* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. He was the Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, a professor, renowned lecturer, and member of the House of Lords. And yet, long before this, while growing up, he was not sent to Jewish schools, but clung to his Jewish identity above all else.
Today, when we see a strengthening of Jewish identity all over the world, it is fitting to bring a story about Jonathan Sacks when he was a little boy:
“Once, when I was a child,” he recalled, “my family was on holiday in a little coastal town in the south of England. It was Shabbat and we had just left the synagogue and were walking back for lunch. Behind us, another member of the congregation came rushing up and pointed to the yarmulke I was wearing. He said to my father, ‘Your son has forgotten to take off his yarmulke.’
This was in the days when it was not done to wear overt signs of your Jewishness in public. The old dictum ‘Be a Jew at home and a man in the street’ was still in force. By walking down the road with my head covering I was committing a solecism, and our friend from the synagogue assumed, not unnaturally, that I was unaware of it.
He meant it kindly. He was simply trying to save me from embarrassment. Unexpectedly, my typically friendly, non-confrontational father turned to him and said: ‘No son of mine will ever be ashamed to be a Jew.’ Afterwards, we continued on our way. My father’s words were not very polite but they simply taught me — and more than any classroom lesson ever could — never to be ashamed of my Judaism.”
The little boy continued to wear a kippa, studied, grew up, and became a rabbi who influenced Jews everywhere to take pride in their identity.
May his memory be a blessing.
*
On the 5th anniversary of Rabbi Sacks' passing, you are invited to read and also share this booklet about faith and comfort edited by Sivan Rahav Meir:
Download the booklet in Hebrew here: https://korenpub.co.il/pages/לרפא-את-הלב
Download the booklet in English here: https://www.sivanrahavmeir.com/to-be-a-jew/
