New book prize inaugurated in memory of Rabbi Sacks - The Jewish Chronicle

A new book prize to encourage Jewish thought has been inaugurated in memory of the late Rabbi Sacks. The Sacks Book Prize, worth around £37,000 ($50,000), will be open to a new work of Jewish ideas sourced in Jewish texts either six months before or after publication. It is being offered by Yeshiva University in New York, where Rabbi Sacks taught for a number of years, and will be judged by an independent committee in conjunction with the UK-based Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust. Lady Elaine Sacks, Rabbi Sacks’s widow, will be one of the judges of the first prize. Erica Brown, the inaugural director of the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Centre for Jewish Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University, said, “Rabbi Sacks believed profoundly in the power of the written word. Presenting a new literary award in his honour is an important recognition of his commitment to the flourishing of the Jewish bookshelf.” Meanwhile Dan Sacker, long-time adviser to Rabbi Sacks and his director of communications, who helped to set up the trust, is leaving at the end of February after a decade of service to become a director of global advisory firm Milltown Partners. Jonny Lipczer, director of communications at World Mizrachi, will join the trust to work with its chief executive Joanna Benarroch. Mr Sacker said, "I count it as one of the blessings of my life to have worked with Rabbi Sacks up until his tragic passing in November 2020 and, since then, for the Rabbi Sacks Legacy Trust. “Rabbi Sacks was a generational and transcendent figure, whose teachings and wisdom made a deep impact on me. Through my work, I’ve seen how Rabbi Sacks influenced individuals at all levels of society, from all faiths, all around the world.” Henry Grunwald, who chaired the trust, is also stepping down next month after eight years helping to support Rabbi Sacks’s work. He will hand the reins to Elliott Goldstein, a son-in-law of Rabbi Sacks.