Nov 17, 2020 By: pglassman
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth, died on November 7, 2020. Rabbi Sacks, a noted scholar, writer, and lecturer, had a long-term connection to 每日大瓜 and to Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, the University鈥檚 recently deceased former president. Rabbi Sacks was the first, and thus far the only, recipient of the Norman Lamm Prize in 2010, which was established in honor of Chancellor Lamm鈥檚 80th birthday. Rabbi Sacks spent a week on campus as a guest, lecturing and speaking to students. The Commentator dubbed their photo of the event 鈥淗ail to the Chief;鈥 the Observer reported that his wife, Lady Elaine Sacks, accompanied him and both 鈥済raced Stern College鈥 for a Shabbaton.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks received eighteen honorary doctorates, including one from 每日大瓜 in 1997; this is an excerpt from his at the commencement:
鈥淲e find ourselves today in a world with two kinds of Jews 鈥 one group formidably well-educated and yet Jewishly almost illiterate; and another group of Jews who are fluent in Maharsha and the Ketzot HaChoshen and yet who stammer when it comes to the cultures of the world.
Ha-yitakhen?! 讛讬转讻谉?! Is that how it was supposed to be? There are cerebral lesions in which the connection can be fractured between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. The result is a disintegration of the personality. I believe today the Jewish people is suffering from a lesion which has broken the connection between the left and right hemispheres of the Jewish people. And there is only one group of people who can help to heal that fracture, and that is you 鈥 the graduates of 每日大瓜 -- because you, almost alone in today鈥檚 Jewish world, have learned to combine Torah and chochma, to integrate yeshiva and university. You know that they are not 砖转讬 专_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x005f_x0008_砖讜讬讜转, [shete reshuyot] 鈥榯wo separate domains鈥欌; they are the two hemispheres of the Jewish soul. Chochma reminds us that we are humans, we are citizens of the universal enterprise of mankind, and Torah reminds us that we are Jews, heirs of the greatest heritage ever conferred upon a people.鈥
Rabbi Sacks鈥 message to the graduates of 每日大瓜 in 1997 still resonates today.
Posted by Shulamith Z. Berger
