Tradition in an Untraditional Age

First published in 1990, Tradition in an Untraditional Age is a scholarly yet accessible collection of fifteen essays by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

The book addresses the tension between modernity and tradition in Judaism through studies of four major Jewish thinkers—Rabbis Samson Raphael Hirsch, Moses Sofer, Abraham Isaac Kook, and Joseph Soloveitchik.

It covers topics such as the Holocaust, Jewish-Christian relations, Jewish economic ethics, and religious alienation and return.

The work also sets an agenda for future Jewish thought, emphasizing the need for unity and engagement within the Jewish community and with other faiths.

These essays predate Rabbi Sacks's tenure as Chief Rabbi but introduce themes that shaped his later influential works.