Posts Tagged: jonathan sacks
We Must Have Retribution, But Not Revenge
Near the end of Bemidbar, we encounter the law of the cities of refuge: three cities to the east of the Jordan and, later, three...
Elijah and the Still, Small Voice
Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Why are you here, Elijah?’ He replied, I am moved by the zeal for the Lord,...
The Jewish People Need Not Dwell Alone
In the course of blessing the Jewish people, Bilaam uttered words that have come to be seem by many as an encapsulation Jewish history: How can I curse...
Either We Defeat Anger or Anger Will Defeat Us
There are some, say the Talmud, who acquire their world in an hour and others who lose it in an hour. No example of the...
Be Wary of Those Who Distort Truth for Power
What was wrong with Korach and his fellow rebels? On the face of it, what they said was both true and principled. “You have gone...
Why Do We Need Reminders to Act Morally?
You are driving ever so slightly above the speed limit. You see a police car in your rear view mirror. You slow down. You know...
Humility: The Essential Jewish Virtue
David Brooks, in his new best seller, The Road to Character, draws a sharp distinction between what he calls the résumé virtues - the achievements and skills that...
The Two Ways to Live a Moral Life
The parsha of Naso contains the laws relating to the nazirite - an individual who undertook, usually for a limited period of time, to observe...
Love is What Links Us to God
One of the most amusing scenes in Anglo-Jewish history occurred on 14 October 1663. A mere seven years had passed since Oliver Cromwell had found...
Why We Are Responsible for Evil That Befalls Us – And Why That is Good
The 26th chapter of Vayikra sets out with stunning clarity the terms of Jewish life under the covenant. On the one hand, there is an idyllic...
Judaism Was First in Fight Against Income Inequality
The most surprising best-selling book in 2014 was French economist Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century - a dense 600-page long treatise on economic theory...
What Makes Us Human? It’s Time for a Conversation
My eye was caught yesterday by a photo of a charming Chinese lady known to her friends as Yangyang. She has long hair, a fetching...
As Jews, We Must Hold Ourselves to Higher Standards
A President guilty of sexual abuse. A Prime Minister indicted on charges of corruption and bribery. Rabbis in several countries accused of financial impropriety, sexual...
Judaism and the Origins of Romantic Love
It is hard to trace with any precision the moment when a new idea makes its first appearance on the human scene, especially one as...
