RABBI LORD JONATHAN SACKS SUCCUMBED TO CANCER ON NOVEMBER 7TH AT JUST 72 YEARS OLD. AND THE WORLD LOST A WAS WISE, INSIGHTFUL AND COMPASSIONATE MAN. RABBI SACKS ONCE SAID, “MORTALITY IS WRITTEN INTO THE HUMAN CONDITION, BUT SO TOO IS THE POSSIBILITY OF IMMORTALITY, IN THE GOOD WE DO THAT CONTINUES, LONG AFTER WE ARE HERE, TO BEGET FURTHER GOOD. THERE ARE LIVES THAT DEFEAT DEATH AND REDEEM EXISTENCE FROM TRAGEDY.” THERE’S NO DOUBT THE RABBI’S GOOD WILL CONTINUE FOR GENERATIONS. UPON HIS PASSING, PRIME MINISTERS, PRESIDENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN SINGING HIS PRAISES.
GILA SACKS
Rabbi Sack’s youngest daughter spoke at his funeral on behalf of her siblings Joshua and Dina
“He loved us so much and never, ever missed an opportunity in recent years to tell us that—to tell us how proud he was of everything each of us did, but mainly, of who we were. He would tell us how proud he was of each grandchild, and every new bit of joy they brought into his world. I felt his love overwhelmingly, because that is what he gave us above all. No child could have wished for more. I don’t know how I can begin to know how to say thank you to him. That will take time. We used to joke that if you bumped into my dad in the kitchen, he’d probably want you to work out how to solve global anti-Semitism while the kettle boiled. Everything he taught, he wrote, were mainly the things he chatted to us about while the kettle boiled. I had a moment of clarity about what my dad had given me: that single belief that nothing is inevitable, that no problems are too big for people to try and solve. That things could always be changed and people could always change them: that belief shaped everything else.”
THE ORTHODOX UNION
“The Orthodox Union joins the Jewish community and the world in mourning the loss of Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, zt”l. Rabbi Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom for 22 years, served as a profoundly eloquent teacher of Torah and spokesman for Torah values within the Jewish community and beyond. He was an intellectual giant whose unique blend of Torah scholarship, academic achievement, human sensitivity, and social awareness allowed him to speak to the issues of our times, to the broadest of audiences, and he did so with courage, clarity and optimism. Rabbi Sacks was a beacon of Kiddush Hashem, whose thoughtful teachings improved the world and invariably brought honor to the Torah and the Jewish people. Rabbi Sacks’ unique voice, novel and insightful ideas, exciting and elegant prose, unfailingly relevant messages, and outstanding leadership will all be sorely missed.”
THE RABBINICAL ALLIANCE OF AMERICA
“The Rabbinical Alliance of America—representing over 950 American Orthodox Rabbis—joins Klal Yisrael in mourning the passing of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt’l, Emeritus Chief Rabbi of United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks was a master orator whose sermons and lectures enchanted audiences, challenging them to rise to greater heights in religious commitment. He was a fierce advocate for Orthodox Judaism in a time when it was under siege by secularizing and liberalizing forces. Through his efforts, thousands of people learn Torah and observe Shabbat in the British Commonwealth, Israel, and around the world. As the prolific author of an award-winning series of prayer books, numerous learned books and Torah commentaries, his scholarship and insights continue to educate and inspire students of Torah. His widely read weekly Torah commentaries, creative inspirational videos, highly lauded BBC radio series and many public talks and conversations have brought Torah lessons of faith and responsibility to millions of people around the world. May Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks serve as a heavenly advocate, a Meilitz Yosher, for his family, the Jewish community and the entire world. May his memory be a blessing.”
SEC DIRECTOR DANIEL BOUSKILA
“The Jewish people have lost a great leader, and the world has lost a prophet. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, left our world when we read Parashat Vayera, which features Judaism’s first leader and the world’s first prophet—Abraham. Regarding Abraham, Rabbi Sacks wrote: ‘Abraham was the role model of leadership as Judaism understands it. He acted, he did not wait for others to act. To Abraham, G-d says ‘Walk before me,’ meaning: be a leader. Walk ahead. Take personal responsibility. Take moral responsibility. Take collective responsibility.’”
“Rabbi Sacks was writing about Abraham, but upon contemplating the life of this generation’s undisputed global spokesman for Judaism, Rabbi Sacks’ words were as applicable to him as they were to Abraham. Like Abraham, he spoke to his own people, and he also spoke to the world. Rest In Peace, dear Rabbi, you left us too soon, and you leave behind a gigantic legacy of leadership and wisdom.
ERIC S. GOLDSTEIN UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK CEO
“We are broken-hearted to learn of the passing of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. The world has lost one of the great Jewish leaders of our time—and a truly kind and gentle soul. At the core of his vast contributions to public life and discourse was his remarkable ability to create and communicate a compelling narrative, rooted in Torah and Jewish law, of tolerance, compassion and understanding.
WJC PRESIDENT RONALD S. LAUDER
“The World Jewish Congress and the entire Jewish world are profoundly saddened by the passing of former British Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. A theologian of extraordinary intellectual depth and moral conviction, Rabbi Sacks was a riveting orator and brilliant author who brought the timeless teachings of Jewish scripture to both Jews and non-Jews alike, fusing Jewish tradition with modern thought. His writings, including—and perhaps especially—his commentaries on the weekly Torah portion will be cherished by future generations. We extend our deepest condolences to Lord Sacks’ wife Elaine and their family. May they—and the whole house of Israel—be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may his memory be an everlasting blessing and source of inspiration.”
RABBI JOSEPH DWECK
“He drew from the wisdom of our hakhamim and showed us how they spoke directly to us and our circumstances and how there was no area of our lives to which our Torah did not have meaningful and penetrating lessons for us.
The void that his absence leaves us is staggering. We will only come to know its depth and breadth as the days pass. We will seek his wisdom and insight, we will want his guidance, we will wish that he could speak for us, we will miss his encouragement, the light of his mind, and the security of his knowledge. We will feel vulnerable and as though we have lost our language, our way to express our feelings and thoughts to ourselves and the world. We will know that the Rav is missing from us and we will all feel it.
We are, nonetheless, blessed that he gifted us with his thoughts and teachings in abundance during his life. We will go to his writings and recorded lessons, we will ask his students, family and friends, we will learn and speak his Torah in his name, and we will ask HKBH that his merit stand for us all.”
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
“His insights on the heritage of the Jewish people and on anti-Semitism will live on, for our generation and future generations. May his memory be a blessing.”
ISRAELI PRESIDENT REUVEN RIVLIN
“I was deeply saddened to hear of the loss of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks—a man of thought and a man of words, an original teacher and a man of creativity, a man of truth, whose generosity and compassion built bridges between people. Rabbi Sacks bravely faced difficult questions and always found the right words to illuminate the Torah and explain its paths. We will always remember his warnings against violence in the name of G-d, and his belief that we have the power to heal a fractured world.”
PRINCE CHARLES
“It was with the most profound personal sorrow that I heard of the death of Rabbi Lord Sacks. With his passing, the Jewish community, our nation, and the entire world have lost a leader whose wisdom, scholarship and humanity were without equal. His immense learning spanned the sacred and the secular, and his prophetic voice spoke to our greatest challenges with unfailing insight and boundless compassion. His wise counsel was sought and appreciated by those of all faiths, and he will be missed more than words can say. Although Rabbi Lord Sacks’ death is a cause of the greatest possible sadness, we give thanks for the immeasurable contribution which—in the tradition of the most revered teachers of the Jewish people—he made to all our lives.”
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. His leadership had a profound impact on our whole country and across the world. My sincere condolences to his family, friends and the Jewish community. May his memory be a blessing.”
FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR
“I am deeply distressed and sad at the news. Jonathan was a wonderful friend, a beloved mentor, a philosopher of extraordinary insight and of course a religious leader, respected well beyond the Jewish community and well beyond the shores of Britain. His influence was vast and his reach immense. A brilliant speaker and thinker he had the rarest of gifts—expressing complex ideas in the simplest of terms. He was a man of huge intellectual stature but with the warmest human spirit. My heart goes out to Elaine (his wife), his children and wider family and the Jewish community. He will be deeply mourned.”
