Dr. Tanya White

0323501 Covenantal Politics in the Thought of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

This course examines Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ political thought with particular attention to his conception of covenant as a foundation for society. Through close analysis of Sacks’ writings in dialogue with thinkers such as Isaiah Berlin, Michael Sandel, and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, we will explore themes of freedom, pluralism, the common good, and the dangers of power. The course highlights Sacks’ distinctive contribution to contemporary political and ethical theory and considers its relevance to current challenges of democracy and civic life.

03236-01 Society and The Ethics of Responsibility in the Thought of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Focusing on Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ ethic of responsibility, this course investigates his vision of Judaism as a religion of individual and collective moral agency. Topics include pluralism and the dignity of difference, universalism and particularism, the relationship between morality and the market economy, and the ethical dimensions of leadership. By engaging primary texts alongside contemporary debates, students will critically assess Sacks’ attempt to articulate a Jewish framework for social responsibility in a global and fractured world.