Vampire Weekend's Surprising Jewish Stories
4 min read
3 min read
4 min read
2 min read
The Chief Rabbi of Great Britain was one of the greatest figures of our generation.
View this post on Instagram
On this day, March 8, 1948, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was born in Lambeth, London to Louis David Sacks and Louisa Frumkin. One of four boys, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks became one of the most influential Jewish figures of the modern era. He served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, head of the London Beit Din, was knighted, and became a Member of the House of Lords.
Following the end of his career as Chief Rabbi, he had immense success in writing, speaking and teaching in various universities, serving as Judaism’s most eloquent ambassador on the world stage.
In the fall of 2020, Rabbi Sacks went public with the news that he had been diagnosed with cancer. On November 7, 2020 he passed away at the age of 72. Both the Jewish and non-Jewish world, his family, and all who knew him personally continue to mourn the loss of one of the greatest figures of our generation.
At a young age, Rabbi Sacks attended St. Mary’s Primary School, Christs College, and attended Cambridge where he studied Philosophy with a first-class honors degree. At the time Rabbi Sacks did not have the deepest connection to his Jewish identity. He visited New York as a student at Cambridge and met with two major Jewish leaders of the 20th century: Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Following this visit, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks pursued his rabbinic ordination and officially became a rabbi.
In addition to his illustrious philosophical work, Rabbi Sacks was a proud Zionist who fought for the rights of Jews to have self-determination in their ancestral homeland. On many occasions, Rabbi Sacks loudly called out the ever-present and rising dangers of antisemitism around the world – especially in his home country of England.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks left behind a wealth of writings on the Torah and contemporary legal and ethical issues. The Templeton Prize Laureate once said, “Good leaders create followers. Great leaders create leaders.”
