Jonathan Sacks

Jonathan Sacks – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (1948–2020) was a British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, and moral thinker whose writing and leadership bridged religious, ethical, and public life. Explore his biography, philosophy, legacy, and memorable quotes.

Introduction

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, was a towering figure in contemporary Jewish and public thought. Born on March 8, 1948, in London, he went on to serve as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth (1991–2013), and became globally known for his writings on faith, morality, community, and interreligious dialogue.

Sacks combined erudition, spiritual depth, and the gift of accessible expression. He sought to be a bridge between religious tradition and modern society, offering insight into how belief might inform public ethics, personal responsibility, and pluralism. His ideas continue to influence scholars, faith communities, and thought leaders across the world.

Early Life and Family

Jonathan Sacks was born on March 8, 1948 in the Lambeth district of London, England. His father, Louis David Sacks (an immigrant from Poland), worked in the textile trade (“selling shmatters,” in Sacks’s own tongue) and his mother, Louisa (née Frumkin), came from a family with a wine business background. He was the eldest of four brothers.

From early on, Sacks’s upbringing combined modest economic means with intellectual aspiration. His family’s immigrant roots, Jewish identity, and London cultural setting provided the crucible in which his later pursuits of faith, ethics, and public engagement would mature.

Education and Rabbinic Formation

Sacks’s schooling included St Mary’s Primary School, followed by secondary education at Christ’s College, Finchley. He then attended Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, earning a first-class degree in philosophy. After Cambridge, he went on to postgraduate study at Oxford (New College) and King’s College London, culminating in a PhD awarded by the University of London in 1982.

Parallel to his academic path, Sacks pursued rabbinic ordination (semikhah). He studied at the London School of Jewish Studies and Etz Chaim Yeshiva in London, receiving ordination under Rabbis Nahum Rabinovitch and Noson Ordman.

Thus, Sacks’s formation was both intellectual and religious — in philosophy, Judaic study, and rabbinic tradition — positioning him to speak in multiple registers: Jewish, philosophical, ethical, and public.

Career and Achievements

Early Positions & Growth

In the 1970s and 1980s, Sacks combined academic teaching, rabbinical duties, and institutional leadership. He lectured in moral philosophy at Middlesex Polytechnic (1971–1973). From 1973 to 1982, he was affiliated with Jews’ College, London (later part of London School of Jewish Studies), including serving as principal in the 1980s.

He held rabbinic posts: from 1978 to 1982, Rabbi at Golders Green synagogue, and from 1983 to 1990, Rabbi of Western Marble Arch Synagogue in central London.

Chief Rabbi (1991–2013)

In 1991, Sacks succeeded Immanuel Jakobovits as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, a position he held for 22 years until 2013. As Chief Rabbi, he played a leading role in Jewish life in Britain, setting moral agendas, innovating communal programs, and engaging public discourse about religion’s role in society.

He initiated a “Decade of Renewal” for British Jewry, emphasizing five core values: love for each Jew, love of learning, love of God, contribution to British society, and attachment to Israel. Under his leadership, initiatives such as Jewish educational foundations, communal awards, bursaries, and outreach programs expanded.

In 2005 he was knighted “for services to the community and to interfaith relations.” In 2009, he was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer (Baron Sacks of Aldgate), sitting as a crossbencher (non-party).

Later Roles, Writing & Influence

After stepping down as Chief Rabbi in 2013, Sacks continued global speaking, writing, and academic roles. He served as Distinguished Professor of Judaic Thought at NYU and as Professor of Law, Ethics, and the Bible at King’s College London. He authored more than 25 books, addressing religious thought, ethics, Biblical commentary, faith and pluralism, and public morality. His books include The Dignity of Difference, Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence, The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning, and his Covenant & Conversation series of weekly Torah commentaries.

Sacks was awarded the Templeton Prize (2016) for contributions affirming spirituality in public life. He also won the Grawemeyer Prize for The Dignity of Difference.

He remained a frequent public voice—on radio, television, in newspapers—and contributed to interfaith dialogue, ethics debates, secular and religious intersections.

Sacks passed away on November 7, 2020, at the age of 72, after a cancer diagnosis.

Historical & Intellectual Context

Sacks’s career spanned the late 20th and early 21st centuries, a period marked by secularization in the West, religious pluralism, identity politics, globalization, and tensions between faith and modernity. He saw his role as articulating a grounded, reasoned religious voice in public life — one that could converse with secular culture rather than retreat from it.

One of his central concerns was religious pluralism and how faiths might co-exist in mutual respect. He argued that no single creed holds a monopoly on truth, while at the same time affirming the unique integrity of each tradition.

Another recurring theme was moral responsibility in an age of individualism — how communities, values, and obligations anchor freedom and prevent moral drift. In his view, modern societies risk losing both cohesion and meaning if religious and ethical voices withdraw from public conversation.

Sacks also sought to bridge science and faith, arguing they answer different questions: science describes how, religion addresses meaning and purpose.

His intellectual influence lies partly in his ability to speak to both religious and secular audiences — offering a voice that resisted polar extremes of dogmatism or relativism.

Legacy and Influence

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is remembered as one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of recent times. His writings continue to be read broadly in Jewish communities and among general readers interested in faith, ethics, and plural societies.

He left institutional legacies such as Covenant & Conversation, his ongoing weekly Torah commentary program with a broad readership, and the Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University. He is also celebrated as a moral public intellectual whose voice extended beyond Jewish audiences, engaging interfaith groups, secular thinkers, and political leaders.

Honors continue posthumously: in 2021, he was awarded the Genesis Prize – Lifetime Achievement Award, further recognizing his role in bridging Jewish identity and universal moral discourse.

His style and approach—deep learning balanced with clarity, humility with authority—serve as a model for religious intellectuals in plural societies.

Personality and Strengths

From personal recollections and those who engaged him, several traits stand out:

• Intellectual breadth and depth: Sacks mastered philosophy, Jewish law, theology, ethics, and public discourse, allowing him to translate between domains.

• Clarity of expression: He had a gift for turning complex ideas into compelling prose, making his work accessible without oversimplification.

• Moral conviction with generosity: He argued strongly for his beliefs but did so with respectful dialogue, especially in interfaith and plural contexts.

• Balance of tradition and engagement: He remained rooted in Jewish texts and tradition even while engaging contemporary questions.

• Humility and service: Despite acclaim and titles, he often emphasized responsibility, listening, and mutual respect over personal authority.

These strengths helped him connect with a wide audience, from rabbis and scholars to secular leaders and ordinary readers.

Famous Quotes of Jonathan Sacks

Here are some notable quotes by Jonathan Sacks, illustrating his moral imagination and insight:

“We should challenge the relativism that tells us there is no right or wrong, when every instinct of our mind knows it is not so … A world without values quickly becomes a world without value.”

“The test of faith is whether I can make space for difference.”

“Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts things together to see what they mean.”

“Faith is not a certainty. Faith is the courage to live with uncertainty.”

“In our interconnected world, we must learn to feel enlarged, not threatened, by difference — that is what I have argued.”

“To defend a country you need an army, but to defend a civilization you need education.”

“When money rules, we remember the price of things and forget the value of things, and that is dangerous.”

“The meaning of the universe lies outside the universe.”

“The supreme religious challenge is to see God’s image in one who is not in our image.”

These bits of wisdom reflect recurrent themes in Sacks’s thought: moral grounding, pluralism, meaning, responsibility, and the relation between religion and society.

Lessons from Jonathan Sacks

• Engage, don’t retreat. Sacks showed that religious thinkers can engage the secular world with integrity rather than hiding from it.

• Speak in multiple registers. He moved fluently between scripture, philosophy, public policy, and moral discourse—bridging gaps.

• Hold conviction with humility. He stood for values without scornful dogmatism; he listened even to critics.

• Values need articulation. He believed that societies lose moral compass when voices of meaning withdraw.

• Pluralism rooted in strength, not weakness. For him, difference need not diminish truth — rather, it challenges us to deepen our moral imagination.

Conclusion

Jonathan Sacks (1948–2020) was a uniquely gifted religious thinker, public voice, and moral leader. He left behind a body of work that continues to guide conversations about faith, ethics, pluralism, and the social role of religion. His life reminds us that belief need not be insular, and that moral conviction can still resonate in a plural world.