To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Although written by a rabbi, this powerful, biblically based plea for ethical behavior will appeal to non-Jews as well as to Jews. The erudite author, the chief rabbi of Great Britain, contends that all people have to be both ethically and socially responsible, and supports this through examples of people he's met or read about as well as through biblical and Hasidic tales. His analysis of these stories and their lessons is beautifully informed by philosophy, psychology, theology, poetry and literature. Sacks's wide-ranging scholarship is evident in the authorities he cites, including Plato, Karl Marx, Victor Frankl, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, William Wordsworth, Rashi, Maimonides, Jean-Paul Sartre, John Donne, Erich Fromm, Sigmund Freud and many others including Talmudic and rabbinical sources. Sacks claims that he "tried to make the book as simple and readable" as possible, but it is at times somewhat heavy-footed. Patient readers will be rewarded by exposure to a great intellect who demonstrates how his knowledge and experiences have led him to the conclusion that each individual has responsibility "to heal where others harm, mend where others destroy, [and] to redeem evil by turning its negative energies to good." (Oct. 11)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Sacks, the author of 12 previous books, is chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. The ethics of responsibility, so he posits, is the idea that God invites us to become "his partners in the work of creation." The theme of his book is that life is God's call to responsibility. Citing the twenty-first-century's challenges of a scale and scope that seem to defy solutions--environmental and political problems and the growing inequality between rich and poor--Sacks insists that it is up to us to make a difference, "to mend the world one life at a time, one act at a time, one day at a time." Drawing on traditional interpretations of the Bible, Jewish law, and theology, he analyzes the essence of morality and moral behavior. He is one of the most eminent religious scholars of our time, and his book should interest Jews and non-Jews alike. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Schocken; Reprint edition (February 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805211969
• ISBN-13: 978-0805211962
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #185,113 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring and moving Jewish moral guide for mankind, December 10, 2006

By	Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility (Hardcover)

This is a beautifully written and inspiring work. It is rich in personal anecdote, story and example. It teaches the essence of Jewish ethics as a way of living in the modern and post- modern world. Rabbi Sacks speaks much in this book about responsibility. He speaks much about the world having gone to far in concentrating on individual development alone, without demanding connection and contribution to family and community. His message is that the Jewish covenant with God is one for recreating the world as better place, for improving the situation for others. He is concerned here with social justice and with righteousness. He believes that the seperation of the ethical from the religious is like separating two different parts of the brain that are meant to work together. He believes the Jewish imperative is to be both holy and good. And also he teaches this means finding a way to make tikkun olam and improve the well- being of all of mankind.
Rabbi Sacks tells us inspiring stories of people who have suffered and somehow managed to in that suffering still give to others. He tells us about many of the people who do goodness and acts of kindness for others modestly. He says that when he as a young person a young Rabbi first began to officiate at funerals he discovered that what relatives wanted said about the person who was gone, was nothing about their wealth power achievement in the world, but rather about their kindness and goodness to others.
His message is that each individual human being can by being good to others help mend the brokenness of the world. It is not that he is naive or believes that all the problems of this world, many of which he discusses in detail in this book can be instantly solved by such goodness. But rather that such goodness and giving to others cannot only help make it better for them, but can be the key to finding and making meaning in one's own life.
This book is a sound sane sensible ethical and moral guide for humanity.
An outstanding work but a teacher who understands that it is better to love than to fear, and better to light a single candle than to suffer in the darkness.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written book on Jewish thought and values, April 28, 2008

By	Linda Abraham (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I thoroughly enjoyed R. Sachs's work. He draws on his rich knowledge of classic Jewish sources and secular philosophy to craft a beautifully written work that is both insightful and thought-provoking.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breath of Fresh Air, January 9, 2007

By	Julia Wyndham "Liz" (charleston, WV) - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Heal a Fractured World: The Ethics of Responsibility (Hardcover)

I think this book should be required reading for all those in our government who are looking for and working toward a peaceful solution to the war in Iraq. Rabbi Sachs draws on his deep understanding of the Torah and of human nature in discussing the basics of a religious perspective on the seemingly irreconcilable problems of relationships in the middle east. He has moved beyond the political, geographical, religious discussion of the issues which create enmity and sets our thoughts on basic theological components which we must consider if we are serious about healing our divisions. He takes us deep into our own hearts and challenges us to heal our own hearts first.