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Exodus: boek van de bevrijding
The Torah is an encounter between past and present, moment
and eternity, which frames Jewish consciousness. In this second volume of a five-volume collection of parashat hashavua commentaries, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks explores these intersections as they relate to universal concerns of freedom, love, responsibility, identity, and destiny. Chief Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy, and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under God’s sovereignty. Erudite and eloquent, Covenant & Conversation allows us to experience Chief Rabbi Sacks’ sophisticated approach to life lived in an ongoing dialogue with the Torah.
and eternity, which frames Jewish consciousness. In this second volume of a five-volume collection of parashat hashavua commentaries, Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks explores these intersections as they relate to universal concerns of freedom, love, responsibility, identity, and destiny. Chief Rabbi Sacks fuses Jewish tradition, Western philosophy, and literature to present a highly developed understanding of the human condition under God’s sovereignty. Erudite and eloquent, Covenant & Conversation allows us to experience Chief Rabbi Sacks’ sophisticated approach to life lived in an ongoing dialogue with the Torah.
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
167 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Sacks
224 books442 followersRabbi Lord Jonathan Henry Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His Hebrew name was Yaakov Zvi.
Serving as the chief rabbi in the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2013, Sacks gained fame both in the secular world and in Jewish circles. He was a sought-after voice on issues of war and peace, religious fundamentalism, ethics, and the relationship between science and religion, among other topics. Sacks wrote more than 20 books.
Rabbi Sacks died November 2020 after a short bout with cancer. He was 72.
Serving as the chief rabbi in the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2013, Sacks gained fame both in the secular world and in Jewish circles. He was a sought-after voice on issues of war and peace, religious fundamentalism, ethics, and the relationship between science and religion, among other topics. Sacks wrote more than 20 books.
Rabbi Sacks died November 2020 after a short bout with cancer. He was 72.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 19, 2024
A continuation of his parashah series, this book looks at the weekly reading portions from the book of Exodus. I thought this work was even better than his examination of Genesis. The opening essays on justice and the women of the Exodus were some of the best things I’ve read in years.
I also loved the literary analysis that Sacks engaged in as he examined the instructions of the building of the Tabernacle. He brought out deep and meaningful lessons from portions of Text that are often hard to find inspiration in.
Like his other works, this book was full of insight and bridged the world of textual examination with rabbinical wisdom and ancient commentary, as well as the reframing for current application. One of my favorite Exodus resources.
I also loved the literary analysis that Sacks engaged in as he examined the instructions of the building of the Tabernacle. He brought out deep and meaningful lessons from portions of Text that are often hard to find inspiration in.
Like his other works, this book was full of insight and bridged the world of textual examination with rabbinical wisdom and ancient commentary, as well as the reframing for current application. One of my favorite Exodus resources.
October 26, 2022
Each week, synagogues around the world read a section from the Torah (the five books of Moses). The cycle begins with Genesis and ends with the last verses of Deuteronomy 12 months later. The Covenant & Conversation series has essays commenting on each of the weekly readings.
These essays are by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who was the Chief Rabbi of the U.K. for some 20 years. I'd read his editorials occasionally in the Wall Street Journal and always found them insightful, inspirational, and down to earth. When I discovered he'd done this series I began at the beginning with Genesis. What I found was a work of genius.
These essays have the same easy style I remembered while giving in-depth, brilliant, compassionate commentary that often surprised me and sometimes changed my whole perspective on a Biblical person or their actions. Sacks is good at comparing ancient and modern world views. This not only clarifies Biblical context but often shows just how different our current ideas are. These are stories about people and Sacks never forgets that. He looks at what Torah is showing us that is the same not only in those ancient times, but in our own lives. After all, the word of God is eternal, applying to all time and all people.
This second in the series, focusing on the book of Exodus, is simply wonderful and just as good as his first in the series about Genesis. This book in particular shows Sacks' skill at not only examining the stories of the Bible but in giving us context for the rituals that are so lovingly detailed. Regardless of how dense and uninteresting they appear to the modern reader, Sacks' context gives us a way to see how they still apply to us and our relationship to God in modern times.
These essays are by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks who was the Chief Rabbi of the U.K. for some 20 years. I'd read his editorials occasionally in the Wall Street Journal and always found them insightful, inspirational, and down to earth. When I discovered he'd done this series I began at the beginning with Genesis. What I found was a work of genius.
These essays have the same easy style I remembered while giving in-depth, brilliant, compassionate commentary that often surprised me and sometimes changed my whole perspective on a Biblical person or their actions. Sacks is good at comparing ancient and modern world views. This not only clarifies Biblical context but often shows just how different our current ideas are. These are stories about people and Sacks never forgets that. He looks at what Torah is showing us that is the same not only in those ancient times, but in our own lives. After all, the word of God is eternal, applying to all time and all people.
This second in the series, focusing on the book of Exodus, is simply wonderful and just as good as his first in the series about Genesis. This book in particular shows Sacks' skill at not only examining the stories of the Bible but in giving us context for the rituals that are so lovingly detailed. Regardless of how dense and uninteresting they appear to the modern reader, Sacks' context gives us a way to see how they still apply to us and our relationship to God in modern times.
April 6, 2021
Dit boek is sowieso goed omdat het Bijbeluitleg van Jonathan Sacks is. Het is echter een verzameling nieuwsbrieven over de wekelijkse thora-lezing. Het boek is dus niet helemaal één geheel, bevat herhalingen, en de lezer moet zelf een beetje de krenten uit de pap vissen. Heel fijn voor fans zoals ik, en voor als je eens een toegankelijk naslagwerk bij Exodus wilt. Andere lezers kunnen beter 'Een gebroken wereld heel maken' kopen van dezelfde auteur.
December 11, 2024
Dagelijks lees ik een hoofdstuk uit de 5-delige reeks over de Tora van Jonathan Sacks. Wat een verrassende perspectieven openen zich dan! Eerder las ik Genesis en Leviticus ligt al op de stapel. De boeken blijken tot nu to een rijke bron voor leerhuizen/gespreksgroepen en kerkdiensten. Menig keer noteer ik iets waarvan ik denk: daar kan ik misschien iets mee in een preek. En krijg ik zin om er iets mee te doen. Het komt zelden voor dat je als professioneel bijbellezer zovaak verrast wordt met inzichten over de Bijbel. Nu ben ik benieuwd wat Leviticus gaat opleveren. Het is immers het boek waarin menig Bijblelezer die van voren af aan de Schrift wil lezen, vast komt te zitten. Maar ook Exodus bleek na Genesis een mooie ervaring.
March 17, 2024
I read this roughly in time with the weekly parsha as a break from my regular reading. Each week or thereabouts I read all of Rabbi Sacks's essays relating to that portion and continued to be amazed by his gentle wisdom and his erudition. My plan is to work through all five volume over the year. It is wonderful just to soak in his thoughts and mull over his commentary. It feels both wonderfully contemporary and evergreen.
November 2, 2024
Geweldig mooi boek met voor mij nog meer nieuwe ontdekkingen dan het eerste deel (Genesis)
October 8, 2025
leest wat minder makkelijk dan genesis
October 6, 2020
Outstanding!
November 19, 2017
Thoughtful and connected to other traditions, it still feels Jewish and traditional. This is no fault - it is a strength; but it feels sometimes not merely comforting but comfortable, which is a strange tone.
July 7, 2025
Exodus: Boek van de bevrijding is het tweede deel in de serie Verbond en Dialoog van emeritus opperrabbijn Jonathan Sacks. In dit boek staat de wekelijkse parasja centraal: de Thoralezing uit Exodus, zoals die in de synagoge wordt gelezen. In elf weken wordt zo het hele bijbelboek behandeld. Dienovereenkomstig telt dit boek elf hoofdstukken, elk gewijd aan een parasja en steeds opgebouwd uit vier essays, waarin Sacks uiteenlopende thema’s verkent. Denk hierbij aan burgerlijke ongehoorzaamheid, het omgaan met haatgevoelens, leiderschap, of de betekenis van het begrip “een koninkrijk van priesters”.
Sacks biedt in deze essays verrassende en diepgaande inzichten, waarbij hij rijkelijk put uit de Bijbeltekst zelf, de Joodse traditie (met verwijzingen naar denkers als Maimonides en Rasji) én uit het gedachtegoed van denkers als Plato, Immanuel Kant en Sigmund Freud.
Het boek opent met een kort hoofdstuk over de wekelijkse parasja-lezing, getiteld “Leven met de tijd”. Vervolgens introduceert Sacks het bijbelboek Exodus onder de noemer: “De geboorte van een natie.” In Exodus gaat het over thema’s als politiek, samenleving, vrijheid en rechtvaardigheid. Tegenover de onderdrukking in Egypte stelt de Thora een radicaal andere politieke visie: “Een politiek die niet is gebaseerd op macht, maar op verbond – op de vrijwillige overeenstemming van vrije mensen die alleen absolute macht toekennen aan God” (p. 16). Het Sinaïverbond noemt Sacks dan ook “de eerste verklaring van een vrije samenleving” (p. 23).
In de inleiding vraagt hij bovendien aandacht voor de dubbele vertellingen in Exodus: twee veldslagen (tegen de farao en tegen de Amalekieten), twee openbaringen van Gods majesteit en twee verhalen over de stenen tafelen. De betekenis daarvan? “De eerste keer wordt alles door God alleen gedaan, terwijl er de tweede keer sprake is van menselijke participatie” (p. 27). Vrijheid is pas duurzaam als mensen in een gemeenschap veranderd worden door actief mee te werken.
Na deze inhoudelijk zeer rijke inleiding volgen de elf hoofdstukken over de parasjot. In de in totaal 44 essays behandelt Sacks tal van thema’s. Zo gaat hij bijvoorbeeld in op het belang van scholing voor het behoud van vrijheid. Exodus legt nadruk op het doorgeven van herinnering aan de volgende generatie (Exodus 12:25–27; 13:8, 14). Terwijl een land verdedigd wordt met een leger, betoogt Sacks, wordt een vrije samenleving beschermd door scholen. Dit verklaart het centrale belang van onderwijs in het jodendom. In het essay “Scholing in vrijheid” waarschuwt hij ook voor de afglijdende schaal: “Vrijheid wordt individualisme (‘ieder deed wat goed was in zijn eigen ogen’ [Rechters 21:25]), individualisme ontaardt in chaos, chaos leidt tot de zoektocht naar orde, en die zoektocht eindigt in een nieuwe tirannie die met geweld haar wil oplegt” (p. 88–89). Vrijheid is dus nooit vanzelfsprekend, maar kwetsbaar – en moet voortdurend beschermd en doorgegeven worden, onder andere via onderwijs en de wekelijkse parasja-lezing.
Het overgrote deel van de essays vond ik boeiend en vernieuwend. Dat komt vooral doordat Sacks steeds drie lagen verbindt: (1) de Bijbeltekst zelf, (2) de rijkdom van de Joodse traditie en (3) de relevantie voor het heden – hoe wij vandaag in vrijheid (zouden moeten) samenleven. Zelfs teksten die aanvankelijk raadselachtig lijken, worden op een overtuigende en vaak verrassende manier uitgelegd. Neem bijvoorbeeld de hoofdstukkenlange beschrijvingen van het tabernakel (misjkan): eerst de uitgebreide instructies (Exodus 25–31:11), dan het verhaal over het gouden kalf (32–34), gevolgd door de constructie (35:4–40). Sacks laat zien dat het niet genoeg is dat God voor het volk handelt (zoals bij de Uittocht); het volk moet ook zelf, gezamenlijk, iets voor God doen – het bouwen van de tabernakel op basis van Zijn instructies. Als er niet naar deze instructies wordt geluisterd, dreigt afgoderij, zoals het gouden kalf (dat tussen de instructie en constructie van het tabernakel in staat!) illustreert. De literaire structuur van Exodus – deze chiastische opbouw – is niet alleen literair mooi, maar ook theologisch betekenisvol. Dankzij Sacks’ toelichtingen besef je hoe rijk en gelaagd deze teksten zijn, en dat één lezing eigenlijk niet volstaat.
Eerder las ik al het deel over Genesis uit dezelfde serie, en nu dus ook Exodus. Opnieuw was het een bijzonder leerzame ervaring. Jonathan Sacks laat zien hoe oudtestamentische verhalen verrassend actueel zijn. Hoeveel hebben we niet te leren van deze eeuwenoude teksten over uittocht, vrijheid en samenleven? Samenleven is een kunst, die geleerd en onderhouden moet worden, en vrijheid moet niet alleen verworven, maar ook behouden en doorgegeven worden. De essays van Sacks bieden daarbij zeer waardevolle lessen. Met name het behouden van vrijheid is een voortdurende opgave: na de bevrijding uit Egypte volgen immers telkens nieuwe bedreigingen voor diezelfde vrijheid. Ook vandaag de dag wordt vrijheid bedreigd; de moderne lezer kan veel leren van Exodus over wat ware vrijheid is en waar samenleven ten diepste over gaat.
Sacks biedt in deze essays verrassende en diepgaande inzichten, waarbij hij rijkelijk put uit de Bijbeltekst zelf, de Joodse traditie (met verwijzingen naar denkers als Maimonides en Rasji) én uit het gedachtegoed van denkers als Plato, Immanuel Kant en Sigmund Freud.
Het boek opent met een kort hoofdstuk over de wekelijkse parasja-lezing, getiteld “Leven met de tijd”. Vervolgens introduceert Sacks het bijbelboek Exodus onder de noemer: “De geboorte van een natie.” In Exodus gaat het over thema’s als politiek, samenleving, vrijheid en rechtvaardigheid. Tegenover de onderdrukking in Egypte stelt de Thora een radicaal andere politieke visie: “Een politiek die niet is gebaseerd op macht, maar op verbond – op de vrijwillige overeenstemming van vrije mensen die alleen absolute macht toekennen aan God” (p. 16). Het Sinaïverbond noemt Sacks dan ook “de eerste verklaring van een vrije samenleving” (p. 23).
In de inleiding vraagt hij bovendien aandacht voor de dubbele vertellingen in Exodus: twee veldslagen (tegen de farao en tegen de Amalekieten), twee openbaringen van Gods majesteit en twee verhalen over de stenen tafelen. De betekenis daarvan? “De eerste keer wordt alles door God alleen gedaan, terwijl er de tweede keer sprake is van menselijke participatie” (p. 27). Vrijheid is pas duurzaam als mensen in een gemeenschap veranderd worden door actief mee te werken.
Na deze inhoudelijk zeer rijke inleiding volgen de elf hoofdstukken over de parasjot. In de in totaal 44 essays behandelt Sacks tal van thema’s. Zo gaat hij bijvoorbeeld in op het belang van scholing voor het behoud van vrijheid. Exodus legt nadruk op het doorgeven van herinnering aan de volgende generatie (Exodus 12:25–27; 13:8, 14). Terwijl een land verdedigd wordt met een leger, betoogt Sacks, wordt een vrije samenleving beschermd door scholen. Dit verklaart het centrale belang van onderwijs in het jodendom. In het essay “Scholing in vrijheid” waarschuwt hij ook voor de afglijdende schaal: “Vrijheid wordt individualisme (‘ieder deed wat goed was in zijn eigen ogen’ [Rechters 21:25]), individualisme ontaardt in chaos, chaos leidt tot de zoektocht naar orde, en die zoektocht eindigt in een nieuwe tirannie die met geweld haar wil oplegt” (p. 88–89). Vrijheid is dus nooit vanzelfsprekend, maar kwetsbaar – en moet voortdurend beschermd en doorgegeven worden, onder andere via onderwijs en de wekelijkse parasja-lezing.
Het overgrote deel van de essays vond ik boeiend en vernieuwend. Dat komt vooral doordat Sacks steeds drie lagen verbindt: (1) de Bijbeltekst zelf, (2) de rijkdom van de Joodse traditie en (3) de relevantie voor het heden – hoe wij vandaag in vrijheid (zouden moeten) samenleven. Zelfs teksten die aanvankelijk raadselachtig lijken, worden op een overtuigende en vaak verrassende manier uitgelegd. Neem bijvoorbeeld de hoofdstukkenlange beschrijvingen van het tabernakel (misjkan): eerst de uitgebreide instructies (Exodus 25–31:11), dan het verhaal over het gouden kalf (32–34), gevolgd door de constructie (35:4–40). Sacks laat zien dat het niet genoeg is dat God voor het volk handelt (zoals bij de Uittocht); het volk moet ook zelf, gezamenlijk, iets voor God doen – het bouwen van de tabernakel op basis van Zijn instructies. Als er niet naar deze instructies wordt geluisterd, dreigt afgoderij, zoals het gouden kalf (dat tussen de instructie en constructie van het tabernakel in staat!) illustreert. De literaire structuur van Exodus – deze chiastische opbouw – is niet alleen literair mooi, maar ook theologisch betekenisvol. Dankzij Sacks’ toelichtingen besef je hoe rijk en gelaagd deze teksten zijn, en dat één lezing eigenlijk niet volstaat.
Eerder las ik al het deel over Genesis uit dezelfde serie, en nu dus ook Exodus. Opnieuw was het een bijzonder leerzame ervaring. Jonathan Sacks laat zien hoe oudtestamentische verhalen verrassend actueel zijn. Hoeveel hebben we niet te leren van deze eeuwenoude teksten over uittocht, vrijheid en samenleven? Samenleven is een kunst, die geleerd en onderhouden moet worden, en vrijheid moet niet alleen verworven, maar ook behouden en doorgegeven worden. De essays van Sacks bieden daarbij zeer waardevolle lessen. Met name het behouden van vrijheid is een voortdurende opgave: na de bevrijding uit Egypte volgen immers telkens nieuwe bedreigingen voor diezelfde vrijheid. Ook vandaag de dag wordt vrijheid bedreigd; de moderne lezer kan veel leren van Exodus over wat ware vrijheid is en waar samenleven ten diepste over gaat.
January 6, 2021
While the first book in the series (Genesis: The Book of Beginnings) makes copious use of midrash to provide a back-story for Abraham and his family, here Jonathan Sacks' emphasis shifts from the life of Moses then to the life of the Jewish people through the ages, calling on and commenting on the philosopher Maimonides for a deeper understanding of the text. And this is not the story of the Jewish people only. "Never before and never since has the message of monotheism been more world-transforming, and the exodus narrative has inspired many of those who, in later times, fought oppression in the name of freedom and began the long journey across the wilderness in search of the promised land." Within this message, the giving of the law, both ethical and ritual, plays a key part. If Sacks is right in saying that Semitic people were the first to use an alphabet for their writing, this makes it more credible that the long and complex chapters of rules are indeed signposts on the way to freedom, and education an essential component of democracy. I still wonder how much of this happened in the wilderness, and how much recorded with hindsight.
July 13, 2021
Nothing has ever shook me as greatly as this book did. Every new chapter was another explosion in my brain, heart, and soul.
Even a year ago I never believed I could read such a book, I guess COVID has made me more profound.
Maybe too much so... for as much as I have come to adore the author, I am conflicted as to a theory I have developed: Rabbi Sacks believes Torah as truth, and makes a great effort to make everything work, as every letter has purpose.
This may take me a lifetime to understand fully, and so I expect to revisit this book over and over again, each time with a new perspective and therefore understanding and appreciation. And maybe even more questions.
Even a year ago I never believed I could read such a book, I guess COVID has made me more profound.
Maybe too much so... for as much as I have come to adore the author, I am conflicted as to a theory I have developed: Rabbi Sacks believes Torah as truth, and makes a great effort to make everything work, as every letter has purpose.
This may take me a lifetime to understand fully, and so I expect to revisit this book over and over again, each time with a new perspective and therefore understanding and appreciation. And maybe even more questions.
December 7, 2022
Rabbi Sacks is maybe my favorite religious intellectual, so I might be biased in my review, but for anyone wanting to understand the book of Exodus in a new light, this is the book for you. Almost every essay inside is filled with new insights, breathing life into stories you’ve heard a hundred times, and verses you’ve skipped a hundred times for their seeming unimportance. I also read his book on Genesis and had the same experience. Looking forward to read his other commentaries on the other three books in the Torah.
January 13, 2023
Ik ben fan van Jonathan Sacks. Dit boek is een boeiende inleiding voor wie zich wil verdiepen in de betekenis van het bijbelboek Exodus. Sacks weet de grote literaire lijnen uit de Hebreeuwse bijbel te benoemen, te verduidelijken en te verbinden met actuele onderwerpen, op een verfrissende manier. Ook heel moeilijke passages in de bijbel weet hij op een verrassende manier te kaderen. De verschillende besprekingen zijn van origine commentaren bij de joodse lezingen in de synagoge, vandaar dat ze ook los van elkaar te lezen zijn.
March 13, 2021
A Wondrous Companion to the Parashot
As with his companion volume of essays for the Book of Genesis, these essays are an excellent companion to the study of the Book of Exodus. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them and feel an even keener sense of loss that Rabbi Sacks is no longer with us. May his memory be a blessing. I am sad that I never got the chance to meet him and learn directly from his wisdom.
As with his companion volume of essays for the Book of Genesis, these essays are an excellent companion to the study of the Book of Exodus. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them and feel an even keener sense of loss that Rabbi Sacks is no longer with us. May his memory be a blessing. I am sad that I never got the chance to meet him and learn directly from his wisdom.
August 14, 2022
Bought this after reading and deeply enjoying Rabbi Sacks’ volume of essays on the weekly readings (Parsha) of Genesis. I wasn’t disappointed. This volume of essays on Exodus is magnificent and illuminating, and Sacks has a wonderful way of bringing the text to speak to modern times. As a Christian minister, I’d say that Rabbi Sacks’ insights are invaluable. Looking forward reading his volume on Leviticus.
April 1, 2025
Rabbi Sack's series has become one of the joys of Sabbath. I love the combination of both Jewish and secular sources, and the clear way that all the information is presented. Both intelligent and sensitive, and the essays about the Mishkan gave me a perspective that I hadn't read before.
Looking forward to Leviticus!
Looking forward to Leviticus!
March 21, 2020
Another excellent Read!
This book , as others by Rabbi Sacks, is insightful and challenging in looking at the human condition in light of God’s word. Excellent; excellent reading! Challenges you to think from a different perspective.
This book , as others by Rabbi Sacks, is insightful and challenging in looking at the human condition in light of God’s word. Excellent; excellent reading! Challenges you to think from a different perspective.
August 3, 2017
3..5 stars. The latter half of the book was not as intriguing. It's stills an excellent series and I will read the Leviticus one soon.
November 16, 2017
Rabbi Sacks is both very readable and frequently give some profound insights into the text of Exodus in his meditations through the text.
January 20, 2020
I am not the target audience for this book. Therefore, I'm sure that a lot of his insights went over my head. But I still enjoyed what I did learn and understand.
April 2, 2021
So much wisdom for each week’s passage. And Rabbi Sacks is able to explain the relevance without sounding preachy.
May 20, 2021
Comentario y análisis político/bíblico de la historia occidental. Excelente para los amantes de la historia , la política y la cosmovisión bíblica
October 5, 2021
Another well thought out look at how an Orthodox Rabi views the Exodus with a number of interesting insights. Super easy read.
March 6, 2022
Rabbi Sacks's writings restore my hope in humanity.
February 29, 2024
Absolutely marvellous- probably the best extended piece of exegesis I have ever read.
April 22, 2024
Brilliant!
August 21, 2025
"Alleen degenen die weten waar ze naar op weg zijn zullen er komen, hoe snel of langzaam ze ook gaan."
August 24, 2012
This is a brilliant, concise and thoroughly modern interpretation and study of the book of Genesis by Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain. He delivers an articulate case for the value of Judaism and biblical interpretation in modern life and his simple eloquence makes the meaning of the stories accessible to everyone. In fact, that is partly his point, "Judaism is about the democratization of holiness, the creation of a society in which everyone will have access to religious knowledge. Hence the importance of stories which everyone can understand."
Yet while this is a book that attempts to explain the modern meaning of western civilization's foundational theological work, it is more a book of personal philosophy than strict theology. Sacks wants to explain why a religious text can have modern meaning. As part of his interpretation of the story of Noah's ark, Sacks says "It is reasonable to assume that in the life of faith, obedience is the highest virtue. In Judaism it is not. One of the strangest features of biblical Hebrew is that - despite the fact that the Torah contains 613 commands - there is no word for 'obey.' Instead, the verb the Torah uses is shema/lishmoa, 'to listen, hear, attend, understand, interalise, respond.'" Sacks is arguing that blind faith is not what God intended. God does not seek "mindless submission to the divine will", he says. We were given free will for a purpose. That is a very modern sense of the purpose of faith in our lives.
He also speaks eloquently of what faith means in the modern world (and at times subtly distinguishes his modern view of faith from the views held by extremists of all faiths). “Faith is the ability to live with delay without losing trust in the promise; to experience disappointment without losing hope, to know that the road between the real and the ideal is long and yet be willing to undertake the journey.” Whether you are a person of faith or not, Sacks makes an eloquent case for the power of faith in modern society and whether intentional or not, how modern faith can counteract extremism and serve as a beacon of reasonableness and hope in a troubled world.
Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, Sacks makes a case that Judaism (and the founding of monotheism) laid the ground work for modern western philosophical thought. He points out that the monotheistic and Judaic tenets were radically different than those followed by the rest of the world. In his discussion of the Jewish concept of repentance (Tesuvah), Sacks makes a stunning point about the bible’s radically new interpretation of time. “Until Tanakh, time was generally conceived as a series of eternal recurrences, endlessly repeating a pattern that belonged to the immutable structure of the universe. The seasons … and the lifecycle – birth, growth, decline, and death – were a reiterated sequence in which nothing fundamentally changed…. This conception of time produces a deeply conservative philosophy of life. It justifies, the status quo. Inequalities are seen as written into the structure of the universe.”
He goes on to argue, however, that “The Jewish understanding of time that emerges from the Tanakh, in contrast, was utterly revolutionary. For the first time people began to conceive that God had created the universe in freedom, and that by making man in His image, He endowed him too with freedom. That being so, he might be different tomorrow from what he was today, and if he could change himself, he could begin to change the world. Time became an area of change.” Essentially, Sacks goes on to make the case that this view of time is what created the ability of western civilization to hope for a better future, thereby laying the groundwork for brilliant intellectual advances that might never have happened without a true sense of freedom of will and knowledge that the future could be changed.
It is a book of Jewish theology for those who are interested, but it is also much more for those who seek it.
Yet while this is a book that attempts to explain the modern meaning of western civilization's foundational theological work, it is more a book of personal philosophy than strict theology. Sacks wants to explain why a religious text can have modern meaning. As part of his interpretation of the story of Noah's ark, Sacks says "It is reasonable to assume that in the life of faith, obedience is the highest virtue. In Judaism it is not. One of the strangest features of biblical Hebrew is that - despite the fact that the Torah contains 613 commands - there is no word for 'obey.' Instead, the verb the Torah uses is shema/lishmoa, 'to listen, hear, attend, understand, interalise, respond.'" Sacks is arguing that blind faith is not what God intended. God does not seek "mindless submission to the divine will", he says. We were given free will for a purpose. That is a very modern sense of the purpose of faith in our lives.
He also speaks eloquently of what faith means in the modern world (and at times subtly distinguishes his modern view of faith from the views held by extremists of all faiths). “Faith is the ability to live with delay without losing trust in the promise; to experience disappointment without losing hope, to know that the road between the real and the ideal is long and yet be willing to undertake the journey.” Whether you are a person of faith or not, Sacks makes an eloquent case for the power of faith in modern society and whether intentional or not, how modern faith can counteract extremism and serve as a beacon of reasonableness and hope in a troubled world.
Finally, and perhaps most interestingly, Sacks makes a case that Judaism (and the founding of monotheism) laid the ground work for modern western philosophical thought. He points out that the monotheistic and Judaic tenets were radically different than those followed by the rest of the world. In his discussion of the Jewish concept of repentance (Tesuvah), Sacks makes a stunning point about the bible’s radically new interpretation of time. “Until Tanakh, time was generally conceived as a series of eternal recurrences, endlessly repeating a pattern that belonged to the immutable structure of the universe. The seasons … and the lifecycle – birth, growth, decline, and death – were a reiterated sequence in which nothing fundamentally changed…. This conception of time produces a deeply conservative philosophy of life. It justifies, the status quo. Inequalities are seen as written into the structure of the universe.”
He goes on to argue, however, that “The Jewish understanding of time that emerges from the Tanakh, in contrast, was utterly revolutionary. For the first time people began to conceive that God had created the universe in freedom, and that by making man in His image, He endowed him too with freedom. That being so, he might be different tomorrow from what he was today, and if he could change himself, he could begin to change the world. Time became an area of change.” Essentially, Sacks goes on to make the case that this view of time is what created the ability of western civilization to hope for a better future, thereby laying the groundwork for brilliant intellectual advances that might never have happened without a true sense of freedom of will and knowledge that the future could be changed.
It is a book of Jewish theology for those who are interested, but it is also much more for those who seek it.
July 22, 2016
When I began this book, I thought of it as routine preparation for a project I'm working on. I was reading it--I thought--as a way of gathering inspiration for the development our Jewish Federation's annual community seder. After just a few pages, I left homework mode and went into listening mode. I'm realizing now that I'll read anything at all by Rabbi Sacks, and I'll always be moved by it. I don't love every single detail of his politics; but in all fairness, I don't even love every single detail of my own politics. No matter. He's who I read when I want to expand my mind and spirit.
As for this book: I liked it because it was tied to the weekly parshas, but in some ways that gave it less of the emotional sweep that you get in his books that explicitly build on a provocative idea, like The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations or Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence. Surprisingly, for me at least, it was less cohesive than Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's Haggadah. The main thing I got out of Covenant & Conversation: Exodus: The Book of Redemption was the idea of Nation--how does the idea of Nation relate to the ideas of Peoplehood and Family and Community; what does it mean; who makes it; how is it made and maintained as the outside world and the citizens within are constantly changing; and what is it supposed to do. It happened that I read most of this book in late July, while the 2016 Republican Convention was going on. That made for a deeper experience all the way around.
As for this book: I liked it because it was tied to the weekly parshas, but in some ways that gave it less of the emotional sweep that you get in his books that explicitly build on a provocative idea, like The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations or Not in God's Name: Confronting Religious Violence. Surprisingly, for me at least, it was less cohesive than Rabbi Jonathan Sacks's Haggadah. The main thing I got out of Covenant & Conversation: Exodus: The Book of Redemption was the idea of Nation--how does the idea of Nation relate to the ideas of Peoplehood and Family and Community; what does it mean; who makes it; how is it made and maintained as the outside world and the citizens within are constantly changing; and what is it supposed to do. It happened that I read most of this book in late July, while the 2016 Republican Convention was going on. That made for a deeper experience all the way around.
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