Lord Sacks’ latest animation tackles the politics of hope

Former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks has launched his latest whiteboard animation series which reaches beyond Judaism to be “more universalist in appeal”.

The prolific author and world-renowned scholar unveiled a series of six short animated videos dealing with ideas such as diversity and religious violence, having previously released two focusing on Jewish identity and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

In a nod to today’s social media age and the way information is digested, the peer has chosen to convey his ideas using the whiteboard videos, in which an artist draws the concepts Sacks is voicing – while he is voicing them.

The first video is based on his 1997 book ‘The Politics of Hope’ is which he analyses the rise of the ‘politics of anger’ in the West today and explores whether it might be possible to create a different kind of politics.

Later videos include the dignity of difference, integrated diversity, the relationship between religion and science, understanding and confronting religious violence, and the ethics of responsibility.

He said: “I hope that this series will highlight some of the ideas I have thought most deeply about over the past 30 years, and present them to a new and younger generation in a dynamic and inspiring way.”

You can watch the first episode of the new series here: