This essay is one of the winning submissions to the Rabbi Sacks Essay Contest. Drawing on the teachings and writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, students were invited to reflect on contemporary questions through the lens of his ideas. This piece reflects the voice and perspective of its student author.

Author: Nitsan Winter, joint third prize (Boyar International School, Israel)

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Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks believed that the Jewish spirit has the power to bring “a little fragment of heaven down here to Earth.” I agree. In my opinion, being proactively Jewish in today’s society betters it. As seen in Rabbi Sacks’ teachings and my own experience, Jewish values uphold the dignity of difference and contribute to global culture and ethics; they encourage Jews to maintain their Jewish identity while engaging with contemporary issues; and they shape the 21st century.

First, Jewish values enable the dignity of difference and contribute to global culture and ethics. By the dignity of difference, Rabbi Sacks means working to live together and learn from each other’s religions, especially as people of the Abrahamic religions. Beyond common values, we must also honor our differences and act out of a sense of responsibility to the weak, thereby avoiding a “clash of civilizations,” a term coined by Samuel P. Huntington.

I believe the dignity of difference stems from elements of Arvut Hadadit, an important Jewish value that, when followed, obligates Jews to take on mutual responsibility and, in doing so, make the world more ethical. In a 2010 interview, Rabbi Sacks shared a great example of this. He told about a religious Jew who was on a business trip when he heard about the earthquake in Haiti and “realized that as a Jew, he had to help”. Not only did this man bring water to 3,000 earthquake victims, but he also turned it into a project by involving 200 others. By the end, he........

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