victory is only because he has removed himself from temptation: He has not met it head-on, and is as prone as ever to be lowered. (iii) Lastly, he can set out to influence his environment and raise it to his own level. This is a complete triumph over one’s surroundings. The dangers have not only been avoided, they have been removed entirely.” Rabbi Sacks was very much an example of someone who took this third path. He was able to venture into surroundings that most other people shy away from, and whilst there he would confidently convey the beauty of Judaism. He was a great Jewish thinker, not in spite of being educated at Cambridge, but rather because he embraced the perceived challenges posed by secular thought, and ultimately becoming a genuine voice for the integrity of Judaism. It is an example we should all try to emulate. The Rebbe concludes the essay with an explanation of the enduring influence of Sarah, such that even after her passing the “Life of Sarah” continues, and Rabbi Sacks somewhat presciently closes with these words: “The perfect life does not end in death, it sanctifies all that comes after it” May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.
Rabbi Lord Sacks and Rabbi Jacobs A dialogue in Heaven Simon Eder Words have poured forth this week in memory of the late Rabbi Lord Sacks, who passed away last Shabbat. They have come from all sections of the Jewish world and far beyond too. None of course can fill the void which his loss brings. His eloquence through his writing, his newspaper columns and books, his broadcasting be it on the airwaves or on television, touched the lives of religious and secular alike. His much needed prophetic voice, so prolific during the pandemic which pointed us to the portal of change that it must yield, sadly did not make it to Page 16
