Former Israeli ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub chairs a panel discussion on Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’s inspirational vision on The National Library of Israel.

In 2014, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks set out his vision for the renewed National Library of Israel, expressing the exceptional connection of the Jewish people to the written word; their contribution to civilisation. Daniel Taub chairs a discussion on how this continues to resonate throughout the world of scholarship and education, and how future generations can write their own chapter. Daniel is joined by Joanna Benarroch and Rabbi Michael Laitner of the Rabbi Sacks Legacy, and Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, Dean of LSJS, and holder of the Rabbi Sacks Chair of Modern Jewish Thought.

This event will last approximately 1 hour, without an interval.

About the speakers:

Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum is Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies (LSJS) and holds the Rabbi Sacks Chair of Modern Jewish Thought, established by the Zandan family.

Joanna Benarroch joined the Office of the Chief Rabbi in 1997, and worked for Rabbi Sacks for 24 years. As Executive Director, Joanna had responsibility for running a very busy public office with multi-faceted roles, managing a wonderful team and supporting Rabbi Sacks in his day-to-day activities. When Rabbi Sacks stepped down as Chief Rabbi in 2013, Joanna transitioned to jointly run his private office. Since Rabbi Sacks’ passing in November 2020, Joanna established the Rabbi Sacks Legacy to perpetuate Rabbi Sacks’ values and teachings.

Rabbi Michael Laitner is Director of Education for the United Synagogue (UK), and Head of Research at The Rabbi Sacks Legacy. He has served in rabbinic positions at South Hampstead and Finchley (Kinloss) Synagogues, as one of the Tribe rabbis, and he is also a qualified solicitor. In his role at The Rabbi Sacks Legacy, Rabbi Laitner is responsible for assembling and researching Rabbi Sacks’ archives, and assisting with research for the forthcoming authorised biography of Rabbi Sacks. He is also among those preparing community and school educational programmes based primarily on Rabbi Sacks and the Community We Built Together, which he co-edited. Rabbi Laitner is also the co-editor of the From Exile Towards Redemption machzor (Koren Publishers) which contains contributions from Rabbi Sacks.

Daniel Taub is an Israeli diplomat and international lawyer. He moved to Israel in 1989. Since that time, has served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) as a combat medic and as a reserve officer in the international law division. He began to work for the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 1991 and has held many legal and diplomatic posts. From 2011 to 2015, he served as Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and from 2015 to 2021 as Director of Strategy and Planning of the Yad Hanadiv (Rothschild) Foundation. He has written extensively on Israel and the Middle East, including articles in The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph and The Huffington Post. Mr. Taub writes and lectures widely on international law and negotiation theory.