Rabbi Sacks prioritized Jewish schools over political meetings in 1993
The late chief rabbi argued that elementary education holds the highest place in Jewish charity law, a view supported by historical responsa from 16th and 19th-century scholars.
By Lauren Mitchell ·
Lord Jonathan Sacks, who served as chief rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1991, argued that Jewish education is the highest priority for communal funding. In a 1994 book titled 'Will We Have Jewish Grandchildren?', Sacks stated that late marriage, low fertility rates, and indifference threatened Jewish continuity more than intermarriage alone. He identified Jewish education as the primary solution to these demographic and cultural challenges.
Sacks illustrated this priority with a scheduling conflict in 1993. He received invitations to both a lunch with the British Prime Minister at Chequers and the opening of a new Jewish school in London on the same day. Sacks declined the Prime Minister's invitation to attend the school opening. He wrote that he regretfully chose the school over the political meeting, demonstrating his belief that education takes precedence over high-level political engagement.
The argument for prioritizing elementary schools is rooted in halachic literature. In mid-16th-century Turkey, a wealthy man died without specifying how to distribute his charity funds. The Maharshdam, Rav Shmuel Di Medina of Salonica, ruled that the money should go to the highest level of charity. Citing the Gemara in Shabbos 119b, he determined that the world survives through the Torah study of children, who are free from sin due to their age. Consequently, the funds were allocated to a large elementary school rather than to poorer relatives or other institutions.
Later authorities reinforced this view. Rav Ephraim Navon of 18th-century Turkey permitted a donor to change an endowment from a small adult kollel to a full-time elementary school teacher. Navon argued that the Torah study of children sustains the world and therefore holds greater merit than adult study. This position aligns with the logic that more people performing a mitzvah together generates greater spiritual value than fewer people doing so.
However, 19th-century scholars raised objections. Rav Raphael Yosef Chazzan noted a passage in the Gemara in Berachos 8a stating that God now only has the four cubits of halacha. Chazzan interpreted this to mean that high-level study of halacha merits higher priority than any other study. He argued that this contradicts the earlier emphasis on children's education. Rav Chaim Palaggi favored Chazzan's interpretation but adopted a middle position to respect the majority of authorities who sided with the Maharshdam.
A reconciliation emerged through the interpretation of Maimonides. He viewed the passage about the four cubits of halacha as a declaration about the uniqueness of true loyalty to the letter and spirit of Jewish law. Under this view, schools that teach proper character traits and Jewish values qualify as distinguished gates of halacha. Elementary schools that train students to internalize these messages serve the same function as high-level institutions. This perspective supports Sacks' emphasis on education as a tool for forming a generation whose knowledge shapes its conduct and commitments.
Sacks published his initial arguments in 1994, but a 2024 edition of his book continues to circulate. His approach to communal funding prioritized the creation of a faithful Torah personality over the preservation of institutional monuments. The responsa literature from Turkey and Spain provides the legal foundation for this ranking, placing the education of children at the top of the hierarchy of charity.
Source: Jewish Link of NJ
