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Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible
"Why was Abraham ordered to sacrifice his son? Was Jacob right in stealing the blessings? Why were we commanded to destroy Amalek? What was Moses’ sin in hitting the rock? And how did the Ten Commandments change the Jewish people, and humankind, for good? Essays on Ethics is the second companion volume to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's celebrated series Covenant & Conversation. Believing the Hebrew Bible to be the ultimate blueprint for Western morality, Rabbi Sacks embarks upon an ethical exploration of the weekly Torah portion, uncovering its message of truth and justice, dignity and compassion, forgiveness and love. "
453 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 5, 2016
177 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Sacks
227 books444 followersRabbi Lord Jonathan Henry Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name was Yaakov Zvi.
Serving as the chief rabbi in the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2013, Sacks gained fame both in the secular world and in Jewish circles. He was a sought-after voice on issues of war and peace, religious fundamentalism, ethics, and the relationship between science and religion, among other topics. Sacks wrote more than 20 books.
Rabbi Sacks died November 2020 after a short bout with cancer. He was 72.
Serving as the chief rabbi in the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2013, Sacks gained fame both in the secular world and in Jewish circles. He was a sought-after voice on issues of war and peace, religious fundamentalism, ethics, and the relationship between science and religion, among other topics. Sacks wrote more than 20 books.
Rabbi Sacks died November 2020 after a short bout with cancer. He was 72.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 25, 2021
It's been a little over 6 months since the untimely passing of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. A brilliant writer, philosopher and theologian, Sacks was also a towering moral figure. He represented a voice of kindness and decency, justice and tolerance in an era of rising polarization and tribalism. He was always eloquent and insightful but also capable of brilliantly infusing the ancient words of sacred texts with modern meaning that transcended religious boundaries.
During the difficult and isolating days of the pandemic, I have returned to Rabbi Sacks' work to remind myself not only of his uncommon decency, but for his deeply personal insights on living a good and ethical life in a time of division. Here in Essays on Ethics, Sacks teases out the moral lessons of each weekly Torah portion from language that can seem (even in translation) archaic and irrelevant.
In his introduction to the book, Sacks identifies seven features of biblical ethics that make it different from other from other ethical systems including: "human dignity, freedom, the sanctity of life, repentance and forgiveness, the centrality of marriage and family, covenant as the basis of moral obligation, and a dual ethic of justice on the one hand and love on the other."
As he has in other writing, Sacks frequently returns here to the theme that biblical ethics were radical concepts not just for their time, but for today as well. Referencing Genesis' statement that man was created in G-d's image, Sacks says that it "is not so much a metaphysical statement about the nature of the human person as it is a political protest against the very basis of hierarchical, class- or caste-based societies, whether in ancient or modern times. That is what makes it the most incendiary idea in the Torah. In some fundamental sense we are all equal in dignity and ultimate worth, for we are all in G-d's image regardless of colour, culture or creed." And later "a profound egalitarianism is at work just below the surface of the Torah, and the rabbis knew it and lived it."
Sacks also takes pains to point out the universality of ethics from the Bible, eschewing the modern trend of narrowly defined particularism. "What is the Torah telling us about morality? First, that it is universal. The Torah places G-d's covenant with Noah and through him all humanity prior to His particular covenant with Abraham and His later covenant with his descendants at Mount Sinai. Our universal humanity precedes our religious differences."
For Sacks, ethics and morality are universal and the most profound and important lessons come from the oldest texts continually reinterpreted for modern times. He also sees the profound lessons of humility for an age that seems all about self promotion and certainty of opinion. "In Judaism the moral life is about learning and growing, knowing that even the greatest have failings and even the worst have saving graces. It calls for humility about ourselves and generosity towards others. This unique blend of idealism and realism is morality at it's most demanding and mature."
Some of the most powerful commentary in the book comes in Sacks' critique of our growing culture of shame. "Judaism is (primarily) an ethic of guilt, as opposed to most other systems, which are ethics of shame. One of the fundamental differences between them is that shame attaches to the person, while guilt attaches to the act. In shame cultures when a person does wrong he or she is, as it were, stained, marked, defiled. In guilt cultures what is wrong is not the doer but the deed, not the sinner but the sin. The person retains his or her fundamental worth ('the soul you gave me is pure,' as we say in our prayers)." The shaming of people (or entire categories of people) because they believe something different than places our society in an "us vs. them" framework. This can make it nearly impossible to live with those different from us and serves to fundamentally undermine the social fabric of a society in which neighbor used to help neighbor.
There heinous acts that cannot be forgiven, but the rush to judgment about people for even the smallest of errors speaks poorly to the humility that Sacks says is a key component to biblical ethics and morality.
Ultimately, Sacks rejects modern day Machiavellism that seems to be so much a product of our current society. "The world does not operate solely on the basis of impersonal principles like power or justice, but also on the deeply personal basis of vulnerability, attachment, care and concern, recognising us as individuals with unique needs and potentialities."
It is Sacks' sense of humanity and universality in ethics that will be so terribly missed. His voice is needed now more than.
During the difficult and isolating days of the pandemic, I have returned to Rabbi Sacks' work to remind myself not only of his uncommon decency, but for his deeply personal insights on living a good and ethical life in a time of division. Here in Essays on Ethics, Sacks teases out the moral lessons of each weekly Torah portion from language that can seem (even in translation) archaic and irrelevant.
In his introduction to the book, Sacks identifies seven features of biblical ethics that make it different from other from other ethical systems including: "human dignity, freedom, the sanctity of life, repentance and forgiveness, the centrality of marriage and family, covenant as the basis of moral obligation, and a dual ethic of justice on the one hand and love on the other."
As he has in other writing, Sacks frequently returns here to the theme that biblical ethics were radical concepts not just for their time, but for today as well. Referencing Genesis' statement that man was created in G-d's image, Sacks says that it "is not so much a metaphysical statement about the nature of the human person as it is a political protest against the very basis of hierarchical, class- or caste-based societies, whether in ancient or modern times. That is what makes it the most incendiary idea in the Torah. In some fundamental sense we are all equal in dignity and ultimate worth, for we are all in G-d's image regardless of colour, culture or creed." And later "a profound egalitarianism is at work just below the surface of the Torah, and the rabbis knew it and lived it."
Sacks also takes pains to point out the universality of ethics from the Bible, eschewing the modern trend of narrowly defined particularism. "What is the Torah telling us about morality? First, that it is universal. The Torah places G-d's covenant with Noah and through him all humanity prior to His particular covenant with Abraham and His later covenant with his descendants at Mount Sinai. Our universal humanity precedes our religious differences."
For Sacks, ethics and morality are universal and the most profound and important lessons come from the oldest texts continually reinterpreted for modern times. He also sees the profound lessons of humility for an age that seems all about self promotion and certainty of opinion. "In Judaism the moral life is about learning and growing, knowing that even the greatest have failings and even the worst have saving graces. It calls for humility about ourselves and generosity towards others. This unique blend of idealism and realism is morality at it's most demanding and mature."
Some of the most powerful commentary in the book comes in Sacks' critique of our growing culture of shame. "Judaism is (primarily) an ethic of guilt, as opposed to most other systems, which are ethics of shame. One of the fundamental differences between them is that shame attaches to the person, while guilt attaches to the act. In shame cultures when a person does wrong he or she is, as it were, stained, marked, defiled. In guilt cultures what is wrong is not the doer but the deed, not the sinner but the sin. The person retains his or her fundamental worth ('the soul you gave me is pure,' as we say in our prayers)." The shaming of people (or entire categories of people) because they believe something different than places our society in an "us vs. them" framework. This can make it nearly impossible to live with those different from us and serves to fundamentally undermine the social fabric of a society in which neighbor used to help neighbor.
There heinous acts that cannot be forgiven, but the rush to judgment about people for even the smallest of errors speaks poorly to the humility that Sacks says is a key component to biblical ethics and morality.
Ultimately, Sacks rejects modern day Machiavellism that seems to be so much a product of our current society. "The world does not operate solely on the basis of impersonal principles like power or justice, but also on the deeply personal basis of vulnerability, attachment, care and concern, recognising us as individuals with unique needs and potentialities."
It is Sacks' sense of humanity and universality in ethics that will be so terribly missed. His voice is needed now more than.
December 26, 2016
Chief Rabbi Sacks' essays on the weekly portions of readings (parsha) prove that the Law ethicised religion, and by lifting the cultic to a new hight gave Judaism and then Christianity to their rightful place. As a Baptist pastor I gain important knowledge from Prof. Sacks's writings about the interpretive processes that influenced (and should inform) the Church's understanding of the Old Testament.
August 8, 2020
It’s hard to say you finished anything that is a reflection on religious literature. I turn to these essays several times a year along with other commentaries. Thought provoking and insightful, rabbi Sachs opens many conversations.
September 12, 2018
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks is so interesting! He has a very strong grounding in the text, he quotes from interdisciplinary sources, and his reading of the text is both traditional and human-centered. In the chapter for Noah he discusses the age-old argument between Locke and Hobbes about whether people are basically good or basically evil. A lot of food for thought. I wish I had discovered him years ago.
December 29, 2024
It took a lot of concentration for me to process the material - this is no light reading. That said, it is very well written, with references not just to the Rambam and Ramban, but also Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Kahneman and numerous others. Some of the essays have a loose connection to the parshat, while others are more tied in to the parshat.
December 8, 2018
As I was reading this week I realised that it’s been a year since I started! Thank you so much to Rabbi (/Lord) Sacks for making my Shabbat Reading so beautiful, for teaching my ideas on the Parasha every week and for helping me to internalise and live a more moral and meaningful life 💗
December 27, 2017
As always Rabbi Sacks has so much to ponder. So many helpful insights.
October 11, 2025
Insightful and Inspiring
Wonderful insights and wisdom! We read this every week after the weekly Torah reading to deepen our understanding and gain further insights and inspiration
Wonderful insights and wisdom! We read this every week after the weekly Torah reading to deepen our understanding and gain further insights and inspiration
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews