The Hidden Story of Chanukah
On 20th October 2012, the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks delivered a keynote lecture at Bushey Synagogue about the story within the story of Chanukah. With thanks to Bushey Synagogue for use of their video footage.
Rabbi Sacks:
Let’s do a little bit of Chanukah, because Chanukah is on the way. Should we do that? I want to tell you the story that you don’t know about Chanukah, and here it is.
Does anyone know where the story of Chanukah is actually told? Anyone know? Yeah?
Student: The Maccabees?
Rabbi Sacks:
Yeah. The story of Chanukah is actually told in two books, both of which are what are called … they’re in the Apocrypha. We call them Sefarim Chitzona’im. What do I mean by that? I mean this. What do we call the Hebrew Bible? What do we call it?
Student: Tanach.
Rabbi Sacks:
We call it Tanach, right? Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim. Torah: the five books of Moses. They’re the holiest of our books. Then a little below that, the Nevi’im: the historical books like Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, plus all the prophetic books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the shorter prophets. Then Ketuvim, which include things like the Book of Psalms, the Book of Proverbs, the Megillot, and so and so forth.
The last writings to be canonised were the Ketuvim. There were a group of Rabbis who sat and decided which books are in and which books are out. Some books that are in Tanach nearly didn’t get in. And some books that nearly got in didn’t get in. The ones that nearly didn’t get in, for instance, were: Kohelet – Ecclesiastes (I don’t know if you’ve ever read Kohelet but it’s slightly bolshie. It’s a very challenging work); The Book of Esther (Apparently people were worried that if you had the Book of Esther in the Bible, it would create antisemitism. It’s a book about antisemitism, and they thought that it might create antisemitism) so, some books nearly didn’t get in.
And some books that on the face of it should have gone in, didn’t get in. Two of the books that didn’t get were Maccabees 1 and Maccabees 2. The Catholics for some reason, include them in their Bible, but we don’t include them in ours.
So if you read Book 1 of Maccabees, it tells the story of the military victory of Mattityahu and his children, most famously Yehudah the Maccabee, and how they defeated the Greeks under Antiochus Epiphanes. and how they rededicated the Temple and celebrated for eight days.
In Maccabees 2, it has a very interesting explanation of why they celebrated for eight days. The answer is that that year they were unable to celebrate Succot, which is eight days in the month of Tishrei, because the Temple had been defiled and there was a war going on and they weren’t able to celebrate Succot.
So on the 25th of Kislev, they celebrated the rededication of the Temple by keeping an eight-day festival the way Succot is an eight day festival with seven days of Succot, plus Shemini Atzeret. (Nobody had ever heard of Simchat Torah by then, Simchat Torah is a very late edition to the calendar, around the 8th to 10th centuries.)
So we have all of the story of the military victory, but there’s one little piece that’s missing. What piece do you think is missing?
Students: Miracle.
Rabbi Sacks:
Pardon?
Students: The miracle of the lights/ and the miracle of the oil
Rabbi Sacks:
The miracle of the oil, not mentioned at all!
In either Maccabees 1 or Maccabees 2, no reference to it at all. Says that the Greeks defiled all the stuff in the Temple and so they re-purified all the keilim, all the appurtenances of the Temple, among which was the Menorah. And they re-lit the Menorah and they established an eight day festival with Hallel, but no mention of the miracle of the oil.
The only story told in the book of Maccabees 1 and 2 is the story of the military victory over the Greeks. And that is, of course, the incredible story. What is incredible about it? Number one, it was a defeat by a handful of Jews of the greatest empire of the time.
You know Aristotle (I’m a philosopher so I love Aristotle. The Rambam – Maimonides loved Aristotle) and I rather like Aristotle because in the old days, antisemites in the second and third centuries, thousands of years ago, put out a malicious rumour that Aristotle was Jewish. So I think I always felt warm to Aristotle. What’s more, Aristotle must have liked Jews because he had a Talmudai (disciple) called Theophrastus, and Theophrastus was a big admirer of Jews. The Greeks didn’t understand the Jews at all and they asked Theophrastus, “Who are the Jews? What are they?” He replied – listen to this – he replied, “The Jews are a nation of philosophers.” So, that’s a wonderful compliment to be given.
Of course, Aristotle’s most famous disciple was Alexander the Great. Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon, who created in his lifetime the greatest empire the world had ever known, the Alexandrian Empire.
As you know, after his death it split in two. The Ptolemies, who ruled from Egypt from Alexandria, and the Seleucids who ruled from Syria. In the third century BCE, Israel came under the rule of the Ptolemy’s. In the second century BCE, it came under the rule of the Seleucids. One of whom was Antiochus IV, who was an extremely modest man and had everyone call him ‘Epiphanes’, which means ‘God Made Manifest.’ So, he fancied himself.
So Antiochus IV did a number of things which were absolutely unacceptable to Jews. Erected a statue of Zeus in the Temple, had people offer korbanot (sacrifices) to pagan gods, and various other things, and banned the practice of Judaism in public, among which Brit Milah on pain of death and they rose and rebelled. The fact that handful of dedicated Jews could beat the greatest empire of the ancient world was in itself an extraordinary event.
Secondly, Chanukah is the only festival in Jewish history – until we come to modern festivals – (like Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim) – believe it or not, it is the only festival you can read about in non-Jewish sources. Did you know this? We have lots of records of Egypt, of the Pharaohs, because they wrote their records in hieroglyphics on their temple walls, but there’s no reference to the Exodus in all those Egyptian inscriptions.
There’s a reason why there’s no reference to Exodus, because the Egyptians, like most other nations known in history, only recorded the good news about themselves. They never recorded the bad news. We, lehakis, did the opposite, we only wrote the bad news. As Abba Eban once said, ‘We are the people who can’t take yes for an answer.’ Anyway.
So, there’s no record of the Exodus in ancient literature. There’s no record obviously of the giving of the Torah, because there were non-Jews there. There was no record, oddly enough, of the events of Purim, strangely, because the Megillah says,
halo haym ketuvim al-sefer Divrei Hayamim lemalchei madai ufaras? – [meaning] Are not all these events recorded in the Chronicles of the Medes and Persians.
Megillat Esther, 10:2
But we haven’t yet found in the Chronicles of the Medes and Persians a reference to Purim.
However, all the ancient historians wrote absolute Chanukah. Why? Because it was an event that changed the history of the world. It was the beginning of the end of Greece and the beginning of the beginning of Rome. So it was an event not only of significance to Jews, but of significance to the world. And everyone knew it at the time. So that is the story as recorded in the book of books of Maccabees.
However, as I say, oddly enough, the books of Maccabees were not included in Tanach, and the question is, Why? Because it should ,on the face of it, be obvious that at least Maccabees One should have been included, because what do we have on Purim, we have a Megillah. We read the story. So we should have a Megillah on Chanukah, and it was written, it’s there, it’s called Maccabees One.
And yet it was never included in Tanach. So the question is why.
What is now fascinating is when we come to the second story of Chanukah. And I want to tell you where we find the second story. Anyone know where the second story of Chanukah appears? I’ll tell you: There is a document which dates from Second Temple times called Megillat Ta’anit, the Scroll of Fasting.
It’s actually a scroll of ‘not fasting’. You know that big rubric in the singer’s prayer book of the days when you don’t say Tachanun. (We should all be Chassidim, they have a lot more days where they don’t say Tachanun.) There are certain days when you don’t say Tachanun because they’re happy days, and you don’t say miserable things on happy days. So, days on which you don’t say Tachanun. And basically they are days on which you are forbidden to fast. And that is the scroll called Megillat Ta’anit.
Now, Megillat Ta’anit recorded a lot of days on which you don’t fast. And I’m now going to read to you the reference here in Megillat Ta’anit, which is quoted in the Talmud in Massechet Shabbat [21b], in the chapter called Bameh Madlikim. (Where we read the Mishnah that is said every Friday evening.) [Mishnah Shabbat 82]
And it says the following, listen to this:
“My Chanukah…” (This is what the scroll of Ta’anit says) – What is Chanukah? “D’tanu Rabbanam: De’chaf-hay b’Kislev yomai dachanukah temanya iynoon” – On 25th of Kiselv there begin the eight days of Chanukah. “Dela lemispad b’hon oode’la le’hitanot b’hon.”
You don’t say a hesped (like if God forbid there is a funeral, you don’t make a hesped [a eulogy], like how on Erev Shabbat, or Rosh Chodesh, or various days when you don’t make a hesped.) And you don’t fast on them.
And this is what it says, “shekeshenichnesu yevonim lahaychil” – When the Greeks entered the Temple, “timu kol hashmanim shebahaychal” – they defiled all the oils in the Temple. And when the Hasmoneans prevailed over the Greeks and defeated them, they searched and they could only find one cruse of oil which had the seal of the High Priest unbroken. And there was only enough oil to last for one day. And there was a miracle and they lit the Menorah for eight days. And the next year they fixed eight days on which to have a festival with Hallel and special prayers.”
Shabbat 21b:10
Now, do you notice something odd about that sentence? The entire victory over the Greeks is turned into a subordinate clause. “When the Greeks came in, and when the Jews beat them, then they discovered this single cruse of oil.”
So they turned this whole incredible, world-changing military victory into a minor detail, and the major story is the oil that lasted for eight days. And the question is, what happened between these two stories? And it’s very interesting.
I’ll tell you what happened. The first thing that happened was, when the Maccabees won, they became Kings of Israel. They were not descendants of King David, they were known as the Hasmonean Kings. And one of the strange things is this, they became rather Hellenised themselves. They fought against the Greeks, but then you know what happens you mix with the [Yiddish phrase] you become like the [Yiddish phrase]. So they became also themselves very assimilated people.
They also did one thing, which the Rabbis were very, very upset about. You know, we think it was America that first invented separation of Church and State. That was Thomas Jefferson’s great achievement, the First Amendment. However, way back in the days of the Bible, there was already a fundamental separation between Shul and State. (Except they didn’t have shul in those days.)
So what was it? There was the political authority, who, in ancient times was…? [Asking the audience] It wasn’t the Prime Minister, it was…? The King. And the religious head of the community was…?
Student: The High Priest
Rabbi Sacks:
The High Priest, the Kohen Gadol.
So these were two separate functions. A King couldn’t be a Kohen Gadol, and a Kohen Gadol couldn’t be a King. You had separation between the political arena and the religious arena. That is the basis of separation of powers in Western civilisation. It came back into the West in the 18th century with somebody called Montesquieu, who wrote a book called De L’Esprit Des Loix. Also a very philo-semitic guy. And eventually from Montesquieu it came to Jefferson, then et cetera.
The Hasmonean Kings did a very mischievous thing. The first Hasmonean King, whose name was like mine, he was called Jonathan, made himself King and High Priest at the same time. And the Rabbis did not like this at all. They said to him, Ha yesh lecha malchut – You’ve got the royal crown. Kahuna? You also want to be High Priest as well? One should be either one or the other. So, the Hasmonaean Kings not only became assimilated, but they did the Greek thing, because the Greek thing was, and even more so the Roman thing was, to turn the political head, the king, to a kind of quasi-religious hero.
In fact, the Romans were worse. Why do we call July, ‘July’? Because of Julius Caesar. Why is August, ‘August’? Because of Augustus. See, they turned them into demigods. They made statues and everyone had to bow down. And that was something Judaism was utterly opposed to. And that is one of the reasons why the Sages did not include their account of their own victory, which they wrote in the Books of Maccabees one and two. They didn’t allow it to be included in Tanach. Because for them, the Hasmonaeans, who started so well, nonetheless went off into the wrong direction.
How long did the military victory last?
Well, the trouble is, it didn’t last for all that long. In the year 69 BCE, already Pompey invaded Jerusalem, entered the Beit HaMikdash, and by then Jews came under Roman rule. So their independence only lasted less than a century. So by then, already we can see in Megillat Taanit that by then the Rabbis and the Sages at the time said: You know what? The most important thing about Chanukah is the spiritual thing, not the military and political thing. And something that had been a minor detail of the early story suddenly took on its great significance.
Now, I want us to move forward to the year 66 of the common era. The year 66: Israel has been under Roman rule now for 130 years. And all of a sudden, Rome is becoming repressive the way the Greeks were. You know, people think the Romans were very tolerant, the Greeks were very tolerant, forget it. They were tolerant except to Jews. So, as you know, Jews rose up in rebellion. It was called The Great Rebellion against Rome.
And they thought they would do what the Maccabees had done two centuries earlier. But unfortunately, by then Jewish life had become much more divided and the Romans were pretty ruthless. And in the year 70 the Temple fell. Vespasian and then Titus besieged the city and the Temple fell. Something happened that I don’t know if you know about, which is some Rabbis decided to abolish Chanukah – did you know this? They decided to abolish Chanukah. We have the debate recorded in the Gemara in Massechet Rosh Hashanah, and some Rabbis held, “batlah Megillah Ta’anit” [Rosh Hashanah 1b]. Every event that was celebrated as a festival and listed in Megillat Ta’anit, including Chanukah, is now null and void.
Can you see why somebody might say Chanukah should be abolished? Why did they celebrate Chanukah? Because they rededicated the Temple. Are you supposed to celebrate the rededication of the Temple when you have no Temple? Are you with me? It had all vanished into dust. And therefore there were certain people who said, all these festivals, including Chanukah, are abolished.
And we know that in the town of Lud, near Ben Gurion airport today with lots of orange groves, in the town of Lud, some Rabbi decided to decree a fast. You know, in Israel, they fast for it to rain. (You know, in England we fast for it to stop raining) If rain hasn’t fallen, they ordain a public fast, and somebody had ordained a public fast in Lud on Chanukah, which meant that the official Rabbinate of Lud was abolishing Chanukah. And some other Rabbis got very upset about this. Rabbi Yehoshua and, who was it? Yehoshua and, anyone remember? Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua, that’s right. They sent Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua to Lud. And Rabbi Eliezer went for a swim in the public swimming pool, in public baths, and Rabbi Yehoshua had a haircut. Why? Because there are two things you don’t do on a fast: you don’t swim in a swimming pool and you don’t have a haircut.
So, it wasn’t enough for them to say: Guys, you are wrong for abolishing Chanukah. [They decided] we’re going to show you how wrong you are, because we’re going to do some things that you just don’t do on the fast.
So, in the end, Chanukah was saved. But go figure, why was Chanukah saved? How was Chanukah saved? The answer is that Chanukah was only saved because in the course of a century and a half, the Jewish people had decided that that first story was not the primary one. The second story was the real one.
Let me explain: There were two battles against the rules. Number one was a military battle fought by armies. But number two was a cultural battle. Exactly Rabbi Richard’s point. Are we prepared to stand up and wear a yarmulka? Are we prepared to stand up and say, “We’re not like everyone else”? Are we? The Greeks were fantastic guys, you know. They invented the Olympic Games. (It was a wonderful Jew, Ludwig Guttman, who invented the Paralympic Games, but the Greeks invented the Olympic Games.)
Their architecture was magnificent. Have you’ve been to Athens, you’ve seen the Parthenon, it’s gevaldig. Their painting was magnificent, their philosophy was good. Yeah. Their theatre was brilliant stuff. Absolutely brilliant. But yidden were not like that, you know? Sorry, I know it’s changed since the State of Israel, but I’m a real ‘Jewish boy’, you know. Says on his report, “not good at games.”
So, the Greeks were physical. We were spiritual. The Greeks looked at the visual arts, where we thought, we were much more verbal than visual. We were talking and listening and arguing. And we were different cultures, there’s no question that the West was based on these two cultures, Ancient Greece, Ancient Israel, the culture of Athens, the culture of Jerusalem, but they were different cultures. And in the end, the Rabbis looking back over history said the real battle was not the military one. It was the cultural one. And we can see now how right they were because the military victory lasted 100 years, but the spiritual victory has lasted more than 2000 years.
And the symbol of that spiritual victory was not a book about battles won and fought and won. It was a story about the symbol of the Jewish spirit. That one little cruse of undefiled oil that just keeps on burning and keeps on giving light. The Jewish spirit that is not extinguished. And that became a real story.
And because of that, when it came to the destruction of the Temple, and the Rabbis sat and said, “Shall we continue Chanukah, or shall we not continue Chanukah?” They said this, “The building, the Temple, may have gone, but the hope hasn’t gone. We still have the hope.”
I once saw some teachers with some five year old kids. It sounds like a bit of a savage thing to do to five year old kids, but they wanted to teach the kids a lesson they’d never forget. So they had the kids make a model of Jerusalem and they had the kids listen to a tape. In those days, before we had MP3s, (back in the Jurassic Age, do you remember that?) they played a tape for the kids with a song about Yerushalayim and the kids learnt the song.
And at the end of the day, the teacher did something to shock the kids. The teacher smashed the model and pulled out all the tape and shredded the tape. And she said to the kids, “Kids do we still have the model?” And they said “No.” And then she said, “Do we still have the song?” And they said, “Yes.” Are you with me? You lose the physical thing, the model, but the song, the spiritual thing engraved in your mind and your memory, you never lose, and that way she taught the kids, those five year old kids, the difference between a physical possession and a spiritual possession. You can lose the physical possession. You can’t lose the spiritual possession.
And that is why the Rabbis were able to say, we may have lost the physical Jerusalem, but we haven’t lost the Jerusalem in our mind and in our heart. And we haven’t lost hope. Because of that, Jews came back to Israel and because of that, Jews came back to Yerushalayim. And that is the story of Chanukah that you didn’t know. That second narrative. Because of that, we have the festival. And now today Baruch Hashem we have Yerushalayim .
I want to say one last thing in closing. And I say that in the context, has there a ceasefire been agreed? Not quite…
I want to tell you this. There is one little halachah, one little item of Jewish law. It’s the last paragraph in Maimonides’ code of laws of Chanukah, and it is a law I want you never to forget, even though you’ll never have to use it.
You know that we light on Chanukah, one light the first night, two the next night, three the third, but all of that is called Mehadrin min hamehadrin, that’s the best way of doing it. But if you’re really stuck, what is the essential mitzvah, anyone know?
The essential mitzvah is one candle per month. We all do the deluxe version, but the basic, vanilla, Tesco’s own-brand version is one candle per night. If you light one candle each night for eight nights, you’ve fulfilled the mitzvah. Ditto on Shabbos. We all light two candles, but the essential mitzvah is one candle. So the question is raised in Jewish law: If, on Friday afternoon of Shabbos Chanukah, you only have one candle…what do you light is as, a Chanukah candle or a Shabbos candle?
Now, everything in your mind says you’ve got to light is as a Chanukah candle. Chanukah only comes once a year, Shabbos comes 50 times a year. And besides which, Chanukah is a big sign of a miracle and Shabbos is just regular life, but the truth is, the law is, and with this, Maimonides ends with this idea. If you’re faced with that choice, you light it as a Shabbos candle. Why? Mishuv shener Shabbat umishoom shalom Bayit – Because the Shabbos light represents peace in the home. Says the Rambam, gadol hashalom – great is peace, shekol haTorah nitnah la’assot shalom ba’olam because the whole Torah was only given to make peace in the world. [See Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Chapter 4]
Now go figure. Here is the greatest military victory our people ever had until modern times. And yet when faced with a choice, which takes priority? One little bit of peace or the greatest victory of them all? One little bit of peace takes priority over the greatest victory of them all.
Why did Jews win their battles? Cause they only fight them not because they love the war, but because they seek peace. And that is why Israel today is the great nation it is, and why all the countries around Israel, who spend their time fighting one another are living sadly in poverty. Which, if they would only learn from Israel, Israel would help them find their way to hope and to a future for their children.
Friends, we are the people who only fight when we need to, to defend our lives and our country. But our deepest hope is for peace. May Hashem send shalom al Yisrael bimheira b’yameinu.
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Are Trigger Warnings, Safe Spaces and No-Platforming Harming Young Minds?
The Battle Over Free Speech

A Nail of Faith
A story for Succot

Antisemitism, or any hate, become dangerous when three things happen

Investing Time
Ten Life-Changing Ideas for Rosh Hashanah

Does God Play Dice?
A Dialogue on Science and Religion

Rabbi Sacks on 'The Great Partnership'
Do Religion and Science Always Contradict Each Other?

The Contemporary Task of Judaism
A Bar Ilan Lecture

Israel at 70
The Everlasting Symbol of Hope

Purim Spiel with Ashley Blaker

Rabbi Sacks on 'The Politics of Hope'
Can we create a new kind of politics?

The Jewish Algorithm
Rabbi Sacks’ remarks at the 2017 Olami Summit

The World Our Children Will Inherit Tomorrow is Born in the Schools We Build Today

The Soul’s Language
Video 10 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Framing Beliefs
Video 9 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Holy Words
Video 8 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Growth
Video 7 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Mistakes
Video 6 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Receiving The Irving Kristol Award from the American Enterprise Institute

What Kind of People do We Want to Be
Finding a Moral Compass in Challenging Times

Reflections on Balfour 100

The Role of Yeshiva University Today
Yeshiva University’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Conference

On Modern Orthodoxy
Yeshiva University’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Conference

Educational Opportunities in the 21st Century
Yeshiva University’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Conference

National Vs. Particular Identity
Yeshiva University’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Conference

The Meaning of Community
Yeshiva University’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Conference

Technology & Community
A Facebook Live discussion between Rabbi Sacks and Nicola Mendelsohn

Confusing Satan
A pre-Rosh Hashanah / Yom Kippur shiur

Family
Video 5 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

The Deepest Call
Video 4 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Praise
Video 3 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Thanking & Thinking
Video 2 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Spiritual Exercise
Video 1 – Understanding Prayer: Heart, Mind and Soul

Lessons in Leadership
Q&A for Harvard Business School

Cultural Climate Change
Rabbi Sacks at The Chautauqua Institution

The Centenary of the Balfour Declaration

Children at Risk

Rabbi Sacks speaks at PiXL

Values: What should 'The West' stand for?

The Challenge of Cultural Climate Change
Book Reviews: Douglas Murray and Yuval Harari

Post-Truth and the Erosion of Trust

The Torah of Kindness and Truth
A Shiur for Shavuot

What Jerusalem Means to Me

TED Talk: Facing the Future Without Fear, Together
Rabbi Sacks gives a Ted Talk at TED2017

The Mutation of Antisemitism
What is antisemitism, and how has it changed over the centuries?

Rambam's Guide for the Perplexed on the Seder Night
A shiur on Passover with Maimonides

Finding a Moral Compass in Challenging Times

Rabbi Sacks on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign
Why is it important to understand and oppose the BDS campaign?

At the National Prayer Breakfast
On Religious Violence

At the National Prayer Breakfast: The Dignity of Difference
At the National Prayer Breakfast: The Dignity of Difference

Technology offers a call to each of us
Please feel welcome to send us your feedback

Give Your Children The Space To Give To You
Principle 13 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Be Thankful For Your Children
Principle 12 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Have Faith in Your Children and You Will Give Them Faith in Themselves
Principle 11 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Don’t Expect Your Children to be Your Clones
Principle 10 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Give Your Kids the Key to Stability in a World of Change
Principle 9 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Think Long
Principle 8 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Be in, but not of, the World
Principle 7 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Don’t Just Sit and Learn. Go and Do
Principle 6 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Make Your Judaism Sing
Principle 5 for Being an Inspiring Parent

No Need For High Walls
Principle 4 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Lead The Way, With High Ethical Standards
Principle 3 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Serve God in Joy if You Want Your Children to Love Judaism
Principle 2 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Give Children the Space to Inspire Us, and They Will
Principle 1 for Being an Inspiring Parent

Being an Inspiring Parent
Trailer

The Promise of American Renewal

Keynote Address to the Jewish Federations of North America 2016

Faith in the Future (A Templeton Conversation)
The Promise and Perils of Religion in the 21st Century

You Want it Darker
Leonard Cohen and Parshat Vayera

Interfaith
Yeshiva University’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Conference

The Lessons of Kohelet
A shiur to launch the Koren Sacks Succot Machzor

God's Call To Us (b'Ivrit)
Rabbi Sacks’ Rosh Hashanah message in Ivrit (Hebrew)

Questions Answered - Episode Three
The “Ask Rabbi Sacks” project

Questions Answered - Episode Two
The “Ask Rabbi Sacks” project

Questions Answered - Episode One
The “Ask Rabbi Sacks” project

The Mutating Virus: Understanding Antisemitism
Keynote Speech in the European Parliament

A free society is a moral achievement
Rabbi Sacks receives The Bradley Prize

A Tale of Two Women
A Shavuot Shiur

Rabbi Sacks on antisemitism
Newsnight

Music at the Templeton Ceremony 2016
Performances by The Shabbaton Choir & The Sacks Morasha School Choir

Introduction of the Templeton Prize
Speech by Heather Templeton Dill

An Appreciation
Speech given by Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach

Gila Sacks surprises her father
Speech by Gila Sacks

Welcome Speech
Dr Pina Templeton opens the 2016 ceremony

The Templeton Prize Ceremony of 2016
Watch the speeches, musical performances and award presentation

The Danger of Outsourcing Morality (Templeton Prize acceptance speech)
Watch the presentation, and Rabbi Sacks deliver his response

Ways of Counting Time: The Omer Controversy
A shiur at Aish HaTorah

Rabbi Sacks in conversation with Daniel Taub
Not in God’s Name

Europe at a Crossroad
Civil Society’s Efforts to Counter Religious Hatred and Bigotry in Europe

Religion's Place in a Religiously Violent World
A conversation between Rabbi Sacks and Prof Miroslav Volf

Purim Inspiration: Even You Can Change The World

Antisemitism: The world's oldest hatred

Are We at the End or the Beginning of God’s Creative Process?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Can we teach youth to take up duty to humanity?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Is the capacity for forgiveness intrinsic to human nature?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Templeton Prize Press Conference (highlights)
2nd March 2016

Can the Power of Love Replace the Love of Power?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

How Can I Be Committed to my Religion and Open to Others?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Why does God love diversity?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Why is religious violence a defining aspect of our century?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Does Scientific Knowledge Contradict Religious Belief?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

How Can Those Without Faith Understand Faith?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Does All the Evil in the World Show There is No God?
The Big Questions (Templeton)

Press Conference: 2016 Templeton Prize

Understanding the Middle East

The Meaning of Life, with Gay Byrne
Rabbi Sacks’ interview on RTÉ (Ireland)

The Open Mind series on PBS
Interviewed by Alexander Hefner

Violence and Law: Ancient and Contemporary Reflections
The Hildesheimer Lecture 2015

On CNN GPS with Fareed Zakaria

In discussion with EJ Dionne and Bill Galston
The Brookings Institution

Not in God's Name: Rutgers event

Rabbi Sacks Interviewed by Akbar Ahmed on Jewish-Muslim Relations

A conversation with Amb. Akbar Ahmed on Muslim-Jewish relations
Building Bridges through Dialogue

Not in God's Name: University of Chicago event

First Things Interview
Religious Violence and Biblical Answers: Discussing ‘Not in God’s Name’

Rabbi Sacks in conversation with Walter Russell Mead
The Council on Foreign Relations

Bridging the Divides: A conversation with Yair Lapid
On Judaism and Zionism in the 21st century

Why I am a Jew
An animated video on Jewish identity and finding your Jewish purpose

Rabbi Sacks speaks on BBC Newsnight about the European refugee crisis

The Two Voices: A New Perspective on the Meaning of Teshuvah
A Shiur with mekorot, for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

Religious freedom and belief

Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence
The Andrew Marr Show, BBC One Interview

Rabbi Sacks' speech at The UK-Israel Shared Strategic Challenges Conference

Remarks at 'Britain and Israel: Shared Strategic Challenges Conference by the Jewish News

Every religion must wrestle with its dark angels, and so today must we: Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Rabbi Sacks' Interview at The University of Dallas on Judeo-Christian relationships

The Relevance of the Bible for Law and Ethics in Society Today

Rabbi Sacks in conversation with Prof Oz-Salzberger
Hosted by Makom

Becket Fund for Religious Liberty - 2014 Canterbury Medalist

The Stewardship Paradigm (video)
A Thought for Tu BiShvat

Kiddush Hashem in a Complicated World
Beit Knesset Feigenson, Beit Shemesh, Israel

A Judaism Engaged with the World
Lecture at The Great Synagogue, Jerusalem

Vision-Driven Leadership in the 21st Century
An Analysis of The Pew Report

The Dignity of Difference (video)
The Mandel Leadership Institute

On Creative Minorities
Erasmus Lecture

How Forgiveness Can Change the World
Midnight Selichot 5773

A Judaism Engaged with the World

Gala Tribute Dinner for Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks

Our Journey with the Chief...

What was the Rambam controversy?
Question 13

What is Jewish leadership all about?
Question 12

The Controversy of the Omer
A Shiur at Bnei Akiva

Would the world be better without any religion?
Question 11

What is a Rabbi?
Question 10

Why do bad things happen to good people?
Question 9

What do Jews believe about the afterlife?
Question 8

What's the purpose of life?
Question 7

What does the term ‘Chosen People’ mean?
Question 6

If you could ask God one question, what would you ask?
Question 5

How can the belief in God be reconciled with science, especially evolution?
Question 4

How can the Torah be trusted?
Question 3

How do you know there is a God?
Question 2

What are the basic beliefs in Judaism?
Question One

Yom HaZikaron / Yom Ha'atzmaut address
Keynote speech at Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens

Address at National Yom HaShoah Commemoration Ceremony

From Freedom to Responsibility
A Shiur for Pesach

The Will to Life
Speech to the 2013 AIPAC Policy Conference

Trust and Trustworthiness
Lecture at the Woolf Institute

Jerusalem Launch of Radical Responsibility
The International Jerusalem Book Fair

The 21st Century Challenge for Jews and Israel
Tel Hai College, Israel

Communities Together: Build a Bridge
Holocaust Memorial Day 2013

The Future of Judaism
2012-13 Robbins Collection Lecture in Jewish Law and Thought at Berkeley Law

Role of religion in society

Universalism and Particularism
Finding your Jewish identity in a secular world

Is the Bible a Work of Philosophy?

Child development in the UK and national wellbeing

Rabbi Sacks in conversation with Richard Dawkins
REThink Festival

To Live and Act as a Jew
Midnight Selichot 5772

Science vs. Religion (2012)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5773

The Revolutionary Power and Importance of Talmud Study

A Vision for Global Jewish Peoplehood

In conversation with Prof. Ron Heifetz
Highlights: On Jewish Leadership

Faith Communities and the Diamond Jubilee

Address for Yom Ha'Atzmaut 5772
Bnei Akiva service at Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens

Music: Did the Rabbis Make a Mistake?

Torah in Motion 10th Anniversary
Future Tense: Where Are Judaism and the Jewish People Headed?

Desert Island Texts
The Chief Rabbi’s seven favourite verses in Tanakh

Religion and Science
Jewish Book Week 2012

The Face of the Other: The Curious Nature of Biblical Narrative
A Jewish Theology of the Other: Humanitas Lecture 3

Truth and translatability
A Jewish Theology of the Other: Humanitas Lecture 2

After Babel: A Jewish theology of interfaith
A Jewish Theology of the Other: Lecture 1

Message for Holocaust Memorial Day (2012)

Has Europe Lost Its Soul?
Lecture at The Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome

The Chief Rabbi meeting Pope Benedict XVI

Christians in the Middle East

Graduation Address at the University of Aberdeen

Address to the International Conference of Chabad Shluchim

The Great Partnership
Religion and the Moral Sense

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks at the Young Israel of Scarsdale

Religion and Democracy in America and Europe

Three Responses to Crisis
Midnight Selichot 5771

Where Will We Find God?
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

The Courage to Hope - the Greatest Courage of All
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

Undoing the Knots We Tie Ourselves Into
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

Where Our Speaking... Meets God’s Listening
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

How do you learn to live? By not taking life for granted.
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

When God Sheds A Tear…
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

To Be Free, You Have To Forgive
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

The Holy Place…is where you are
Preparing for the Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

Don’t Get Angry… There’s A Better Way
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

St Mary's 2011 Pope Benedict XVI Lecture

Improving Interfaith Dialogue in Multicultural Britain

What's the point of religion? (2011)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5772

The One Word That Can Change your Life
Preparing for Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur

Chief Rabbi's 11th Annual Ellul Lecture at LSJS
Ellul Lecture 2011 at LSJS

Looking Towards Tomorrow: Trends, Challenges and Decisions
The Israeli Presidential Conference 2011

Address for Yom Ha’atzmaut 5771
Bnei Akiva service at Finchley Synagogue, Kinloss Gardens

Hamas and the Peace Process

The future of marriage in Britain

Human Rights

In the Room with Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom
On Being with Krista Tippett

Interfaith Summit on Happiness with the Dalai Lama
On Understanding and Promoting Happiness in Today’s Society, at Emory University

Rabbi Sacks welcomes Pope Benedict XVI to Britain on behalf of the faith communities

The Case for God (2010)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5771

Rabbi Sacks on the Jewish Narrative
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Future Tense Take Aways: Part 1
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Future Tense Take Aways: 2
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Universal Jewish Story
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Eco-Judaism Roots
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Peoplehood
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on an Engaged Judaism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Charity Priorities
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on a Responsible Life
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Reconciliation
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Community Conflict
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Particularism vs Universalism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on a Culture of Hope
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on his Personal Hatikvah
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Israel and Jewish Society
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Torah in Today's World
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Prayer
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Indifference
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Jewish Role in the World
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Torah and the Real World
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Free Market and Judaism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Antisemitism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Future Tense
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Love as Deed
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Combatting Antisemitism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Material Loss
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Antidote to Materialism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Parenting
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on a Tzedakah Tale
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on a Family Story
JInsider (March 2010)

On the Internet and Judaism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Plato's Ghost
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Optimism vs. Hope
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Victim Mentality
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Jerusalem
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Advice for our Times
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Fundamentalism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Time
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Chosen People
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on 21st Century Israel
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Origins of Antisemitism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Understanding Jewish Exile
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Anger
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Historical Evolution of Antisemitism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Interfaith Relations
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Coincidence and Providence
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Free Will
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Family and Marriage
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Tzedakah Defined
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Daily Life
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Being Jewish
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on his Personal Rebbe, Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Connecting to God
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on God and Evil
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Dialogue with Atheists
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Doubt
Jinsider (March 2010)

On Tikkun Olam
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on a Response to Atheism
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on Finding Purpose
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on a Responsible Life - Example
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Dignity of Difference - Part 2
JInsider (March 2010)

Rabbi Sacks on the Dignity of Difference - Part 1
JInsider (March 2010)

Passover: A More Meaningful Holiday

Inaugural Norman Lamm Prize Lecture
Award Acceptance Speech at Yeshiva University

Introduction to the House of Lords

How to Evolve
Midnight Selichot 5769

A More Gracious Future (2009)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5770

Faith in the Family (2008)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5769

Faith and Fate: The Lambeth Conference Address

Oseh Shalom from "Israel - Home of Hope"

Keeping Faith (2007)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5768

The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations
2007 Kenan Institute for Ethics Distinguished Lecture

In a Strange Land (2006)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5767

My Brother's Keeper (2005)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5766

Agents of Hope (2003)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5764

A Message for the Jewish New Year (2001)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5762

Does God Have a Place in the Marketplace? (2000)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5761

Guardians of the World (1999)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5760

More than a FunFair (1998)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5759

A Single Gesture (1997)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5758

The Tough Questions (1996)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5757

Remember us for Life (1995)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5756

Time for Caring (1994)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5755

Please Forgive Us (1993)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5754

Beginning Again (1992)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5753

The Chief Rabbi's Induction

The Unwritten Ending (1991)
BBC: Rosh Hashanah 5752