One Shabbos, back in 2016, I was coerced through social pressure to attend services in a dreary synagogue somewhere in Jersey. I really didn’t feel like being there so I turned my attention to a shiny, colorful-looking book laying on one of the tables.
The book was Rabbi Jonathan Sack’s commentary on Leviticus called “Covenant and Conversation”. The title to the introduction was, “Leviticus: The Democratization of Holiness”.
As a lover of democracy, I was intrigued. For the longest time I had struggled to understand how Judaism, on one hand, places such high value on freedom and on the other hand is rather restrictive on the daily routine. As a young man in America, I was determined to not feel that by observing the laws of Judaism, I was being cheated out of a better, richer life.
In fact the word “democracy” had appeared nowhere in the language of my Judaic teachers. My Rabbis in yeshiva taught Judaism as an absolute doctrine. Some would try and sell me on the warmth of a spiritual connection that would only be available to me if I was part of their in-group. Others would threaten me with my obligation to serve an unseen Creator, who would punish me if I disobeyed Him. It was painfully clear that democracy would have to wait until 3:30 pm, when the English high-school principal entered the building. Until then, God and his Chosen Rabbis ruled with an iron fist.
The experience repeated itself when I went to study in Israel. No Rabbi had ever tried to square the ancient teachings of Judaism with the realities of today’s world. The way they saw it, the world was a crazy place, and our job was to limit our interactions with it as much as possible.
So I was experiencing some cognitive dissonance, to say the least. And then...Rabbi Sacks. I can’t say that Rabbi Sacks resolved my questions. But he validated my quest. Judaism, according to Rabbi Sacks, was not just compatible with our times, it was made for them.
From his books I learned that Judaism could be considered a cornerstone of our modern civilization. Mainly, the Torah is grounded in law observance and ritual, what Sacks coins as “The Priestly Voice”. These are necessary ingredients to maintaining a free, self-governing society. However, we are to be completely engaged, responsive, and present in whatever era God places us in by following the “Prophetic Voice”. We are to be both steady and constantly evolving at the same time. This is the task of the Jew.
As a matter or fact, the term “Yisrael “ (Israel) literally means “Wrestling with God”. The job of a person, therefore, is to wrestle with reality in a never ending attempt to improve oneself and the world.
So the Torah was not meant to be static. We are not a misfortune people who are doomed to lose our values to a more modern society. The opposite is true, when we are able to interpret the Torah properly we are the engine of modernity.
This was not just talk. Rabbi Sacks brings specific examples of how we have evolved past the written text of the Torah. It was in his books that I first learned of the Maimonidean view that animal sacrifices were a remnant of the pagan culture of the time and were not in fact meant to continue for eternity. We have improved since those times. The same was applicable to the Torah’s humane treatment of slaves. It was a prelude to a better time, our time, where we take it for granted that slavery is and always was completely immoral.
Finally, Rabbi Sacks makes it clear that the stories of Genesis are meant to be read specifically as a story of human fallibility. This was a huge departure from my yeshiva upbringing where we were discouraged from projecting our human emotions onto the stories because “the forefathers were pure tzadikim and we are less than ants compared to them.”
Some may find it obvious that Judaism holds such a positive view on humanity and human progress. One can find such views in the works of Maimonides, Rav Kook, and many others. They are not the innovations of Rabbi Sacks. He was however, the greatest English speaking defender and teacher of these ideas. I had originally been taught that the world would basically continue to rot and there was nothing to do about it but wait for Mashiach. Now I had a new path forward.
His views are definitely unique. You can watch him debate Richard Dawkins on Youtube saying the story of Adam and Eve is not to be taken literally. The actual implication of this statement should not rattle someone who has given these ideas some thought, but it’s not something I have ever heard from any other accepted Orthodox Rabbi. Similarly, his book “Not in God’s Name” was subject to criticism and a soft “ban” by other Rabbis for being too praiseworthy towards Christianity and Islam.
Yet, Rabbi Sacks seems to be somewhat accepted in right-wing, Jewish circles. About a year ago I heard Rabbi Eitan Feiner, a highly respected Orthodox Rabbi, and a future American gadol hador, quote Rabbi Sacks in a Shabbos sermon to a room of three hundred people. I was so excited that I immediately whispered to my friend Baruch, “Rabbi Sacks denies Adam and Eve! I can’t believe he is quoting him!”
The reality is, Rabbi Sacks was one of those brilliant people who others are probably better off quoting than fighting with. After all, who besides for Sacks was able to straddle every world, from counseling the British Royal family, to befriending world leaders, to giving public lectures on BBC, and even being quoted by Rabbis in shuls in Far Rockaway?
I guess every generation is blessed with one person who is so obviously brilliant and articulate, just shoulders above his peers, that he is pretty much left unscathed by the snakes and allowed to more or less speak his mind without too much repercussion. With his passing, Rabbi Sacks leaves a void that will not be easily filled.
Rest in peace, my Rebbi, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.