麻豆区

Samuel Gelman Communications and Program Officer

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l

On October 26, 2021, Straus Center faculty member Rabbi Dr. Dov Lerner gave a virtual shiur [lecture] to over 100 participants titled 鈥溾�� in honor of the late former British Chief Rabbi鈥檚 first yahrzeit [anniversary of death]. The shiur was sponsored by , Undergraduate Torah Studies, the and the .

Rabbi Dov Lerner

After being introduced by Shoshana Schechter, associate dean of Torah studies and spiritual life at Stern College, Rabbi Lerner gave a brief overview of Rabbi Sacks鈥� books, calling his works 鈥渘ot just descriptive but warnings about the future and a calling to face the future.鈥� Rabbi Lerner then introduced the 鈥渙ne fundamental tenet that opens the door to the rest of his [Rabbi Sacks鈥橾 world鈥濃�攆aith as protest. He explained that Karl Marx argued before penning  The Communist Manifesto that religion was the 鈥渙pium of the masses鈥濃�� one of the most pernicious factors keeping them from revolting against the profound inequalities that stalked their lives, as it served to 鈥渏ustify鈥� their destitution and suffering and numbed their will to fight back. Rabbi Sacks, Rabbi Lerner argued, claimed that Marx had it backward, and that our faith demands that we not accept fate as it is but protest against injustice. Rabbi Sacks brought two biblical examples to back up his claim. The first is the story of Abraham and Sodom, where, after God informs the Patriarch that He will destroy the city, Abraham protests and calls for God to spare the city if he can find a certain numberr of righteous people among its inhabitants. Here, Rabbi Sacks said, God is teaching Abraham how to react to the problem of evil. Claiming that all injustice is 鈥渏ust鈥� is the cheap way out, according to Rabbi Sacks, and not what God wants or expects of us. It is the Marxist way of understating religion and leaves us 鈥渓ess curious and less driven to change the world,鈥� in the words of Rabbi Lerner. By presenting Sodom鈥檚 fate to Abraham, God is 鈥渆ndorsing鈥� his passion against injustice. In the words of Rabbi Sacks, 鈥淕od asks us not to understand but to heal.鈥� The second example Rabbi Sacks brings is the story of Moses at the burning bush. When God first appears in front of Moses, the prophet turns his head away, seemingly terrified of God. However, Rabbi Sacks argues that Moses turns away not out of simple fear but because had he looked at the face of God, he would have seen 鈥渉istory from the perspective of heaven.鈥� It would have robbed him of his sympathy and compassion, the same sympathy and compassion that compelled him to save the Jew from the Egyptian slave master earlier in the story. He did not want to understand why suffering is sometimes necessary, for then he would have been unable and unwilling to fight it. Rabbi Lerner continued, saying that Rabbi Sacks saw three components to the world. The first is Creation鈥攖he world as it is; the second is Revelation鈥攖he world as it ought to be; and the third is Redemption鈥攚hat happens when the second is applied to the first. Rabbi Sacks argued that only through Torah and Wisdom鈥擳orah U鈥檓adda鈥攃an we apply Revelation to Creation, leading to Redemption. These two themes鈥攃ompassion and redemption鈥攕tand at the heart of what YU stands for, argued Rabbi Lerner, citing President Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman鈥檚 Five Torot (Five Core Values), two of which are Compassion and Redemption. When we see injustice, we must have compassion, which will bring redemption. Or, in the words of Rabbi Sacks: 鈥淥pium desensitizes us to pain. The Bible sensitizes us.鈥� To watch the full shiur, . To learn more about the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Center for Values and Leadership, click here.