Rabbi Sacks 101 with Dr. Tanya White

Fate, Faith & Foil‑Wrapped Ovens

While ChayaLeah was literally wrapping her kitchen in tin foil to survive Pesach, we invited Dr. Tanya White, a Senior lecturer at Matan Women’s Institute for Torah Studies and lecturer in Jewish Philosophy at Bar Ilan University, to join us to discuss the philosophy of the world-renowned Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and her podcast, Books & Beyond, which discusses some of his most prominent works.

• Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Explained. Why the late Chief Rabbi can be quoted in a Chabad farbrengen, a Reform sermon, and a Hartman colloquium—sometimes on the same Shabbat.

• Fate → Faith → Fridge Cleaning. Tanya walks us through Rabbi Sacks’ move “from fate to faith,” his “letter in the scroll” metaphor, and what it means for every Jew who’s ever asked, “Do I really matter?” (Yes, even you.)

• Invisible Strings & Horizontal Hugs. Meet the vertical string to Heaven (halacha) and the horizontal string across Am Yisrael—plus how both strings got yanked on 7 October.

• Sacks, Soloveitchik & the Lubavitcher Rebbe Walk into a Bar. How an existentialist, a Hasidic visionary, and the world’s politest Brit forged a Judaism that both debates Richard Dawkins and comforts nervous college freshmen.

• Bonus Material. Burnt ovens, Pharaoh slander, avocado farming on a Yemeni moshav, and the time a rebbetzin tried to cancel Rabbi Sacks in the middle of a shiur (spoiler: it did not go well).

Now that we’re all eating Chametz again, grab a piece of toast, and enjoy our interview with the outstanding Tanya White. Make sure to check out her podcast and the rest of her work at www.tanyawhite.org.

This was one of my favorite episodes. Enjoy!