This book is my tribute to the United Synagogue on its 125th anniversary, in return for the many delights it has given me and the thousands of others who have been its members. In it I describe not its outward history but its spiritual foundations. Pascal once said, “The heart has its reasons which reason does not know.” The same is often true of institutions. They have a dynamic of their own, an inner pulse and power, rarely formally articulated, but which needs to be understood if they are to be renewed. My subject is the synagogue as a living embodiment of the Jewish concept of community, in particular as it developed in Anglo-Jewry.

I have written it as a way of expressing my thanks to the many communities I have come to know since becoming Chief Rabbi four years ago. In my travels throughout Anglo-Jewry and the Commonwealth I have been moved, time and again, by their vigour, energy and warmth. This is due not only to their leaders, rabbinic and lay, whose dedication to the task of sustaining synagogue life is often tireless and sometimes thankless. It is also the achievement of countless men, women and young people who by quiet acts of kindness or hospitality give Jewish life its humanity and grace. In the words of one of our prayers, I offer thanks to “those who unite to form synagogues for prayer, and those who come there to pray; those who provide lamps for lighting, wine for kiddush and havdalah, food for wayfarers and charity for the poor, and all who faithfully occupy themselves with the needs of the community.”

Special mention is owed to the Honorary Officers of the United Synagogue, Anthony Ansell, Anthony Cowen, Maurice De Vries, Leslie Elstein, Stephen Forman, Alan Kennard and Elkan Levy, and its Chief Executive, Jonathan Lew. As I argue in this book, the heritage of which they are the custodians is rare in the contemporary Jewish world, and they have guarded it with dedication. I have had the privilege of working with two distinguished Presidents. Sidney Frosh, who led the United Synagogue when I came into office, is one of Anglo-Jewry’s most beloved figures. It was with immense sadness that, as I was preparing this work, we mourned the loss of his beloved wife Ruth whose kindness we will long remember. Seymour Saideman, its current President, has steered it boldly through difficult times and hard decisions, taking it from financial crisis to recovery. With Seymour and his wife Shirley I cherish not only a partnership but also a much valued friendship.

Above all, I was mindful of the immense contribution of my colleagues in the rabbinate. Their work is often sadly under-appreciated. Expected to combine the insight of Moses, the wisdom of Solomon, the eloquence of Isaiah and the patience of Job, they are sometimes subjected to the treatment of Balaam’s ass. Watching them in action I have often marvelled at how, day after day, they have brought comfort to the afflicted, inspiration to the weary and guidance to those who search. A synagogue without a rabbi is like a body without a soul, and they more than anyone else are the builders of our community. Like them I owe much to the advice and encouragement of my predecessor, Lord Jakobovits, Rosh Beth Din Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu, and Dayanim Ivan Binstock and Menachem Gelley of the London Beth Din.

Special thanks are due to Peter Halban for the speed and professionalism with which he has brought this work into print; to Beverley-Jane Stewart for her cover illustration, painted especially for the United Synagogue’s anniversary and showing aspects of its work; and to my superb office team, led by my Executive Director Jonathan Kestenbaum, for their unfailing good humour and support. I am particularly grateful to the incorporated trustees of the Jewish community of Hong Kong for their assistance with this publication. Their new community centre is a model of its kind, and what I have written in this essay will, I hope, guide them in their ambitious plans for developing Jewish life.

It is not easy for a Chief Rabbi to find the time to write. The historian Shlomo Dov Goitein writes that it was Maimonides’ great fortune, having been appointed as Rosh haYehudim (head of the Jewish community) in Egypt, to be deposed after five years, in 1176. This gave him a twenty-year interlude in which he was able to write the Mishneh Torah and the Guide for the Perplexed. His son Rabbi Abraham was appointed Nagid (Chief Rabbi) as a young man, and he occupied the position throughout his life. This, says Goitein, was why his literary output was so limited and his place in Jewish history so relatively small.

The present study is therefore a sketch rather than a finished portrait, and any errors of detail will I hope be balanced by the broad strokes of the argument. The reason I have taken the trouble to write it is that like so many organisations that have been in existence for a long time, the United Synagogue runs the risk of being taken for granted. No institution can survive without being constantly renewed, least of all at times of change of which this is one. I have tried to set out, in a way I have not seen done before, the singularity of its achievement and the vital importance of continuing it into the future. I hope it will stimulate thought not only amongst its members but also in those outside who wish to understand why it is what it is, and why Anglo-Jewry did not develop along different lines. At the heart of the United Synagogue is an idea, one which governed and inspired Jewish communities for many centuries but which has proved difficult to sustain in the modern world. I have tried in this book to describe the history and theology of this idea and to show why its importance extends far beyond the boundaries of Anglo-Jewry.

While working on it I made a belated and serendipitous discovery. I had not previously realised that the day I was married, 14 July 1970, exactly coincided with the centenary of the United Synagogue. Its 125th anniversary was therefore our silver wedding, and this made me more than usually conscious of the debt I owe my wife Elaine, who throughout those years has been a never-failing source of encouragement and love. To her, and to our children Joshua, Dina and Gila, go my deepest thanks for helping me discover what it is for the Shekhinah, the Divine presence, to live in the midst of human relationships. That is the ultimate blessing of a community of faith.

Jonathan Sacks London Rosh Chodesh Ellul 5755