Rabbi Lord Sacks recognised for ‘bridge building’ between Jews and Christians

Former chief rabbi Lord Sacks has been given a prestigious award in recognition of his work building bridges between Jews and Christians.

The faith leader was presented with the Council of Christian and Jews (CCJ)’s 2018 Bridge Award David Lidington MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, during a Downing street ceremony on Wednesday.

On receiving the award, now in its second year, Rabbi Lord Sacks said: “In Britain, for almost 2,000 years, the history of Jewish-Christian relations had been scarred by tragedy.

Today, our faiths, estranged for centuries, meet as friends. We owe much of that to the pioneering work of the Council of Christians and Jews whose example continues to inspire today.”

During his time as chief rabbi, between 1993-2013, Lord Sacks served as president of CCJ and helped strengthen links between the two communities though his work, writings and public speaking.

He has continued to promote strong inter-communal links between faiths since leaving office through animated videos and most recently, featuring in a series about morality on BBC Radio 4.

CCJ trustees decided to award him the prize in October, with Lord Michael Howard, who attended the ceremony, calling him “an outstanding recipient”.

“We salute him for the work he has done building bridges between people of different faiths and long may he continue to do so.”

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