Remembering a Great Leader and Thinker

The Jewish people have lost a great leader, and the world has lost a prophet.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, of blessed memory, left our world this past Shabbat morning, when we read Parashat Vayera, which features Judaism’s first leader and the world’s first prophet — Abraham. Regarding Abraham, Rabbi Sacks wrote:

“Abraham was the role model of leadership as Judaism understands it. He acted, he did not wait for others to act. To Abraham, God says ‘Walk before me,’ meaning: be a leader. Walk ahead. Take personal responsibility. Take moral responsibility. Take collective responsibility.”

Upon contemplating the life of this generation’s undisputed global spokesman for Judaism, Rabbi Sacks’ words were as applicable to him as they were to Abraham. Nobody told Rabbi Sacks to become the great leader, philosopher, thinker and role model he was for so many of us. In his own words, Rabbi Sacks “walked ahead.” He most certainly took responsibility — personal, moral and collective. Like Abraham, he spoke to his own people, and he also spoke to the world.

He was an exemplary leader whose philosophical writings were refreshing and timely, and his voice was like those of our ancient prophets: timeless.

He was an exemplary leader whose philosophical writings were refreshing and timely, and his voice was like those of our ancient prophets: timeless.

An example of his “timely and timeless” messages is his teachings on how to treat strangers.

On the Biblical verse, “You must not mistreat or oppress the stranger in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21), Rabbi Sacks writes:

“The great crimes of humanity have been committed against the stranger, the outsider, the one-not-like-us. Care for the stranger is why the Israelites had to experience exile and slavery before they could enter the Promised Land to build their own society and state. Those who forget what it feels like to be a stranger eventually come to oppress strangers.”

On leadership, nobody said it better than Rabbi Sacks. A few of his gems:

“Parents and leaders must establish a culture in which honest, open, respectful communication takes place, one that involves not just speaking but also listening. Without it, tragedy is waiting in the wings.”

“Leadership demands two types of courage: the strength to take a risk, and the humility to admit when a risk fails.”

“Leaders have the responsibility to create environments in which malicious speech is not tolerated.”

“Leadership at its highest level transforms those who exercise it and those who are influenced by it. Great leaders make people better, kinder and nobler than they would be otherwise. The paradigm case was Moses, the man who had more lasting influence than any other leader in history. He did it by teaching the Israelites not to hate.”

One of his exemplars of Jewish leadership was the great 19th century Talmudist Rabbi Hayyim of Brisk, about whom Rabbi Sacks writes: “When asked to define the task of a rabbi, R. Hayyim replied: ‘To redress the grievances of those who are abandoned and alone, to protect the dignity of the poor, and to save the oppressed from the hands of his oppressor.”

Rabbi Sacks was a gigantic thinker with big ideas. He reminded us, in his own words, that “moral health is no less important to the quality of life than physical health,” that in “putting others down, we diminish ourselves,” that “A Judaism divorced from society will be a Judaism unable to influence society,” and “To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope.”

Rest in peace, dear Rabbi. You left us too soon, and you leave behind a gigantic legacy of leadership and wisdom. Like another visionary leader and prophet named Abraham — Abraham Joshua Heschel — you were blessed with “Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity.”

Rabbi Daniel Bouskila is the director of the Sephardic Educational Center and the rabbi of the Westwood Village Synagogue