Sacks’ Haggadah Review

When I was in my teens, I resolved to explore religions other than my own…which, at the time, meant primarily the Abrahamic faiths, and only a few variations thereof, and “exploring” them meant attending a religious service or two.  This included a few denominations of Christianity, Judaism, and a Buddhist service, but I never followed up on or explored deeper tan those initiation exposures.  In my defense, I was only a teenager, and even that much was a valuable exercise.

Eventually, I did explore the Muslim faith more deeply, but mostly in the context of understanding the politics and conflicts of the Middle East over the past eight hundred years or so, and the psychology of radical Jihad.  It was Judaism, though, that most intrigued me during those early exposures and surveys.  After seeing numerous references to Judaism’s unique role in history and impact on philosophy, it still took me until now to pursue that interest in depth, with Sacks’ Haggadah.

Sacks’ Haggadah is a series of essays dedicated to the Jewish recollection of the Exodus which together explore the Jewish faith, its philosophies, its influence, and its interactions throughout history.  Written approachably, so that even someone (like me) who has only a limited background in Judaism can follow the arguments and assertions he makes, many of the essays offer unique insights that are applicable regardless of your religious faith.  And yes, even if you have no interest in religion, you can learn something, and be prompted to some new thought or insight, by reading these essays.

I often mentally link philosophy and religion, because both purport to explore morality, the human experience, and ways of thinking, but Sacks draws a distinction between religious and secular philosophy.  In particular, he notes that the pure implementation of the philosophies of Ancient Greece and the Enlightenment, widely regarded as the two most influential philosophical ages, does not preserve human freedom.  This is amply demonstrated by the difference between the American and French revolutions; the latter, in its strict adherence to purely secular philosophy, devolved into authoritarianism, exchanging the tyranny of the minority for the tyranny of the majority.  This further suggests that the gospel of individual freedom from responsibility in the modern sense may be damaging compared to a doctrine of individual freedom for responsibility.

The essays range in their topics from the historically fascinating, to challenging discussions of the repeating origins of antisemitism, which seems to arise in new forms with each generation, to detailed religious debates about what the proper time is at which to finish dinner.  So yes, some of them are of varying relevance, and I found that a few of the later essays in the collection that delved into what I will call semantical doctrine interpretation were out of place after the insight, penetrating depth, and broad moral and human relevance of the other essays.

Rather than satisfying my curiosity about Judaism, these essays only whetted my appetite, and I wish I had picked them up sooner.  The Jewish faith truly is unique in human history in its endurance and outsized influence, and many of its key ideas underpin American democracy as much as Locke’s.  The role of belief, faith, and religion in society is more complicated than many modern thinkers seem to credit, and its erosion is revealing cracks we never before considered.  It is worth considering that role further, and essays like these make an excellent place to start.  I highly recommend you explore Sacks’ Haggadah soon.