Jonathan Sacks' TO HEAL A FRACTURED WORLD is perfection

Sir Jonathan Sacks has been the Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Commonwealth for nearly two decades, and is well known for his broadcasting skills. But for me, from the first days of 5770 (and a joyous, healthy, meaningful New Year to all my readers), Rabbi Sacks will always be known as the gifted author of a very important book first published in 2005 by McGill-Queen's University Press: To Heal a Fractured World--The Ethics of Responsibility. Let me put this in a single, brief sentence: if I had a non-Jewish friend (or troubled Jewish one) who wanted to know why anyone should be a Jew after the past three thousand years of anguish and horrors (along with the parenting of Christianity and Islam, for which I have given up waiting for a thank-you), I would hand them a copy of this exquisitely written, moving, profound book. The essence of this work is captured well in the brief blurb on the back cover: that "one of Judaism's most distinctive and challenging ideas is its ethics of responsibility: having been given the gift of freedom, we must in turn honour and enhance the freedom of others." So, while "the individual is seen as the sole source of meaning" in today's world, Sacks insists that we must share our experience in this world, and that the goods we share exist only by virtue of their being shared. A beautiful thought, expressed magnificently in its 273 pages, and how many books have you read which fill you with the desire to go out and improve--yes, start to heal--this very flawed world our predecessors have left us to deal with?

I cannot think of anything which the author has ignored in his desire to teach us all our responsibilities to our fellow human beings: while he understandably frequently quotes from the Tanach some of its most ethical commandments at key points throughout this essential text ("Learn to do good,/Seek justice,/Aid the oppressed./Uphold the rights of the orphan,/Defend the cause of the widow."--Isaiah 1:17), he also takes on Marx and others who insisted wrongly that religion is "the sigh of the oppressed creature, the feeling of a heartless world, the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." Not so, Dr. Sacks cries out--look at what the prophet Isaiah demanded over two millennia ago!

The good rabbi also fills this marvelous volume with memorable Midrashim and Hassidic tales, such as one with which I was unfamiliar: one great Rebbe had devoted an entire day to reciting Psalms, delaying his response to an urgent request of another rabbi who needed his assistance to collect money for a poor person in need. When they finally meet, the latter exclaims, "Psalms can be sung by angels, but only human beings can help the poor. Charity is greater than reciting Psalms, because angels cannot perform charity." Sacks describes with passion and insight that "charity" IS justice in the Jewish faith, and far more than merely handing over money or time to those who are in dire straits. Another striking rabbinical story notes that the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are the two great bodies of water of the Holy Land, yet one has no life while the other is rich with fish, birds and vegetation. The difference? The Sea of Galilee receives water at one end and gives out water at the other, while the Dead Sea receives but never gives. "To receive without reciprocating is a kind of death. To live is to give." How is that for a story to be told and discussed over your Shabbat table?

The titles of some of the 20 memorable chapters in this extraordinary text suggest the topics covered: "Faith as protest." "Love as Deed." "Responsibility for Society." "Divine Initiative, Human Initiative." "Redeeming Evil." "Transforming Suffering." "The Kind of Person We Are." I have rarely read a book which moved me to tears so often; which made me wait impatiently for my wife to come home from work so I could read aloud from this page and that chapter; which I filled with countless little Post-it notes to recall paragraphs to share with my children and friends. Lines such as this one leapt off the pages (in this case, page 178) and directly into my heart: "Judaism is the principled rejection of tragedy in the name of hope---[italics the author's]--precisely because there is no inexorable fate. Nor does hope stand alone. It belongs to a world in which not only God but also human beings, his image, are free, masters of their fate, responsible for their destiny." And later (on page 208): "The Judaism I know [is] a faith suffused with love and celebration, and a hope so resilient that it could survive any catastrophe. We do not redeem evil by hate. We redeem it by a faith in life so strong that it has the courage to bring children into a world that has known overwhelming suffering and yet is prepared to take the risk to begin again."

I have had the honour of reading, reviewing, and recommending several dozen books on this website over the past decade, but I can think of no other which is so wise, morally decent, and, yes, life-changing. As the rabbis tell us, "Tzay Ulmad"--go and study. I urge you to start with Dr. Sacks' To Heal a Fractured World, while always keeping in mind his amazing sub-title: The Ethics of Responsibility.