Vayishlach. Why is Jacob the father of our people, the hero of our faith? Covenant and Conversation 5777 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
On November 15th, young Jews from New York’s Sephardic community had the chance to explore existential questions about Judaism’s future alongside two majorly influential rabbis. The event, “Faith in Our Future,” was organized by the Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA) and hosted by the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and featured an almost 90 minute moderated conversation between Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Rabbi Joseph Dweck, all targeted directly towards young Jews under 30.
Toldot. Not all children follow the path of their parents.... Covenant and Conversation 5777 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
Chayei Sarah. After all their troubles, how can the Torah say that Abraham had been blessed with everything? The answer is given by the parsha itself... Covenant and Conversation 5777 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
On Sunday 13th November 2016, Rabbi Sacks delivered the opening plenary keynote address at the Jewish Federations of North America's annual General Assembly in Washington DC. His speech focused on the concept of a Jewish journey, what it has meant throughout history and why it remains so important today with everything else going on in the world. The introductory remarks in this video are from Cynthia and David Shapira, the co-chairs of the 2016 JFNA GA.
Vayera. There is a mystery at the heart of Jewish existence, engraved into the first syllables of our recorded time. Covenant and Conversation 5777 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
Lech Lecha. Truly Abraham became the father of many nations. But who and what was Abraham? Why was he chosen for this exemplary role? Covenant and Conversation 5777 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
Listen to Rabbi Sacks' Thought for the Day about the importance of a Digital Detox delivered on 4th November on BBC Radio 4.
Noach. The parsha begins and ends with two great events, the Flood on the one hand, Babel and its tower on the other. On the face of it they have nothing in common... Covenant and Conversation 5776 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
There is a deep question at the heart of Jewish faith, and it is very rarely asked. As the Torah opens we see God creating the universe day by day, bringing order out of chaos, life out of inanimate matter, flora and fauna in all their wondrous diversity. At each stage God sees what He has made and declares it good. What then went wrong? How did evil enter the picture, setting in motion the drama of which the Torah – in a sense, the whole of history – is a record?
Yesterday afternoon, Rabbi Sacks participated in a House of Lords debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The primary focus of his comments was around the legacy of Shimon Peres שמעון פרס but given the UNESCO vote had just taken place questioning the Jewish status of the Temple Mount, Rabbi Sacks also reacted to this calling it an "outrage [that] will achieve nothing but further damage trust and set back the prospects for peace." To read a transcript of the speech, please visit our website h...
On 26th September 2016, Rabbi Sacks delivered a shiur to officially launch the Koren Sacks Sukkot Mahzor (The Gross Family Edition). The video was recorded in Hampstead Garden Suburb Synagogue in London and the event was jointly sponsored by the United Synagogue and Koren Publishers Jerusalem. The sources used have been incorporated into the video which is on our website here:http://www.rabbisacks.org/lessons-kohelet/
Nitzavim. Covenant and Conversation 5776 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @RabbiSacks.
Ki Tavo. Covenant and Conversation 5776 on Spirituality is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Twitter @RabbiSacks.
Ki Teitse. Covenant and Conversation 5776 is kindly supported by the Maurice Wohl Charitable Foundation in memory of Maurice and Vivienne Wohl z”l. To join Rabbi Sacks’ mailing list, please subscribe via www.rabbisacks.org. You can also follow him on Twitter @RabbiSacks.
Dr Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, lectures in his first Reith Lecture on the 'The Persistence of Faith'. Explaining how he believes that the moral framework provided by religion is still the best alternative to the personalised, free-market ethics which prevail today. In this lecture entitled 'The Environment of Faith', Dr Jonathan Sacks considers the state of Britain's religions. He asks; have modern cultures forgotten their faith forever?
Dr Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, explores religious ethics in his second Reith Lecture in the series 'The Persistence of Faith'. He investigates whether today's moral dramas centre more on the free-self than the saint or the hero. In this lecture entitled 'The Demoralisation of Discourse', Dr Jonathan Sacks focuses on how modern morals are founded in faith. It is his belief that without the objective standards of religion we would have no coh...
Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth explores the importance of the family relationship in his third Reith Lecture on 'The Persistence of Faith'. In this lecture entitled 'The Family', Dr. Jonathan Sacks investigates the persistence of the religious institution of marriage in the modern secular age. He explores the values of the nuclear family as a framework for how we understand society and wonders how the new age of increased divorce, co-habita...
Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth explores the language of religion in his fourth Reith Lecture on 'The Persistence of Faith'. In this lecture Dr. Jonathan Sacks puts forward the idea of a society which speaks both a public language of citizenship as well as a local language of community in this lecture entitled 'Paradoxes of Pluralism'. Expanding on this concept of pluralism, he asks whether it has diluted religion or created cultural space f...
Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth evaluates the effects of combining religious revival with nationalism in his fifth Reith Lecture. Reviewing the topic of religious fanaticism in his lecture entitled 'Fundamentalism', he argues that when faith and national identity are united they create an explosive mix. Yet, paradoxically, he believes secularism does not provide a solution either.
In his sixth and final Reith Lecture, Dr. Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, explains why faith will survive. Dr. Jonathan Sacks explores in his lecture entitled 'A Community of Communities' the bond of religion. He explains that although the numbers of religious believers seems to be dwindling, religion will never totally fade away. He believes that the values it provides communities are still needed by the individual and the nation.
