Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Steve Jobs

Inspired by a post by Garnel Ironheart as well as my response there, I've decided to expand on the issue of the Chief Rabbi's remarks about consumerism and how they may have been misinterpreted, which caused Rabbi Sacks' office to issue a statement of clarification.

Please read those posts before continuing on here.

Rabbi Sacks is entirely correct in criticizing the plague of consumerism that threatens our society today. In fact, he has done so already when he wrote about the riots in London and how they also indicated that the world has some deeply ingrained issues revolving around our consumerism sickness:

"But what we have witnessed is a real, deep-seated and frightening failure of morality. These were not rebels with or without a cause. They were mostly bored teenagers, setting fire to cars for fun and looting shops for clothes, shoes, electronic gadgets and flat screen televisions. If that is not an indictment of the consumer society, what is?"

Rabbi Sack's most recent remarks are entirely leshitaso (according to his previously established views). I think he has written other pieces about this devastating trend as well - and he is right to do so!

Here are a few of his sharpest remarks from the address that has come under scrutiny:

"The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i, i, i.

"When you're an individualist, egocentric culture and you only care about 'i', you don't do terribly well."

He went on: "What does a consumer ethic do? It makes you aware all the time of the things you don't have instead of thanking God for all the things you do have.

"If in a consumer society, through all the advertising and subtly seductive approaches to it, you've got an iPhone but you haven't got a fourth-generation one, the consumer society is in fact the most efficient mechanism ever devised for the creation and distribution of unhappiness."

This is Emes, pure and simple.

I once heard a recorded shiur from Rabbi Dr. Johnny Krug in which he talked about how our consumerism has gone so far that we take the "use it and throw it away" approach to our relationships as well, especially marriage. He said that we're so used to the idea of disposable products, which are there for our convenience but have none of the responsibility of maintenance and upkeep as real glass or metal utensils, that we think we can do that to spouses as well. If he/she doesn't do exactly what I want, doesn't please me the way I want, or if someone tells me something better is out there - out he/she goes, and I'm on to the next spouse.

It's a disturbing, sickening way to think and live, no "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s.

Don't get me wrong, Steve Jobs was a revolutionary designer and businessman. We certainly owe him gratitude for the wonderful products he helped create, produce and market. He had a unique creative genius that won't soon be replaced.

However, as I began to read all the news reports, articles, and quotations that came out after his recent death, I came to the conclusion that all Steve Jobs was could be encapsulated by his accomplishments in the business world. As a moral person, he was no role model whatsoever, as a number of prominent events from his life attest to, such as cheating his friend and future partner Steve Wozniak out of a bonus at work, or leaving his pregnant girlfriend after she refused to have an abortion.

When ASoG and I were in an airport recently waiting for our connecting flight, I walked over to the nearby bookstore and flipped through a few of the prominently displayed books about Jobs. One book was a large listing of quotes on various subjects. I was struck by a particular quote that talked about the production of Toy Story 2 by Pixar, which he owned at the time. Jobs spoke about working his employees to the bone, making them miss family occasions/celebrations, holidays, and weekends for an extended period of time to make sure the movie was released on schedule. Jobs said it was grueling and difficult at the time, but the product was entirely worth it and he thinks his employees would agree.

I enjoyed the movie, but my perception of it now is a bit tainted by the fact that Jobs forced people to slave away and miss parts of their lives for the sake of a product, work of art, or whatever you want to call it. I don't think that's right - and Jobs did this a lot in his Apple product design and development as well. I read numerous pieces that talked about how much of an unforgiving task master he was in controlling his employees. None of that is something to be proud of or worth emulating. A true leader can and should inspire greatness in those in his charge without resorting to the tactics that Steve Jobs did.

A real model of leadership worth emulating can be found in Rabbi Sacks' essay on the concept of Jewish leadership based in the parshiyos Nitzavim-Vayelech here.

Another huge critique I discovered of Steve Jobs following his death was the fact that despite all the enormous sums of money he earned for his products, he never became a philanthropist of any sort. A short time before Jobs' death, reporters wrote about the breaking news that Apple had more cash than the US Government. These writers joked about President Obama looking to Jobs for a loan to help with the debt crisis. It was funny then, but not so funny to me now when I think about the fact that Jobs never did anything charitable with all his money. In my mind, anyone with a significant amount of wealth should use it wise to give and benefit others in need, as Jobs' rival, Bill Gates has done in co-founding The Giving Pledge.

In many ways, Steve Jobs was a big jerk. Yes, he revolutionized the way we compute, listen to music, and browse the internet/media with the Apple/Mac computer, iPod/iTunes, and iPad. But when it comes down to it, his lasting legacy is giving the world a bunch of fancy toys to play with.

As we say in Tehillim 49:17, which is recited at funerals - "When he dies, he shall take nothing with him. His wealth/honor will not descend after him."

I'm not writing this post to besmirch the name of Steve Jobs - I think he did that well enough himself while he was living. I want to support Rabbi Sacks' remarks, because I believe he is correct in his criticism. His message is one that we all need to hear - and that Steve Jobs may have benefited from, had he been given the chance.

Let us enjoy the gifts we have, and recognize their source as Koheles says 3:13 "And also every man should eat and drink and enjoy pleasure (or I might translate: see good) in his labor - it is a gift from G-d." I hope that we can all learn to lead lives that are charitable and full of caring for others. No one said that we should live austere lives without pleasure, rather, we should live comfortably within our means - and make sure to give to and do chesed for others less fortunate than we.

And in doing so, let's focus on what's really important, as the penultimate posuk in Koheles (12:13) says: "The end of the matter, all having been heard: fear G-d, and keep His mitzvos; for this is the whole of man."

Why Can't America Have A Chief Rabbi This Cool!?

For those who aren't in the know, Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth Lord Jonathan Sacks and his wife, Lady Elaine, have been visiting YU all week. On Tuesday he received the first-ever Lamm Prize, which is a new award that YU will be giving out to those outstanding individuals who represent the hashkafic values of Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm and Yeshiva University (think outstanding Torah Umadda personality). If anyone deserved to be the first recipient, it is the Chief Rabbi.

The Chief (as my British friends from yeshiva call him) gave an outstanding acceptance speech on Tuesday night. While the recording has not yet been made available on YUTorah.org yet, (though you can a handful of other shiurim by him here), Chana at The Curious Jew has a great, near-complete transcript. Make sure you hear the recorded version, whenever that gets posted. I imagine that they're waiting until after tomorrow's Kollel Yom Rishon lecture to post all his shiurim he gave this week.

I also was lucky enough to attend the Rabbi Sacks Bonanza Shabbaton at Stern on Friday/Shabbos, where I was priviledged to hear many more fascinating, inspiring words from the Chief Rabbi.

As a side note, before anyone starts criticizing me for going to a shabbaton on the women's campus - I did NOT go to meet girls, and am in fact "busy" as they say. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I couldn't pass up, and I am quite glad I went.

Before davening Friday night, Rabbi Sacks asked (repeated and broadcast by President Joel) to make sure the davening was lively. The five Maccabeats (don't forget their free concert/album release party this upcoming Tuesday!) on hand definitely delivered with a very rousing Carlebach-style Kabbalos Shabbos. It was an amazing sight to see Rabbi Sacks grab the hands of the few guys standing nearest him and start dancing up and down the aisle of the theater (the shul is the Stern theater where they have their play and where the annual Battle of the Bands takes place). He's definitely a very cool guy, if I may say so.

I can't possibly repeat everything that Rabbi Sacks said over Shabbos, so a few short snippets will have to suffice.

Shabbos night after dinner, Rabbi Sacks had an "informal conversation" with President Richard Joel, which consisted of a set of predetermined questions, which were embellished a little by President Joel in humorous ways.

When asked in he always intended to be a Chief Rabbi and a lord, Rabbi Sacks replied that he actually had no intention to be a rabbi at all. He initially wanted to be a professor of economics, a tenured fellow at his university (Cambridge), or a barrister, and only began officially learning for rabbanus at 25. However, as it turns out, he has been able to achieve each of those goals despite his choice of profession and appointment as Chief Rabbi. Cambridge made him an honorary professor (and he has lectured in economics), and he was also made an honorary barrister and has lectured in the English courts.

Rabbi Sacks then quoted a line from one of his books (he didn't mention the title, and I'm going to paraphrase at any rate) that spoke about how G-d has a specific role/job in mind for every person in life. How do we know that we've found our tachlis in life? "When your passion coincides with a task that needs to be done" - and that combination lets you fulfill a necessary, personally meaningful role in the world.

As for becoming a lord, he said that was up to the decision of someone higher up, and not something you can aspire toward.

When asked how he met his wife, Rabbi Sacks replied that he and a friend had seen his future wife and another young woman while they were in university, approached them and invited them for dinner (which he prepared) back at their apartment.

At this point, President Joel interrupted Rabbi Sacks and asked him if he meant to say he was introduced by a shadchan. Rabbi Sacks said that this was before shadchanim arrived in Cambridge - "back when the world was sane." That comment drew a huge applause from the Stern students (and presumably some of the YU guys as well) in the crowd.

When asked how he knew Lady Elaine was going to be his wife, Rabbi Sacks said he knew because the woman who could eat the chicken that he prepared must have been one he'd spend the rest of his life with (that drew some laughs from the crowd).

Another side note: Rabbi Sacks mentioned that he and Lady Elaine would be celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary this year!

Rabbi Sacks remarked that we can never know what impact we have in our lifetime - since we aren't around to read our own complete biography. He told us about his experience sitting shiva for his father, and how seemingly random people came from near and far to visit him and his brothers to tell them stories of kidnesses their father had performed 50-60 years ago. Despite his impression that his father had been a fairly unsuccessful schmatta seller in England's equivalent of the Lower East Side, these acts of chesed stuck in these visitor's minds for over half a century. Rabbi Sacks wondered to himself why these people couldn't have told his father how much gratitude they had for him during his lifetime! Then he realized that such is the way of life - you simply can't know the extent of the good that you have done, even how much the little things matter, while you're alive. As such, we should never underestimate any little thing we do, and always consider every act and opportunity to help someone out with the greatest importance. You never know what might come of it.

On Shabbos day Rabbi Sacks gave the drasha after davening. He started off be saying this was a Pesach thought that we could take with us to use on the upcoming Yom Tov. A number of years ago when he and his wife were visiting a community in Hong Kong, they returned to their hotel after a long day and turned on the TV. They happened to be watching a show on the Discovery Channel about the palaces built during the era of Ramses II in Pi-Ramesses (IE Pisom and Ramses from Shemos). Rabbi Sacks was fascinated by the descriptions the narrator gave of the near-pristine condition of these vast, impressive structures.

After a few minutes, he stopped himself and thought: who built these anyway? Bnei Yisrael! Ramses II was supposedly the Pharoah during the Exodus. He imagined himself going back to that time 3300 years ago and introducing himself to Ramses the Great. He would say that he was a visitor from the distant future and wanted to share with him some good and bad news. The good news was that a certain people that exist now will still be well known the world over 33 centuries in the future. The bad news: it's those slaves that are working away constructing his magnificent monuments.

Rabbi Sacks went on to explain that the story of Yetzias Mitzayim does not relate just to Bnei Yisrael, but rather all of humanity, with Bnei Yisrael as the crowning jewel. He referenced the fact Martin Luther King Jr. referenced Moshe Rabbeinu's final speech to Bnei Yisrael in what was (tragically) his own final speech, regarding having seen the promised land, etc. It goes to show the influence that we've had across the people of the world, including spawning two other monotheistic religions. There is no doubt (and he spoke about this a bit more at Shalosh Seudos as well) that the Jewish people have been the inspiration and cause for so many world changing movements - it's impossible to deny the central significance of our existence.

At Shalosh Seudos Rabbi Sacks told us two amazing stories, both seemingly minor, but extremely impactful private moments from his career as as Chief Rabbi. He told us how Natan Sharansky once called him up on a Friday, asking for Rabbi Sacks to arrange a meeting between him and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams the following Sunday. Despite the difficulties of setting up a meeting on such short notice (Rabbi Sacks joked that this was an example of Israeli bitachon), that Sunday is the Archbishop's shabbos, it was the busiest Sunday ever for the Archbishop (the scandal of the orgination of a gay bishop in America had just taken place), the Archbishop agreed after a quick phone call.

Instead of discussing politics, Rabbi Sacks suggested that Sharansky talk about his little volume of Tehillim that he, as a secular Jew, had smuggled into prison at the suggestion of his wife when he was incarcerated by the Russian government. Rabbi Sacks said that his wife new that the little Tehillim "had some power to it," hence her suggestion. Unfortunately, the prison guards realized this as well and promptly confiscated it. After three years of protesting for its return, he received his little Tehillim back. However, Sharansky didn't know Hebrew. He was, however, a brilliant mathemetician and chess genius, so he treated Hebrew as a code to decifer, and slowly began to figure out what words and phrases meant.

Eventually, he taught himself enough to be able to read and understand a full sentence, which made him feel as though G-d Himself were speaking directly to him. The first sentence that Natan Sharansky understood was Tehillin 23:4 (from Mizmor L'David, which we sang right afterward) - "Gam ki elech bigei tzalmaves, lo irah ra ki ata imadi" - "though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I fear no evil, because You are with me." This was the story that Natan Sharansky shared with the Archbishop. Rabbi Sacks marvelled at how this basically secular Jew was teaching a lesson in faith to the Archbishop of Canterbury!

The second story was from 1995 when he was part of the official British delegation to the funeral of the late Yitzchak Rabin. Flying back on the plane in the ambassador section was Rabbi Sacks, then Prime Minister John Major, soon-to-be-the-next Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Prince Charles. Rabbi Sacks was supposed to sit next to Tony Blair (I think) but instead switched seats so that he could sit next to John Major - since the two political rivals had never shared such close quarters before. The seating was 2 pairs facing on another and another pair on the ends facing inward - so Rabbi Sacks was now sitting on the end, facing Prince Charles, and learning the weekly parsha from a mikraos gedolos.

Tony Blair noticed the sefer and asked him what it was, and remarked that he was fascinated by the format of the page layout - he had never seen a book with all sorts of different sections on a single page like that (not even the annotated Shakespeare which has 4 'perushim,' Rabbi Sacks joked). After explaining what it was and who all the commentators were, Tony Blair asked him (from the perspective of a good Christian) why is it that our book (the "Old Testament") is so much more interesting than their book (the "New Testament"). Rabbi Sacks replied it was because there is much more politics in ours (haha). Blair then requested that Rabbi Sacks teach them all something from what he was learning, and he proceeded to do so. Prince Charles rose from his seat and stood in the aisle for an hour listening to the impromptu shiur!

Rabbi Sacks was amazed at the power and influence that Jews have in the world, and quietly said to himself after he concluded: "Va'adabeira v'eidosecha neged malachim, v'lo eivosh" - "I will speak of Your testimonies before kings and not be ashamed" (Tehillim 119:46). He proceeded to tell us that we must be proud of who we are as frum Jews. In living our lives as examples of the Torah-observant lifestyle, we can truly influence the world at large.

As an interesting side-note, Rabbi Sacks also mentioned to Prince Charles that he was the first member of the royal family to visit Israel in an official capacity. Charle's father has visited the grave of Charle's paternal grandmother several times - she was a Greek Orthodox Christian who saved a number of Jews during the holocaust, and thus merited a special burial in Yerushalayim. So while they had been to her grave in the past, that was private and unrelated to their official position.

Anyway, it was such a pleasure to be around Rabbi Sacks and hear words of Torah from him. I greatly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to go to the Kollel Yom Rishon tomorrow (you'll need to register here) starting at 9:30 AM. Rabbi Sacks will actually be speaking at 10:30 AM on the topic of "A Seder Night That Changed History." I'm sure it will be fascinating!

Have a great week!