Sacks

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks – the international religious leader, philosopher, best-selling author and 2016 Templeton Prize laureate – will lecture on “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence,” Wednesday, April 20, at 5 p.m. in Cornell’s Anabel Taylor Hall Auditorium. The talk is free, and the public is invited.

Sacks will explore the roots of violence and its relationship to religion. If religion is perceived as being part of the problem, then it must also form part of the solution, argues Sacks, who holds professorships at New York University, Yeshiva University and King’s College London.

Using innovative biblical analysis and interpretation, Sacks shows that religiously inspired violence has, as its source, misreadings of biblical texts at the heart of all three Abrahamic faiths. By looking anew at the book of Genesis, with its foundational stories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Sacks offers a radical re-reading of many of the Bible’s seminal stories of sibling rivalry: Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Isaac and Ishmael, Rachel and Leah, Joseph and his brothers.

Described by the Prince of Wales as “a light unto this nation” and by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as “an intellectual giant,” Sacks is a frequent contributor to radio, television and the press around the world. A visiting professor at several universities in Britain, the United States and Israel, Sacks holds 16 honorary degrees. He has received numerous awards, including The Jerusalem Prize for his contribution to diaspora life and was named The Becket Fund’s 2014 Canterbury Medalist for his role in the defense of religious liberty in the public square. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 and made a life peer, taking his seat in the House of Lords in 2009.

Sacks is the author of more than 25 books including “The Great Partnership,” “To Heal a Fractured World,” “The Dignity of Difference” and “A Letter in the Scroll.” He has also published commentaries on the daily Jewish prayer book and the Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Passover festival prayer books. His most recent book, “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence,” which tackles the issue of religious extremism and violence committed in the name of God, was published in 2015 and became an international best-seller.

The talk is sponsored by Cornell Hillel, Himan Brown Charitable Trust, Cornell Jewish Studies Program and Cornell University Religious Work.

Ayla Cline is an administrative assistant in the Department of Near Eastern Studies.