“Judaism is the revolutionary moment at which humanity refuses to accept the world that is.” – Rabbi Sacks
In the wake of the October 7 attacks, fundamental questions about Jewish identity have been confronted, and the war has awakened extraordinary energies in Israeli society and in the Jewish people worldwide.
In response to these pivotal moments, The Rabbi Sacks Legacy, Gesher, and the Maimonides Fund organised a seminar titled “Ascending the Balcony” for 28 school principals and directors of the Meitarim network, a school system that integrates religiously diverse students.
Educators engaged in lectures, text-study sessions, and workshops, with Rabbi Sacks’ Torah serving as a guiding light. Stepping away from their usual roles, these leaders gained perspective and explored ways to navigate these challenging times using a Jewish toolbox. It was a day of reflection and growth, aimed at upgrading their leadership practices in the face of uncertainty.
“One of the most important tasks of a leader is to encourage leadership in others.”
Rabbi Sacks
The Masa Leadership & Impact Center and The Rabbi Sacks Legacy have launched the “Dare to Lead” curriculum. It was piloted in Israel with gap year students from Atlanta, thanks to the support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Developed by Sarah Peters Mali and Maya Bernstein, “Dare to Lead” integrates Torah texts and insights with leadership concepts and skills. It offers a way to connect Rabbi Sacks’ profound and enduring ideas to a practical approach to leadership.
During the closing session, Alan Sacks answered the students’ questions about his brother, Rabbi Sacks. He left the group with a message of leadership that he learned from his brother’s teachings.
The 10th anniversary of Sefaria was marked by a gala event at the New York Public Library. The evening featured Gila Sacks, Rabbi Sacks’ youngest daughter.
“Sefaria has built the modern luchot [tablets] — opening up the world of Jewish learning to everyone, helping to make genuinely universal Jewish literacy a true possibility, perhaps for the first time in modern times,” Gila said.
Sara Wolkenfeld, Chief Learning Officer at Sefaria, said: “[Rabbi Sacks] really believed in digital Torah to carry Torah into the 21st century. I was present to hear him speak about that, and so it was very powerful for me to hear Gila speak.”
The Rabbi Sacks Legacy, in partnership with the Mo’etzet HaMechinot, has recently launched a pioneering initiative designed to infuse post-high school Israeli students with the teachings of Rabbi Sacks.
Each participating mechina (gap-year programme) will engage in the study of Rabbi Sacks’ thought as part of a year-long course. They are provided with a comprehensive collection of Rabbi Sacks’ books in Hebrew for their library, encouraging a deeper engagement with his wisdom, and nurturing the next generation of young Israeli leaders.
Recently, Rabbi Dr. Samuel Lebens, a Sacks Scholar and associate professor of philosophy at Haifa University, led a training day for the heads of all the participating mechinot.
מורשת הרב זקס, בשיתוף עם מועצת המכינות הקדם צבאיות הציוניות הישראליות, מקדמים לימוד מעמיק ומשמעותי בתורת הרב זקס.
מכינות רבות שמשתתפות בתכנית עוסקות בלימוד הגותו של הרב זקס לאור האתגרים והשאלות שעולות ביחס לתקופה. במסגרת תכנית הלימודים השנתית, כל מכינה מקבלת את כלל ספרי הרב זקס בעברית לספרייה וכן את האפשרות לכל תלמיד במכינה לקבל ספר שהוא בוחר במחיר סמלי.
לאחרונה הוביל הרב פרופ’ שמואל לבנס, מתלמידי הרב זקס ופרופסור חבר לפילוסופיה באוניברסיטת חיפה, יום עיון לכל ראשי מכינות ומנהלי התכניות. הדור הבא של מנהיגי ישראל מעמיק בתורתו והגותו של הרב זקס כחלק מסל הכלים למנהיגות יהודית צעירה ופורצת דרך בישראל.
What is the meaning of everything we are going through? From where can we draw hope and comfort? Why is there evil, and why are we hated? What would Rabbi Sacks have said about the situation in Israel and around the world?
Sivan Rahav-Meir has compiled a booklet of short extracts from Rabbi Sacks’ writings, and added topical real-life anecdotes, in a new booklet “To Heal the Heart: Faith and Comfort in a Time of Crisis”.
Sivan Rahav-Meir said, “Since Simchat Torah I have immersed myself in the writings of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. I found deep answers to the questions that are currently shaking the entire Jewish world, and added my own stories from the period we are going through.”
Prepared for an Israeli audience and available exclusively in Hebrew, the booklet is being distributed for free across Israel, with copies available at Steimatzky branches and downloadable here.
On Wednesday 27 March 2024, the former prime minister Gordon Brown drew on his close friendship with Rabbi Lord Sacks when he delivered the inaugural Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Annual Memorial Lecture aimed at keeping alive the legacy and teachings of the former Chief Rabbi. Then he used Rabbi Sacks’ teachings to put forward the idea that together we can create a new age of hope.
Gordon Brown recalled in his talk being asked to write a foreword to a reprint of Jonathan Sacks’ bookThe Politics of Hope, and being so thrilled to be asked and so keen to do a good job that he even worked on it during his honeymoon. Then chancellor of the exchequer, he wanted to do justice to the earlier edition of the book. “I think I spent more time doing that than I spent on the budget that year,” he joked.
Rabbi Sacks died in November 2020. In his 22 years in the role of Chief Rabbi he became a global religious leader. As a philosopher and award-winning author, his was a respected moral voice. He was the laureate of the 2016 Templeton Prize in recognition of his “exceptional contributions to affirming life’s spiritual dimension” and was described by King Charles III, with whom he also had a warm friendship, as “a light unto this nation”.
His friendship with Brown contributed to the sometimes light-hearted tone of the memorial lecture. The former Labour politician recalled: “Jonathan said to me one day, ‘I have one piece of advice for you: humour. Your speeches need humour. You’ve got to tell stories.”
Brown, who was chancellor 1997-2007 and prime minister 2007-10, spoke of how Rabbi Sacks’ thought and writings had been a huge influence on him. He also spoke of the importance of morality to the politics and development of this country, and of the transformative power of hope. “Hope is more than optimism. It is not an expectation but an intention to do things,” Brown said. “A feeling that it can and will be done.”
Hope, along with faith and charity, were the themes of his hour-long lecture, organised by the Rabbi Sacks Legacy and delivered on a stage at King’s College London without any notes, or the protection of a lectern.
Earlier, Brown recalled the financial crisis of 2008-09, a point when he said he relied on Rabbi Sacks, “because I understood, as he understood, that this was not simply a financial crisis. This was a moral crisis. Bankers had awarded themselves bonuses they didn’t deserve, had taken risks they didn’t understand and people were buying goods they couldn’t afford.”
In April 2009, he gave a speech at St Paul’s Cathedral, the first speech in that church by a serving prime minister. “I’ll be honest,” Brown told his audience on Wednesday. “It was written mostly by Jonathan. I can acknowledge that now.”
He quoted Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, recalling his friend’s memorable words: ‘He said we are stronger when we care for the weak, we are richer when we care for the poor, we are invulnerable when we care for the vulnerable’
He said: “When I was in government, working with the King of Saudi Arabia and the prime minister of Israel, working with other people, we could see the way the problems that existed could in future be solved.” In what appeared to be a reference to the current crisis in Israel and Gaza, he added: “There is a way forward, and I believe it is still possible, and we must never lose hope. Because hope is the starting point of everything that Jonathan Sacks wrote about.”
Brown proposed Rabbi Sacks had three principles he wanted us to follow. The first is to think of society as a common home that we build together. Britain is not a hotel or a country house, but a home where each of us has rights and responsibilities. The second is to think of Britain and a society: not as a contract but as a covenant built on values and beliefs that are shared. The third is the principle of partnership, where state, the market and communities work together. “Jonathan talks about a partnership where the whole is bound to be greater than the sum of the parts.”
Involvement from every individual would make the greatest difference in solving the problem of broken communities and broken families, he said. The same goes for the problem of integrating communities, the environment and violent extremism. But the biggest problem now, Brown said, is poverty, with up to six million children in this country going without basic necessities. “How can children have an equal access to hope, how can they realise their potential if they’re living in homes without kitchens and bedrooms with beds? There is desperation in towns and villages that ‘levelling up’ has passed by.”
Brown said charities helping people in need were themselves struggling. “Jonathan said we are stronger when we care for the weak, we are richer when we care for the poor, we are invulnerable when we care for the vulnerable.”
Brown spoke of the importance of philanthropy, which formed part of the idea of all of us doing something together. “I would like to take out of the memory of Jonathan Sacks that we have a new age of hope, that it is based on responsibilities and rights, that it is based on getting people equal access to hope, and it is based on his groundbreaking work on how we can partner together to make a better society, recognising the sheer power of social conscience and what it can achieve.”
Elliott Goldstein, chair of the Rabbi Sacks Legacy, thanked the speaker and said: “It is our hope that this annual lecture will continue to amplify Rabbi Lord Sacks’ role as a moral voice in our society, particularly in these difficult times.”
Left to right: Lady Elaine Sacks, the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, and Professor Shitij Kapur, Vice-Chancellor and President of King’s College London (Photo: Yossi Abrams)
Gila Sacks delivering the closing remarks (Photo: Yossi Abrams)
The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown delivering the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Annual Memorial Lecture (Photo: Yossi Abrams)
The Rabbi Sacks Legacy announces the launch of the second cohort of the Sacks Scholars, a programme designed to delve deeply into the inspirational teachings of Rabbi Sacks and support those bringing his message to communities around the world.
Building upon the resounding success of its initial cohort, this immersive programme brings together senior educators, academics, and communal leaders from across the globe who have been selected through a robust nomination and interview process.
The Scholars – who hail from the US, the UK, Israel, Australia, Canada, South Africa and Mexico – will gather for a retreat in Jerusalem and gain exclusive access to prominent Israel-based leaders while building a strong cohort-based community. They will also engage in monthly online seminars facilitated by outstanding leaders, and will also be offered personalised mentorship opportunities.
Throughout the programme each Scholar will design and implement a project that brings Rabbi Sacks’ insights to new audiences and communities worldwide.
Rabbi Jeremy Bruce, Director of the Sacks Scholars programme, said: “The Sacks Scholars programme is an innovative initiative that ensures Rabbi Sacks’ teachings endure as a living legacy, perpetuating his timeless messages while adapting them to resonate with contemporary audiences.”
The second cohort of 20 Sacks Scholars are:
Daniel Bonner (Executive Director, Paul E. Singer Foundation, NY)
Matti Borowski (Deputy Principal, Mount Scopus Memorial College, Melbourne)
We are excited to launch ‘Chiefly Quotes,’ a mobile web app delivering daily inspiration from Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks straight to your smartphone. Crafted by Jonathan Levy, a member of the inaugural Sacks Scholars cohort, this app sends curated quotes from Rabbi Sacks directly to users via push notifications.
In a world brimming with digital distractions, ‘Chiefly Quotes’ offers a moment of reflection and insight. With Rabbi Sacks’ timeless words at their fingertips, users can embark on a journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth.
“We’re thrilled to introduce Chiefly Quotes,” says Jonathan Levy. “As part of the Sacks Scholars programme, we’re committed to spreading Rabbi Sacks’ teachings worldwide. This platform is more than an app, it’s a daily ritual, guiding users toward understanding themselves and their communities.”
Rabbi Jeremy Bruce, Sacks Scholars Programme Director, added: “We are excited to see the public launch of one the innovative and impactful projects produced by the first cohort of Sacks Scholars. ‘Chiefly Quotes’ will undoubtedly bring Rabbi Sacks’ timeless wisdom to audiences around the world.”
To subscribe, visit www.chieflyquotes.com. Each day, receive a thoughtfully chosen quote to inspire reflection and upliftment.
The app was developed by volunteers, Aron Cohen of diagnostics.ai and Michael Fine of StudioFine.co, based on a collection of quotes curated by Rabbi Johnny Solomon.
Future plans include developing a mobile app, allowing users to tailor their experience and share quotes effortlessly across social media.
To celebrate the recent publication of the Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition volume, we are pleased to offer you a free download of the book’s full Pesach section.
We are also delighted to announce that Koren Jerusalem are offering a 20% discount on purchases of the new book with code PesachFamily (valid until June 20, 2024). Order the book directly from Koren here.
Some 50 boxes containing the personal archives of the renowned religious leader, philosopher, and respected moral voice were received today in Jerusalem.
The Rabbi Sacks Legacy and the National Library of Israel are delighted to announce a significant milestone for both institutions as the personal archive of the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks arrives at the Library in Jerusalem. Some 50 cartons containing archival material, including files, notes, sermons, lectures, correspondence and books, have been received by Library curatorial and conservation staff.
Official records from Rabbi Sacks’ tenure as Chief Rabbi are housed at the London Metropolitan Archives. While the archive awaits review and cataloging, an initial survey reveals materials on topics close to Rabbi Sacks’ heart, such as engaging Judaism with the world, community building and Jewish education, with more discoveries anticipated.
The Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe supported the acquisition of the archive. Once catalogued, the National Library of Israel intends to provide extensive access to researchers, according to the terms agreed upon by the Sacks family.
Among the correspondence in the archive is a letter written in April 1998 ahead of Pesach. In it, Rabbi Sacks reflected on a period of disunity within the Jewish world:
“The Haggadah is not predicated on a simple concept of Jewish unity. It presents to us a portrait of four children around the table. They are not the same. One is wise, one a rebel, one is simple, and one unable to ask. Their perspectives are different. Their voices are not in harmony. But they sit at the same table. They are members of the same family. They tell the same story. We are the people who carried with us the indelible recollection of centuries of suffering, not because we revel in it, not because we see ourselves as victims, but in order to remember that whatever else divides us, history unites us.”
Lady Elaine Sacks said, “My dear husband expressed great enthusiasm for the new National Library of Israel, which he had described as ‘the Home of the Book for the People of the Book’. It is fitting that his personal archive will be housed there, continuing his legacy of sharing knowledge and wisdom with the world.”
Sallai Meridor, Chairman of the National Library of Israel, said, “We are honoured to be given responsibility for incorporating the writings and teachings of Rabbi Sacks zt”l into the Library of the State of Israel and the Jewish People. His legacy will not only serve as a magnet and a source of inspiration but also, through digitisation, this important archive will be made available around the world for generations to come.”
The Rabbi Sacks Legacy expresses its appreciation to the Marcus Margulis Charitable Trust for their generous support and encouragement of this project.
