The official prayer book for Orthodox Jews in the UK, with supporting commentary by Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. / Official prayer book for Jews in the UK / Commentary by Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth / Ideal for synagogue use or individual reading / Attractive and readable internal design
Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks has been Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew
Congregations of the Commonwealth since September 1, 1991, the
sixth incumbent since 1845.
Widely recognised as one of the world's leading contemporary
exponents of Judaism, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said of
him (March 2004): "Jonathan Sacks is truly a towering figure in the
intellectual life of Britain today. He ranges with extraordinary
ease across different fields, making a contribution that is
uniquely and distinctively his own. In particular, as few other
people can, he relates the insights of religion to the modern world
and retells the story of faith in a compelling way, and that is a
rare and remarkable achievement."
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, said of him (May 2003):
"The Chief Rabbi is not just a distinguished scholar but a
distinguished spiritual leader and a globally respected ambassador
for the Jewish community here in Britain. He is respected in every
continent because he has done more than anyone in Britain today to
focus our attention on the needs and challenges of community in the
global world." Historian Michael Burleigh recently described him as
"the most impressive religious leader in the Kingdom" (2006).
Prior to becoming Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Sacks had been Principal of
Jews' College, London, the world's oldest rabbinical seminary, as
well as rabbi of the Golders Green and Marble Arch synagogues in
London. He gained rabbinic ordination from Jews' College as well as
from London's Yeshiva Etz Chaim.
His secular academic career has also been a distinguished one.
Educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he
obtained first class honours in Philosophy, he pursued postgraduate
studies at New College, Oxford, and King's College, London.
Professor Sacks has been Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Essex, Sherman Lecturer at Manchester University,
Riddell Lecturer at Newcastle University, Cook Lecturer at the
Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and St. Andrews and Visiting
Professor at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He is currently
Visiting Professor of Theology at Kings' College London. He holds
honorary doctorates from the universities of Bar Ilan, Cambridge,
Glasgow, Haifa, Middlesex, Yeshiva University New York, University
of Liverpool, St. Andrews University and Leeds Metropolitan
University, and is an honorary fellow of Gonville and Caius
College, Cambridge, and King's College London. In September 2001,
the Archbishop of Canterbury conferred on him a doctorate of
Divinity in recognition of his first ten years in the Chief
Rabbinate.
At his installation as Chief Rabbi in 1991, Dr Sacks set out his
vision of a reinvigorated Anglo-Jewry and launched it with a Decade
of Jewish Renewal, followed by a series of innovative communal
projects. These included Jewish Continuity (a national foundation
funding programmes in Jewish education and outreach), the
Association of Jewish Business Ethics, the Chief Rabbinate Awards
for Excellence, the Chief Rabbinate Bursaries, and Community
Development, a national programme to enhance Jewish community life.
In 1995, he received the Jerusalem Prize for his contribution to
diaspora Jewish life. In September 2001 the Chief Rabbi began his
second decade of office with a call to Jewish Responsibility and a
renewed commitment to the ethical dimension of Judaism. He was
awarded a Knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in June
2005. A notably gifted communicator, the Chief Rabbi is a frequent
contributor to radio, television and the national press. Each year
before Rosh Hashanah he delivers a message to the nation on BBC
Television. In 1990 he delivered the BBC Reith Lectures on THE
PERSISTENCE OF FAITH. He is the author of a number of books.
‘The United Synagogue has now produced a siddur in which today’s
thinking Jew in any part of the English-speaking world can readily
find his or her religious reflection.’
Jewish Chronicle
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