Covenant & Conversation

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

The power of ritual is that it does not speak in abstractions – reason versus emotion, instinctual deferral rather than gratification

The Courage to Admit Mistakes

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Leaders, above all, should be capable of acknowledging when and how they had erred, and how to put it right.

The Scapegoat: Atonement and Purification

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Why two identical animals whose fate, so different, was decided by the drawing of a lot? And who or what was Azazel?

5 Comments

Sprints & Marathons

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Moses had to contend with both sides: inducing the Israelites to do teshuvah and G-d to exercise forgiveness.

2 Comments

The Scapegoat: Shame and Guilt

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

There is another difference, which explains why Judaism is overwhelmingly a guilt rather than a shame culture.

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Love and Hate

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Understanding two different approaches to a single verse: the social vs. the interpersonal.

13 Comments

Followership

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Uncritical followership and habits of silent obedience give rise to the corruptions of power, or sometimes simply to avoidable catastrophes.

In Search of Jewish Identity

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

What are we? What makes us Jewish? This has been one of the persisting debates about Jewish life ever since the nineteenth century.

From Priest to People

By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Something fundamental happens at the beginning of this parsha and the story is one of the greatest, if rarely acknowledged, contributions of Judaism to the world.