Jonathan Sacks

Rabbi Sacks' thesis on the future of British society and the dangers facing liberal democracy. With a new foreword by Daniel Finkelstein.Arguing that global communications have fragmented national cultures and that multiculturalism, intended to reduce social frictions, is today reinforcing them, Sacks argues for a new approach to national identity, making the case for "integrated diversity" within a framework of shared political values.Britain, he argues, will have to construct a national narrative as a basis for identity, reinvigorate the concept of the common good, and identify shared interests among currently conflicting groups. It must restore a culture of civility, protect "neutral spaces" from politicization, and find ways of moving beyond an adversarial culture in which the loudest voice wins. He argues for a responsibility- rather than rights-based model of citizenship that connects the ideas of giving and belonging.Offering a new paradigm to replace previous models of assimilation on the one hand, multiculturalism on the other, he argues that we should see society as "the home we build together", bringing the distinctive gifts of different groups to the common good. Sacks warns of the hazards free and open societies face in the twenty-first century, and offers an unusual religious defence of liberal democracy and the nation state.

Confidence in a faith is a subtle quality and lack of it shows in many ways, some contradictory. Dr Sacks has that confidence and the quiet charisma to communicate it.Sacks argues that faiths must remain open to criticism, keep alive their separate communities and still contribute far more to national debates on moral issues. They must also learn to get along better. His thesis is that we still live under a Biblical canopy and that a cohesive morality needs the uniting bonds of faith.The subject of this book - religions and ethics - is good ground for him to build on: The Jewish contribution to ethics is distinctly rational and has a long and illustrious tradition. Moral philosophy is after all a Jewish preoccupation.In recent years, he writes, religion has taken us unawares. The rise of the Moral Majority in the USA, the Islamic Revolution, the growth of religious parties in Israel, the power of Catholicism in Poland and the African continent all run contrary to the basic thesis that modernity and secularization went hand in hand and could almost be regarded as synonyms. Instead, and against all prediction, religion has resurfaced in the public domain.In this book, Sacks argues the case for a broadly based return to tradition within the context of religious pluralism and tolerance. Religious values remain a strong force within our culture to be renewed. For our society to be viable indeed they must be renewed.

Following the painful loss of his father, former Chief Rabbi Sacks began to learn how to celebrate life in a new way.Based, in part, on Rabbi Sacks’s collection of columns in the UK's Times newspaper, Celebrating Life is a series of reflections on subjects such as morality, friendship, listening to others and giving thanks. It also talks about topics such as being a parent, finding and losing one’s faith and most of all, finding happiness. In Celebrating Life, Rabbi Sacks discovers where happiness lives, often in unexpected places, through family, community, friendship and responsibilities. He also finds it through a renewed relationship with God who spoke to his deepest needs.But this redesigned and reissued edition has something for everyone, for people of all faiths and none. It shows us how to be human and, in becoming so, how we can touch the divine.

Throughout history, the Jewish people have faced catastrophe after catastrophe. They have been expelled, ghettoised, murdered and forcibly converted. The question that Jonathan Sacks asks in this original and compelling book is not how Judaism survived four thousand years of persecution, but how it found ways to flourish and thrive.Originally written as a wedding gift for his son over twenty years ago, now featuring a new foreword by Natan Sharansky, this revised edition is a reminder of the enduring beauty and wisdom of one of the world’s oldest religions. A fascinating cultural and religious journey through Judaism’s long history and the revolutionary ideas that shaped the moral civilisation of the West, Jonathan Sacks urges readers not to embrace secularisation or lose the script of the Jewish story but to add their own chapters instead. A deeply personal celebration of faith and community filled with hope for the future of the Jewish people, this book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand Judaism or deepen their faith and identity.

‘Aims to define nothing less than a basis for religiously sensitive civilisation.’ Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury‘The Dignity of Difference has a central and compelling vision: the magnificence and inspiring human diversity of our world ... The Chief Rabbi has made a convincing case for respecting people of different faiths and creeds.’ Jewish ChronicleThis redesigned and reissued edition of The Dignity of Difference was Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's radical proposal for reconciling hatreds and includes . Updated for 2025 with a new foreword by Simon Schama.Almost a quarter of a century ago, the tragedy of September 11 is remembered today as the moment the world woke up to the dangers posed by religious differences and intolerance. In this iconic and critically acclaimed book, reissued with a new foreword, Rabbi Sacks asked, can religion still become a force for peace? The Dignity of Difference was the first major statement by a Jewish leader on the ethics of globalization. At the time of writing, the politics of identity had began to replace the politics of ideology that dominated the globe in the twentieth-century. Now Rabbi Sack’s heartfelt, clear-sighted and radical proposal for how we might reconcile our differences without violence is as relevant as ever. In it, Sacks argues that we must do more than just search for values common to all faiths. To avoid the clash of civilisations, we must celebrate our differences and respect all the many ways cultures have searched for meaning, so that people of all faiths and none can live together in respectful harmony. A highly readable and beautifully written book that offers readers the perfect antidote to troubled times.

Rabbi Sacks argues that preoccupation with self is a mistake and that ethics are concerned with the life we live together, talking with as much authority about Sigmund Freud or Karl Marx as he does about the Bible. With a new foreword by Rowan Williams.‘The only force equal to a fundamentalism of hate is a counter-fundamentalism of love.’Jonathan Sacks was an outstanding moral authority of our time and bestselling author of The Dignity of Difference. One of Judaism’s most distinctive and challenging ideas is its ethics of responsibility. We have been given the gift of freedom and we in turn have to honour and enhance the freedom of others. More than in any previous generation, we have been tempted to imagine that it is the individual’s needs which are the sole source of meaning.This is a clarion call to the outside world to come to its senses.

A newly designed edition of this collection of Jonathan Sacks’ favourite "Thoughts for the Day".Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was a regular voice frequently heard on the UK's most popular morning BBC radio news show. He regularly presented a "Thought for the Day" in which he addressed a current issue with characteristic brevity and clarity. His clear, calm voice brought hope and encouragement to all of us struggling to come to terms with modern, turbulent times.From Optimism to Hope is a carefully selected collection of his favourite pieces from between 1995 and 2004, ranging in topics as wide-ranging as parenting, forgiveness, staying young and the Turner Prize.The result is a book that still resonates today, and appeals to everyone, from people with religious beliefs as well as those with little or none.

"Esli by menja sprosili, kak najti Vsevyshnego, ja by otvetil: "Nauchites slushat". Vslushivajtes v pesnju vselennoj v krikakh ptits, sheleste derevev, shume priboja. Vslushivajtes v poeziju molitvy, muzyku Teilim. Vnimatelno slushajte tekh, kogo ljubite, i tekh, kto ljubit vas" - tak vdokhnovenno r. Saks priglashaet svoego chitatelja k novomu dukhovnomu puteshestviju v mir, kazalos by, obscheizvestnykh istin. Ljubov k B-gu i Ego tvorenijam pozvoljajut avtoru gluboko raskryt samye raznye temy, aktualnye dlja sovremennogo cheloveka, sredi nikh: mozhno li odnim-edinstvennym postupkom izmenit khod svoej zhizni ili zhizni chelovechestva; pochemu deti obozhajut skazki i ritualy i pochemu ne stoit lishat ikh etogo; v chem samoe bolshoe velichie i samaja bolshaja oshibka cheloveka i mnogoe-mnogoe drugoe. Ravvin ser Dzhonatan Saks (1948-2020) - filosof, pisatel, politik. Obladatel 16 pochetnykh uchenykh stepenej, avtor 25 knig, otmechennykh literaturnymi premijami.

V dejstvitelnosti Tanakh, - pishet r. Dzhonatan Saks, - s nachala do kontsa, vsetselo istorija ljubvi: strastnoj ljubvi Tvortsa k Ego tvorenijam, ne pogasshej posle vsekh razocharovanij i verolomnykh postupkov v istorii chelovechestva". Ob etoj istorii ljubvi v svoikh besedakh i povestvuet avtor, obnaruzhivaja skrytye smysly i rasshirjaja vosprijatie obscheizvestnykh istin, operiruja shirochajshimi entsiklopedicheskimi znanijami i pozvoljaja chitatelju razgadat vechnye tajny. Suschestvuet li spravedlivost v mire? Pochemu, khotja B-g ne skor na gnev i polon miloserdija, spisok prokljatij namnogo dlinnee spiska blagoslovenij? Pochemu epokha prorokov zakonchilas? Pochemu Tora (osobenno kniga Bereshit) polna zaputannykh semejnykh istorij o ljubvi i nenavisti? Na eti i mnogie drugie voprosy est otvety v etoj knige.Perevodchik: Silakova Svetlana

Britain's most authentically prophetic voice - Daily Telegraph'The choice with which humankind is faced is between the idea of power and the power of ideas.'From his appointment as Chief Rabbi in 1991, through to his death in November 2020, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks made an incalculable contribution not just to the religious life of the Jewish community but to the national conversation - and increasingly to the global community - on issues of ethics and morality.Commemorating the first anniversary of his death, this volume brings together a compelling selection of Jonathan Sacks' BBC Radio Thought for the Day broadcasts, Credo columns from The Times, and a range of articles published in the world's most respected newspapers, along with his House of Lords speeches and keynote lectures.First heard and read in many different contexts, these pieces demonstrate with striking coherence the developing power of Sacks' ideas, on faith and philosophy alike. In each instance he brings to bear deep insights into the immediate situation at the time - and yet it as if we hear him speaking to us afresh, giving us new strength to face the challenges and complexities of today's world.These words of faith and wisdom shine as a beacon of enduring light in an increasingly conflicted cultural climate, and prove the timeless nature and continued relevance of Jonathan Sacks' thought and teachings.One of the great moral thinkers of our time - Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone