Sir Jonathan Henry Sacks was a British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author, and politician. He was born on 8th March 1948 in England. Sir Jonathan Henry Sacks is also known by the name Baron Sacks. He was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth till 2013. Also, he is regarded as The spiritual head of the United Synagogue, which is the largest synagogue in the United Kingdom.
He did his schooling at Christ's College, Finchley. His Alma mater are - Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge; New College, Oxford; King's College London, from where he did his PhD. He won the Canterbury Medal in 2014 and the Templeton Prize in 2016. 'The Dignity of Difference' was the book written by him. Materialism and secularism in European society were the prominent topics about which he was very much worried. He also argued that such things undermined the basic values required in family life, and thus it led to selfishness.
He said that there was no country in the world where Jews would be safe about their lives. Sacks married Elaine Taylor in 1970, and they had three children, namely Joshua, Dina and Gila. He died on 7th November 2020 in London at the age of 72.
The present Prime Minister of U.K. Boris Johnson said these words regarding the leadership of Sacks that it has a "profound impact on our whole country and across the world".
Below are some of the famous Jonathan Sacks Quotes.
Cyberspace can't compensate for real space. We benefit from chatting to people face to face.
Cyberspace or a virtual world can never be compensated for a real space because, in a virtual world, we do not face each other in reality, and both people are indifferent spaces or different parts of the country/world. We can only benefit by talking to the people when they are face to face with us.
To defend a country you need an army, but to defend a civilization you need education.
Education is a wonderful tool that needs to be used by everyone. To defend a country, we need an army so that our country is protected from all sides. Likewise, to defend the civilians must be promoted among the students so that they can carry forward to the generations that will come in the future.
No great achiever - even those who made it seem easy - ever succeeded without hard work.
The people who made history in this world put a huge effort into their work. No great work becomes successful until and unless we thrive hard for it.
The market economy is very good at wealth creation but not perfect at all about wealth distribution.
The economy forms the backbone of a country. For a country to progress, both wealth creation and its distribution is vital. But a country relies more on its wealth creation rather than distribution. Wealth distribution will uplift the people of that particular country and will improve their living standards.
God's forgiveness allows us to be honest with ourselves. We recognize our imperfections, admit our failures, and plead to God for clemency.
God is a great forgiver, and he allows us to be honest with ourselves. We must recognize our imperfections, admit failures, work hard to improve them and at last, must plead to God to forgive the mistakes we have made in our lives.
Continue reading some more Jonathan Sacks Quotes....
Make space in your life for the things that matter, for family and friends, love and generosity, fun and joy. Without this, you will burn out in mid-career and wonder where your life went.
In life, many things matter. Family, friends, love, generosity, kindness, joy, relatives and happiness are the ones that make life easy. Without them, life is not possible, and a person will burn out in the middle of his career and will not understand what is going on with him.
True freedom requires the rule of law and justice and a judicial system in which the rights of some are not secured by the denial of rights to others.
For a country to flourish, a proper judicial system and the rule of law must prevail. The rights of the individuals must be respected and protected so that they feel safe in their country.
Dreams are where we visit the many lands and landscapes of human possibility and discover the one where we feel at home. The great religious leaders were all dreamers.
Dreams are an essential part of a life that helps us dream big and turn them into reality. Those who worked hard and dreamt big in their life, only have made their name in the world.
A perfect storm is in the making: financial uncertainty, economic downturn, government cuts, rising unemployment and a future that looks less clear the more we try to fathom it.
The financial crisis is like a storm that will blow the economy of a country. Financial uncertainty, fiscal deficit, economic turndown, government cuts, rising unemployment are the sure signs which will make the economy poor. The future of the country will be gloomy, and there will be no solution to such a great crisis.
Jews have a deep respect for the Queen and the royal family. We say a prayer for them every Sabbath in the synagogue. We recite a special blessing on seeing the Queen.
The author explains through this quote that the Jews form a great chunk of England. When they pray, they wish for the queen, reflecting their love and devotion towards the queen. It also shows that they are dedicated to their country.
Europe is dying. That is one of the unsayable truths of our time. We are undergoing the moral equivalent of climate change and no one is talking about it.
The author explains that Europe is dying, which means Europe has undergone a massive change and will witness more shortly. The people of Europe must be prepared for it well in advance, and climate change is an important issue which concerns Europe particularly.
Some more Jonathan Sacks Quotes...
The Hebrew Bible contains multiple provisions to ensure that no one would go hungry. The corners of the field, forgotten sheaves of grain, gleanings that drop from the hands of the gleaner, and small clusters of grapes left on the vine were to be given to the poor.
Jonathan Sacks says that the Hebrew Bible has multiple provisions so that nobody goes and unfed. It talks about good deeds to be done by human beings. Hunger is a major issue that must be dealt with utmost priority. The poor must be taken care of properly. The poor people who suffer because of hunger must be shown sympathy by the country.
Science will explain how but not why. It talks about what is, not what ought to be. Science is descriptive, not prescriptive; it can tell us about causes but it cannot tell us about purposes. Indeed, science disavows purposes.
Science is descriptive. It talks about a particular thing and explains it, but it does not explain what not to do. Science can tell us about the causes, but it cannot tell us about the purposes.
Religion creates community, the community creates altruism and altruism turns us away from self and towards the common good... There is something about the tenor of relationships within a religious community that makes it the best tutorial in citizenship and good neighbourliness.
Religion is a big binding force that connects communities. It connects people and shares values with them. It makes the relationships stronger, and this is the best way to share one's happiness. This quote has been said particularly in the case of Christianity religion where in Europe continent, maximum countries belong to the religion of Christianity. With the help of religion, the ties between the two countries can be strengthened.
The wisest rule in investment is: when others are selling, buy. When others are buying, sell. Usually, of course, we do the opposite. When everyone else is buying, we assume they know something we don't, so we buy. Then people start selling, panic sets in, and we sell too.
We must not follow each other but rather use our minds and capabilities to work in life. By copying others' lifestyles, we can only get confused and disturb our work-life balance.
Since Hiroshima and the Holocaust, science no longer holds its pristine place as the highest moral authority. Instead, that role is taken by human rights. It follows that any assault on Jewish life - on Jews or Judaism or the Jewish state - must be cast in the language of human rights.
Science no longer holds the highest moral responsibility. Human rights have taken over this responsibility. Human rights are an indispensable source of living in today's world. Every section of society decides human rights. People can revolt if their human rights are violated and can ensure justice for themselves.
Close to a billion people - one-eighth of the world's population - still live in hunger. Each year 2 million children die through malnutrition. This is happening at a time when doctors in Britain are warning of the spread of obesity. We are eating too much while others starve.
Hunger is a deeply rooted problem in society. Due to hunger, a large section of society is suffering every year. A large population suffers due to hunger, and many are malnourished. In developed countries like Britain, the doctors are warning not to eat much food because it has led to a problem called obesity, while on the other hand, many people do not get food to eat and are dying of hunger.
Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us how to use that power. Thanks to technology, we can instantly communicate across the world, but it still doesn't help us know what to say.
Technology is a connection between two people where they can interact with each other and communicate their feelings. Technology gives us power, but it does not tell us how to use that power. Due to technology, we can communicate with people in different parts of the country and the world but we cannot know what to say with the help of technology.
We are biological creatures. We are born, we live, we die. There is no transcendent purpose to existence. At best we are creatures of reason, and by using reason we can cure ourselves of emotional excess. Purged of both hope and fear, we find courage in the face of helplessness, insignificance and uncertainty.
We, humans, are biological creatures who have the characteristic feature to live and die. We can cure ourselves with the usage of emotional feelings. We all have different aspects of our life like hope, fear, courage and uncertainty.
What creates freedom? A revolution in the streets? Mass protest? Civil war? A change of government? The ousting of the old guard and its replacement by the new? History, more often than not, shows that hopes raised by such events are often dashed, sooner rather than later.
Freedom is a basic right desired by human beings. Freedom comes only when there is a revolution among the people. A change of government or Revolution will only bring freedom to the people and happiness in their lives. History has shown us that big revolutions have caused a change in the world order.
