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Jonathan Sacks - "Building the Future" Watch Part 3
Jonathan Sacks – “Building the Future” Watch Part 3 Here is the third in my series of three drashot as we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The subject of this talk is “Building the Future”. This series is generously spo
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Jonathan Sacks - Rethinking Failure (Pt 2 of 3 | Elul 5780)
Jonathan Sacks – Rethinking Failure (Pt 2 of 3 | Elul 5780)
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Jonathan Sacks - How to Renew a Nation
Jonathan Sacks – How to Renew a Nation The Talmud gives an ingenious reading to the line, “Moses commanded us a Torah, as a heritage of the congregation of Israel.” Noting that there are 613 commands, and that the numerical value of the w
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Jonathan Sacks - Be Silent and Listen (Ki Tavo 5780)
Jonathan Sacks – Be Silent and Listen (Ki Tavo 5780) Office of Rabbi Sacks · Be Silent and Listen (Ki Tavo 5780) During our first Coronavirus lockdown, there was one question I was asked more than any other: What about prayer? Just when we n
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Jonathan Sacks - Does Love Conquer All? Ki Teitse 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Does Love Conquer All? Ki Teitse 5780 Our parsha contains more laws than any other. Some of them have generated much study and debate, especially two at the beginning, the law of the captive woman and that of the “st
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Jonathan Sacks - A Sage is Greater than a Prophet
Jonathan Sacks – A Sage is Greater than a Prophet In Shoftim, Moses speaks about the great institutions of Judaism: courts, judges, officers, Kings, Priests, Levites and Prophets. In the case of the Prophet, Moses says in the name of God: I will rai
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Jonathan Sacks - Followership
Jonathan Sacks – Followership In the last month of his life, Moses gathered the people. He instructed them about the laws they were to keep and reminded them of their history since the Exodus. That is the substance of the book of Devarim. Early in t
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Jonathan Sacks - Moral vs. Political Decisions
Jonathan Sacks – Moral vs. Political Decisions The coronavirus pandemic raised a series of deep moral and political issues.[1] How far should governments go in seeking to prevent its spread? To what extent should it restrict people’s movements at
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Jonathan Sacks - The Hidden Meaning of the Bilam Story
Jonathan Sacks – The Hidden Meaning of the Bilam Story Many questions have rightly been asked about the story of Balak and Bilam and the would-be curses that turned into blessings. Was Bilam a true man of God, or was he a fraud, a magician, a sorcer
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Jonathan Sacks - What is going on?
Jonathan Sacks – What is going on? In March 2020, whilst launching a new book,[1] I took part in a BBC radio programme along with Mervyn King, who had been governor of the Bank of England at the time of the financial crash of 2008. He, together wit
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Jonathan Sacks - Coronavirus: Loneliness and Faith
Jonathan Sacks – Coronavirus: Loneliness and Faith I have long been intrigued by one passage in this week’s parsha. After a lengthy stay in the Sinai desert, the people are about to begin the second part of their journey. They are no longer travel
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Jonathan Sacks - A Life of Vertical & Horizontal Responsibility: Shavuot During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Jonathan Sacks – A Life of Vertical & Horizontal Responsibility: Shavuot During the Coronavirus Pandemic Join the Chief Rabbi and Rabbi Lord Sacks as they explore the powerful dual responsibility conferred upon us at Sinai. Coming up to Shavu
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Jonathan Sacks -Egalitarian Society, Jewish-Style (Bamidbar 5780)
Jonathan Sacks -Egalitarian Society, Jewish-Style (Bamidbar 5780) The parsha of Bamidbar is generally read on the Shabbat before Shavuot, z’man matan torateinu — “the time of the giving of our law,” the revelation at Sinai. So the Sages, believing
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Jonathan Sacks - The Power of a Curse
Jonathan Sacks – The Power of a Curse The book of Vayikra draws to a close by outlining the blessings that will follow if the people are faithful to their covenant with God. Then it describes the curses that will befall them if they are not. The gen
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Jonathan Sacks - Ways of Counting Time: The Omer Controversy
Jonathan Sacks – Ways of Counting Time: The Omer Controversy Dear Friends, I hope you and your family are well despite the continuing challenges, both physical and psychological, presented by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. May all those unwell ha
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Jonathan Sacks - Radical Uncertainty Emor 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Radical Uncertainty Emor 5780 There is something very strange about the festival of Succot, of which our parsha is the primary source. On the one hand, it is the festival supremely associated with joy. It is the only festival in our
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Jonathan Sacks - Words That Heal Tazria-Metzora 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Words That Heal Tazria-Metzora 5780 At the risk of disclosing a spoiler, I would like to begin this week’s Covenant & Conversation by discussing the 2019 film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Tom Hanks plays the beloved Ame
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Jonathan Sacks - Limits Shemini 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Limits Shemini 5780 The story of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s two eldest sons who died on the day the Sanctuary was dedicated, is one of the most tragic in the Torah. It is referred to on no less than four separate occasions. It turn
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Jonathan Sacks - What do Pesach and Hamilton have in common?
Jonathan Sacks – What do Pesach and Hamilton have in common? Dear Friends, As we approach Pesach, and if you want a break from the preparations, please take a few minutes to watch my short video below that explores what Pesach and Lin-Manuel Miranda
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Jonathan Sacks - The Prophetic View of Sacrifice
Jonathan Sacks – The Prophetic View of Sacrifice Sacrifices, the subject of this week’s parsha, were central to the religious life of biblical Israel. We see this not only by the sheer space devoted to them in the Torah, but also by the fact that
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Jonathan Sacks - Communities and Crowds & Video-Coronavirus
Jonathan Sacks – Communities and Crowds & Video-Coronavirus Melanie Reid is a journalist who writes a regular column for The (London) Times. A quadriplegic with a wry lack of self-pity, she calls her weekly essay Spinal Column. On 4 January 2020, sh
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Jonathan Sacks - Moses Annuls a Vow
Jonathan Sacks – Moses Annuls a Vow Kol Nidre, the prayer said at the beginning of Yom Kippur, is an enigma wrapped in a mystery, perhaps the strangest text ever to capture the religious imagination. First, it is not a prayer at all. It is not even
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Jonathan Sacks - Dressing to Impress
Jonathan Sacks – Dressing to Impress Tetzaveh, with its elaborate description of the “sacred vestments” which the Priests and the High Priest wore “for glory and for splendour,” seems to run counter to some fundamental values of Judaism. The
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Jonathan Sacks - What Do We Receive When We Give?
Jonathan Sacks – What Do We Receive When We Give? The Lord spoke to Moshe, saying, “Tell the Israelites to take an offering for Me; take My offering from all whose heart moves them to give” (Ex. 25:1-2). Our parsha marks a turning point in the r
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Jonathan Sacks - We will do and we will hear
Jonathan Sacks – We will do and we will hear Two words we read towards the end of our parsha – na’aseh ve-nishma, “We will do and we will hear” – are among the most famous in Judaism. They are what our ancestors said when they accepted th
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Jonathan Sacks - The Universal and the Particular
Jonathan Sacks – The Universal and the Particular The quintessential Jewish expression of thanks, gratitude and acknowledgment is Baruch Hashem, meaning “Thank God,” or “Praise be to the Lord.” Chassidim say of the Baal Shem Tov that he wou
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Sheri Oz - Ben-Dror Yemini: Not Always Saying What is Comfortable to Hear
Sheri Oz – Ben-Dror Yemini: Not Always Saying What is Comfortable to Hear This is my translation of an op-ed written by Ben-Dror Yemini, originally published on the Yediot Ahronot website on 6 Feb 2020 and posted here with his permission. Note that
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Rav James Jacobson-Maisels – the path to freedom lies before us – Be'Shalach
Rav James Jacobson-Maisels – the path to freedom lies before us – Be’Shalach Parshat Be’shalach begins with the Israelites setting out from Egypt and camping at Pi-Hachirot, which hyper-literally reads, the mouth, opening, or entrance
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Jonathan Sacks - Crossing the Sea
Jonathan Sacks – Crossing the Sea Our parsha begins with an apparently simple proposition: When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the land of the Philistines, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face
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Sabine Sterk : The Other Side Is Real - The truth must be told - "deal of the century"
Sabine Sterk : The Other Side Is Real – The truth must be told – “deal of the century” After Trump revealed the “deal of the century” for a split second the world was exited… Finally, finally, there would be a huge chance of peace ag
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Jonathan Sacks - "Evil happens when people let it happen..
Jonathan Sacks – “Evil happens when people let it happen.. “Evil happens when people let it happen, and our best defence against it is never to forget where evil leads.” As we approach International Holocaust Memorial Day and the
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Jonathan Sacks - The Weighing of the Heart
Jonathan Sacks – The Weighing of the Heart In this week’s parsha, before even the first plague has struck Egypt, God tells Moses: “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart and multiply My miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt.” (Exodus 7:3) The
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Jonathan Sacks - Faith in the Future
Jonathan Sacks – Faith in the Future Some measure of the radicalism that is introduced into the world by the story of the Exodus can be seen in the sustained mistranslation of the three keywords with which God identified Himself to Moses at the Burn
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Jonathan Sacks - Family, Faith and Freedom
Jonathan Sacks – Family, Faith and Freedom If you want to understand what a book is about, look carefully at how it ends. Genesis ends with three deeply significant scenes. First, Jacob blesses his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasheh. This is the blessi
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Jonathan Sacks - Joseph and the Risks of Power
Jonathan Sacks – Joseph and the Risks of Power Mikketz represents the most sudden and radical transformation in the Torah. Joseph, in a single day, moves from zero to hero, from forgotten, languishing prisoner to viceroy of Egypt, the most powerful
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Jonathan Sacks - The Angel who did not know he was an Angel
Jonathan Sacks – The Angel who did not know he was an Angel The story of Joseph and his brothers, spread over four parshiyot, is the longest and most tightly-scripted of all the narratives in the Torah. Nothing is there by accident; every detail cou
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Yitzhaq Hayut-man - TheHOPE ~ התקווה The New Vision for Israel & Zion
Yitzhaq Hayut-man – TheHOPE ~ התקווה The New Vision for Israel & Zion Dr. Yitzhaq Hayut-Man. “And Ya’aqov dwelt in the land where his father sojourned, in the land of Kena’an“. The Hebrew (original) version is, “vaYeshev Yaa
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Jonathan Sacks - To Have a Why Chayei Sarah 5780
Jonathan Sacks – To Have a Why Chayei Sarah 5780 The name of our parsha seems to embody a paradox. It is called Chayei Sarah, “the life of Sarah,” but it begins with the death of Sarah. What is more, towards the end, it records the death of Abra
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Jonathan Sacks - Negative Capability
Jonathan Sacks – Negative Capability I have written about the binding of Isaac many times in these studies, each time proposing an interpretation somewhat different from the ones given by the classic commentators. I do so for a simple reason. The To
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Victor Rosenthal - "Strangers," in Israel and America & Israel's Excessive "Democracy"
Victor Rosenthal – “Strangers,” in Israel and America & Israel’s Excessive “Democracy” We had a guest from America in our shul this week who discussed the week’s portion, lech lecha. She focused on the question of the treatment of the ge
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Jonathan Sacks - A Palace in Flames Lech Lecha 5780
Jonathan Sacks – A Palace in Flames Lech Lecha 5780 Why Abraham? That is the question that haunts us when we read the opening of this week’s parsha. Here is the key figure in the story of our faith, the father of our nation, the hero of monotheism
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Jonathan Sacks - The Light in the Ark
Jonathan Sacks – The Light in the Ark Amid all the drama of the impending flood and the destruction of almost all of creation, we focus on Noah building the ark, and hear one detailed instruction: Make a tzohar for the ark and terminate it within
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Mel Alexenberg - The Bible Begins with God Creating Media Systems
Mel Alexenberg – The Bible Begins with God Creating Media Systems In The Beginning, God Created Media Systems “In the network of all networks, God created media systems for creating heaven and for creating earth. When the earth was absolutely
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Dr. Asaf Romirowsky - Netanyahu and Gantz Need to Learn the Hebrew Word "Mamlachtiut
Dr. Asaf Romirowsky – Netanyahu and Gantz Need to Learn the Hebrew Word “Mamlachtiut The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Israeli notion of mamlachtiut does not translate well into English. Coming from the word ma
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Jonathan Sacks - The Genesis of Love Bereishit 5780
Jonathan Sacks – The Genesis of Love Bereishit 5780 In The Lonely Man of Faith, Rabbi Soloveitchik drew our attention to the fact that there are two accounts of creation. The first is in Genesis 1, the second in Genesis 2-3, and they are significant
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Jonathan Sacks - The Festival of Insecurity
Jonathan Sacks – The Festival of Insecurity What exactly is a sukkah? What is it supposed to represent? The question is essential to the mitzvah itself. The Torah says: “Live in sukkot for seven days… so your descendants will know that I ha
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Jonathan Sacks - Let My Teaching Drop as Rain Ha'azinu 5780
Jonathan Sacks – Let My Teaching Drop as Rain Ha’azinu 5780 In the glorious song with which Moses addresses the congregation, he invites the people to think of the Torah – their covenant with God – as if it were like the rain that waters t
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Jonathan Sacks - The Torah as God's Song Vayelech 5780
Jonathan Sacks – The Torah as God’s Song Vayelech 5780 At the end of his life, having given the Israelites at God’s behest 612 commands, Moses gave them the final mitzvah: “Now therefore write down for yourselves this song and teach it to
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Jonathan Sacks - Not Beyond the Sea
Jonathan Sacks – Not Beyond the Sea When I was a student at university in the late 1960s – the era of student protests, psychedelic drugs, and the Beatles meditating with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi – a story went the rounds. An American Jewish wo
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Jonathan Sacks - A Nation of Storytellers
Jonathan Sacks – A Nation of Storytellers Howard Gardner, professor of education and psychology at Harvard University, is one of the great minds of our time. He is best known for his theory of “multiple intelligences,” the idea that there is not
Politics | Election: 2020
Melania Trump's Malpractice | National Review
This is simply grotesque political malpractice, bordering on sabotage.
Politics | Donald Trump
Trump’s Genie Is Out of the Bottle | commentary
An incident involving a speaker for Donald Trump illustrates the way the candidate's attitude has given his supporters a license to express prejudice.
Politics | POLITICS
Prager: Why I Am in Israel — and Why You Should Be | Truth Revolt
I want to explain why I am in Israel. I am in here with 450 American (and a German and a Canadian) listeners to my radio show. About 400 are non-Jews. We are here on a “Stand with Israel” tour organized by the syndicator of my radio show, the Salem Ra
