To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility

‘The only force equal to a fundamentalism of hate is a counter-fundamentalism of love.’ Jonathan Sacks is an outstanding moral authority of our time and best-selling author of The Dignity of Difference. 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. In To Heal A Fractured World, Rabbi Sacks argues that such preoccupation with oneself is a mistake. Ethics are concerned with the life we live together, and the goods we share only exist by virtue of being shared. Rabbi Sacks argues his case in a way which shows a profound engagement with the human condition today, and reflects how widely he has read. He talks with as much authority about Sigmund Freud or Karl Marx as he does about the Hebrew Bible. This is a clarion call to the outside world to come to its senses.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Part 1: The Call to Responsibility 1 The Ethics of Responsibility 2 Faith as Protest 3 Charity as Justice 4 Love as Deed 5 Sanctifying the Name 6 Mending the World 7 Like a Single Soul 8 The Kindness of Strangers 9 Responsibility for Society Part 2: The Theology of Responsibility 10 The Birth of Responsibility 11 Divine Initiative, Human Initiative 12 The Holy and the Good 13 The Monotheistic Imagination 14 The Faith of God 15 Redeeming Evil Part 3: The Responsible Life 16 Transforming Suffering 17 The Chaos Theory of Virtue 18 The Kind of Person We Are 19 Who Am I? 20 On Dreams and Responsibilities Index

About the Author :
Sir Jonathan Sacks, who died in late 2020, was Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Britain and the Commonwealth. He was the author of numerous books, including Celebrating Life, From Optimism to Hope, The Persistence of Faith and The Dignity of Difference, for which he won a Grawemeyer Award in Religion.

Review :
Jonathan Sacks is one of the most eminent religious scholars of our time and his book should interest Jews and non-Jews alike. There is much of great wisdom here, for readers of all faiths and none.' Bishop of Thetford 'A book for our time. Sacks writes with a quiet passion that is accessible to religionist and secularist alike... a desperately needed transfusion of hope. Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks mixes stories, philosophy and theology to show Judaism's power to transform individuals and society through love and ethics. Much of what he says is equally applicable to Islam. The Chief Rabbi's books are always worth reading and this is no exception. He writes with characteristic generosity, wisdom and passion....His reading of the Hebrew Bible is immensely subtle...Throughout he makes ethics live through many, often deeply moving stories...Reading this will deepen your understanding of the OT or of Judaism. [A] marvelous gift to the Jewish community and to people of all faiths and nations. I know of no contemporary author...whose ideology is so heavily invested in "social justice," who has presented the grandeur and breadth of Jewish social ideals in such a unique and absolutely elegant fashion....It should be read by every rabbi, synagogue president and Federation leader, as well as by clergy and political leaders everywhere...his inspiring contribution, and what makes this volume so extraordinary and so valuable, lies precisely in his remarkable presentation and its is applicability to the human condition...Rabbi Sacks has produced a text which should not only be read but which should be studied in every Jewish and non-Jewish education program in the English speaking world. Required reading...As always Sack's work is eminently readable. Analytical but not to the point of paralysis, Sacks holds the reader with an easy style and gripping illustrations. By the time one is midway through this excellent book you really have an understanding of where he is going in defining responsibility...A rich joy to read and a highly recommended book. ...Sacks illuminates an aspirational set of principles that could be a guide to all mankind. ...powerful, timely and full of profound insights. There is a fair amount about ethics of responsibility in current debate among Christian moral theologians. That, along with the reputation of Jonathan Sacks would perhaps suffice to recommend this volume to many in various branches of Christianity. Picking it up and reading it, moreover, only serves to strengthen the recommendation. Sack's approach to reflection upon these subjects will, I think, prove to be quite novel and refreshing to most Christians...Of particular use to our wider society may be his observation that what makes a culture invulnerable is the compassion it shows to the vulnerable. I doubt very much that I have put this book down for the last time.