Below is the transcript of Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks’ keynote address at the Holocaust Memorial Day commemorative event that took place in central London on Monday 28th January 2013. Today is a time of remembrance for all the victims: the Roma, the Sinti, the gays, the mentally and physically disabled, and all the [...]
As the political leaders of Europe come together to try to save the euro, and with it the very project of European Union, I believe the time has come for religious leaders to do likewise, and I want to explain why. What I hope to show in this lecture, is first, the religious roots of [...]
Rabbi Krinsky,Rabbi Shemtov,Rabbi Kotlarsky, Rabbi Sudak, Rabbi Lew, all theShluchim [Chabad-Lubavitchemissaries] from Great Britain, all the Shluchim from everywhere, distinguished guests, friends. I can sum up my reaction to this evening, in one word; wow! In two words, double wow! If I hadn’t seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it! I know Rabbi Kotlarsky told [...]
We come together to celebrate a remarkable anniversary of one of the great institutions, not only of British Jewry but of the Jewish world. The Board became a model for other similar institutions throughout the Commonwealth, notably South Africa and Canada. I’m not quite sure what to wish you. Normally we wish people, Ad meah [...]
For the Jews of Europe, these are the best of times and the worst of times. Take British Jewry as an example. In the past twenty years we have built more Jewish day schools than ever before in our 355-year history. Culturally, a community deemed moribund a generation ago boasts a cultural centre, a community [...]
At the end of the book of Genesis, Joseph makes one deeply poignant request. Though I die in exile, God will bring you back to the land, and when he does so, vehaalitem et atzmotai mizeh, “Carry my bones” with you. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai, and there was a catastrophe, and he smashed the [...]
I want to thank everyone involved in this report, the process that led to it and the committee of inquiry that preceded it. The British Jewish community feels privileged and proud to be part of a country where the political leadership of all parties takes an unequivocal and a firm stand against anti-Semitism. We thank [...]
We welcome you, leader of a great faith, to this gathering of many faiths, in a land where once battles were fought in the name of faith, and where now we share friendship across faiths. That is a climate change worth celebrating. And we recognise the immense role the Vatican played and continues to play [...]