{"title":"Books by Sir Jonathan Sacks","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781399420648","title":"The Home We Build Together","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRabbi Sacks' thesis on the future of British society and the dangers facing liberal democracy. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith a new foreword by Daniel Finkelstein.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eArguing that global communications have fragmented national cultures and that multiculturalism, intended to reduce social frictions, is today reinforcing them, Sacks argues for a new approach to national identity, making the case for \"integrated diversity\" within a framework of shared political values.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBritain, he argues, will have to construct a national narrative as a basis for identity, reinvigorate the concept of the common good, and identify shared interests among currently conflicting groups. It must restore a culture of civility, protect \"neutral spaces\" from politicization, and find ways of moving beyond an adversarial culture in which the loudest voice wins. He argues for a responsibility- rather than rights-based model of citizenship that connects the ideas of giving and belonging.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOffering a new paradigm to replace previous models of assimilation on the one hand, multiculturalism on the other, he argues that we should see society as \"the home we build together\", bringing the distinctive gifts of different groups to the common good. Sacks warns of the hazards free and open societies face in the twenty-first century, and offers an unusual religious defence of liberal democracy and the nation state.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298310435189,"sku":"9781399420648","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399420648_253626b8-0df6-4f95-96b0-663ea3bdaf5b.jpg?v=1786019418"},{"product_id":"9781399420792","title":"The Persistence of Faith","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eConfidence in a faith is a subtle quality and lack of it shows in many ways, some contradictory. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eDr Sacks has that confidence and the quiet charisma to communicate it.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSacks argues that faiths must remain open to criticism, keep alive their separate communities and still contribute far more to national debates on moral issues. They must also learn to get along better. His thesis is that we still live under a Biblical canopy and that a cohesive morality needs the uniting bonds of faith.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe subject of this book - religions and ethics - is good ground for him to build on: The Jewish contribution to ethics is distinctly rational and has a long and illustrious tradition. Moral philosophy is after all a Jewish preoccupation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn recent years, he writes, religion has taken us unawares. The rise of the Moral Majority in the USA, the Islamic Revolution, the growth of religious parties in Israel, the power of Catholicism in Poland and the African continent all run contrary to the basic thesis that modernity and secularization went hand in hand and could almost be regarded as synonyms. Instead, and against all prediction, religion has resurfaced in the public domain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this book, Sacks argues the case for a broadly based return to tradition within the context of religious pluralism and tolerance. Religious values remain a strong force within our culture to be renewed. For our society to be viable indeed they \u003ci\u003emust\u003c\/i\u003e be renewed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298310861173,"sku":"9781399420792","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399420792_83f653ad-a8f0-4c9e-8314-cf9413a4f718.jpg?v=1786019421"},{"product_id":"9781399420556","title":"From Optimism to Hope","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA newly designed edition of this collection of Jonathan Sacks’ favourite \"Thoughts for the Day\".\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRabbi Jonathan Sacks was a regular voice frequently heard on the UK's most popular morning BBC radio news show. He regularly presented a \"Thought for the Day\" in which he addressed a current issue with characteristic brevity and clarity. His clear, calm voice brought hope and encouragement to all of us struggling to come to terms with modern, turbulent times.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eFrom Optimism to Hope \u003c\/i\u003eis a carefully selected collection of his favourite pieces from between 1995 and 2004, ranging in topics as wide-ranging as parenting, forgiveness, staying young and the Turner Prize.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe result is a book that still resonates today, and appeals to everyone, from people with religious beliefs as well as those with little or none.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298559144309,"sku":"9781399420556","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399420556_2af51284-2ce2-4112-9958-cdb0ec8940bf.jpg?v=1786019417"},{"product_id":"9781399420600","title":"The Dignity of Difference","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Aims to define nothing less than a basis for religiously sensitive civilisation.’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dignity of Difference \u003c\/i\u003ehas a central and compelling vision: the magnificence and inspiring human diversity of our world ... The Chief Rabbi has made a convincing case for respecting people of different faiths and creeds.’ \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJewish Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis redesigned and reissued edition of \u003ci\u003eThe Dignity of Difference \u003c\/i\u003ewas Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's radical proposal for reconciling hatreds and includes . Updated for 2025 with a new foreword by Simon Schama.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlmost a quarter of a century ago, the tragedy of September 11 is remembered today as the moment the world woke up to the dangers posed by religious differences and intolerance. In this iconic and critically acclaimed book, reissued with a new foreword, Rabbi Sacks asked, can religion still become a force for peace? \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dignity of Difference\u003c\/i\u003e was the first major statement by a Jewish leader on the ethics of globalization. At the time of writing, the politics of identity had began to replace the politics of ideology that dominated the globe in the twentieth-century. Now Rabbi Sack’s heartfelt, clear-sighted and radical proposal for how we might reconcile our differences without violence is as relevant as ever. In it, Sacks argues that we must do more than just search for values common to all faiths. To avoid the clash of civilisations, we must celebrate our differences and respect all the many ways cultures have searched for meaning, so that people of all faiths and none can live together in respectful harmony. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA highly readable and beautifully written book that offers readers the perfect antidote to troubled times.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298700472693,"sku":"9781399420600","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399420600_16153237-188b-442c-8cda-cd0ef8d3c85e.jpg?v=1786019417"},{"product_id":"9781399420716","title":"Radical Then, Radical Now","description":"\u003cp\u003eThroughout history, the Jewish people have faced catastrophe after catastrophe. They have been expelled, ghettoised, murdered and forcibly converted. The question that Jonathan Sacks asks in this original and compelling book is not how Judaism survived four thousand years of persecution, but how it found ways to flourish and thrive.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOriginally written as a wedding gift for his son over twenty years ago, now featuring a new foreword by Natan Sharansky, this revised edition is a reminder of the enduring beauty and wisdom of one of the world’s oldest religions. A fascinating cultural and religious journey through Judaism’s long history and the revolutionary ideas that shaped the moral civilisation of the West, Jonathan Sacks urges readers not to embrace secularisation or lose the script of the Jewish story but to add their own chapters instead. A deeply personal celebration of faith and community filled with hope for the future of the Jewish people, this book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand Judaism or deepen their faith and identity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298733044085,"sku":"9781399420716","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399420716_9467fa8e-62ba-4d63-a340-9dbd5095f700.jpg?v=1786019419"},{"product_id":"9781399420907","title":"To Heal a Fractured World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRabbi Sacks argues that preoccupation with self is a mistake and that ethics are concerned with the life we live together, talking with as much authority about Sigmund Freud or Karl Marx as he does about the Bible. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith a new foreword by Rowan Williams.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e‘The only force equal to a fundamentalism of hate is a counter-fundamentalism of love.’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJonathan Sacks was an outstanding moral authority of our time and bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Dignity of Difference\u003c\/i\u003e. One of Judaism’s most distinctive and challenging ideas is its ethics of responsibility. We have been given the gift of freedom and we in turn have to honour and enhance the freedom of others. More than in any previous generation, we have been tempted to imagine that it is the individual’s needs which are the sole source of meaning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a clarion call to the outside world to come to its senses.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56419803922805,"sku":"9781399420907","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781399420907_847f2f63-bde7-44be-90bb-a26b0d2893b8.jpg?v=1786019422"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-sir-jonathan-sacks.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}