Jonathan Sacks

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks

(Hebrew: ‫יעקב צבי זקס‬, romanized: Ya'akov
Tzvi Zaks; 8 March 1948 – 7 November
2020) was a British Orthodox rabbi,
philosopher, theologian, author, and
politician.
 The Right Honourable
The Lord Sacks
Kt

Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew

Congregations of the Commonwealth
In office
1 September 1991 – 1 September 2013
Preceded by Immanuel, Lord
Jakobovits
Succeeded by Ephraim Mirvis
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
1 September 2009 – 7 November 2020

Personal details

Born Jonathan Henry

Sacks
8 March 1948[1]
Lambeth, London,
England

Died 7 November 2020

(aged 72)
Nationality British
Political party Crossbench

Spouse(s) Elaine Taylor (m. 1970)

[1]

Children Joshua, Dina and Gila

Education Christ's College,

Finchley[1]

Alma mater Gonville & Caius

College, Cambridge
(MA Cantab)[1]
New College, Oxford
King's College London
(PhD)[2]

Occupation Rabbi

Awards Canterbury Medal

 (2014)
Templeton Prize
(2016)
Semicha Jews' College
Etz Chaim Yeshiva
(London)

Website rabbisacks.org

He served as the Chief Rabbi of the United

Hebrew Congregations of the
Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As the
spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the
largest synagogue body in the UK, he was
the Chief Rabbi of those Orthodox
synagogues, but was not recognized as
the religious authority for the Haredi Union
of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or for
the progressive movements such as
Masorti, Reform, and Liberal Judaism.[3][4]
As Chief Rabbi, Sacks formally carried the
title of Av Beit Din (head) of the London
Beth Din. At the time of his death, he was
the Emeritus Chief Rabbi.[5]

After stepping down as Chief Rabbi, in

addition to his international travelling and
speaking engagements and prolific writing,
Sacks served as the Ingeborg and Ira
Rennert Global Distinguished Professor of
Judaic Thought at New York University
and as the Kressel and Ephrat Family
University Professor of Jewish Thought at
Yeshiva University. He was also appointed
as Professor of Law, Ethics, and the Bible
at King's College London.[6] He won the
Templeton Prize (awarded for work
affirming life's spiritual dimension) in
2016.[7] He was also a Senior Fellow to the
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human
Rights.

Early life and education

Born in Lambeth, London on 8 March
1948,[1] to textile seller Louis David Sacks
(d. 1996) and Louisa ("Libby"; née Frumkin,
1919–2010),[8][9] of a family of leading
Jewish wine merchants,[10][11][12] Sacks
commenced his formal education at St
Mary's Primary School and at Christ's
College, Finchley.[1] He completed his
higher education at Gonville & Caius
College, Cambridge, where he gained a
first-class honours degree (MA) in
Philosophy. While a student at Cambridge,
Sacks travelled to New York to meet Rabbi
Menachem M. Schneerson to discuss a
variety of issues relating to religion, faith
and philosophy. Schneerson urged Sacks
to seek rabbinic ordination and to enter the
rabbinate.[13]

Sacks subsequently continued

postgraduate study at New College,
Oxford,[1] and at King's College London,
completing a PhD which the University of
London awarded in 1982.[2] Sacks received
his rabbinic ordination from Jews' College
and London's Etz Chaim Yeshiva.[14]

Career
Sacks's first rabbinic appointment (1978–
1982) was as the Rabbi for the Golders
Green synagogue in London. In 1983, he
became Rabbi of the prestigious Western
Marble Arch Synagogue in Central London,
a position he held until 1990. Between
1984 and 1990, Sacks also served as
Principal of Jews' College, the United
Synagogue's rabbinical seminary.[15] Dr.
Sacks was inducted to serve as Chief
Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations
of the Commonwealth on 1 September
1991, a position he held until 1 September
2013.

Sacks became a Knight Bachelor in the

2005 Birthday Honours "for services to the
Community and to Inter-faith
Relations".[16][17] He was made an
Honorary Freeman of the London Borough
of Barnet in September 2006.[18] On 13
July 2009 the House of Lords
Appointments Commission announced
that Sacks was recommended for a life
peerage with a seat in the House of
Lords.[19][20] He took the title "Baron Sacks,
of Aldgate in the City of London",[21] and
sat as a crossbencher.

A visiting professor at several universities

in Britain, the United States, and Israel,
Sacks held 16 honorary degrees, including
a doctorate of divinity conferred on him in
September 2001 by the then Archbishop of
Canterbury, George Carey, to mark his first
ten years in office as Chief Rabbi. In
recognition of his work, Sacks won several
international awards, including the
Jerusalem Prize in 1995 for his
contribution to diaspora Jewish life and
The Ladislaus Laszt Ecumenical and
Social Concern Award from Ben Gurion
University in Israel in 2011.[6]

The author of 25 books, Sacks published

commentaries on the daily Jewish prayer
book (siddur) and completed
commentaries to the Rosh Hashanah, Yom
Kippur and Pesach festival prayer-books
(machzorim) as of 2017. His other books
include, Not in God's Name: Confronting
Religious Violence, and The Great
Partnership: God, Science and the Search
for Meaning. His books won literary
awards, including the Grawemeyer Prize
for Religion in 2004 for The Dignity of
Difference, and a National Jewish Book
Award in 2000 for A Letter in the
Scroll.[6][22] Covenant & Conversation:
Genesis was also awarded a National
Jewish Book Award in 2009,[23] and his
commentary to the Pesach festival prayer
book won the Modern Jewish Thought and
Experience Dorot Foundation Award in the
2013 National Jewish Book Awards[23] in
the United States.[24] His Covenant &
Conversation commentaries on the weekly
Torah portion are read by thousands of
people in Jewish communities around the
world.[25]
Sacks' contributions to wider British
society have also been recognized. A
regular contributor to national media,
frequently appearing on BBC Radio 4's
Thought for the Day or writing the Credo
column or opinion pieces in The Times,
Sacks was awarded The Sanford St
Martin's Trust Personal Award for 2013 for
"his advocacy of Judaism and religion in
general". He was invited to the wedding of
Prince William of Wales and Kate
Middleton as a representative of the
Jewish community.[26]

At a Gala Dinner held in Central London in

May 2013 to mark the completion of the
Chief Rabbi's time in office, the Prince of
Wales called Sacks a "light unto this
nation", "a steadfast friend" and "a valued
adviser" whose "guidance on any given
issue has never failed to be of practical
value and deeply grounded in the kind of
wisdom that is increasingly hard to come
by".[27]

Chief Rabbi …

In his installation address upon

succeeding Immanuel, Lord Jakobovits as
Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew
Congregations of the Commonwealth in
September 1991, Sacks called for a
Decade of Renewal which would "revitalize
British Jewry's great powers of
creativity".[28] He said this renewal should
be based on five central values: "love of
every Jew, love of learning, love of God, a
profound contribution to British society
and an unequivocal attachment to
Israel."[28] Sacks said he wanted to be "a
catalyst for creativity, to encourage
leadership in others, and to let in the fresh
air of initiative and imagination".[28] This
led to a series of innovative communal
projects including Jewish Continuity, a
national foundation for Jewish educational
programmes and outreach; the
Association of Jewish Business Ethics; the
Chief Rabbinate Awards for Excellence; the
Chief Rabbinate Bursaries, and Community
Development, a national scheme to
enhance Jewish community life. The Chief
Rabbi began his second decade of office
with a call to 'Jewish Responsibility' and a
renewed commitment to the ethical
dimension of Judaism.[29]

Appointments held
In addition to serving as Chief Rabbi,
Sacks held numerous appointments
during his career including:

Professor of Judaic Thought, New York

University, New York (announced 29
October 2013).[30]
Professor of Jewish Thought, Yeshiva
University, New York (announced 29
October 2013).[30]
Professor of Law, Ethics and the Bible at
King's College, London (announced 5
December 2013)[30]
Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and
Commonwealth (1 September 1991 – 1
September 2013)[30]
Lecturer in moral philosophy, Middlesex
Polytechnic, 1971–1973[30]
Lecturer, Jews' College London, 1973–
82; director of its rabbinic facility, 1983–
1990; Principal, 1984–1990[30]
 Visiting professor of philosophy at the
University of Essex, 1989–1990[30]
Sherman lecturer at the University of
Manchester, 1989.[30]
Riddell lecturer at Newcastle University,
1993.[30]
Cook lecturer at the University of Oxford,
University of Edinburgh and the
University of St Andrews, 1996.[30]
Visiting professor at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, 1998–2004.[30]

Sacks was also a frequent guest on both

television and radio, and regularly
contributed to the national press. He
delivered the 1990 BBC Reith Lectures on
The Persistence of Faith.[31]

Awards and honours

Sacks was awarded numerous prizes
including:[30]

1995: Jerusalem Prize (Israel)

2000: American National Jewish Book
for A Letter in the Scroll
2004: The Grawemeyer Prize for
Religion (USA)
2009: American National Jewish Book
Award for Covenant & Conversation
Genesis: The Book of Beginnings
2010: The Norman Lamm Prize, Yeshiva
University (USA)
2010: The Abraham Kuyper Prize,
Princeton Theological Seminary (USA)
2011: The Ladislaus Laszt Ecumenical
and Social Concern Award, Ben Gurion
University (Israel)
2011: Keter Torah Award, Open
University (Israel)
2013: The Sanford St Martin's Trust
Personal Award for Excellence in
Religious Broadcasting
2013: American National Jewish Book
Award for The Koren Sacks Pesah
Mahzor
 2015: American National Jewish Book
Award for Not in God's Name:
Confronting Religious Violence
2016: Templeton Prize, "has spent
decades bringing spiritual insight to the
public conversation through mass
media, popular lectures and more than
two dozen books"[32]

Philosophy and views

Much has been written about Sacks'
philosophical contribution to Judaism and
beyond. These include: (1) a volume on his
work entitled Universalizing Particularity
that forms part of The Library of
Contemporary Jewish Philosophers series,
edited by Hava Tirosh-Samuelson and
Aaron W. Hughes;[33] (2) a book entitled
Radical Responsibility edited by Michael J.
Harris, Daniel Rynhold and Tamra
Wright;[34] and (3) a book entitled Morasha
Kehillat Yaakov edited by Rabbi Michael
Pollak and Dayan Shmuel Simons.[35]

Early influencers …

In a pamphlet written to mark the

completion of his time as Chief Rabbi
entitled "A Judaism Engaged with the
World",[36] Sacks cites three individuals
who have had a profound impact on his
own philosophical thinking.
The first figure was the Lubavitcher Rebbe,
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson who
"was fully aware of the problem of the
missing Jews... inventing the idea,
revolutionary in its time, of Jewish
outreach... [He] challenged me to
lead."[36]:10 Indeed, Sacks called him "one
of the greatest Jewish leaders, not just of
our time, but of all time"[37]

The second was Rabbi Joseph

Soloveitchik whom Sacks described as
"the greatest Orthodox thinker of the time
[who] challenged me to think."[36]:10–11
Sacks argued that for Rav Soloveichik
"Jewish philosophy, he said, had to emerge
from halakhah, Jewish law. Jewish
thought and Jewish practice were not two
different things but the same thing seen
from different perspectives. Halakhah was
a way of living a way of thinking about the
world – taking abstract ideas and making
them real in everyday life."[36]:11

The third figure was Rabbi Nahum

Rabinovitch, a former principal of the
London School of Jewish Studies. Sacks
called Rabinovitch "One of the great
Maimonidean scholars of our time, [who]
taught us, his students, that Torah
leadership demands the highest
intellectual and moral courage. He did this
in the best way possible: by personal
example. The following thoughts, which
are his, are a small indication of what I
learned from him – not least that Torah is,
among other things, a refusal to give easy
answers to difficult questions."[38]

Universalism vs particularism …

As a rabbi, social philosopher, proponent

of interfaith dialogue and public
intellectual, Tirosh-Samuelson and Hughes
note that "[Sacks's] vision—informed as it
is by the concerns of modern Orthodoxy—
is paradoxically one of the most
universalizing voices within contemporary
Judaism. Sacks possesses a rare ability to
hold in delicate balance the universal
demands of the modern, multicultural
world with the particularism associated
with Judaism."[39]:1 This is a view
supported by Rabbi Nathan Lopez Cardozo
who wrote in The Jerusalem Post that
Sacks' "confidence in the power of
Judaism and its infinite wisdom enabled
him to enter the lion's den, taking on
famous philosophers, scientists, religious
thinkers and sociologists and showing
them that Judaism had something to
teach that they couldn't afford to miss if
they wanted to be at the forefront of
philosophy and science."[40] Harris and
Rynhold, in their introduction to Radical
Responsibility argued that: "The special
contribution made by the thought of Chief
Rabbi Sacks is that it not only continues
the venerable Jewish philosophical
tradition of maintaining traditional faith in
the face of external intellectual challenges,
but also moves beyond this tradition by
showing how core Jewish teachings can
address the dilemmas of the secular world
itself. What make Lord Sacks' approach so
effective is that he is able to do so without
any exception of the wider world taking on
Judaism's theological beliefs."[34]:xvi
Torah v'Chokhma …

The framework for Sacks' philosophical

approach and his interaction between the
universal and the particular is not too
dissimilar from those positions adopted by
other leading Orthodox thinkers of recent
times. The favoured phrase of Rabbi
Samson Raphael Hirsch was Torah im
derekh eretz, 'Torah and general culture';
for Rabbi Norman Lamm it was Torah u-
mada. 'Torah and Science'. For Sacks, his
favoured phrase has been Torah
vehokhmah, 'Torah and Wisdom'. As noted
in the introduction to Radical
Responsibility: "Torah, for Jonathan Sacks
represents the particularistic, inherited
teachings of Judaism, while hokhmah
(wisdom) refers to the universal realm of
the sciences and humanities."[34]:xviii
Framed in religious terms, as Sacks sets
out in his book Future Tense: "Chokhmah
is the truth we discover; Torah is the truth
we inherit. Chokhmah is the universal
language of humankind; Torah is the
specific heritage of Israel. Chokhmah is
what we attain by being in the image of
God; Torah is what guides Jews as the
people of God. Chokhmah is acquired by
seeing and reasoning; Torah is received by
listening and responding. Chokhmah tells
us what is; Torah tells us what ought to
be."[41]

Tirosh-Samuelson and Hughes are of the

opinion that whilst Torah v'Chokhmah is
certainly a valid overarching framework,
they note that Sacks' perspective is one
rooted in modern orthodoxy: "Although he
[Sacks] will try to understand various
denominations of Judaism, he is always
quick to point out that Orthodoxy cannot
recognize the legitimacy of interpretations
of Judaism that abandon fundamental
beliefs of halakhic (Jewish law) authority.
Judaism that departs from the truth and
acceptance of the halakha is a departure
from authentic Judaism and, he reasons,
is tantamount to the accommodation of
secularism. So, while Sacks will develop a
highly inclusive account of the world's
religions, there were times when he was
critical of the denominations within
Judaism."[42]

"No one creed has a monopoly on

spiritual truth"
…

After the publication of his book The

Dignity of Difference, a group of Haredi
rabbis, most notably Rabbis Yosef Shalom
Elyashiv and Bezalel Rakow, accused
Sacks of heresy against what they
consider the traditional Orthodox
viewpoint. According to them, some words
seemed to imply an endorsement of pure
relativism between religions, and that
Judaism is not the sole true religion, e.g.
"No one creed has a monopoly on spiritual
truth." This led him to rephrase more
clearly some sentences in the book for its
second edition, though he refused to recall
books already in the stores.[43]

In his "Preface to the Second Edition" of

the book, Sacks wrote that certain
passages in the book had been
misconstrued: He had already explicitly
criticised cultural and religious relativism
in his book, and he did not deny Judaism's
uniqueness. He also stressed, however,
that mainstream rabbinic teachings teach
that wisdom, righteousness, and the
possibility of a true relationship with God
are all available in non-Jewish cultures and
religions as an ongoing heritage from the
covenant that God made with Noah and all
his descendants, so the tradition teaches
that one does not need to be Jewish to
know God or truth, or to attain
salvation.[44][45] As this diversity of
covenantal bonds implies, however,
traditional Jewish sources do clearly deny
that any one creed has a monopoly on
spiritual truth. Monopolistic and simplistic
claims of universal truth he has
characterized as imperialistic, pagan and
Platonic, and not Jewish at all.[46] The
book received international acclaim,
winning the Grawemeyer Award for
Religion in 2004.[47]

Efforts to accommodate Haredi

Jews
…

A book by the British historian and

journalist Meir Persoff, Another Way,
Another Time, has argued that "Sacks's top
priority has been staying in the good
graces of the Haredi, or strictly Orthodox,
faction, whose high birthrate has made it
the fastest-growing component of British
Jewry."[48]

Relationship with the non-Orthodox

denominations
…

Sacks provoked considerable controversy

in the Anglo-Jewish community in 1996
when he refused to attend the funeral
service of the late Reform Rabbi Hugo
Gryn and for a private letter he had written
in Hebrew, which (in translation) asserted
that Auschwitz survivor Gryn was "among
those who destroy the faith", was leaked
and published. He wrote further that he
was an "enemy" of the Reform, Liberal and
Masorti movements, leading some to
reject the notion that he was "Chief Rabbi"
for all Jews in Britain. He attended a
memorial meeting for Gryn, a move that
brought the wrath of some in the ultra-
Orthodox community.[49][50] Rabbi Dow
Marmur, a Canada-based progressive
Rabbi, argued that after attending the
memorial service, Sacks then attempted to
placate the ultra-Orthodox community, an
attempt which Marmur has described as
"neurotic and cowardly."[51]

Later, in a letter to The Jewish Chronicle in

May 2013, Jackie Gryn, the widow of Rabbi
Hugo Gryn, wrote: "I feel the time has
come for me to lay to rest, once and for all
, the idea… that there ever was a 'Hugo
Gryn Affair', as far as I am concerned,
regarding the absence of the Chief Rabbi
at the funeral of my late husband, Hugo…
From the beginning, relations were cordial
and sympathetic and have remained so",
she wrote. "There has never been any
personal grievance between us concerning
his non-attendance at the funeral, which
promoted such venomous and divisive
comments and regrettably continues to do
so."[52]

Sacks responded to the incident by

rethinking his relationship with the non-
Orthodox movements, eventually
developing what he called the "two
principles". Responding to an interview
shortly before his retirement, he wrote that
"You try and make things better in the
future. As a result of the turbulence at that
time, I was forced to think this whole issue
through and I came up with these two
principles; on all matters that affect us as
Jews regardless of our religious
differences we work together regardless of
our religious differences, and on all things
that touch our religious differences we
agree to differ, but with respect. As a result
of those two principles, relations between
Reform and Orthodox have got much
better and are actually a model for the rest
of the Jewish world. Progressive rabbis sit
with me on the top table of the Council of
Christians and Jews, we stand together for
Israel. All of this flowed from those two
principles. Until then there had been a view
never to do anything with the non-
Orthodox movements but once you
thought it through you saw that there were
all sorts of opportunities."[53]

Rabbi Sacks would later draw some

criticism when he and his Beth Din
prevented the retired Rabbi Louis Jacobs,
who had helped establish the British
branch of the Masorti movement, from
being called up for the Reading of the
Torah on the Saturday before his
granddaughter's wedding.[54]

Secularism and Europe's changing

demographics
…

Sacks expressed concern at what he

regarded as the negative effects of
materialism and secularism in European
society, arguing that they undermined the
basic values of family life and lead to
selfishness. In 2009, Sacks gave an
address claiming that Europeans have
chosen consumerism over the self-
sacrifice of parenting children, and that
"the major assault on religion today comes
from the neo-Darwinians". He argued that
Europe is in population decline "because
non-believers lack shared values of family
and community that religion has".[55][56]

Consumerism and Steve Jobs …

Rabbi Sacks made remarks at an inter-

faith reception attended by the Queen, in
November 2011, in which he criticised
what he believed to be the selfish
consumer culture that has only brought
unhappiness. "The consumer society was
laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming
down the mountain with two tablets, iPad
one and iPad two, and the result is that we
now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i,
i, i. When you're an individualist, egocentric
culture and you only care about 'I', you
don’t do terribly well."[57][58] In a later
statement, the Chief Rabbi's office said
"The Chief Rabbi meant no criticism of
either Steve Jobs personally or the
contribution Apple has made to the
development of technology in the 21st
century."[59]

Position on gay marriage …

In July 2012 a group of prominent British

Jews criticised Sacks for opposing plans
to allow civil marriage for gays and
lesbians.[60] He said that he understands
"the fear that gays have of prejudice and
persecution"[61] and went on to say, in a
lecture on the institution of marriage, that
a world that persecutes homosexuals is
one "to which we should never return."[62]

I fully understood... that gays,

not just Jews, were sent to the
concentration camps, and I did
not want to become a voice that
would be caught up in a very
polarised debate and be seen to
be heartless towards the gays in
 our own community. I am not
heartless towards them, I really
seek to understand them and
they seek to understand where I
am coming from. – Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks[61]

Interfaith dialogue …

Jonathan Sacks (second from left) with George

Carey, Mustafa Cerić, and Jim Wallis at the 2009
World Economic Forum
Rabbi Sacks was an advocate of interfaith
dialogue and sat on the Board of World
Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith
Institute.[63]

Politics in the United States …

In October 2017, Jonathan Sacks

inveighed against a "politics of anger" he
said was corroding the fabric of U.S.
society. "The politics of anger that's
emerged in our time is full of danger,"
Sacks said. He decried the breakdown of
American society into narrower and
narrower identities that nurtured a "culture
of grievances." Sacks warned that "The
social contract is still there, but the social
covenant is being lost."[64]

On antisemitism …

In a June 2019 debate on anti-Semitism in

the House of Lords, Sacks stated that
"there is hardly a country in the world,
certainly not a single country in Europe,
where Jews feel safe" and that societies
tolerating anti-Semitism had "forfeited all
moral credibility".[65]

Publications
As author
Morality: Restoring the Common Good in
Divided Times (Hodder & Stoughton,
2020) ISBN 9781473617315
Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading
of the Jewish Bible (Koren, 2015)
ISBN 9781592644322
Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious
Violence (Hodder & Stoughton, 2015)
ISBN 9781473616516
Covenant & Conversation: Leviticus, the
Book of Holiness (Koren, 2015)
ISBN 9781592640225
The Koren Sacks Pesach Mahzor (Koren,
2013) ISBN 9789653013179
The Koren Sacks Yom Kippur Mahzor
(Koren, 2012) ISBN 9789653013469
The Koren Sacks Rosh Hashana Mahzor
(Koren, 2011) ISBN 9789653013421
The Great Partnership: God Science and
the Search for Meaning (Hodder &
Stoughton, 2011) ISBN 9780340995259
Covenant and Conversation: Exodus
(Koren, Jerusalem, 2010)
ISBN 9781592640218
Future Tense (Hodder & Stoughton,
2009) ISBN 9780340979853
Covenant and Conversation: Genesis
(Koren, 2009) ISBN 9781592640201
The Koren (Sacks) Siddur (Koren, 2009)
ISBN 9789653012172
The Home We Build Together
(Continuum, 2007)
ISBN 9780826423498
Authorised Daily Prayer Book
(HarperCollins,
2006)ISBN 9780007200917
To Heal a Fractured World (Continuum,
2005) ISBN 9780826480392
From Optimism to Hope (Continuum,
2004) ISBN 9780826474810
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's Haggadah
(Harper Collins, 2003)
ISBN 9789653013421
The Dignity of Difference (Continuum,
2002) ISBN 9780826468505
Radical Then, Radical Now (published in
the US as A Letter in the Scroll)
(Continuum, 2001)
ISBN 9780826473363
Celebrating Life (Continuum, 2006)
ISBN 9780826473370
Morals and Markets (Occasional Paper
108) (Institute of Economic Affairs,
1998) ISBN 0255364245
The Politics of Hope (Vintage, 2000)
ISBN 9780224043298
The Persistence of Faith (Continuum,
2005) - based on his BBC Reith Lectures
series ISBN 9780297820857
One People: Tradition, Modernity and
Jewish Unity (The Littman Library, 1993)
ISBN 9781874774013
Community of Faith (Peter Halban, 1995)
ISBN 9781870015592
Faith in the Future (Darton, Longman and
Todd, 1995) ISBN 9780232520989
Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren?
(Vallentine Mitchell, 1994)
ISBN 9780853032823
Crisis and Covenant (Manchester
University Press,
1992)ISBN 0719033004
 Arguments for the Sake of Heaven
(Jason Aronson,
1991)ISBN 0876687834
Tradition in an Untraditional Age
(Vallentine Mitchell, 1990)
ISBN 0853032394
As editor
Torah Studies: Discourses by Rabbi
Menachem M. Schneerson (Kehot, New
York, 1996) ISBN 0826604935
Orthodoxy Confronts Modernity (Ktav,
New York, 1991) ISBN 0881253634
Tradition and Transition (Jews College
Publications, 1986) ISBN 095121490X

Personal life
Sacks married Elaine Taylor in 1970 and
together they had three children: Joshua,
Dina and Gila.[1] Sacks was a
vegetarian.[66]

Death
Sacks died on 7 November 2020, at age
72.[67] He had been diagnosed with cancer
in October 2020, having been twice
previously treated for the disease.[68]
Sending tribute to Sacks, the UK Prime
Minister Boris Johnson said that his
leadership had a "profound impact on our
whole country and across the world".[69]
References
1. Anon (2017). "Sacks, Baron, (Jonathan
Henry Sacks)" . Who's Who.
ukwhoswho.com (online Oxford
University Press ed.). A & C Black, an
imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc.
doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.
33626 . (subscription or UK public library
membership required) (subscription
required)
2. Sacks, Jonathan (1982). Rabbinic
concepts of responsibility for others :
a study of the Commandment of
Rebuke and the idea of mutual
surety . london.ac.uk (PhD thesis).
University of London.
Copac 2412494 . Archived from the
original on 8 November 2020.
Retrieved 17 May 2018.
3. Abrams, Hester (7 December 1991).
"Philosopher is new leader of Britain's
Jews : Educational standards,
disintegrating family concern rabbi".
The Record. Kitchener, Ontario. p. C11.
"He is officially head of the
mainstream United Synagogue, but is
not recognized as religious leader by
many in the progressive Reform and
Liberal movements"
4. Butt, Riazat (13 July 2009). "Chief
Rabbi joins House of Lords" . The
Guardian. London. Archived from the
original on 6 September 2013.
Retrieved 15 August 2009. "The
decision to confer a title on Sacks
angered Jews from both the
progressive and strictly Orthodox
branches who did not recognise him
as their religious leader"
5. Compare: Cohen, Justin (20 July
2016). "Lord Sacks leads tributes to
Alan Senitt at moving memorial" .
Jewish News. London. Archived from
the original on 31 August 2017.
Retrieved 7 July 2017. "The Chief
Rabbi Emeritus said the one-time
BBYO president and UJS chair would
have been 'one of the great leaders of
our time' [...]."
6. "About Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks" .
Archived from the original on 7
October 2020. Retrieved 8 November
2020.
7. Herlinger, Chris. "Lord Jonathan Sacks
wins Templeton Prize" . Archived
from the original on 25 December
2016. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
8. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 8 November 2020.
Retrieved 8 November 2020.
9. "In memory of Libby Sacks" .
www.personal.briansacks.com.
Archived from the original on 8
November 2020. Retrieved
8 November 2020.
10. "Jonathan Sacks: Defender of the
faith" . The Independent. 7 September
2001. Archived from the original on 8
November 2020. Retrieved
8 November 2020.
11. "Lord Sacks obituary" . Archived from
the original on 8 November 2020.
Retrieved 8 November 2020 – via
www.thetimes.co.uk.
12. "LIBBY FRUMKIN and LOUIS SACKS –
East End Vintage Glamour" .
eastendvintageglamour.org.uk.
Archived from the original on 29
December 2016. Retrieved
8 November 2020.
13. Jonathan Sacks, "How The Rebbe
Changed My Life" Archived 8
November 2020 at the Wayback
Machine. 28 November 2011.
14. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
original on 2 February 2014.
Retrieved 21 January 2014.
15. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived
(PDF) from the original on 1 February
2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
16. "No. 57665" . The London Gazette
(Supplement). 10 June 2005. p. 1.
17. "No. 58099" . The London Gazette. 15
September 2006. p. 12615.
18. Honorary Freemen of the London
Borough of Barnet . Barnet.gov.uk (29
September 2009). Retrieved on 3
December 2011 Archived 2 June
2008 at the Wayback Machine
19. Paul, Jonny (13 July 2009). "UK chief
rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks gets
peerage" . The Jerusalem Post.
Archived from the original on 9 July
2012. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
20. House of Lords Appointments
Commission .
Lordsappointments.gov.uk (13 July
2009). Retrieved on 3 December 2011.
Archived 16 July 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
21. "No. 59178" . The London Gazette. 8
September 2009. p. 15388.
22. "Past Winners" . Jewish Book Council.
Archived from the original on 5 June
2020. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
23. "Past Winners" . Jewish Book Council.
Archived from the original on 5 June
2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
24. "Sacks' Passover guide scoops
prestigious US book award" .
jewishnews.timesofisrael.com.
Archived from the original on 25
November 2016. Retrieved
8 November 2020.
25. "Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks" .
www.torahcafe.com. Archived from
the original on 23 September 2020.
Retrieved 8 November 2020.
26. "Royal wedding guest list" . BBC
News. 23 April 2011. Archived from
the original on 18 September 2018.
Retrieved 20 June 2018.
27. "Prince pays tribute to Chief Rabbi" .
The Jewish Chronicle. 25 June 2013.
Archived from the original on 1
February 2014. Retrieved 20 January
2014.
28. "New British Chief Rabbi Speaks of
Need for Decade of Renewal" . JTA. 3
September 1991. Archived from the
original on 20 February 2014.
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29. "Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks" . Torah
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30. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks extended
CV Archived 8 November 2020 at the
Wayback Machine, rabbisacks.org,
January 2016. Accessed 8 November
2020
31. "Jonathan Sacks: The Persistence of
Faith: 1990, The Reith Lectures - BBC
Radio 4" . Archived from the original
on 3 August 2012. Retrieved
12 August 2011.
32. "Templeton Prize Winners - Discover
Laureates From 1973 to Today" .
Templeton Prize. Archived from the
original on 22 October 2020. Retrieved
8 November 2020.
33. Tirosh-Samuelson, Hava (1 October
2013). "[(Jonathan Sacks:
Universalizing Particularity )]" . Brill –
via Amazon.
34. Harris, Michael J. (1 January 2013).
Rynhold, Daniel; Wright, Tamra (eds.).
Radical Responsibility:: Celebrating
the Thought of Chief Rabbi Lord
Jonathan Sacks. Maggid.
ASIN 1592643663 .
35. Pollak, Michael; Simons, Shmuel (1
October 2014). Pollak, Rabbi Michael;
Simons, Dayan Shmuel (eds.).
Morasha Kehillat Yaakov: Essays in
Honour of Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan
Sacks. The Toby Press.
ASIN 1592643906 .
36. [1] Archived 15 July 2015 at the
Wayback Machine A Judaism
Engaged with the World
37. Jonathan Mark, The Chief Rabbi And
The Rebbe Archived 10 November
2014 at the Wayback Machine. The
Jewish Week, 11/29/11.
38. [2] Archived 10 September 2015 at
the Wayback Machine Of What Was
Moses Afraid? Covenant &
Conversation for Shemot 5768 by R.
Sacks
39. Hava Tirosh-Samuelson, Aaron W.
Hughes, ed. (2013). "Jonathan Sacks:
An Intellectual Portrait". Jonathan
Sacks: Universalizing Particularity.
Brill. pp. 1–20. ISBN 9789004249813.
40. "The rebellion of Chief Rabbi Jonathan
Sacks", The Jerusalem Post, 7
September 2013
41. Jonathan Sacks, Future Tense
(London: Hodder and Stoughton,
2009), p.221
42. Universalizing Particularity, p.7
43. Petre, Jonathan (15 February 2003).
"Chief Rabbi revises book after attack
by critics" . The Daily Telegraph.
London. Archived from the original on
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52–65
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46. See Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The
Dignity of Difference, Chapter 3:
"Exorcising Plato's Ghost," and
reaffirmed in his book, Future Tense,
2009, Chapter 4: "The Other: Judaism,
Christianity and Islam."
47. "Archived copy" . Archived from the
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Retrieved 9 October 2013.
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schism in Jewry" Archived 31
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The Independent, 15 March 1997
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Archived from the original on 15
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2013.
52. Simon Rocker (9 May 2013). "No more
talk of Gryn Affair, says Hugo's wife" .
The Jewish Chronicle. London.
Archived from the original on 8
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Jewish News)" . The Times of Israel.
Archived from the original on 19
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2017.
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London. 4 July 2006. Archived from
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children, says Chief Rabbi" . The Daily
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says chief rabbi Jonathan Sacks" .
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Retrieved 7 May 2010.
57. Chief Rabbi blames Apple for helping
create selfish society Archived 12
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Machine. Telegraph. Retrieved on 3
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58. Rabbi vs. Steve Jobs: iThis & iThat
cause sadness – OTOH: On the other
hand Archived 11 December 2011 at
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Blogs.computerworlduk.com.
Retrieved on 3 December 2011.
59. Anna Leach, Chief Rabbi: I admire
Jobs and Apple and use my iPad
daily Archived 5 August 2020 at the
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Rabbi Lord Sacks attacked over gay
marriage opposition" . The Jewish
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understand gay people's fears, says
Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks" . The
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"Rabbi" . humanum.global. Archived
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2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
63. The Elijah Interfaith Institute
Archived 8 October 2014 at the
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AEI" . Archived from the original on 8
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antisemitism today like Holocaust-era
- Diaspora - Jerusalem Post" .
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66. Sacks, Jonathan (6 June 2001). "Faith
Lectures: The Messianic Idea Today" .
Archived from the original on 21 April
2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016. "But I
can't say very much about chickens
because I'm a vegetarian and I stay
milchik all the time."
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online statement confirms" . The
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72" . Jewish Chronicle. 7 November
2020. Archived from the original on 7
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chief rabbi Sacks dies" . ABC News.
Archived from the original on 8
November 2020. Retrieved
8 November 2020.

External links

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Official website
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 Jewish titles

Chief Rabbi of
Preceded by Great Britain Succeeded by
Immanuel and the Ephraim
Jakobovits Commonwealth Mirvis
1991–2013

Orders of precedence in the United

Kingdom

Followed by
Preceded by
Gentlemen The Lord Hall
The Lord
Baron Sacks of
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