Jonathan Sacks
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For Rabbi Yonason Sacks, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University, see Rabbi Yonason Sacks
Rabbi Sir Jonathan Henry Sacks (born 1948, London) is the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom's main body of Orthodox synagogues. His official title is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.
As well as the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the UK, he is the Chief Rabbi of most orthodox synagogues, but not the religious authority for the Federation of Synagogues or the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. However, he is recognised by the majority of orthodox synagogues throughout the Commonwealth, hence his formal title. In addition, the majority of UK Jews recognise his wider role as a spokesperson and ambassador for the Jewish community. Sacks is also still recognised as the Chief Rabbi of the Hong Kong Jewish community, a role he was asked to retain after Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule.
Rabbi Sacks heads the Chief Rabbi's Cabinet [1] consisting of fourteen other rabbis who advise him on a number of areas, such as Jewish education, Israel, Jewish-Christian relations, matters relating to the Beth Din (Jewish religious court), and several other areas of concern to the Jewish community. The Chief Rabbi's Cabinet meets on a quarterly basis and its members are entitled to represent the Chief Rabbi at public events.
Rabbi Sacks had been Principal of Jews' College, London, the world's oldest rabbinical seminary, as well as rabbi of the Golders Green (1978-82) and Marble Arch (1983-90) Synagogues in London. He gained rabbinic ordination from Jews' College as well as from London's Yeshivat Etz Chaim (a yeshiva).
Rabbi Sacks studied philosophy and obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He has also been awarded honorary doctorates from the universities of: Cambridge; Glasgow; Haifa; Middlesex; Yeshiva University; Liverpool and St. Andrews, and is an honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius and King's College London.
In September 2001, the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on him a doctorate of divinity in recognition of his first ten years in the Chief Rabbinate of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
Rabbi Sacks provoked considerable controversy in the Anglo-Jewish community when he refused to attend the funeral service of the late Reform Rabbi Hugo Gryn and a private letter he had written in Hebrew, which some people suggested in translation claimed that Reform Jews are "dividers of the faith", was leaked and published. He rejected demands that he should resign for these comments, claiming to have been using rabbinical terminology. He did attend a memorial meeting for Rabbi Gryn.
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[edit] Praise and Recognition
More recently Sacks has been praised for building positive relationships with the Progressive community and notably is the first Chief Rabbi to sit with a Reform Rabbi as a joint President of the Council of Christians and Jews. [verification needed]
In 2004, his book "The Dignity of Difference" was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for Religion.
Rabbi Sacks was knighted in 2005.
Also in 2005, Rabbi Sacks visited the Jewish student organization at the University of Cambridge, appearing as a guest of Samuel Green on the student radio show Kol Cambridge and taking call-ins.
He was made an Honorary Freeman of the London Borough of Barnet in September 2006.
[edit] Orthodox Opposition
A group of rabbis accused Sacks of committing heresy against the tradition of Orthodox Judaism in his book "The Dignity of Difference," where he wrote words that implied that Judaism is not the absolute truth. This forced him to amend the book for its next edition, though he refused to recall books already in the stores. [2] Some of these and other rabbis have similarly condemned as forbidden Sacks' engaging in ecumenical activities, most notably his position as joint President of the Council of Christians and Jews. See interfaith.
[edit] Education
Rabbi Sacks was educated at St Mary's Primary School and Christ's College Finchley, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge (MA), New College, Oxford, University of London (PhD), Jews' College London and Yeshivat Etz Hayyim London.
[edit] Current positions
- Rabbi and Spiritual Leader, Western Marble Arch Synagogue, London (since May 1, 2004).
- Jakobovits Professor in modern Jewish thought, Jews' College London, 1982.
- Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth (since September 1, 1991).
- Visiting professor of theology at King's College London.
- Honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1993.
- Presentation (Honorary) fellow, King's College London, 1993.
[edit] Previous positions held
- Lecturer in moral philosophy, Middlesex Polytechnic, 1971-3.
- Lecturer, Jews' College London, 1973-1982; director of its rabbinic facility, 1983-90; Principal, 1984-90.
- Visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Essex, 1989-90.
- Sherman lecturer at the University of Manchester, 1989.
- Riddell lecturer at the University of Newcastle.
- Cook lecturer at the University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews.
- Visiting professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Chief Rabbi is also a frequent guest on both television and radio, and regularly contributes to the national press. He delivered the 1990 BBC Reith Lectures on The Persistence of Faith.
[edit] Books by Jonathan Sacks
- Traditional alternatives: Orthodoxy and the future of the Jewish people (1989)
- Tradition in an Untraditional Age (1990)
- Persistence of Faith (1991)
- Arguments for the Sake of Heaven (1991)
- Crisis and Covenant (1992)
- One People? (1993)
- Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren? (1994)
- Community of Faith (1995)
- Torah Studies: Discourses by Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (1996)
- The Politics of Hope (1997 revised 2nd edition 2000)
- Morals and Markets (1999)
- Celebrating Life (2000)
- Radical Then, Radical Now (published in America as A Letter in the Scroll) (2001)
- Dignity of Difference (2002) (Grawemeyer Award winner)
- The Chief Rabbi's Haggadah (2003)
- To Heal a Fractured World - The Ethics of Responsibility (2005)
[edit] External links
- About Rabbi Sacks
- History of the position
- Articles written by Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks for chabad.org
- Torah Studies by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks; From the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
- Rabbi Sacks discusses, The Dignity of Difference, at the Carnegie Council.
| Preceded by Lord Jakobovits |
Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth 1991–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
