Technology & Community: A Facebook Live discussion between Rabbi Sacks and Nicola Mendelsohn

Leadership and Loyalty (Balak 5781)

Is leadership a set of skills, the ability to summon and command power Or does it have an essentially moral dimension also Can a bad person be a good leader, or will their badness compromise their leadership That is the question raised by the key figure in this week’s parsha, the pagan prophet Bilaam First, by way of introduction, we have independent evidence that Bilaam actually existed... Read more

The keys to understanding American anti-Semitism — and fighting back (published by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The last two festivals to be added to the Jewish calendar prior to modern times — Purim and Hanukkah — are both about anti-Semitism There is one obvious difference between them: Haman, of the Purim story, wanted to kill Jews Antiochus, of the Hanukkah story, wanted to kill Judaism It was the difference between Nazi Germany and Soviet Communism But there is another difference that has... Read more