FT_Weekend_Magazine_-_April_4-5_2020

26 FT.COM/MAGAZINE APRIL 4/ 52020

A

discordant note rumbledinthe

backgroundwhenIvisitedJonathan

Sackslastmonthathishomeinnorth

London to discuss his loveof music.

It was not the traffic.Atthetimeof

our meeting,alarm aboutcoronavi-

rus hadbegun to growin theUKbut it had notyet

reachedthe shrill pitch of preoccupation that has

nowdrivenall other thoughts frompeople’sminds.

“This is the moment of all moments for faith

communities,”theformerchief rabbioftheUnited

HebrewCongregations of the BritishCommon-

wealthtells meoverthe telephone twoweeks

after my triptohis house. “People arereallyacting

likeangels,I’veneverseenanything likeit.In his

bookAmericanGrace,Harvard sociologyprofes-

sorRobert Putnam documents theextraordinary

poweroffaithcommunitiestogeneratesocialcap-

ital. That ispeoplereachingout toone another to

help.Weareseeing that right now.Faith communi-

tiesarebeing judgednotbywhat theybelievebut

what theydo.”

Likebillions of others around theworld, Rabbi

Sacks is in lockdown, confinedtothe house he

Throughgoodtimesandbad,theUK’sformerchiefrabbihasfoundsolaceinhislifelong

passionformusic.HetalkstoLudovic Hunter-Tilneyabouthisfavouritepieces,taking

asynagoguechoirtoIsraelintheaftermathofasuicidebombingandwhyrightnowisthe

‘momentofallmoments’forcommunitiesoffaith.PhotographsbyEleonoraAgostini

Out of Office

Jonathan Sacks

‘Wecan’t do this

on ourown,so

let’sdoittogether’

26

shareswith his wife Elaine. “For me, theBook

ofPsalmsasawholespeaks to thisparticular

moment,”he says,beforequotingPsalm 23 ,which

isrecitedoveradeadbodybeforeburial inJuda-

ism:ThoughIwalkthroughthevalleyoftheshadowof

death,yetwillIfearnoevil,foryouarewithme.

“That’sthe most important line for me in the

BookofPsalms,”heexplains.“Itresonatesthrough

Jewish history and itresonateswith meperson-

ally.Theancient Greekphilosopher Plotinus,who

wasn’tJewish of course, is goodon this.Hecalled

faith ‘the flightof thealone to theAlone’.”

Music is capableofsimilar moments of uplift.

That was thereason for my visitafortnight pre-

viouslytoSacks’shome. It isapassion of his,

inculcatedbytripstoclassicalconcertsattheRoyal

Albert Hall with his father in the 1960s.“I’mnot

remotelyprofessional.Ican’tread music and I

can’tplaymusic.Iloveitwithacompletelyuntu-

toredjoy,”hetold me aswesat in his livingroom.

Let’srewind back to that vanishedworldof

face-to-facecontact.Thesceneisaneatlycarpeted

room linedwithbooks and pictures,inahouse

offabusyroad.Rabbi Sacks,who is 72, livesin▶