Sacks , Jonathan Henry , Baron Sacks , b 1948 , Chief Rabbi

Jonathan Sacks succeeded Lord Jakobovits as Chief Rabbi on the first of September 1991 at the age of forty-three. He was born in London and educated at Cambridge, Oxford and London. He studied at the Yeshivat Tomhei Temimim in Israel and was ordained at Jews College, London. Sacks lectured in moral philosophy at Middlesex Polytechnic, and Talmud and Jewish philosophy at Jews' College where in 1982 he was the first incumbent of the Lord Jakobovits Chair in Modern Jewish Thought. In 1983 he was appointed Director of the Rabbinic Faculty there and in 1984 became Principal of the College. At the same time Sacks held successive rabbinic appointments at Golders Green Synagogue (1978-1982) and Marble Arch Synagogue (1983-1990). He also held academic appointments at London University and the University of Manchester and was Visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Essex. He was a member of the Central Religious Advisory Committee to the BBC and the IBA. In 1990 he gave the Reith Lectures.

Jonathan Sacks launched several initiatives early in his Chief Rabbinate and emphasised the need to reach out to Jews who felt in some ways neglected by the Jewish community; women, the young, people in small communities and in the provinces. He proclaimed a Decade of Renewal and in 1993 founded Jewish Continuity, a community-wide organisation aiming to invest in Jewish culture and education and in particular to encourage younger Jews to take interest in or further develop the study of their heritage. A Walkabout in Hyde Park was organised for the summer of 1992 and registered charities were invited to participate from both the orthodox and other sections of the community. An application was received from the Jewish Lesbian and Gay Helpline and the group was barred from taking part.

For the first time women were allowed to be full members of synagogue management boards and members of the United Synagogue Council. The Chief Rabbi set up a commission headed by Rosalind Preston, then a vice-president of the Board of Deputies. A report was published two years later. Certain advances were made. Sacks was criticised for not addressing some of the grievances.

In 1993 the Chief Rabbi's Awards for Excellence were introduced whereby ordinary people of merit throughout the country whose work had hitherto been unrecognised by the Jewish community at large received public awards.

The Chief Rabbi is a prolific author. His many books, articles, and papers have attracted wide attention. He is a gifted speaker and broadcaster. Like his predecessor, Lord Jakobovits, he is a prominent national figure and a much-noted publicist within and beyond the Jewish community.