Tchaikovsky and Bach were among the selections of Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks when he guested on Private Passions on Sunday – Radio 3’s version of Desert Island Discs.

But he also had room for a more contemporary choice: Simon and Garfunkel’s America.

The song reminded him of his “annus mirabilis”, 1968, when he toured America by Greyhound bus speaking to some of the leading rabbis of the day, which had a profound influence on his vocation.

It was also the year he met his wife, Elaine — the name of a character in the film The Graduate to which Simon and Garfunkel provided the soundtrack.