May 16, 2025

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Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Articles by Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

Holy Times

The parsha of Emor contains a chapter dedicated to the festivals of the Jewish year. There are five such passages in the Torah. Two, both

Holy People, Holy Land

I had been engaged in dialogue for two years with an Imam from the Middle East, a gentle and seemingly moderate man. One day, in

Words That Heal

At the risk of disclosing a spoiler, I would like to begin this week’s “Covenant and Conversation” by discussing the 2019 film, “A Beautiful Day

Spontaneity: Good or Bad?

Shemini tells the tragic story of how the great inauguration of the Tabernacle—a day about which the Sages said that God rejoiced as much as

The Dimensions of Sin

Our parsha, which deals with a variety of sacrifices, devotes an extended section to the chattat, the sin offering, as brought by different individuals: first

On Jewish Character

Pekudei has sometimes been called “The Accountant’s Parsha,” because that is how it begins, with the audited accounts of the money and materials donated to

Mirrors of Love

The Torah in parshat Vayakhel—which describes the making of the Mishkan—goes out of its way to emphasise the role women played in it: “The men

The Birth of a New Freedom

Witnessing the birth of a new idea is a little like watching the birth of a galaxy through the Hubble Space Telescope. We can witness

The Aesthetic in Judaism

Why is the Torah so specific and emphatic, in this week’s Parsha, about the clothes to be worn by the Kohanim (Priests) and the Kohen

Sibling Rivalry

Listen to these words that are among the most fateful and reverberating in all of Jewish history: “Joseph recognised his brothers, but they did not

The Jewish Journey

Why is Jacob, the father of our people, the hero of our faith? We are “the congregation of Jacob,” “the children of Israel.” Yet it