Sir Jonathan Sacks

Confidence in a faith is a subtle quality and lack of it shows in many ways, some contradictory. Dr Sacks has that confidence and the quiet charisma to communicate it.Sacks argues that faiths must remain open to criticism, keep alive their separate communities and still contribute far more to national debates on moral issues. They must also learn to get along better. His thesis is that we still live under a Biblical canopy and that a cohesive morality needs the uniting bonds of faith.The subject of this book - religions and ethics - is good ground for him to build on: The Jewish contribution to ethics is distinctly rational and has a long and illustrious tradition. Moral philosophy is after all a Jewish preoccupation.In recent years, he writes, religion has taken us unawares. The rise of the Moral Majority in the USA, the Islamic Revolution, the growth of religious parties in Israel, the power of Catholicism in Poland and the African continent all run contrary to the basic thesis that modernity and secularization went hand in hand and could almost be regarded as synonyms. Instead, and against all prediction, religion has resurfaced in the public domain.In this book, Sacks argues the case for a broadly based return to tradition within the context of religious pluralism and tolerance. Religious values remain a strong force within our culture to be renewed. For our society to be viable indeed they must be renewed.

Rabbi Sacks argues that preoccupation with self is a mistake and that ethics are concerned with the life we live together, talking with as much authority about Sigmund Freud or Karl Marx as he does about the Bible. With a new foreword by Rowan Williams.‘The only force equal to a fundamentalism of hate is a counter-fundamentalism of love.’Jonathan Sacks was an outstanding moral authority of our time and bestselling author of The Dignity of Difference. One of Judaism’s most distinctive and challenging ideas is its ethics of responsibility. We have been given the gift of freedom and we in turn have to honour and enhance the freedom of others. More than in any previous generation, we have been tempted to imagine that it is the individual’s needs which are the sole source of meaning.This is a clarion call to the outside world to come to its senses.

Following the painful loss of his father, former Chief Rabbi Sacks began to learn how to celebrate life in a new way.Based, in part, on Rabbi Sacks’s collection of columns in the UK''s Times newspaper, Celebrating Life is a series of reflections on subjects such as morality, friendship, listening to others and giving thanks. It also talks about topics such as being a parent, finding and losing one’s faith and most of all, finding happiness. In Celebrating Life, Rabbi Sacks discovers where happiness lives, often in unexpected places, through family, community, friendship and responsibilities. He also finds it through a renewed relationship with God who spoke to his deepest needs.But this redesigned and reissued edition has something for everyone, for people of all faiths and none. It shows us how to be human and, in becoming so, how we can touch the divine.

A newly designed edition of this collection of Jonathan Sacks’ favourite "Thoughts for the Day".Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was a regular voice frequently heard on the UK''s most popular morning BBC radio news show. He regularly presented a "Thought for the Day" in which he addressed a current issue with characteristic brevity and clarity. His clear, calm voice brought hope and encouragement to all of us struggling to come to terms with modern, turbulent times.From Optimism to Hope is a carefully selected collection of his favourite pieces from between 1995 and 2004, ranging in topics as wide-ranging as parenting, forgiveness, staying young and the Turner Prize.The result is a book that still resonates today, and appeals to everyone, from people with religious beliefs as well as those with little or none.

Throughout history, the Jewish people have faced catastrophe after catastrophe. They have been expelled, ghettoised, murdered and forcibly converted. The question that Jonathan Sacks asks in this original and compelling book is not how Judaism survived four thousand years of persecution, but how it found ways to flourish and thrive.Originally written as a wedding gift for his son over twenty years ago, now featuring a new foreword by Natan Sharansky, this revised edition is a reminder of the enduring beauty and wisdom of one of the world’s oldest religions. A fascinating cultural and religious journey through Judaism’s long history and the revolutionary ideas that shaped the moral civilisation of the West, Jonathan Sacks urges readers not to embrace secularisation or lose the script of the Jewish story but to add their own chapters instead. A deeply personal celebration of faith and community filled with hope for the future of the Jewish people, this book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand Judaism or deepen their faith and identity.