Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity: Essays
Judaism is not peace of mind. ‘The righteous have no rest, neither in this world nor the next’, says the Talmud.12 I remain in awe at the challenge God has set us: to be different, iconoclasts of the politically correct, to be God’s question-mark against the conventional wisdom of the age, to build, to change, to ‘mend’ the world until it becomes a
... See moreJonathan Sacks • To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility
One of Judaism’s most distinctive and challenging ideas is its ethics of responsibility, the idea that God invites us to become, in the rabbinic phrase, his ‘partners in the work of creation’. The God who created the world in love calls on us to create in love. The God who gave us the gift of freedom asks us to use it to honour and enhance the free
... See moreJonathan Sacks • To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility
Acceptance of what is, is a failure to hear the call of what ought to be. Judaism has its moments of serenity, such as the Sabbath. But these are mere resting places on the journey; pauses of withdrawal before reengaging with the world.
Jonathan Sacks • A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding Our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World's Oldest Religion
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s observation that “Judaism is based upon a minimum of revelation and a maximum of interpretation.”