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  • Morality

  • Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times
  • By: Jonathan Sacks
  • Narrated by: Jonathan Sacks
  • Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (101 ratings)
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Morality

By: Jonathan Sacks
Narrated by: Jonathan Sacks
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Summary

Tie-in to his Radio 4 series, thought leader Jonathan Sacks on how we can build a strong collective morality for the modern era.  

In today's world of cultural climate change, argues Jonathan Sacks, we have outsourced morality to the markets on the one hand and to government on the other. If the market rewards it, it must be OK - unless the law says not to.  

Yet while the markets have brought wealth to many and the state has done much to contain the worst excesses of inequality, neither is capable of bearing the moral weight of showing us how to live.  

On the one hand, traditional values no longer hold, yet recent political swings show that modern ideals of tolerance have left many feeling rudderless and adrift. In this environment we see things fall apart in unexpected ways - toxic public discourse that makes true societal progress almost unattainable; the rise of religious extremism on the one hand and of aggressive atheism on the other; a drive for respect of all that establishes 'safe space' only where true debate is off limits.  

How can we build - or rebuild - a collective culture that is able to both respect difference and draw us together to work for the common good? Talking to key modern influences, thinkers and drawing inspiration from the Bible and the historical experience of the Jewish people, Sacks argues that there are eight key factors in establishing, maintaining and passing on resilient moral values within a broad group, among them attitudes of lifelong learning and of thanksgiving, the importance of family life and community and a culture of positive argument in place of destructive conflict.  

Combining his passionate belief in a positive way forward with a careful weighing of the realities and challenges of the position in which we find ourselves, Jonathan Sacks sets out a clear picture of a world in which we can all find our place and build a future worth working for.

Awarded Book of the Year 2020 in the National Jewish Book Awards.

©2018 Jonathan Sacks (P)2018 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

What listeners say about Morality

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Is this what we’re missing ?

I was recommended to listen to this book and agreed as a favour, though that’s not what I said at the time.
Sachs, passing not long from the finishing of this book, writes of the state of our society, of the polarisation throughout. Written accurately and with compassion he tells how the “I” has become no.1 on all sides of the political spectrum. Lamenting the lack of consideration of others he urges that we must remember this is what makes and has made our western world a good place to be born into.

Well worth the read, I’ll certainly be recommending it to others.

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Thank you Rabbi Jonathan Sacks

Absolutely brilliant - a fascinating synthesis of the decades of learning & experiences gleaned from Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks extraordinary life. Who’s parting gift was to cast a vision for covenantal politics and the possibility of moving from ‘I’ to ‘We’.

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Brilliant, must read for anyone interested in morality

What a wonderful read with, so many brilliant insights and development of ideas. Highly recommend

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Excellent

Transformational book i will be listening to it again
It should be part of the national curriculum

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A wonderful legacy

An amazing book, thoughtful, though provoking, a resource to consult regularly, a guidance. You will want to learn more about the various concepts, ideas, you will want to further educate yourself and comprehend further. Reading the end of the book will be a beginning not an end. As long as one is curious and willing to think, this book can be read again and again.

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Amazing, iconic book

It's such a sad loss to the world that Lord Rabbi Sacks died before his time. However, this book is legendary and takes deep thought, linked with common sense, and propels the reader into an impressive place of life changing thinking.

I would encourage everyone to listen to these pearls of intellectual wisdom, presented in succinct beauty. The ideas within this can unlock our abilities to enhance all of the reader's interpersonal relationships.

A homage to one of the 20th and 21st centuries greatest scholars.

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ASTUTE THINKING FOR ALARMING TIMES

Jonathan Sacks' last book will be his legacy to a world that needs to stop and hear it.
Delivered with conviction, compassion and courage the Rabbi's wisdom, combined with considerable intellectual and incisive reflection, offers a mature and beneficial way of thinking about the greater good - every thinking young person and statesman or woman should read it.

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must reas

this is the best analysis I have heard of our present social ills written by Jonathan sacks as he was dying from cancer. superb and v moving

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Thought provoking; if only

I was already a great admirer of Dr Sacks, always wishing there were more like him. I listened with great interest, as a cynical atheist myself, to his words, hoping that he is right and that I am wrong. Just after I began the book I heard that he had passed away, making his words even more poignant and touching. God Bless.

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Meticulously referenced and thoroughly argued

A powerful message for all of us, backed up by Rabbi Sacks’s immense wisdom. He shows the importance of having the right mindset as a society so we can flourish

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