Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks to deliver next Ebor lecture
Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks will be the guest speaker at the
next Ebor lecture being held on Wednesday 30 November at York St
John University.
In a lecture entitled 'Biblical insights into
the Good Society', the Chief Rabbi will discuss the topic in the
context of this year’s series theme, ‘The Good Society?
Re-invigorating Public Life’. All lectures in the current
series explore the issues arising from the Government’s Big Society
policy. This initiative pledges to offer citizens,
communities and local governments the power to come together and
solve the problems they face, through charities, co-operatives,
social enterprise, and other community-based approaches.
Speaking in advance of the lecture, the Chief
Rabbi said:
“I am delighted to have been invited to
deliver one of the Ebor Lectures. With the current economic
situation, now more than ever there is a need within the UK and
across Europe to reinvigorate civic life as well as a growing
appreciation of the role faith, community and morality play in our
daily lives.”
He added, “I believe that we should seek
as far as possible to work together across all groups – faith and
non-faith, government and voluntary – for the benefit of society as
a whole, recognising the similarities and common destiny we all
share whilst respecting those things that makes us
unique.”
Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has been Chief
Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth since
September 1991, the sixth incumbent since the role was formalised
in 1845. Educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where
he obtained first class honours in philosophy, Jonathan Sacks
pursued postgraduate studies at New College, Oxford and King’s
College London, gaining his PhD in 1981 and rabbinic ordination
from Jews’ College and Yeshiva Etz Chaim.
The Chief Rabbi has been a visiting professor
at several universities in Britain, the United States and Israel,
and is currently Visiting Professor of Theology at King’s College
London. He holds 14 honorary degrees, including a Doctor of
Divinity conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury, to mark his
first ten years in office.
In recognition of his work, the Chief Rabbi
has been awarded a number of prizes, including the Jerusalem Prize
1995 for his contribution to diaspora Jewish life, and The
Ladislaus Laszt Ecumenical and Social Concern Award from Ben Gurion
University in Israel in 2011. He was knighted by Her Majesty
The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer in 2009, taking his seat in
the House of Lords where he sits on the cross-benches as Baron
Sacks of Aldgate in the City of London. The Chief Rabbi is a
frequent contributor to radio, television and the national press
and is the author of 24 books, the most recent being The Great
Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning which was
published in July 2011.
The 2011-12 Ebor lectures are organised by
York St John University, York Minster, The Order of Carmelites, The
Churches Regional Commission for Yorkshire & the Humber, York
Institute for Community Theology and The Joseph Rowntree
Foundation.
Since their launch in 2006, the Lectures have
established an enviable reputation with prestigious speakers,
promoting debate on topical issues and broadening discussion.
Held annually, past speakers have included the Rt Hon Hilary Benn
MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs; the Rt Revd. and the Rt Hon Richard Harries, Former Bishop
of Oxford; Mr Peter Taylor, journalist and BBC Presenter; Dr Rowan
Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury; Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of
York; Robert Peston, the BBC’s Business Editor; and legendary
parliamentarian Tony Benn.
For further information please contact
Amy Hall, PR & Communications Officer on T:
01904 876466 or E: a.hall@yorksj.ac.uk or Karen
McIntosh, Marketing Assistant on T: 01904 876503 or E:
k.mcintosh@yorksj.ac.uk or go to #eborlectures
