#sacks
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Jonathan Sacks: Love Is Not Enough ACHAREI MOT – KEDOSHIM
Jonathan Sacks: Love Is Not Enough ACHAREI MOT – KEDOSHIM The opening chapter of Kedoshim contains two of the most powerful of all commands: to love your neighbour and to love the stranger. “Love your neighbour as yourself: I am the Lord” goes t
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Jonathan Sacks: Holiness and Childbirth TAZRIA – METZORA
Jonathan Sacks: Holiness and Childbirth TAZRIA – METZORA The sidrot of Tazria and Metzora contain laws which are among the most difficult to understand. They are about conditions of “impurity” arising from the fact that we are physical beings, e
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Jonathan Sacks: The Everlasting Flame (Yom Ha’atzmaut animation)
Jonathan Sacks: The Everlasting Flame (Yom Ha’atzmaut animation) With audio recorded during a speech delivered to Bnei Akiva on Yom Ha’atzmaut in 2013, this animated video illustrates a beautiful message from Rabbi Sacks about the co
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Rabbi Sacks: Israel: Home of Hope (animated video)
Rabbi Sacks: Israel: Home of Hope (animated video) This new animation illustrates Rabbi Sacks’ narration included in the album Israel: Hope of Hope, originally produced to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary in 2008, and now re-released
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Jonathan Sacks: Food for Thought SHEMINI
Jonathan Sacks: Food for Thought SHEMINI The second half of Exodus and the first part of Leviticus form a carefully structured narrative. The Israelites are commanded to construct a Sanctuary. They carry out the command. This is followed by an account of
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Jonathan Sacks: Rambam’s Guide for the Perplexed on the Seder Night
Jonathan Sacks: Rambam’s Guide for the Perplexed on the Seder Night One of Judaism’s greatest sages, Rambam (Maimonides) offers us a deeply meaningful insight into the nature of the Seder night. In showing us the difference between how
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Jonathan Sacks: The Story We Tell-The Rabbi Sacks Legacy
Jonathan Sacks: The Story We Tell-The Rabbi Sacks Legacy When we read the Pesach story, we come across something so remarkable, it appears to be counterintuitive… On behalf of Elaine and myself, I’d like to wish you and your families, a
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Jonathan Sacks: Why Do We Sacrifice?
Jonathan Sacks: Why Do We Sacrifice? Vayikra The laws of sacrifices that dominate the early chapters of the Book of Leviticus are among the hardest in the Torah to relate to in the present. It has been almost two thousand years since the Temple was destro
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Jonathan Sacks: Encampments & Journey- Vayakhel, Pekudei
Jonathan Sacks: Encampments & Journey- Vayakhel, Pekudei Right at the end of the book of Shemot, there is a textual difficulty so slight that it is easy to miss, yet – as interpreted by Rashi – it contains one of the great clues as to the nature of Je
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Jonathan Sacks: Mirrors of Love Vayakhel
Jonathan Sacks: Mirrors of Love Vayakhel The Torah in Parshat Vayakhel, which describes the making of the Mishkan, goes out of its way to emphasise the role women played in it: The men accompanied the women, and those who wanted to make a donation brought
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Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Makes ENTIRE European Union Go Quiet with Chilling Warning Against Antisemitism
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Makes ENTIRE European Union Go Quiet with Chilling Warning Against Antisemitism
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Jonathan Sacks: The Aesthetic in Judaism Tetzaveh
Jonathan Sacks: The Aesthetic in Judaism Tetzaveh Why is the Torah so specific and emphatic, in this week’s Parsha, about the clothes to be worn by the Kohanim (Priests) and the Kohen Gadol (High Priest)? “These are the vestments that they shall make:
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Jonathan Sacks: The Architecture of Holiness TERUMAH
Jonathan Sacks: The Architecture of Holiness TERUMAH From here to the end of the book of Exodus the Torah describes, in painstaking detail and great length, the construction of the Mishkan, the first collective house of worship of the Jewish people. Preci
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Jonathan Sacks: The Slow End of Slavery MISHPATIM
Jonathan Sacks: The Slow End of Slavery MISHPATIM In Parshat Mishpatim we witness one of the great stylistic features of the Torah, namely its transition from narrative to law. Until now the book of Exodus has been primarily narrative: the story of the en
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Jonathan Sacks: The Custom that Refused to Die YITRO
Jonathan Sacks: The Custom that Refused to Die YITRO There’s an enthralling story about the Ten Commandments and the role they played in Jewish worship and the synagogue. It begins with a little-known fact. There was a time when there were not three par
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Jonathan Sacks: Music, Language of the Soul BESHALLACH
Jonathan Sacks: Music, Language of the Soul BESHALLACH For the first time since their departure from Egypt, the Israelites do something together. They sing. “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord.” Exodus 15:1 Rashi, explain
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Jonathan Sacks: Freedom and Truth VAERA
Jonathan Sacks: Freedom and Truth VAERA Why did Moses tell Pharaoh, if not a lie, then less than the full truth? Here is the conversation between him and Pharaoh after the fourth plague, arov, “swarms of insects”[1]: Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron
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Jonathan Sacks: Who am I? SHEMOT
Jonathan Sacks: Who am I? SHEMOT Moses’ second question to God at the Burning Bush was, ‘Who are You?’. He asks God in the following way: “So I will go to the Israelites and say, ‘Your fathers’ God sent me to you.’ They will immediat
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Jewish Journey VAYISHLACH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Jewish Journey VAYISHLACH Why is Jacob the father of our people, the hero of our faith? We are “the congregation of Jacob”, “the children of Israel.” Yet it was Abraham who began the Jewish journey, Isaac who was will
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Birth of the World’s Oldest Hate VAYETSE
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Birth of the World’s Oldest Hate VAYETSE “Go and learn what Laban the Aramean sought to do to our father Jacob. Pharaoh made his decree only about the males whereas Laban sought to destroy everything.” This passage from
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Tragedy of Good Intentions TOLDOT
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Tragedy of Good Intentions TOLDOT It is the deep, reverberating question at the heart of Toldot. Why did Rebecca tell Jacob to deceive Isaac and take Esau’s blessing? Her instruction is brisk and peremptory: “Now, my son,
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Next Chapter CHAYEI SARAH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Next Chapter CHAYEI SARAH One of the most striking features about Judaism in comparison with, say, Christianity or Islam, is that it is impossible to answer the question: Who is the central character of the drama of faith? In
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Walking Together VAYERA
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Walking Together VAYERA There is an image that haunts us across the millennia, fraught with emotion. It is the image of a man and his son walking side-by-side across a lonely landscape of shaded valleys and barren hills. The son
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Jonathan Sacks: The Power of Example LECH LECHA
Jonathan Sacks: The Power of Example LECH LECHA So familiar are we with the story of Abraham that we do not always stop to think about what a strange turn it is in the biblical narrative. If we fail to understand this, though, we may fail to understand th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Individual and Collective Responsibility NOACH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Individual and Collective Responsibility NOACH I once had the opportunity to ask the Catholic writer Paul Johnson what had struck him most about Judaism, during the long period he spent researching it for his masterly A History
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Why Were We Created? Bereishit
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Why Were We Created? Bereishit There is a deep question at the heart of Jewish faith, and it is very rarely asked. As the Torah begins we see God creating the universe day by day, bringing order out of chaos, life out of inanimat
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: A Nail of Faith A Story for Succot
Jonathan Sacks z”l: A Nail of Faith A Story for Succot “Here is what I learned from the first time I built a succah (aside from the fact that I am not particularly good at woodwork!). Wishing you and your families a wonderful Succot. Ch
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Yom Kippur in a Nutshell & Understanding Time
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Yom Kippur in a Nutshell & Understanding Time Rabbi Sacks’ view on the Jewish way to understand time. Transcript: And to deal with that, Judaism created the most powerful time management tool in civilisation. It is called Shabb
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Rabbi Sacks on ‘The Great Partnership’
Rabbi Sacks on ‘The Great Partnership’ For too long, people have thought that religion and science are destined to be in conflict. I believe this is fundamentally wrong. Each is as important as the other, and when we understand the rela
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Power of Gratitude
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Power of Gratitude In the early 1990s, one of the great medical research exercises of modern times took place. It became known as the Nun Study. Some seven hundred American nuns, all members of the School Sisters of Notre Dam
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Leadership: Consensus or Command? NITZAVIM-VAYELECH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Leadership: Consensus or Command? NITZAVIM-VAYELECH The great transition is about to take place. Moses’ career as a leader is coming to an end, and Joshua’s leadership is about to begin. Moses blesses his successor. Then God
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Jonathan Sacks z”l : Freedom Means Telling the Story KI TAVO
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Freedom Means Telling the Story KI TAVO Here’s an experiment. Walk around the great monuments of Washington D.C. There, at the far end, is the figure of Abraham Lincoln, four times life-size. Around him on the walls of the
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Hate KI TEITSE
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Hate KI TEITSE It is by any standards a strange, almost incomprehensible law. Here it is in the form it appears in this week’s parsha: Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egy
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Power from the Outside or Self-Restraint from Within SHOFTIM
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Power from the Outside or Self-Restraint from Within SHOFTIM This summer, we’ve seen riots on the streets of London and Manchester on the one hand, Tripoli on the other. On the face of it there was nothing in common between
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Making Poverty History RE’EH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Making Poverty History RE’EH Listen to these stories. Behind them lies an extraordinary insight into the nature of Jewish ethics: Story 1. Rabbi Abba used to bind money in his scarf, sling it on his back, and place it at th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Why Civilisations Fail EIKEV
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Why Civilisations Fail EIKEV What is the real challenge of maintaining a free society? In parshat Eikev, Moses springs his great surprise. Here are his words: Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God… Otherwise,
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Idea that Changed the World VA’ETCHANAN
Jonathan Sacks z”l: The Idea that Changed the World VA’ETCHANAN It is one of the great stories of all time, and Moses foresaw it three thousand years before it happened. Here he is speaking in this week’s parsha: See, I have taught you decr
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Tisha b’Av – The New Antisemitism is Not the Old Antisemitism
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Tisha b’Av – The New Antisemitism is Not the Old Antisemitism “The new antisemitism is not the old antisemitism, but it tells us that the world’s oldest virus of hate has mutated again. The tears of Tisha b’Av h
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Natural or Supernatural? MATOT-MASEI
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Natural or Supernatural? MATOT-MASEI The book of Bamidbar draws to a close with an account of the cities of refuge, the six cities – three on each side of the Jordan – set apart as places to which people found innocent of mur
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Pacing Change PINCHAS
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Pacing Change PINCHAS Embedded in this week’s parsha is one of the great principles of leadership. The context is this: Moses, knowing that he was not destined to lead the next generation across the Jordan into the promised l
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: A People That Dwells Alone? BALAK
Jonathan Sacks z”l: A People That Dwells Alone? BALAK The dictionary defines epiphany as “a sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something; a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realisation.” Th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l On Radical Islam & How To Defeat It
Jonathan Sacks z”l On Radical Islam & How To Defeat It The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, spoke to J-TV as one of our first-ever interviews in 2016. We decided to share the interview again which was produced in light of his book
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Jonathan Sacks z”l : Descartes’ Error CHUKAT
Jonathan Sacks z”l : Descartes’ Error CHUKAT In his 2011 bestseller, The Social Animal, New York Times columnist David Brooks writes: We are living in the middle of the revolution in consciousness. Over the past few years, geneticists, neurosc
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Taking It Personally KORACH
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Taking It Personally KORACH When we read the story of Korach, our attention tends to be focused on the rebels. We don’t give as much reflection as we might to the response of Moses. Was it right? Was it wrong? It’s a
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Jonathan Sack z”l: What Made Joshua and Caleb Different? SHELACH LECHA
Jonathan Sack z”l: What Made Joshua and Caleb Different? SHELACH LECHA The twelve men sent by Moses to explore the land of Israel came back with a wholly misleading report. They said: “We cannot go up against those people, for they are stronger th
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Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Leadership BEHA’ALOTECHA
Jonathan Sacks z”l: Two Types of Leadership BEHA’ALOTECHA In this week’s parsha, Moses has a breakdown. It is the lowest emotional ebb of his entire career as a leader. Listen to his words to God: “Why have You treated Your servant so bad
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Jonathan Sacks z”l Liminal Space BAMIDBAR
Jonathan Sacks z”l Liminal Space BAMIDBAR In English, the book we begin this week is called Numbers, and for an obvious reason. It begins with a census, and there is even a second count toward the end of the book. On this view, the central theme of
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Jonathan Sacks – The Rejection of Rejection BECHUKOTAI
Jonathan Sacks – The Rejection of Rejection BECHUKOTAI There is one aspect of Christianity that Jews, if we are to be honest, must reject, and that Christians, most notably Pope John XXIII, have also begun to reject. It is the concept of rejection i
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Jonathan Sacks – Minority Rights BEHAR
Jonathan Sacks – Minority Rights BEHAR One of the most striking features of the Torah is its emphasis on love of, and vigilance toward, the ger, the stranger: Do not oppress a stranger; you yourselves know how it feels to be strangers, because you
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Jonathan Sacks – The Duality of Jewish Time EMOR
Jonathan Sacks – The Duality of Jewish Time EMOR Alongside the holiness of place and person is the holiness of time, something parshat Emor charts in its deceptively simple list of festivals and holy days (Lev. 23:1-44). Time plays an enormous par
Miscellaneous | Miscellaneous
Jonathan Sacks – A Nail of Faith – A Story for Succot
Jonathan Sacks – A Nail of Faith – A Story for Succot Here is what I learned from the first time I built a sukkah (aside from the fact that I am not particularly good at woodwork!). Wishing you and your families a wonderful Sukkot. Chag Sameac
Advice & Self-Help | Advice & Self-Help
Jonathan Sacks z"l - The Power of Praise Vayeshev 5781
Jonathan Sacks z”l – The Power of Praise Vayeshev 5781 Reuben is the leader who might have been but never was. He was Jacob’s firstborn. Jacob said of him on his deathbed, “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my s
