Leadership, however, did not mean producing only rabbis or educators. Rabbi Sacks envisaged leaders in every sphere of society – business, medicine, law, public service, philanthropy and education. Students should leave school, he argued, with “a sense of both privilege and responsibility”.
The vision of Rabbi Sacks is an opportunity for Immanuel College to renew its mission with a focus on developing students’ character, courage and skills to lead with purpose. The pursuit of excellence cannot merely be reflected in the school’s exam results, it is the drive to explore one’s talents and strengths, take responsibility and make a unique contribution to society.
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Why, then, was this vision not fully realised in the decades that followed?
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the overriding priority was simply establishing Jewish schools. That alone was a formidable challenge for our community. Building academic credibility, recruiting teachers, expanding facilities and ensuring financial sustainability inevitably became the immediate focus.
Rabbi Sacks, however, was already looking beyond those first challenges. He insisted that secondary schools should focus on developing an inherent sense of Jewish responsibility in Jewish students.
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At the same time, he warned against compartmentalisation. Judaism, he argued, must never become something confined to synagogue, Jewish studies lessons or Jewish family life. Unless students saw Judaism speaking to contemporary ethical, professional and social questions, they would grow into adults whose Jewish identity and public lives were disconnected.
His warning remains one of the most powerful passages in the document: “Unless this issue is confronted…the school will then produce leaders who aren’t Jews and Jews who aren’t leaders.”
Few observations feel more relevant today.
Young Jews are growing up in a world of unprecedented complexity. They face questions surrounding technology, artificial intelligence, ethics, identity, Israel, social media and global citizenship that previous generations could scarcely have imagined. More than ever, they need a Judaism that speaks confidently to every aspect of life, not only to ritual observance but also to leadership, public responsibility and moral courage.
Rabbi Sacks also insisted that the new secondary school must never become inward-looking. Jewish identity should be global rather than provincial.
“The school must place its Judaism in the real world,” he wrote. “To be a Jew is neither provincial nor parochial…To be a Jew is…to have a deep bond of peoplehood that is a source of identity, responsibility and pride.”
Rabbi Sacks’s aspirations are reflected in our plans for Immanuel College as we aim to form global educational partnerships and meaningful student exchanges across the Jewish world.
Rabbi Sacks’s 1988 document feels less like a historical document than a strategic blueprint waiting for its moment. Many of the ideas he articulated were ahead of their time. They required confidence, maturity and a willingness to change our perception of Jewish secondary education.
As Immanuel College begins a new chapter, Rabbi Sacks’s vision has not diminished with age. If anything, it has become more compelling. In a world hungry for principled leadership, his challenge remains intact: not simply teaching Jewish students, but educating Jewish students whose learning inspires leadership, who possess both the confidence and courage to build a global Jewish future.
Rabbi Cobi Ebrahimoff is designate CEO of Immanuel College and UK director of education at the Rabbi Sacks Legacy
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