The Power of Ideas

Words of Faith and Wisdom
power of ideas book cover 3d

Overview

Commemorating the first anniversary of his death, this volume brings together a compelling selection of Jonathan Sacks’ BBC Radio Thought for the Day broadcasts, Credo columns from The Times, and a range of articles published in the world’s most respected newspapers, along with some of his House of Lords speeches and keynote lectures.

Index


#

  • 7/7 terrorist attack 68, 133-35
  • 9/11 terrorist attacks 16, 68-69, 145-48, 264

A

  • Abolition of Man, The (Lewis) 334
    • Abraham
      • arguing with God 46
      • calling 122
      • faith and journey 29, 215
      • God's covenant with 301, 302, 305, 334
      • influence 99
      • law 270
      • love and forgiveness 66, 314
      • Sarah's laughter 290
      • teaching children about God 125, 187, 336
  • Abrahamic monotheisms 26, 66, 72, 171-73, 197, 199; see also Christianity/Christians; Islam/Muslims; Judaism/ Jews
  • active citizenship 52, 59, 6o, 71, 97, 118-19, 143, 190, 193, 204; see also altruism; charity/ philanthropy; volunteering
  • Adam and Eve 269, 333, 340-41
  • Afghanistan 135, 146, 147, 32.6
  • Africa 68, 69-70, 137, 163, 170, 197-99, 326
  • After Virtue (MacIntyre) 146-47 ageing 49-50, 90
  • Akiva, Rabbi 220, 234, 335
  • Albania 245-46
  • Alone Together (Turkle) 358
  • alphabet 113-14
  • altruism; see also active citizenship; charity/philanthropy; volunteering
    • life well lived 78, 79
    • moral code fostering 180-81, 204, 333-34
    • religion/faith fostering 12.9, 143, 155, 190, 192-93
    • sanctifying God's name 38
    • society, creating strong 154, 2.04, 2.26-27, 298-99
    • as suffering transformed 69, 71, 90-91
  • American Grace (Putnam and Campbell) 143, 155, 161
  • amnesia, collective 55, 209
  • anger 174, 176, 180, 299
  • Anscombe, Elizabeth 250
  • anti-Zionism 326, 352-56
  • antisemitism; see also Holocaust; Judaism/Jews, persecution
    • in academia 138
    • in Britain 47-48, 51, 209-10, 249
    • cognitive failure 354-55
    • defining 351
    • denial 209, 353
    • in Europe 47, 51-52, 325, 326, 350-56
    • fear of difference 47, 325, 351, 355
    • mutations 209-10, 352-56
    • political extremism 47, 209
    • populist politics 47, 209-10
    • religious extremism 168-69, 170, 198-99, 201
    • in Russia 162
    • sign of cultural breakdown 209-10, 350
    • threat to all 350, 355, 356
  • apologising 5, 33, 34, 119-20, 274
  • Arab Spring 14, 36
  • Areopagitica (Milton) 171
  • Aristotle 181, 291, 317
  • Armistice Day 83-85
  • artificial intelligence 40, 345
  • atheism 107, 128, 153-54, 260
  • atonement 5, 6, 34, 274-75, 277-78, 312
  • Attenborough, Sir David 49
  • Auschwitz, Poland I0, 63, 80-81, 136, 138

B

  • Balfour Declaration 205-6
  • beliefs see faith, religious; freedom, religious; religion; rituals Bellah, Robert 147, 280
  • ben Mahalalel, Akavia 214-15
  • Benedict XVI, Pope 149, 308-9, 318, 328
  • Berlin, Lady Aline 279, 280
  • Berlin, Sir Isaiah
    • admiration for 279
    • clash of civilisations 284-85
    • convictions 66
    • freedom 281, 283, 293-94
    • funeral 280
    • history of ideas 282-83
    • liberalism 285-94
    • monotheism vs. monism 293
    • pluralism 283-94
    • power of ideas 281-82, 283
    • values, incompatibility of 284-85
  • Bible translations 13-14, 253
  • Biblical references
    • Torah (Hebrew Bible); see also Abraham; Joseph, Moses
      • Genesis 156-57, 305-6, 329
      • Genesis 92-94, 104, 156, 234, 332-33
      • Genesis 2 156,253, 257, 333, 340
      • Genesis 3 340, 341
      • Genesis 6 134
      • Genesis 9 268-69, 301, 302-3, 305-6
      • Genesis 11 292
      • Genesis 12 215
      • Genesis 17 301, 302
      • Genesis 18 125, 270, 290, 336
      • Genesis 21 124
      • Genesis 32 101-3
      • Genesis 45 329
      • Genesis 50 305-6, 329
      • Exodus 96, 157, 302, 330, 334
      • Exodus 3 213
      • Exodus 4 185, 217
      • Exodus 18 291
      • Exodus 19 217, 301
      • Exodus 19-24 301
      • Exodus 20 233, 239
      • Exodus 22 334
      • Exodus 23 51
      • Leviticus 151, 234, 268, 269, 312, 334
      • Numbers 232
      • Deuteronomy 6, 114, 125, 187, 207, 221, 241, 334, 336
      • Deuteronomy 19 267-68
      • Deuteronomy 26 301
      • Deuteronomy 28 220
      • Deuteronomy 30 70, 219
      • Deuteronomy 32 84-85
      • Deuteronomy 34 50
    • Nevi'im (Prophets)
      • Judges 216
      • Samuel 124
      • Kings 213
      • Isaiah 1 - 76, 237-38
      • Isaiah 2 - 287
      • Isaiah 5 - 105
      • Isaiah 6 - 17
      • Isaiah 11 - 292, 303, 330
      • Isaiah 54 - 12, 114, 125
      • Isaiah 58 - 311
      • Isaiah 59 - 125
      • Jeremiah - 17, 88, 135, 166, 289-90, 300, 315-16, 317, 324
      • Ezekiel - 268
      • Hosea - 12, 54, 62, I02, 217-18, 300, 335
      • Jonah - 17, 324
      • Micah - 232-33, 2.88
      • Zechariah - 220, 283
    • Ketuvim (Writings) Psalms 49, 50, 64, 117
      • Psalm 23 - II, 301, 314, 361
      • Psalm 104 - 81, 105
      • Psalm 118 - 282
      • Psalm 127 - 126
      • Psalm 128 - 233
      • Psalm 137 - 315
      • Psalm 150 - 32
      • Proverbs - 106, 289, 335
      • Job - 46, 64, 106
      • Song of Songs - 335
      • Ruth - 77-79, 124-25
      • Ecclesiastes - 88, 106, 237, 287 Esther 218
      • Ezra - 216, 317
      • Nehemiah - 216, 317
    • bin Laden, Osama 145, 146
    • biology, evolutionary 326, 333-34
    • birdsong 31-32
    • Black Swan, The (Taleb) 99-100
    • Blair, Tony 3, 136
    • blame, accepting see confessing sins; responsibility, accepting blame, denying see scapegoating
    • Blewitt, Mary Kayitesi 137
    • books 13, 113-15
    • Bosnia 68, 136, 163
    • boundaries, moral 227, 242, 269
    • brain reactions 154-55
    • Brief History of Time, A (Hawking) 124, 260
    • British Humanist Association 98
    • Brooks, David 54, 208
    • Brown, Gordon 59
    • Buber, Martin 270, 335
    • Burke, Edmund 84, 229, 259, 275-76
    • business 194-96, 237-38, 265; see also market economy

C

  • Cambridge University 104, 249-50
  • Cameron, David 74, 140
  • capitalism 146, 149-52, 175, 194, 231, 265, 284, 347; see also market economy
  • Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge 11-12, 124, 139
  • change, negotiating 43-44, 76, 166-67, 208, 313-14
  • Chanukah 153, 162, 164
  • charity/philanthropy 59-60, 192.-93, 196, 234, 235, 241-42; see also active citizenship; altruism
  • Charles, Prince of Wales 191, 310
  • children; see also education; family; young people
    • birth 124-25, 332
    • commodification 255-56
    • information technology impacts 27, 41-42, 178
    • love for 126
    • mental and social illness 27, 111, 140-41, 178, 251, 338
  • Christianity/Christians; see also Abrahamic monotheisms; Judeo-Christian heritage/ ethic
    • antisemitism 168-69, 304-5, 354-55
    • capitalism 149-50
    • as creative minority 318-19
    • Hebraic and Hellenistic voices 324-25, 326
    • Holy Land, claim to 197
    • interfaith relations see interfaith relations
    • Islam, debt to 171
    • Judaism, debt to 169, 328-29
    • Nostra Aetate 168-70, 308
    • otherworldliness 238-39
    • persecution 163, 170, 199, 201, 326
    • sectarianism 9, 75
  • Civilization (Ferguson) 144
  • clash of civilisations 284-85, 304
  • climate change 92-94
  • Closing of the American Mind, The (Bloom) 140
  • co-existence 265-66, 285-93; see also tolerance/intolerance, religious
  • co-operation 6o, 181, 265, 297-99
  • Coddling of the American Mind, The (Haidt) 179
  • commentaries 65, 317
  • common good 25-26, 166, 175, 176, 177, 187, 195-96, 208, 348; see also altruism
  • Communism 65, 1o8, 12.8, 146, 162, 163, 219, 229, 284
  • community; see also society
    • building 10, 29, 111-12, 155, 158
    • decline III, II2, 141, 143, 160-61, 175, 299, 345
    • faith communities 189-91, 309
    • importance for human survival 226-27, 298-99
    • restorative justice 273-78
    • Sabbath's importance to 160, 161
  • compassion 12, 44, 71, 78, 173, 204, 265, 268, 300, 328, 335; see also kindness
  • competition 6o, 232, 237, 297, 298, 299
  • confessing sins 5, 119-20, 272; see also apologising; responsibility, accepting
  • conscience 33, 278, 345, 346-48
  • conservation 265
  • consumerism 117, 142, 150, 176, 230, 235, 252-53, 254
  • contracts 95-97, 259, 297
  • coronavirus 55-56
  • cosmopolitanism 108
  • Council of Christians and Jews 15-16, 190-91, 306-7
  • courage 68-69, 88, 246, 264
  • covenantal goods 296-97
  • covenantal virtues 328
  • covenants 62, 95-97, 169, 216, 240, 257-58, 297-307, 316-17, 328-29, 334
  • Creation 30, 92-94, 105, 233, 234, 255
  • creative minorities 316, 317-19, 322-30
  • creativity 156,264-65, 309
  • Crick, Francis 98, 104
  • criminal justice 267-78
  • crises 5, 6, 101-3, 134, 150-51, 322

D

  • Darwin, Charles 31, 43, 153, 154, 298
  • debate 45-46
  • debt, financial 141-42, 151, 345
  • Decade of Jewish Renewal 220-25
  • democracy 2.5-26, 35-36, 74-76, 143, 162-63, 174, 187, 345
  • depression and unhappiness 63, 140-41, 178, 251, 299
  • Descartes, René 113, 114, 308
  • determinism 255, 272-73
  • deterrence 267-68,271, 272, 273
  • Devlin, Patrick, Baron 202
  • dignity of difference 29, 262, 266, 303
  • disagreement and debate 45-46
  • diversity, religious 10, 109, 191, 266, 2.93, 303
  • Donne, John 114-15, 125, 306
  • doubt 66, 127
  • dreaming 121
  • Durkheim, Èmile 160-61, 180

E

  • Eban, Abba 186
  • education; see also learning
    • access 240-41
    • books 113-15
    • faith schools 110-12
    • moral code 227, 278
    • parental duty 114, 125, 187, 207, 221, 241, 336
    • renewal 221, 223
    • and strong society 187-88, 207-8, 217
  • Egypt, modern 14, 25, 163, 198, 326
  • Elizabeth II 189-91
  • emotional intelligence 81
  • emunah (faithfulness) 62, 280, 334
  • equality 14, 36, 39, 96, 156, 240, 284, 333
  • ethics 28, 142, 196, 229, 237-39, 251-52, 257-58, 271-73; see also moral code
  • Ethics of the Fathers 214-15, 254
  • Europe
    • antisemitism 47, 51-52, 163, 209, 325, 326, 350-56
    • market economy 142, 149-52
    • moral collapse 142, 149-52
    • religious wars/persecutions 9, 75
    • sectarianism 135
    • secularism 128, 172, 308, 318-19
  • evil speech 28
  • exile as punishment 269
  • extremism 47-48, 172-73, 174, 176, 198, 313, 319, 346, 357, 360; see also terrorism

F

  • failure 86-88; see also mistakes
  • failure of imagination 128, 215, 217, 219, 321
  • fairness 203, 328, 334
  • faith communities 189-91, 309
  • faith, religious; see also religion
    • building communities 10, 166, 190, 262
    • defining 129
    • differences of see interfaith relations; tolerance/intolerance, religious and fate 295-307
    • fear, removing II, 264, 301, 313-14, 361
    • fundamentals 65-67
    • and humility 128
    • impact on lives 29-30, 91
    • life meaningless without 127-28
    • and love 30, 117, 127
    • possibility, power of 100
    • probability 98-100
  • faith schools 110-12
  • faithfulness 62, 96, 169, 334-35
  • family 141, 156-58, 203, 217-18, 240, 328, 336-39
  • family time 42, 89, 122
  • Fatal Conceit, The (Hayek) 226-31, 239, 242, 243, 244
  • fear 47-48, 102, 166, 245-46, 313, 355, 357, 358; see also terrorism
  • forgiveness
    • divine 87-88, 127, 246-47, 274-75, 306, 314
    • human 30, 34, 54, 90, 119-20, 158, 245-48, 305, 306, 309, 329-30, 334
  • France 3, 47, 51-52, 195, 352
  • Francis, Pope 169, 328-29
  • Frankle, Viktor 63, 122, 181
  • free speech 27-28, 45, 171-72, 179
  • free will 99, 272, 303
  • freedom 48, 66-67, 102, 143, 187-88, 199, 232-33, 281-94, 343-44
  • Freedom and Its Betrayal (Berlin) 293-94
  • freedom, religious 9-10, 163-64, 200-201
  • Freud, Sigmund 142, 272, 278
  • Fukuyama, Francis 146, 162-63, 229
  • fundamentalism 65-67

G

  • genetic engineering 255, 272-73
  • globalisation 3-6, 195, 264, 304, 342-43
  • Glover, Jonathan 282
  • God
    • belief in see faith, religious; religion
    • changelessness in heaven 37-38
    • Creation see Creation
    • discovering 261-62
    • Divine presence 38, 129, 220-21, 312-, 337
    • ever-presence 44, 103, 316
    • faithfulness 169, 316-17, 328-29
    • found in calm 72, 312
    • fundamentals 66
    • human actions honoring/ desecrating 38, 73, 119, 164, 172-73, 199, 307
    • as Judge 274
    • as Lawgiver and subject to law 270
    • power 128
    • probability 98-100
    • property as loan from 94, 241
    • sovereignty 316
    • as writer 115
  • God-humanity relationship
    • arguments 46
    • covenants 169, 300-301, 302-3, 305-6, 316-17, 328-29, 334-35
    • creation, partners in 234, 255, 264-65
    • father-child relationship 124, 125, 217-18, 261
    • forgiveness 3o, 87-88, 119-20, 274-75, 314
    • humanity as God's image 4, 26, 29-30, 36, 39, 52, 104, 156, 158, 164, 262, 332-33
    • love 4, 11-12, 30, 117, 120, 125, 127, 261, 314, 334
    • personal 13, 312-13
    • prayer and communication 64, 80-82, 117, 213, 335
    • thankfulness 53, 116
  • Gorbachev, Mikhail 162
  • Gray, John 283-84, 285-86
  • Great Partnership, The (Sacks) 337
  • Greece, Ancient 25, 33, 36, 104, 128, 159, 203, 253, 254
  • greed 5-6
  • grief 81, 134, 136, 137
  • Guide for the Perplexed, The (Maimonides) 171
  • guilt 33-34, 119, 272

H

  • Ha'am, Achad 161, 2.40, 254
  • Ha'amsoni, Rabbi Shimon 105
  • 'habits of the heart' 187, 280
  • Hamas 198, 205-6
  • happiness 18, 78, 118-20. 121-22, 260
  • hate 48, 69, 136-38, 173, 199, 209-10; see also antisemitism; racism
  • Hawking, Stephen 124, 260
  • Hayek, Friedrich 39, 226-31, 239, 242, 243, 244, 339
  • Hellenism 104, 216, 324-25, 326, 327
  • Herder, Johann 284
  • Hertz, Chief Rabbi Joseph 15, 190, 306
  • Hezbollah 198, 205-6
  • Hirschell, Chief Rabbi Solomon 312
  • history 55, 99, 282-83, 343
  • Holocaust 7-8, 15, 47, 80-81, 136-37, 138, 165, 168, 205, 248, 302
  • Holocaust Memorial Day 7-8, 136
  • Holocaust survivors 29, 63, 122, 137
  • homosexuality 339
  • honesty 5, 6, 33-34, 119-20, 195
  • hope 8, 44, 91, 175-76, 317
  • human dignity 28, 156, 195-96, 256, 262, 328
  • human life, sanctity of 303, 304, 326, 328
  • human rights 26, 156, 163-64, 200-201, 353
  • humanity; see also God-humanity relationship
    • defining 257
    • Midrash of angels' debate 290
    • smallness 20, 72, 260-61
    • social animal 156, 298-99, 358
    • Universe, stewardship of 19-20, 94, 265
  • Hume, David 87, 236
  • humility 75, 128, 228-29

I

  • IBM 87
  • Ibn Khaldun 171, 320
  • ideas 281-83
  • identity 21, 44, 107-9, 166, 179, 230-31, 282-83, 318, 343, 359-60
  • immigration 165-67, 359-60
  • imperialism 284, 323-24
  • improbabilities 98-100
  • individualism 55, 143, 155, 160-61, 203, 275-76
  • inequalities 39-40, 332
  • In Flanders Fields (McCrae) 85
  • influence 17, 247
  • information technology
    • benefits 14
    • dangers 27, 41-42, 138, 139, 158, 166, 176, 178, 198, 200, 304, 358-59
    • outsourcing of memory 343
    • printing press 13
    • screen Sabbath 42
  • insecurity 166-67, 313, 342
  • instability 138, 178, 180, 195, 342
  • Interfaith Network 191, 192
  • interfaith relations 9-10, 15-16, 37, 168-70, 190-91, 308-9
  • International Academy of Humanism 256-57
  • invention and innovation 233, 236
  • Isaac, Jules 168, 169
  • Isaiah Berlin (Gray) 283-84
  • Islam/Muslims; see also Abrahamic monotheisms
    • debt to 171
    • ethnic cleansing 326
    • Holy Land, claim to 197
    • inner-directed personality 346
    • interfaith relations 16
    • Israel, refusal to recognise 198, 205-6
    • modern turbulence 319
    • monotheism 289
    • persecution 51, 201
    • religious extremism 170, 198, 199
  • Israel, State of 197, 198-99, 205-6, 216-17, 218-19, 220-21, 222, 225, 321, 326, 351, 353
  • iterated prisoner's dilemma 265, 298, 333-34

J

  • Jacob 101-3
  • Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi Immanuel 213-14
  • James I 13-14
  • James, Oliver 252
  • Jefferson, Thomas 51, 344
  • Jesner, Yoni 69
  • John Paul II, Pope 169, 328
  • John XXIII, Pope 168, 169, 328, 329
  • Joseph 194, 232, 305-6, 329-30
  • Judaism/Jews; see also Abrahamic monotheisms; Israel, State of; Judeo-Christian heritage/ ethic
    • Britain, indebtedness to 165-66, 185-86, 203-4, 249-50
    • as creative minority 317, 322-24
    • daily renewal of covenant 12, 54, 62, 300, 335
    • Decade of Jewish Renewal 220-25
    • Elizabeth II's kindness to 190
    • endurance 99, 216, 254, 283, 327, 336, 346, 360
    • exile 75, 219, 289, 315-17, 336
    • faithfulness 169, 328-29, 334-35
    • Holy Land, claim to 197, 205, 217
    • identity 44, 220, 282-83, 36o
    • interfaith relations see interfaith relations
    • outcomes of arrivals in Promised Land 216, 218-19
    • persecution 162, 168-69, 198-99, 246, 249-50, 304-5, 325, 326, 356; see also antisemitism; Holocaust
    • sectarianism 75, 218
  • Judeo-Christian heritage/ethic 36, 87-88, 142, 144, 149-50, 155, 158, 233, 325, 326, 330
  • Just Six Numbers (Rees) 93
  • justice 12, 25, 39, 46, 173, 203, 267-78, 291, 300, 328

K

  • Kahneman, Daniel 154
  • Kahnm, Mohammad Sidique 134
  • Kant, Immanuel 287
  • Keywords (Williams) 271
  • kindness 18, 37, 38, 77-79,129, 165-67
  • King James Bible 13-14
  • knowledge 20, 62, 105-6, 113-15, 264
  • Kosovo 245-46

L

  • labour, respect for 123, 195-96, 233-34
  • Landes, David 232-33
  • law 93-94, 195, 270, 275, 278
  • law of comparative advantage 196
  • Leach, Penelope 336-37
  • leadership 17-18, 23-24, 213, 222-23, 264, 311-14
  • learning 50, 86-88, 90, 221; see also education
  • Leviathan (Hobbes) 275
  • liberalism 66, 67, 284, 285-87, 289, 292-93, 319
  • liberty see freedom
  • libraries 113, 114
  • life, meaning of 89-90, 107, 122
  • life, sanctity of 67, 69, 70, 255, 303, 328
  • life, worthwhile 121-23
  • limits 160
  • Lincoln, Abraham 5-6, 25
  • listening 46, 63-64, 76, 90, 186
  • literacy 113
  • Living Dangerously (Graef) 276
  • Locke, John 9, 343-44
  • Logotherapy 63
  • loneliness 62, 158
  • love
    • and faith 117, 127, 129
    • for family 11-12, 53-54, 61-62, 116, 125-26, 334, 337-38, 340-41
    • in God-humanity relationship 4, 11-12, 30, 117, 120, 222, 261, 314, 334
    • and human purpose 67
    • for life 49-50, 116
    • for others see altruism; kindness; volunteering
    • renewing 221, 222
  • loyalty 84, 280

M

  • McCrae, John 85
  • MacIntyre, Aladsair 146-47, 249
  • Maimonides, Moses 119, 171, 196, 234, 289, 317
  • Maimonides, Rabbi Abraham 171
  • Man in the Shadows (Halevy) 134
  • Man's Search for Meaning (Frankl) 122
  • market economy; see also capitalism
    • competition 6o, 297
    • dangers 149-52, 243-44, 255-56
    • Judeo-Christian heritage 149-50
    • limitations 326
    • and moral code 175, 180, 194-95, 226-27, 237-38, 244, 344
    • and society 194-96
    • and traditions 230
    • trust 347
    • wealth 60, 296
  • marriage
    • Biblical basis 333, 340-41
    • decline 175, 203, 218, 326, 338-39, 345
    • importance 11-12, 61-62, 240, 337
  • mediation 273, 275, 2.77, 291
  • memory
    • collective 21-22, 44, 84, 136-37
    • outsourcing 343
    • vs. history 343
  • mercy 268
  • Middle East 13, 36, 163, 197-99, 201, 326, 330, 354, 355; see also Israel, State of
  • Mill, John Stuart 25, 171, 228
  • minorities 25, 135, 309, 315-30
  • Minority Report (Spielberg) 272
  • Mirvis, Chief Rabbi Ephraim 29, 310-14
  • mistakes 5, 6, 33-34, 65-66, 87, 119-20
  • Mitzvah Day 37
  • monism 293
  • monogamy 333
  • monotheism 270, 293, 303, 316, 333
  • Montefiore, Sir Moses 59, 241
  • moral agency 272
  • moral code
    • aspirations 257-58
    • and economy 150, 151-52, 194-96, 226-27, 244
    • `fatal conceit' 227-28
    • and freedom 343-44
    • loss 135, 140, 141-42, 146-48, 150, 172., 177-78, 180, 202-3, 318, 320, 348
    • love, basis in 334
    • outsourcing 180, 342-49
    • preserved in religion 228-29, 231
    • recovering 348-49
    • and society 142-43, 144, 177-81, 202-4, 343-44
    • teaching 142-43, zo8, 2.2.7
  • moral failure 151
  • moral limits of power 25-26
  • moral relativism 203
  • Moran, Caitlin 113, 114
  • Morris, Desmond 49
  • Moses
    • arguing with God 46
    • education 114, 125, 187, 207, 336
    • energy in old age 50
    • hate, letting go of 48
    • leadership 23, 122, 232, 291
    • life and death choice 70
    • memory, collective 84-85
    • self-doubts 17, 88, 213
    • speeches 185
  • multiculturalism 175-76, 179, 247
  • Murdoch, Iris 117
  • Muslims see Islam/Muslims
  • myths 93, 260

N

  • nationalism 55, 108, 176, 198, 200, 355
  • natural disasters 71-73
  • natural selection 31-32, 153-54, 298
  • nature 19-20, 31-32, 71-73, 81, 92-94, 235, 265
  • Nazis 7, 15, 65, 138; see also Holocaust
  • Netziv (Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin) 291-92
  • neuroscience 118-19, 154
  • Newman, John Henry Cardinal 308
  • Noah 134, 233, 301, 302-3, 305-6, 334
  • North Africa 197-99
  • Nostra Aetate 168-70, 308
  • Not in God's Name (Sacks) 172, 173
  • Novak, Michael 149-50, 231, 238-39

O

  • Obama, Barack 95, 96-97
    • Old Masters and Young Geniuses (Galenson) 49-50
  • On Heaven and Earth (Francis and Skorka) 328
  • On Liberty (Mill) 171
  • Orwell, George 45, 176, 179
  • Othering 108-9, 138, 172-73, 179, 227

P

  • Palestinians 69, 198, 199, 205-6
  • parenthood 124-26, 332, 336
  • Parris, Matthew 196
  • passion, following one's 121-22
  • Passover (Pesach) 21-22, 259, 283 patriotism 176
  • Paul VI, Pope 168-70
  • peace 56, 135, 166, 198, 245, 247, 248, 287-93, 315-16, 327
  • Pearl, Judea 69
  • philanthropy see charity/ philanthropy
  • philosemitism 221
  • philosophy 250, 282, 317
  • physical fitness 118-19
  • Plamenatz, John 66
  • Plato 174, 270
  • pluralism 283-94
  • political correctness 175, 179, 346
  • politics
    • of anger 174, 176
    • competition 6o, 297
    • covenantal 97
    • defining 296
    • extremism 47-48, 176, 346, 360
    • of fear 47-48, 138, 179-80, 355
    • of hate 209-10, 355
    • of hope 97, 175-76
    • liberalism 285-86
    • of power 25, 247
    • pressure groups 135
    • and religion 74-76, 128, 200
    • tyranny 25, 74, 174
  • Politics of Hope, The (Sacks) 280
  • polygamy 332, 333
  • polytheism 270
  • poverty 39-40, 69-70, 140, 149, 194, 235, 304, 338, 345
  • power
    • dangers 25-26, 270, 323-24
    • hierarchies 332
    • of ideas 281-82, 283
    • politics of 25-26, 247
    • of prayer 80
    • and religion 128
    • secularisation/de-secularisation 197-98
    • the State 60, 96, 180, 296
    • vs. influence 17-18, 247, 323, 325
  • Power of Ideas, The (Berlin) 281-82
  • praise for others 53-54, 89, 224
  • prayer 80-82, 117
  • Prelude, The (Wordsworth) 125
  • pressure groups 135
  • prevention, punishment as 271, 272
  • printing press 13
  • probability theory 100
  • property 232-33, 241
  • prophets 17, 100, 119, 236, 287-88, 317
  • Protestant Ethic and the Spirt of Capitalism (Weber) 231
  • punishment of criminals 267-69, 271, 272-73
  • purpose 89-90, 107, 122
  • Putnam, Robert 143, 144, 155, 160, 161, 175, 192-93

R

  • Rabinovitch, Rabbi Nachum 214
  • racism 51-52, 108; see also antisemitism
  • rain 19, 20
  • Ratzinger, Cardinal Joseph 318, 325
  • Rawls, John 286
  • reciprocity 268-71, 274, 299, 334
  • reconciliation 245-48, 305, 307, 329-30
  • Rees-Mogg, William 242
  • rehabilitation 268, 271, 272-73
  • Reigning Error, The (Rees-Mogg) 242
  • relationships 156, 160, 161, 274, 277, 358-59; see also community; covenants; family; marriage
  • religion; see also faith, religious; freedom, religious; interfaith relations; tolerance/ intolerance, religious
    • altruism 129, 143, 155, 190, 192-93
    • co-operation 265, 299
    • commodification 231
    • community 154-55, 157, 158
    • decline 142, 153, 299
    • endurance 154, 262-63
    • etymology 265, 299
    • explaining why of Universe 128-29, 337
    • and identity 107-9
    • influence 247
    • loss 252, 320
    • moral code 142-43, 144, 158, 228-29, 231
    • natural world, celebrating 19
    • and politics 74-76, 128, 200
    • and public life 3
    • repentance 65-66
    • and science 104-6, 320
    • and society 320
    • values 176
    • violence in name of 38, 73, 163, 170, 172-73, 198, 199, 319; see also terrorism
    • vs. beliefs 21
  • Remembrance Sunday 83-85
  • renewal 122-23, 221-25
  • repentance 5, 65-66, 119-20; see also atonement
  • Republic (Plato) 270, 292
  • resolutions 89-91
  • respect for others 28, 45-46, 62, 95, 170, 173, 187, 221, 334; see also tolerance/intolerance, religious
  • responsibility
    • accepting 5, 6, 33-34, 65-66, 87, 119-20, 273
    • collective 96, 166, 176, 177, 204, 208, 360
    • denying 134-35, 141
    • shifting 5, 355; see also scapegoating
  • restorative justice 273-77
  • retaliation 133, 270
  • retribution 268, 272, 273, 274
  • revelation 105-6
  • revenge 268, 270, 275
  • Ricardo, David 196, 342
  • right not be offended 179
  • Ringelblum, Emanuel 7-8
  • riots 139-42
  • risks, willingness to take 87, 88, 102, 347
  • rituals 21-22, 90, 111-12, 240
  • Roman Empire 75, 159, 203, 254, 284
  • Rosh Hashanah 223, 311
  • Royal Wedding 11-12
  • Russell, Bertrand 279-80
  • Rwanda 137, 163

S

  • Sabbath (Shabbat) 42, 122-23, 151, 159-61, 220, 233, 239-40, 253-54, 336-37
  • Sacks, Chief Rabbi Jonathan, Baron
    • Chief Rabbi, induction as 213
    • Chief Rabbi mantle, passing on 29, 310-14
    • family background 157, 165, 185, 186
    • marriage 53, 61, 358
  • Sacks, Lady Elaine 53, 61, 2.15, 358
  • Sacks, Louis David 29, 81, 157, 185, 186, 215
  • Sacks, Louisa 157, 185, 215
  • Samuel 233
  • Scalfari, Eugenio 169, 328
  • scapegoating 5, 47-48, 119, 135, 138, 166, 179, 198-99, 209, 312, 350, 354-55
  • schools 110-12, 187-88, 208
  • Schumpeter, Joseph 66
  • science
    • ethics 251-52
    • explaining how of Universe 19-20, 30, 105, 128-29, 337
    • improbability of the Universe 98-100
    • limitations 326
    • reductivism 256-57
    • and religion 104-6, 260, 320
    • utilitarianism 271-73
  • scientific method 104, 105
  • sectarianism 135, 163, 179, 218
  • secularism 1 10, 149, 172, 200, 308, 318, 319, 346
  • self-criticism 6
  • self-interest 55, 140, 147, 150, 154, 177, 193, 203, 208, 236, 270, 357-58
  • separation of church and state 3, 75, 143
  • Serbia 245-46
  • service to others see altruism
  • sexual reproduction 331
  • shame 33-34
  • Shavuot (Pentecost) 77-78
  • Shechinah (Divine presence) 220-21
  • Sherbourne House 276
  • shofar horn 311
  • Shuweikh, Asma 51, 52
  • silence, moments of 73, 90
  • single-parent families 140-41, 338
  • Smith, Adam 150, 236, 344
  • social capital 143, 155, 16o, 161, 265, 299
  • social contracts 96, 201, 297
  • social engineering 271
  • social justice 39, 40
  • social media 27-28, 41-42, 158, 178, 358
  • socialism 2.30, 243
  • society; see also community; responsibility, collective
    • and altruism 154, 204, 226-27, 298-99
    • defining 84
    • and education 187-88, 207-8, 217
    • good 39-40, 249-63
    • and market economy 194-96, 229
    • and moral code 177-81, 202-4, 343-44
    • and religion 143, 155, 309, 320
  • solidarity 69-70, 72, 226-27, 303
  • Soloveitchik, Rabbi Joseph 301-2
  • Soviet Union 35, 146, 162, 219, 229-30, 319
  • Spengler, Oswald 318
  • State, the 60, 96, 180, 259-60, 296, 344-45
  • Story of Civilization, The (Durant) 320
  • Study of History, A (Toynbee) 321-2.2
  • Success Built to Last (Porras, Emery and Thompson) 86
  • success, path to 86-87
  • suffering 55, 64, 69, 71, 81, 90-91, 137
  • suicides 27, 178
  • Succot (Tabernacles) 19-20, 313
  • Swansea synagogue 16

T

  • Talmud 105, 114, 195, 233-34, 237, 317, 335
  • Tann, Leonard 16
  • teachers 187-88, 223; see also education
  • technology 40, 41, 42, 250-51, 326; see also information technology
  • teenagers see young people
  • Temple, Archbishop William 15, 190, 306
  • temporal reorientation 271
  • terrorism 16, 37, 68-70, 134-35, 145-48, 170, 264
  • thankfulness 53, 81, 84, 89, 116, 118
  • Thatcher, Margaret 23-24
  • theological studies 201
  • Theory of Moral Sentiments, The (Smith) 344
  • 13 Things That Don't Make Sense (Brooks) 99
  • time, linear 236
  • Tocqueville, Alexis de 3, 74, 143, 144, 157, 187, 280
  • tolerance/intolerance, religious 3-6, 9-10, 37, 66-67, 136-37, 163, 164, 170, 265-66, 288-89, 292, 326; see also interfaith relations
  • totalitarianism 272, 292
  • Tower of Babel 291-92
  • Toynbee, Arnold 318, 321-22, 324
  • traditions 228, 229, 230
  • Treatise of Human Nature, A (Hume) 87
  • trust 127, 151-52, 299
  • truth 45, 46, 290-91
  • Turing, Alan 339
  • Twenge, Jean 178
  • Two Faces of Liberalism, The (Gray) 285-86
  • Tyndale, William 13
  • tyranny 25, 174

U

  • uncertainty 102, 264, 313
  • unemployment 40, 195, 196
  • unhappiness 63, 111, 140-41, 178, 251, 299
  • United Nations 39, 163, 197-98, 200-201, 245-48
  • United States
    • 9/11 terrorist attacks 16, 68-69, 145-48, 264
    • altruism 192-93
    • Civil War 5-6
    • covenant 95, 96
    • Declaration of Independence 156, 360
    • depression and unhappiness 178
    • free speech, assault on 179
    • identity 359
    • Obama's inaugural address 95, 96-97
    • politics of anger 175
    • presidential elections 35
    • racism 51
    • religion 3, 143, 153
    • social inequalities 39-40
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN) 200-201
  • Universe
    • Creation see Creation
    • humanity as stewards 19-20, 94, 265
    • impersonal vs. personal views 260-61
    • improbability 98-100
    • integrity 303, 304
    • religion explaining why 30, 128-29
    • science explaining how 19-20, 30, 105, 128-29, 337
    • structure 92-93, 105
  • utilitarianism 271-73

V

  • values 44, 90, 111, 160, 172, 202-4, 284-85, 290-91, 309
  • Vatican II 168-70, 308, 328
  • victimhood 138, 179, 354, 355
  • violence 38, 73, 139, 142, 163, 170, 172, 199, 270, 299; see also terrorism
  • virtue see moral code
  • vocation 121-22
  • volunteering 59, 60, 77-79, 142-43, 193

W

  • Warsaw Ghetto, Poland 7-8
  • Watson, Thomas 87
  • wealth 60, 180, 194, 234, 235, 296, 300
  • Wealth and Poverty of Nations, The (Landes) 232-33
  • Weber, Max 93, 149, 229, 231, 235, 347
  • Welby, Archbishop Justin 37, 202
  • welfare state 56, 193
  • Why Us? (Fanu) 99
  • William, Prince, Duke of Cambridge 11-12, 124, 139
  • Williams, Archbishop Rowan 136, 190, 295
  • Williams, Sir Bernard 45-46, 186
  • Wilson, E. O. 257-58
  • Windsor Castle 258
  • wisdom 19, 20, 91, 104-5, 106
  • Wittgenstein, Ludwig 250
  • words 27, 28, 80
  • Wordsworth, William 18, 32, 125
  • World War I 55, 83, 85
  • World War II 56; see also Holocaust worship 296
  • worth, personal 59, 243

Y

  • Yitzhak, Rabbi Levi 253-54
  • Yom HaShoah 136
  • Yom Kippur 5, 274, 312
  • young people; see also children
    • advice for worthwhile life 121
    • IT impacts 27, 41, 178
    • moral collapse impacts 111, 139, 140-41, 142, 251, 276-77, 338
    • unemployment 195, 196