Happiness and Joy: Rabbi Sacks’ Dialogue of Athens and Jerusalem

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks left for posterity a unique dialogue between Judaism and contemporary culture: he engaged Western culture from the perspective of Judaism, and he interpreted the Jewish tradition in the light of Western culture. He maintained that the particularistic message of Judaism best addresses the universal human condition. A trained moral philosopher, he was intimately familiar with the discourse on happiness in Western culture from Aristotle to the present and the concepts of “happiness” and “joy” featured prominently in his moral philosophy and social theory. As an Orthodox Jew, Rabbi Sacks maintained that the Judaic worldview and way of life assure the attainment of what all humans seek—namely, happiness—while teaching humanity the true meaning of happiness—namely, joy. This chapter explicates (a) how Rabbi Sacks understood the concepts of happiness and joy; (b) how his analysis of these concepts relates to his views on the relationship of science and religion (or “Athens” and “Jerusalem) respectively; and (c) why Rabbi Sacks said relatively little about the way medieval Jewish philosophers absorbed and engaged the Aristotelian discourse on happiness. Explicating Rabbi Sacks’ views on happiness and joy sheds light on his own spiritual leadership.