights BEHAR
Jonathan Sacks – Minority Rights BEHAR One of the most striking features of the Torah is its emphasis on love of, and vigilance toward, the ger, the stranger: Do not oppress a stranger; you yourselves know how it feels to be strangers, because you
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Jonathan Sacks – The Duality of Jewish Time EMOR
Jonathan Sacks – The Duality of Jewish Time EMOR Alongside the holiness of place and person is the holiness of time, something parshat Emor charts in its deceptively simple list of festivals and holy days (Lev. 23:1-44). Time plays an enormous par
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Jonathan Sacks – Judaism’s Three Voices
Jonathan Sacks – Judaism’s Three Voices The nineteenth chapter of Vayikra, with which our parsha begins, is one of the supreme statements of the ethics of the Torah. It’s about the right, the good and the holy, and it contains some of Judaism’
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Jonathan Sacks – Faith After the Holocaust
Jonathan Sacks – Faith After the Holocaust Faith After the Holocaust Rabbi Sacks responds to the devastation of the Holocaust The Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborat
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Jonathan Sacks: Holy People, Holy Land Acharei Mot
Jonathan Sacks: Holy People, Holy Land Acharei Mot I had been engaged in dialogue for two years with an Imam from the Middle East, a gentle and seemingly moderate man. One day, in the middle of our conversation, he turned to me and asked, “Why do
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Jonathan Sacks: Is there such a thing as Lashon Tov? METZORA
Jonathan Sacks: Is there such a thing as Lashon Tov? METZORA The Sages understood tsara’at, the theme of this week’s parsha, not as an illness but as a miraculous public exposure of the sin of lashon hara, speaking badly about people. Judaism is a s
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Jonathan Sacks – Othello, WikiLeaks, and Mildewed Walls TAZRIA
Jonathan Sacks – Othello, WikiLeaks, and Mildewed Walls TAZRIA It was the Septuagint, the early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, that translated tsara’at, the condition whose identification and cleansing occupies much of Tazria and Metzora
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Jonathan Sacks – Spontaneity: Good or Bad? SHEMINI
Jonathan Sacks – Spontaneity: Good or Bad? SHEMINI Shemini tells the tragic story of how the great inauguration of the Tabernacle, a day about which the Sages said that God rejoiced as much as He had at the creation of the universe, was overshadowe
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Jonathan Sacks – Why Civilisations Die TZAV
Jonathan Sacks – Why Civilisations Die TZAV In The Watchman’s Rattle, subtitled Thinking Our Way Out of Extinction, Rebecca Costa delivers a fascinating account of how civilisations die. When their problems become too complex, societies reach wh
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Jonathan Sacks : God’s Shadow VAYAKHEL
Jonathan Sacks: God’s Shadow VAYAKHEL In Vayakhel we meet, for the second time, the man who became the symbol of the artist in Judaism, a man by the name of Betzalel. Then Moses said to the Israelites, “Know that the Lord has chosen Betzalel son of Ur
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Jonathan Sacks – Leadership Means Making Space TETZAVEH
Jonathan Sacks – Leadership Means Making Space TETZAVEH Tetzaveh is, as is well known, the parsha in which for once Moses take second place. In fact, he is not mentioned by name at all, and all the focus is on his brother, Aaron, and on the role he
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Jonathan Sacks – Building Builders TERUMAH
Jonathan Sacks – Building Builders TERUMAH As soon as we read the opening lines of Terumah we begin the massive shift from the intense drama of the Exodus with its signs and wonders and epic events, to the long, detailed narrative of how the Israeli
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Jonathan Sacks – God’s Nudge MISHPATIM
Jonathan Sacks – God’s Nudge MISHPATIM First in Yitro there were the Aseret Hadibrot, the “Ten Utterances”, the Ten Commandments, expressed as general principles. Now in Mishpatim come the details. Here is how they begin: If you buy a Hebr
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Jonathan Sacks – Deed and Creed YITRO
Jonathan Sacks – Deed and Creed YITRO The parsha of Yitro records the revolutionary moment when God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, entered into a mutually binding agreement with a nation, the Children of Israel, an agreement we call a brit, a covena
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Jonathan Sacks – The March of Folly BO
Jonathan Sacks – The March of Folly BO There is a fascinating moment in the unfolding story of the plagues that should make us stop and take notice. At the opening of this week’s parsha, seven plagues have now struck Egypt. The people are sufferin
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Jonathan Sacks – The Birth of History – VAERA
Jonathan Sacks – The Birth of History – VAERA The parsha of Vaera begins with some fateful words. It would not be too much to say that they changed the course of history, because they changed the way people thought about history. In fact, they
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Jonathan Sacks – The Challenge of Jewish Leadership SHEMOT
Jonathan Sacks – The Challenge of Jewish Leadership SHEMOT I used to say, only half in jest, that the proof that Moses was the greatest of the prophets was that when God asked him to lead the Jewish people, he refused four times: Who am I to lead? T
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Jonathan Sacks – Grandparents VAYECHI
Jonathan Sacks – Grandparents VAYECHI Every Friday night we re-enact one of the most moving scenes in the book of Bereishit. Jacob, reunited with Joseph, is ill. Joseph comes to visit him, bring bringing with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
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Jonathan Sacks – The Space Between VAYIGASH
Jonathan Sacks – The Space Between VAYIGASH “What do porcupines do in winter?” asked Schopenhauer. “How can they stay warm?” If they come too close to one another, they will injure each other. If they stay too far apart, they will freeze. Li
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Jonathan Sacks – Sibling Rivalry MIKKETZ
Jonathan Sacks – Sibling Rivalry MIKKETZ Listen to these words that are among the most fateful and reverberating in all of Jewish history: Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not recognise him. Gen. 42:8 The Torah is a deep book. We make a
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Jonathan Sacks – Speech Therapy VAYESHEV
Jonathan Sacks – Speech Therapy VAYESHEV From Vayeshev to the end of the book of Bereishit we read the story of Joseph and his brothers. From the very beginning we are plunged into a drama of sibling rivalry that seems destined to end in tragedy. Al
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Jonathan Sacks – Collective Responsibility VAYISHLACH
Jonathan Sacks – Collective Responsibility VAYISHLACH By any standards it was a shocking episode. Jacob had settled on the outskirts of the town of Shechem, ruled by Hamor. Dina, Jacob’s daughter, goes out to see the town. Shechem, Hamor’s son,
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Jonathan Sacks: The Character of Jacob VAYETSE
Jonathan Sacks: The Character of Jacob VAYETSE What kind of man was Jacob? This is the question that cries out to us in episode after episode of his life. The first time we hear a description of him he is called ish tam: a simple, quiet, plain, straight
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Jonathan Sacks – Why Did Isaac Love Esau? TOLDOT
Jonathan Sacks – Why Did Isaac Love Esau? TOLDOT Even before they were born, Jacob and Esau struggled in the womb. They were destined, it seems, to be eternal adversaries. Not only were they were different in character and appearance. They al
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Jonathan Sacks – Abraham: A Life of Faith CHAYEI SARAH
Jonathan Sacks – Abraham: A Life of Faith CHAYEI SARAH Abraham, the Sages were convinced, was a greater religious hero than Noah. We hear this in the famous dispute among the Sages about the phrase that Noah was “perfect in his generations,” mea
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Jonathan Sacks – The Binding of Isaac: A New Interpretation
Jonathan Sacks – The Binding of Isaac: A New Interpretation It is the hardest passage of all, one that seems to defy understanding. Abraham and Sarah have waited years for a child. God has promised them repeatedly that they would have many de
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Jonathan Sacks – On Being a Jewish Parent LECH LECHA
Jonathan Sacks – On Being a Jewish Parent LECH LECHA The most influential man who ever lived does not appear on any list I have seen of the hundred most influential men who ever lived. He ruled no empire, commanded no army, engaged in no spectacular
Miscellaneous | Miscellaneous
Jonathan Sacks – A Nail of Faith – A Story for Succot
Jonathan Sacks – A Nail of Faith – A Story for Succot Here is what I learned from the first time I built a sukkah (aside from the fact that I am not particularly good at woodwork!). Wishing you and your families a wonderful Sukkot. Chag Sameac
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Jonathan Sacks – The Spirituality of Song HA’AZINU
Jonathan Sacks – The Spirituality of Song HA’AZINU With Ha’azinu we climb to one of the peaks of Jewish spirituality. For a month Moses had taught the people. He had told them their history and destiny, and the laws that would make theirs a
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Jonathan Sacks z”l – We Are What We Remember KI TAVO
Jonathan Sacks z”l – We Are What We Remember KI TAVO One reason religion has survived in the modern world despite four centuries of secularisation is that it answers the three questions every reflective human being will ask at some time in his
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Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Greatness of Humility SHOFTIM
Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Greatness of Humility SHOFTIM At a dinner to celebrate the work of a communal leader, the guest speaker paid tribute to his many qualities: his dedication, hard work, and foresight. As he sat down, the leader leaned ov
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Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Deep Power of Joy – RE’EH
Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Deep Power of Joy – RE’EH On 14 October 1663, the famous diarist Samuel Pepys paid a visit to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Creechurch Lane in the city of London. Jews had been exiled from England
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Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Spirituality of Listening – EIKEV
Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Spirituality of Listening – EIKEV It is one of the most important words in Judaism, and also one of the least understood. Its two most famous occurrences are in last week’s parsha and this week’s: “Hear O
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Jonathan Sacks – Seven Principles for Maintaining Jewish Peoplehood
Jonathan Sacks – Seven Principles for Maintaining Jewish Peoplehood “Hope rebuilds the ruins of Jerusalem. The Jewish people kept hope alive and hope kept the Jewish people alive. That is the message of Tisha B’Av.” ~ Rabbi Sacks
Advice & Self-Help | Advice & Self-Help
Jonathan Sacks z"l - The Power of Praise Vayeshev 5781
Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Power of Praise Vayeshev 5781 Reuben is the leader who might have been but never was. He was Jacob’s firstborn. Jacob said of him on his deathbed, “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my s
