On November 14th, the Orthodox Conundrum released a panel discussion dealing with Rav Jonathan Sacks zt’l’s life, leadership, and legacy. Today we offer a sequel to that episode, as Scott speaks with Dr. Tanya White and Rabbi Dr. Samuel Lebens about the thought and philosophy of Rabbi Sacks. They address many important issues, including Rabbi Sacks’s originality, his idea of covenant, the importance of individual responsibility, for whom he was writing, the controversy around his book The Dignity of Difference and whether he clarified or retracted its most controversial assertion, how communitarianism affected this thinking, his response to fundamentalism, whether he was a religious pluralist, how he dealt with Biblical criticism, what to do when our sense of morality and our understanding of science seem to contradict ideas in the Torah, and more.
Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108).
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Music: “Happy Rock” by bensound.com
Photo by cooperniall, CC BY 2.0