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GBP Weekly Review (Dec. 7 – 11)
8 March 1948 – 7 November 2020
The former archbishop of Canterbury recalls the former chief rabbi, a friend and inspiration who was an eloquent defender of classical liberal values
For many commentators in the UK, Jonathan Sacks was one of the more acceptable faces of religious faith. The force and clarity of his exposition, in person and on the page, was favourably contrasted with the style of other religious leaders (I couldn’t possibly comment), he was an eloquent defender of classical liberal values and an opponent of any suggestion of using faith to legitimise violence, and the energetic warmth of his personality was always in evidence. There were times when we shared platforms in relatively formal settings. But I have strong memories of his effective engagement with secondary school students, where that energy and directness held the attention of a quite challenging audience – and also of an event with Archbishop Tutu, whose typically expansive gestures had the two of us (flanking his seat) surreptitiously moving our chairs back, to accompanying laughter, so as to avoid grievous bodily harm.
There were more domestic moments, journeys and family meals together, which cemented our friendship. A specially significant experience was when the two of us organised a visit to Auschwitz for British faith leaders. I think that part of what we wanted to do was to share with our colleagues – Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Baha’i – something of what the specific religious history of Europe involved, the legacy of two millennia of murderous Christian contempt translated into the secular mode of racial fundamentalism and industrialised mass slaughter. We wanted them to know something of how wide a gulf interreligious reconciliation sometimes has to cross.
