FB06 – The Life of Chief Rabbi Sacks, Remembered
Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks passed away a few days ago, after a life committed to peace and reconciliation. Drawing from the well-spring of his own Jewish faith, he established friendship and trust across the many divides that separate human kind. He was an exceptional man on the world stage, and was winner (2016) of the Templeton Prize for Religion and Science. At the bottom of this page, I provide a link to an interview produced by CBC Ideas.
Christians have a deep relationship with Judaism. The Christian Bible includes the Hebrew scriptures as the Old Testament, then adds on the history of Christ Jesus, the predicted Messiah of the older scriptures, and his teachings in the New Testament. The naming of these Bible sections underscores the idea of old and new covenants (testaments/wills/treaties).
There is much teaching in Christianity concerning the meaning of the original relationship between God and “His People” (the followers of a One True Creator God). He promised Abraham (as the father of the Jewish people) that “all the world will be blessed” through his relationship with these covenantal people. The most popular interpretation of this, by Christians today, is the fact that Jesus appeared as the Promised One… the Messiah (which gives rise to the celebration of the Birth of Christ at Christmas).
Christians thus connect their own destiny to that of the original People of God with the idea of the New Covenant that was inaugurated by Jesus at the Last Supper, when he said: “A new covenant I give unto you…”. In his earlier Sermon on the Mount, we are introduced to the emergence of the Kingdom of God, based on a lifestyle of honor and worship of God and a somewhat equal commitment to love and service to others.
In this teaching, much is made of the supposed distinction between life under the Old Covenant based on law and justice, and the New Testament/Covenant based on love and grace. This is reinforced, in part, by the deep criticism Jesus directed at the Jewish religious teachers of his day, the Pharisees. In contrast, Jesus set out a radically different way to to build relationships based on love and compassion.
I’ve often wondered just how the New Covenant teaching should relate to the Old. Jesus himself said, “I have not come to destroy… but to fulfill the teachings of the Law and the Prophets”. In this way, then, the teachings of the Old Testament, with its emphasis on Law and Justice, is somehow to continue being fulfilled with the “new” (or is it, the “renewed”) emphasis on Love and Grace.
Interestingly, Rabbi Sacks does not approach our need for the practice of Love and Grace in the ways I have outlined above. Indeed, Sacks has his own perspective on old and new covenants, where he appeals to the original creation story as the Edenic or Adamic agreement of God with all of humanity. He thus weaves together the messages of Justice, Peace, and Grace as of “one cloth” within the tapestry of both the ancient teachings and the need for fresh new practical applications today.
Jonathan Sacks, as peace-maker and wise counsellor, will be sadly missed.
To fully savor the inspirational message of this truly remarkable man, please find an hour to settle back and listen to this CBC Ideas podcast.
https://www.cbc.ca/…/tapestry-25-rabbi-lord-jonathan
The book by Jonathan Sacks, Not in God’s Name, is available through Amazon.ca at 22.95 (paperback) and 16.99 (Kindle).
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Access on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/RonInRegina/posts/142472154288344
Alternate links:
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-59-tapestry/clip/15790523-tapestry25-rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks
First published: 2021/02/18