Jonathan Sacks
ARTICLES BY: Jonathan Sacks
The Story of Judah Shows the Power of Change
The sequence from Bereishit 37-50 is the longest unbroken narrative in the Torah, and there can be no doubt who its hero is: Joseph. The...
Our Lives Are God’s Will — and Our Own
It was Joseph’s first real attempt to take his fate into his own hands -- and it failed. Or so it seemed. Consider the story so far, as...
What Is the Theme of Genesis?
One of the most fundamental questions about the Torah turns out to be one of the hardest to answer. What, from the call of God...
Let Us Follow in the Steps of Jacob
Why is Jacob the father of our people -- the hero of our faith? We are “the congregation of Jacob” and “the children of Israel.” Yet it...
The Birth of the World’s Oldest Hate
“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...
Why Did Isaac Love Esau?
Even before they were born, Jacob and Esau struggled in the womb. They were destined, it seems, to be eternal adversaries. Not only were they...
Our Children’s Legacy Is Ours, Too
Our parsha this week contains the most serene description of old age and dying of anywhere in the Torah: “Then Abraham breathed his last and...
The Miracle of Children
There is a mystery at the heart of Jewish existence, engraved into the first syllables of our recorded time. The first words of God to Abraham...
How to Be a Jewish Parent
The most influential man who ever lived does not appear on any list I have seen of the 100 most influential men who ever lived. He...
Judaism Values Both Individual and Collective Responsibility
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...
The True Mystery of Judaism Is God’s Faith in Us
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 Spirituality of Song
With Ha’azinu, our Bible portion this week, we climb to one of the peaks of Jewish spirituality. For a month, Moses had taught the people. He had...
The Key to Immortality: Renewing Our Days
The moment had come. Moses was about to die. He had seen his sister Miriam and brother Aaron pre-decease him. He had prayed to God...
Need Spiritual Inspiration? Look No Further Than Judaism
When I was a college student in the late 1960s -- the era of student protests, psychedelic drugs, and the Beatles meditating with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi...
