Jonathan Sacks's engagement with the major social and economic problems of our time is unique in the modern rabbinate. To the best of my knowledge no contemporary rabbi of any Jewish denomination equals his breadth of reading and concern in matters ranging from globalisation to the well-being of the family. Rabbi Sacks is well equipped in philosophy, politics and sociology and seeks to take part in debates about the great issues of our time from the standpoint of orthodox Judaism. He is a gifted communicator, unusually able to make complex issues intelligible for the general public without reducing them to banality. He is also a fine rabbinic scholar with a particular expertise in Jewish philosophy.