PODCAST: Not By Might

Alex Israel Tradition Online | November 9, 2025

In this episode of our podcast, Tzvi Sinensky,  co-editor of TRADITION’s special issue on the intellectual legacy of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, speaks with author Alex Israel about his essay in the volume, “Not by Might: Aversion to Power in Rabbi Sacks’ Writings.” They begin with Rabbi Sacks’ 2016 debate with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin on the pages of The Jewish Review of Books about Judaism’s complicated relationship with power. From there, the conversation turns to Rabbi Sacks’ reading of Genesis as a rejection of myth and his vision of “Divine Image” as a moral counterweight to power. They discuss how Rabbi Sacks imagined a covenantal society bound by a shared narrative, and how he might have responded in the wake of October 7th.

Watch a video recording of this conversation.
See details of the special double-issue of TRADITION and order your copy.

Rabbi Alex Israel, author, podcaster and international lecturer, teaches at Midreshet Lindenbaum, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, and the Rabbi Sacks Legacy.
Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Sinensky is Director of the Lamm Legacy Project, and Director of Judaic Studies at Main Line Classical Academy.

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