Jonathan Sacks
ARTICLES BY: Jonathan Sacks
Chessed Is the Highest Achievement of the Moral Life
An interesting phrase appears at the end of last week’s parsha and at the beginning of this week’s, and they are the only places where...
Parshat Va’etchanan: The Infinite Game
The popular author and TED lecturer Simon Sinek recently published a book entitled The Infinite Game. Based on the distinction first articulated by James P....
Parshat Devarim: The Time to Follow
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...
No One Will Change Your Life Like a Teacher
There are moments when Divine Providence touches you on the shoulder and makes you see a certain truth with blazing clarity. Let me share with...
Parshat Pinchas: Moral vs. Political Decisions
The coronavirus pandemic raised a series of deep moral and political issues. How far should governments go in seeking to prevent its spread? To what...
The Hidden Meaning of the Bilam Story: The Power of Love
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...
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...
A Lesson From Korach: Stop Demonizing Those You Disagree With
Korach was swallowed up by the ground, but his spirit is still alive and well, and in the unlikeliest of places -- British and American...
The 12 Spies and the Coronavirus: What Stories Do We Tell?
In March 2020, whilst launching a new book, I took part in a BBC radio program along with Mervyn King, who had been governor of...
Parshat Beha’alotcha and 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...
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...
Equality Begins With Education
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...
The Power of a Curse: the Need for Deterrence
The book of Vayikra draws to a close by outlining the blessings that will follow if the people are faithful to their covenant with God....
Parshat Emor and Coronavirus: The Only Guarantee Is Uncertainty
There is something very strange about the festival of Sukkot, on which our parsha is the primary source. On the one hand, it is the...
Man in UK Caught on Video Telling Jewish Student ‘We Should Have Gassed the Lot of You’
Jewish World Mourns Passing of Renowned Talmudic Scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Jewish Student Leader at USC Quits Over Abuse She Says She Faced for Her Pro-Israel Views
Demand Soars for Jewish Museum’s ‘Yo Semite’ T-Shirt After Trump Verbal Gaffe
Is Russia’s Quest for World Power in Trouble?