This Fall we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ influential book The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations. Written during the tumultuous period after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2011, the book’s recommendations regarding how to engage with religious and cultural difference remain as relevant as ever in 2022. The Dignity of Difference makes a compelling case for the social contributions of religious traditions in reconciling the conflicts we see all around us: personal, social, cultural, and economic. In the past 20 years, it has become an oft-cited treatise on the ways in which diverse religious traditions are critical to overcoming the challenges of the contemporary period.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom for more than 20 years, serving from 1991-2013. He passed away in 2020 after authoring more than 35 books during his lifetime. On Wednesday October 26 we will host a panel discussion of The Dignity of Difference featuring Rabbi Samuel Spector (Congregation Kol Ami), Dr. Andrew Reed (Church History and Doctrine, BYU), and Dr. Rosalynde Welch (Neal A Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship).