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Deuteronomy: Renewal of the Sinai Covenant
In the final volume of his long-anticipated five-volume collection of parashat hashavua commentaries, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks explores these intersections as they relate to universal concerns of freedom, love, responsibility, identity, and destiny. Chief Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy, and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under Gods sovereignty. Erudite and eloquent, Covenant & Conversation allows us to experience Chief Rabbi Sacks sophisticated approach to life lived in an ongoing dialogue with the Torah.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2019
76 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Sacks
232 books451 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 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 24, 2021
Lively. Contemplative. Intense. Spirit Filled. This is just some of the words I would use to describe my experience with Jonathan Sack’s commentary on the book of Deuteronomy. Sharing several varying interpretations from different Jewish sages and including his own analysis, Sacks, places the reader directly into the Jewish encampment and asks them to see the timeless truths God was teaching the Israelites and how these truths make society better today. The book of Deuteronomy is “fundamentally about the creation of a good society based on a collective responsibility.” Sacks proves his thesis, “that the life of faith requires a society dedicated to goodness as a whole...individual righteousness is not enough” in every chapter. Throughout the book, Sacks emphasizes collective society rather than individualism. “Deuteronomy tells us that freedom requires engagement by each of us…and without active citizenship exercised for the common good, we will lose that freedom which is God’s greatest gift to us.”
Reading this book, at this time in American History, I see how we can do better. We can be better. We can embrace the stranger. We can work for justice. We can show mercy. And we can make room for those of different religious traditions. For, as Sacks reminded me, the United States is the closest experiment of this type of society—a covenant society.
Reading this book, at this time in American History, I see how we can do better. We can be better. We can embrace the stranger. We can work for justice. We can show mercy. And we can make room for those of different religious traditions. For, as Sacks reminded me, the United States is the closest experiment of this type of society—a covenant society.
October 4, 2021
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks had a remarkable ability to make profound ideas accessible. In Deuteronomy: Renewal of the Sinai Covenant he has once again made the ideas of a Millenia old document resound with modern meaning for both the Jewish community and for humanity in general.
The centerpiece of the book is his argument that Deuteronomy is "fundamentally about the creation of a good society based on collective responsibility... in essence a programme for the creation of a moral society in which righteousness is the responsibility of all."
Religion seems to have fallen out of favor in America in the last two decades. Studies have shown that fewer citizens attend a church, synagogue or mosque on a regular basis and more disclaim a rooted connection to an organized religion or a particular set of religious beliefs. And yet Sacks continues to remind us that religion is the foundation of virtually all of western understandings of morality and (as he makes a point of claiming here) the ideas of democracy and equality as well. "The Hebrew Bible," he says, "is a sustained protest against empires and their attempt to impose a human unity on God's created diversity."
This is one of several profound themes in the book all tied in some way to the fundamental idea of human collective responsibility. There are three ways to get people to do what you want them to do, Sacks says: pay them to do so (the market economy), force them to do so (via political power and the tyrannical state), or through a community or society's choice to bond itself in collective responsibility - the "We the people..." of the United States constitution.
"This is no longer a world of separate 'I's in pursuit of self-interest. It is a world of collective 'we', in which we agreed to merge our identity into something larger than us, which defines who we are and which obligates us to a set of undertakings by which we freely choose to be bound." This, he says "is why Deuteronomy is the turning point in Jewish history. It marks the move from divine initiative to human responsibility."
You can sense in Sacks words a fear that in the midst of an increasingly divided and divisive world, that this choice of collective responsibility, this choosing of something bigger than ourselves with all the sacrifices and benefits it may entail is in jeopardy. He sees Deuteronomy as the story of choice - choice not only to follow God, but choice to bind ourselves to each other and a standard moral code for the collective good. He also sees signs of it's weakening everywhere including the free market economy (of which he is a strong supporter). "When morality is missing and economics and politics are driven by self-interest alone, trust fails and society's fabric unravels."
I was struck by how reminiscent this statement is of the challenge we face today.
Another brilliant theme in the book is that despite Deuteronomy's role as a book of rules and commandments, it may not be exactly what it appears to be. "It would seem to logically follow," Sacks notes, "that a book of commands must have a verb that means 'to obey'. That is the whole purpose of an imperative. Obedience stands in relation to command as truth does to making a statement. Yet there is no verb in biblical Hebrew that means to obey. This is an astonishing fact." It's not about blind obedience he says, it's about freedom of choice and lessons about what the right choice may be.
The book also goes into detail about Moses as the first teacher hero. The Jewish people have always put much faith in education and Sacks ties this belief in education to the very continuity of the Jewish people despite thousands of years of persecution. "If any change in the human condition takes longer than a generation," he explains, "education becomes fundamental." And he continues, "the Mesopotamians built ziggurats, the Egyptians build pyramids, the Greeks built the Parthenon, and the Romans the Coliseum. Jews built schools. That is why we are still here."
Deuteronomy ends with Moses' final speech, his final lessons to the Israelites. Of the many lessons that Sacks takes from this last expression of Moses' leadership, Sacks focuses on the lessons about our own mortality. On understanding that we are mortal creatures destined to expire. Yet, in this lesson he sees great beauty and great hope for humanity. It is not for you to complete the task, Sacks says quoting Pirke Avot. "That is life at its highest, knowing that we will not see the full fruits of our labours but knowing that what we have planted, others will reap, and what we have begun others will complete."
This then, he says, is our meaning: to prepare the way for those that will follow. To make the world better for them than it was for us. To pursue the repair of the world even if we will not see it made whole in our lifetime.
This is wonderfully insightful and inspirational book for Jew, Christian and Muslim alike. If more in our world embrace the vision of collective human responsibility, I am certain we would be better off.
The centerpiece of the book is his argument that Deuteronomy is "fundamentally about the creation of a good society based on collective responsibility... in essence a programme for the creation of a moral society in which righteousness is the responsibility of all."
Religion seems to have fallen out of favor in America in the last two decades. Studies have shown that fewer citizens attend a church, synagogue or mosque on a regular basis and more disclaim a rooted connection to an organized religion or a particular set of religious beliefs. And yet Sacks continues to remind us that religion is the foundation of virtually all of western understandings of morality and (as he makes a point of claiming here) the ideas of democracy and equality as well. "The Hebrew Bible," he says, "is a sustained protest against empires and their attempt to impose a human unity on God's created diversity."
This is one of several profound themes in the book all tied in some way to the fundamental idea of human collective responsibility. There are three ways to get people to do what you want them to do, Sacks says: pay them to do so (the market economy), force them to do so (via political power and the tyrannical state), or through a community or society's choice to bond itself in collective responsibility - the "We the people..." of the United States constitution.
"This is no longer a world of separate 'I's in pursuit of self-interest. It is a world of collective 'we', in which we agreed to merge our identity into something larger than us, which defines who we are and which obligates us to a set of undertakings by which we freely choose to be bound." This, he says "is why Deuteronomy is the turning point in Jewish history. It marks the move from divine initiative to human responsibility."
You can sense in Sacks words a fear that in the midst of an increasingly divided and divisive world, that this choice of collective responsibility, this choosing of something bigger than ourselves with all the sacrifices and benefits it may entail is in jeopardy. He sees Deuteronomy as the story of choice - choice not only to follow God, but choice to bind ourselves to each other and a standard moral code for the collective good. He also sees signs of it's weakening everywhere including the free market economy (of which he is a strong supporter). "When morality is missing and economics and politics are driven by self-interest alone, trust fails and society's fabric unravels."
I was struck by how reminiscent this statement is of the challenge we face today.
Another brilliant theme in the book is that despite Deuteronomy's role as a book of rules and commandments, it may not be exactly what it appears to be. "It would seem to logically follow," Sacks notes, "that a book of commands must have a verb that means 'to obey'. That is the whole purpose of an imperative. Obedience stands in relation to command as truth does to making a statement. Yet there is no verb in biblical Hebrew that means to obey. This is an astonishing fact." It's not about blind obedience he says, it's about freedom of choice and lessons about what the right choice may be.
The book also goes into detail about Moses as the first teacher hero. The Jewish people have always put much faith in education and Sacks ties this belief in education to the very continuity of the Jewish people despite thousands of years of persecution. "If any change in the human condition takes longer than a generation," he explains, "education becomes fundamental." And he continues, "the Mesopotamians built ziggurats, the Egyptians build pyramids, the Greeks built the Parthenon, and the Romans the Coliseum. Jews built schools. That is why we are still here."
Deuteronomy ends with Moses' final speech, his final lessons to the Israelites. Of the many lessons that Sacks takes from this last expression of Moses' leadership, Sacks focuses on the lessons about our own mortality. On understanding that we are mortal creatures destined to expire. Yet, in this lesson he sees great beauty and great hope for humanity. It is not for you to complete the task, Sacks says quoting Pirke Avot. "That is life at its highest, knowing that we will not see the full fruits of our labours but knowing that what we have planted, others will reap, and what we have begun others will complete."
This then, he says, is our meaning: to prepare the way for those that will follow. To make the world better for them than it was for us. To pursue the repair of the world even if we will not see it made whole in our lifetime.
This is wonderfully insightful and inspirational book for Jew, Christian and Muslim alike. If more in our world embrace the vision of collective human responsibility, I am certain we would be better off.
March 1, 2021
Like all of Rabbi Lord Sacks' books, this provides great insight into what the Jewish faith ought to be and for us Christians, insight into our Jewish roots. I only wish he had heard (as in "Hear, O Israel") that the correct answer to the question he asks on page 385, "Has the Messiah come?", is a resounding "Yes! And He's coming again!"
October 14, 2025
I will miss this series so much. I looked forward to reading about the weekly Torah portion through Rabbi Sacks's lens. I learned so much, and I enjoyed learning so much because of the Rabbi's intelligence, insight, and wit. I love the references to secular books about philosophy and leadership, the references to poetry and music, and how everything gets pulled together.
October 17, 2022
This is a collection of sermons and essays on passages from the Bible book of Deuteronomy, organized by Parashah.
The theology is mainstream, but Rabbi Sacks had a depth of knowledge and thought which shines through his beautiful language and sometimes yes manages to surprise and delight.
The theology is mainstream, but Rabbi Sacks had a depth of knowledge and thought which shines through his beautiful language and sometimes yes manages to surprise and delight.
July 21, 2024
Zo jammer dat dit het laatste deel van de parasja uitleg is. Het enige voordeel is dat ik nu kan beginnen met het herlezen. En zo stel ik me de rest van m’n leven voor: een (bijna) dagelijkse portie levenswijsheid en Schriftuitleg door een essay uit de boeken van Sacks zt”l
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews