What Would Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Do?

When Gila Sacks, daughter of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, the former chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, organized an annual gathering of interfaith leaders, she never imagined they’d be speaking about a massacre in Israel.

“The theme we planned was healing a fractured world with an interfaith panel,” said Gila. The event, called 2023 Rabbi Sacks Conversation at Carnegie Hall, was the third of its kind since the rabbi passed away in 2020; the previous two events were held in London, where Rabbi Sacks lived, and Israel.

Gila, who is based in London and is director of services at the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities for the UK government, told Aish in an exclusive interview, “It was inspiring to see how the different faith leaders were trying to find hope at an incredibly difficult time, with seriousness and authenticity that’s true to the realities we’re seeing now. It was very profound to see the way they are looking into their own faith to try to find a way forward.”

This year, speakers included Shari Redstone, chair of the board of Paramount Global; Imam Abdullah Antepli, a scholar and leader of cross-religious and cross-cultural dialogue; Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York; and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan. Peter Salovey, the 23rd president of Yale University, moderated the discussion. Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, president of Yeshiva University, delivered the convocation.

Gila touched upon what she thought her father would want us to do.

Do not, even for a moment, accept that this is the way the world is.

“Do not, even for a moment, accept that this is the way the world is,” she said. “We would perhaps be forgiven when faced with such immense tragedy if we were to seek comfort and tell ourselves that maybe, somehow, this is a part of God’s plan, that we don’t understand it, but we can accept it. That maybe we are destined to be a people who dwells alone, a people always under threat. No, we must not accept this. As my father wrote and taught, in Judaism, faith is not acceptance, but protest against the world that is, in the name of the world that is not yet, but ought to be. And so we must protest.”

She also urged people not to despair.

Gila Sacks speaking at Carnegie Hall (Photo Credit: Zush Photography)

“Despair, my father wrote, is not a Jewish emotion,” she said. “Our hope has never been destroyed. But that is no small task. It takes a great deal of courage to have hope. Optimism is a passive virtue, a belief that things will get better, whereas hope is active, the belief that we can make them better. At its ultimate, he wrote, hope is the belief, not that God has written the script of history, but simply that he has given us the means to save us from ourselves, that we are not wrong to dream, and wish, and work for a better world. So we must find the strength to hope and not to despair.”

Like her father, Gila talked about how what’s happening in Israel and Gaza is not just about Israel and Gaza. Instead, it’s a worldwide problem and an existential crisis we all must face.

“This will be the defining battle of the 21st century, which will prevail: the will to power, with its violence, terror, missiles and bombs, or the will to life, with its hospitals, schools, freedoms and rights,” she said. “And wider still, he taught that the world in the 21st century needs the Jewish people. It needs Judaism. In an age of ecological devastation, it needs the Jewish reminder that we are placed on Earth, as Adam was, to serve it and conserve it.”

Moving Forward – With Hope

The Jewish nation is supposed to be a light unto the other nations. Our role is to defeat the darkness, to push out evil, and to communicate God’s love to the world.

Gila spoke about how Jewish values can do exactly this.

“In an age of economic inequalities, it needs the Jewish insistence on tzedaka, charity as justice,” she said. “In an age of terror, it needs the Jewish insistence on the sanctity of life. Today, more than ever, I think [my father] would tell us not to forget that, that we must stand tall, stay true to why we are here, and have the courage to engage with the world and all its challenges. We cannot let ourselves be defined by those who hate us. We will be defined by being a blessing to the world.”

If we have moral confusion in the world, the world will suffer as a result.

Based on her father’s reactions to past tragedies, Gila believes that what happened in Israel would have caused him tremendous pain – but he would not have sat idly by in the aftermath.

“He would have played an active role in standing up against the moral confusion in the world,” she told Aish. “He would have explained in the media and politics the reality of what was going on, and why this was not simply about Israel, but really had much wider ramifications. If we have moral confusion in the world, the world will suffer as a result.”

Gila believes it’s important to ask people in Israel what they need, to fix issues in our Jewish communities at home, and to form partnerships with people outside of the Jewish community to fight hate.

“Rabbi Sacks taught and thought a lot about antisemitism,” she said. “Jews cannot fix it on our own. We need people with us. At times like this it can feel very lonely and like we’re on our own, but I don’t believe that’s the case. We have friends and allies, and we need to keep building bridges.”

Imam Antepli said, “The world was fractured and broken enough before October 7. But after that barbaric savagery and monstrous terrorism that has been committed in the name of Palestinian suffering or in the name of Islam. As a Muslim, it cuts much deeper. It really hurts much deeper. For those of us who are Muslim and who love this wonderful world tradition, the least we can do is condemn in the clearest terms as possible this barbaric savagery without ands and buts to make sure this is unacceptable. No scripture of Islam could justify this.”

For her part, Gila is continuing her father’s legacy, making sure his content is easily accessible, translated into different languages, and well disseminated around the world.

Though Rabbi Sacks is no longer with us, we can still learn from – and spread – his powerful messages.

“I hope he would have found ways to bring comfort and strength to the many people suffering right now,” said Gila. “We are lucky he left us with a very rich legacy. We are very grateful.”

Featured Illustration via 99designs, Tim Ferris