Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, died on Saturday at the age of seventy-two. Sacks was the unusual figure who commanded respect from wide swathes of the Jewish world, and was deeply learned in Judaism’s sacred texts, the Western tradition, and contemporary social science. Although a consummate Englishman, he had an abiding appreciation for the American Founding as well as for his own country’s political traditions. He also became a widely admired public figure in Britain, able to reach far beyond Jewish circles. Earlier this year, Mosaic published an excerpt from his final book, Morality: Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times, quoted below. We have also often linked to his essays and speeches over the years; some of these can be found here.
Almost all civilizations have developed ways of consecrating marriage and the family. Historically, the strength of Jewish families was the source of the resilience of Jewish communities that allowed them to survive the enforced exiles and expulsions, the ghettos and pogroms, of a thousand years of European history. Family in Judaism is a supreme value. It’s how we celebrate our festivals and Sabbaths. A Jewish child always has a starring role at the seder table on Passover night, where we are inducted into our people’s history, and where our parents fulfill their first duty: namely, to teach children to ask questions. Strong families create adaptive communities.
More generally, marriage is fundamental to the moral enterprise because it is a supreme example of the transformation of two “I’s” into a collective “We.” It is the consecration of a commitment to care for an Other. It is the formalization of love, not as a passing passion but as a moral bond. To see what is at stake we need to understand the difference between two things that look and sound alike but actually are not: namely, contracts and covenants.
Read more on Mosaic: https://mosaicmagazine.com/observation/politics-current-affairs/2020/08/why-free-societies-need-healthy-families