ADDITIONAL PERSONAL COMMENTS

I only met with Lord Sacks a few times, but he made a profound impression on me and deeply influenced the way I think about faith, morality and leadership. I would like to share my reflections on these encounters and the way that they inspired me and shaped Faith in Leadership.

My first impression of Lord Sacks was gained by observing him through a window pane as he addressed the Cambridge Union Society when I was a student. Even though I couldn’t hear what he was saying, I was struck at how energetic he was and the friendly yet emphatic way with which he gesticulated. Even from afar he was compelling and I could immediately understand why young people would want to be around him. When I had a meeting with him years later, he was too modest to wish to hear my account of this moment. Rather, he wanted to hear of my ideas. Others have said that he lived by the teaching of Ben Zoma “Who is wise? He who learns from everyone.” He generously introduced me to his many interfaith contacts.
Lord Sacks became a Patron of FiL in 2006 when a dear friend took me for coffee with him. I was young, naïve, of another tradition and not at all a professional in the faith sector. I presented the Chief Rabbi with the idea for a new organisation to be called ‘Faith in Leadership’. The idea was unproven, untested and more of a dream than anything else. Yet in spite of my faltering presentation to him, he immediately agreed to become the first Patron of Faith in Leadership. Two Archbishops of Canterbury, a Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster, a former head of state, and beloved and well-known Hindu, Muslim, Bahai and Sikh leaders followed suit. They might not have done, if Chief Rabbi Sacks had not led the way by consenting to being a Patron at that first meeting.
During the same encounter he told me something that showed me something of his statesmanship. He explained that antisemitism was rife among university campuses in the United Kingdom. However, in his dealings with leaders of student Jewish societies he told them to also focus on countering Islamophobia. This advice, and the need for faith communities to collaborate and support each other, has stayed with me.
Most recently, in March of this year Lord Sacks commented approvingly on the newly developed collaboration between the London School of Jewish Studies (of which he was Honorary President) and FiL (of which he remained Patron). I will always be proud that Lord Sacks recognised the suitability of FiL to provide leadership training as part of the London School of Jewish Studies’ new Teach to Lead programme.

Faith in Leadership

Faith, Leadership and the New Normal

First appeared in the St Benet's Magazine, Trinity Term 2021