The most respected religious leader in Britain for the
last two decades has undoubtedly been Lord Sacks, Britain’s retiring
Chief Rabbi.
As Chief Rabbi he
proved himself to be the most astute and the most relevant religious
leader; he is hugely respected by Jews, non-Jews, believers and
nonbelievers alike.
His statements have been sensible, challenging and compassionate.
Last week he gave a controversial and widely quoted interview to Daniel
Finkelstein of The Times newspaper.
Lord Sacks was particularly articulate on the value of family life.
As Chief Rabbi he has been a prolific writer having produced a book
every year for 22 years.
One of them, ‘The Politics of Hope’, is a blueprint for social reform.
Lord Sacks believes that we must work towards a social covenant among
people – which he describes as, “How to make people behave better to
each other and to build meaningful relationships.”
This he says is, “the
greatest task of any society.”
The basic of reforms of civil society are:
1) To construct an environment of strong families.
2) Create a strong environment of supportive communities.
3) Focus intensely on the education system.
4) Challenge those who succeed to share some of their blessings with those who have less.
Central to all his arguments is the institution of marriage.
“I think the Government (in Britain) has not done enough for marriage
although I don’t take a party political stance. The State has an
interest in marriage because the cost of family breakdown and
non-marriage, is estimated at £9 billion a year.
“The State should certainly recognise marriage in the Tax system. It
should certainly give more support to mothers who stay at home, or for
childcare provision.
“I don’t believe in getting involved in the details but the principle is pretty clear,” the Chief Rabbi said.
Another area of social reform is overcoming racism.
Lord Sacks has said many times that “multiculturalism has had its day
and it’s time to move on.” He recognises that there is a difference
between multiculturalism and a multi-ethnic society.
He describes his vision by comparing a country house with a hotel and a hotel with a home.
In a country house, “every minority is welcome but is a guest.”
In a
hotel however, “Nobody is at home, it doesn’t belong to anyone – we’ve
each got our own room and so as long as we don’t disturb the neighbours
we can do whatever we like.”
But a home “is something we all have to
build together.”
Sacks considers multiculturalism an hotel.
“The real danger in a
multicultural society is that every ethnic group and religious group
becomes a pressure group furthering their people’s interests instead of
the national interest.”
As with all other religions there has been a fall-off in the practice
of the faith in the Jewish community too. Lord Sacks believes that the
breakdown in faith is the result of a breakdown in institutions.
“A very individualistic society doesn’t really have space for God,”
he says. “It doesn’t really have space for a covental commitment to
marriage and these things are interlinked.
“So I think society has become deep down more secular. It’s not just
on the surface – do you believe God exists… there is a deep down
hollowing out.”
Asked whether he was an optimist or a pessimist the Chief Rabbi
quoted, “Another rabbinical story.” Somebody once asked a Rabbi whether
he was an optimist or pessimist, and he gave the most extraordinary
answer.
“I am not an optimist … who believes this is the best of all
possible worlds, and I am not a pessimist…. who says that this is the worst of all possible worlds. I believe this is the worst of all possible worlds in which there is still hope.”
Lord Sacks resigns the Office of Chief Rabbi in a few days’ time. His wisdom will be sorely missed.