The Space We Create

Topic: Belief & Faith

If we listen, God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. If we do not, He is further away than the most distant star. Religion is an elaborate discipline of paying attention. Faith is the space we create for God.

Jonathan Sacks

Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks, was born on March 8, 1948, in Lambeth, London. He became a notable British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author, and politician. From 1991 to 2013, he served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, playing a pivotal role in guiding and representing Jewish communities across the region.

Beyond his leadership in the Jewish community, Sacks was deeply passionate about character education, morality, and the importance of family. He frequently emphasized the role of ethical teachings in forming well-rounded individuals and believed in the necessity of strong family bonds for a stable society. An accomplished author, his books often explored the intersections of faith, morality, and contemporary challenges, aiming to make religious insights relevant to a wide audience. These works not only resonated within religious circles but also found acclaim in academic and political spheres due to their timely and profound insights.

Sacks passed away on November 7, 2020, in London. His legacy, marked by interfaith dialogue, advocacy for character education, and a steadfast commitment to the Jewish community, continues to inspire many. He is survived by his wife, Elaine Taylor Sacks, whom he married in 1970.

(1948-2020) Judaism

Sacks, Jonathan. "Where we let Him in." Celebrating Life. Continuum, 2002. 83. Print.

Jonathan Sacks

Theme: Belief and Faith

About This Jonathan Sacks Quotation [Commentary]

Jonathan Sacks places the emphasis of faith not on distance but on attention. “If we listen,” he says, “God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.” “If we do not, He is further away than the most distant star.” The question, then, is not whether God is present, but whether we are present. So when Jonathan Sacks writes, “Religion is an elaborate discipline of paying attention,” he describes faith as a way of turning heart and mind toward the One who is already near. Within Belief and Faith, the point is clear: faith is not merely something we think, but a way of listening and making room.

That is why “Faith is the space we create for God” stands at the center of the passage. Jonathan Sacks does not speak of faith as certainty, possession, or control. He speaks of “the space we create,” an inward act of welcome, humility, and readiness. The sequence of ideas matters: “If we listen,” God is near; “Religion is an elaborate discipline of paying attention”; then, “Faith is the space we create for God.” Faith begins not in having everything settled, but in creating an opening within the soul.

Jonathan Sacks then makes that opening even clearer: “Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty.” It is “not knowing all the answers.” It is often “the strength to live with the questions.” In these words, faith is neither escape nor invulnerability. It is the courage to remain open to God in vulnerability, and through that, to “reach out to others,” able to understand “their fears and doubts.” Faith creates space for God, and in that same space, it opens the heart to other human beings.

Jonathan Sacks, Where we let Him in [Excerpts]

“Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859) was one of the most remarkable figures of the populist Jewish mystical movement known as Hassidism. Angular, unconventional, passionate in his search for truth, he was compared by the late A. J. Heschel to his Christian near-contemporary, Søren Kierkegaard. Both were complex and tormented figures who spent their lives, like the biblical Jacob, ‘wrestling with God and with men’.

It is said that on one occasion, at the third Sabbath meal, when the atmosphere of the holy day is at its most intense, the rabbi turned to his disciples and asked, ‘Where does God live!

They were stunned by the strangeness of the question. “What does the rabbi mean, “Where does God live?” Where does God not live? Surely we are taught that there is no place devoid of His presence. He fills the heavens and the earth.’

‘No,’ said the rabbi. ‘You have not understood. God lives where we let Him in.’

That story has always seemed to me more profound than many learned volumes of theology. God is there, but only when we search. He teaches, but only when we are ready to learn. He has always spoken, but we have not always listened. The question is never, ‘Where is God?’ It is always, ‘Where are we?’ The problem of faith is not God but mankind. The central task of religion is to create an opening in the soul…”

“If we listen, God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. If we do not, He is further away than the most distant star. Religion is an elaborate discipline of paying attention. Faith is the space we create for God.

Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty. It is not knowing all the answers. It is often the strength to live with the questions. It is not a sense of invulnerability. It is the knowledge that we are utterly vulnerable, but that it is precisely in our vulnerability that we reach out to God, and through this learn to reach out to others, able to understand their fears and doubts. We learn to share, and in sharing discover the road to freedom. It is only because we are not gods that we are able to discover God.”

—Sacks, Jonathan. “Where we let Him in.” Celebrating Life. Continuum, 2002. 83. Print.

The Space We Create

Resources

Related Quotes