Influential British rabbi Jonathan Sacks dies at 72

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, a widely admired teacher and prolific writer who connected Jewish thought with a larger concern for universal human values, died on November 7.

He was 72 and had undergone treatment for several bouts with cancer, which he was first diagnosed with in his thirties.

A proponent of interfaith understanding, Sacks was a Modern Orthodox rabbi with wide crossover appeal to other Jewish groups and to non-Jews. He was easily the best known and most recognizable European rabbinic authority. He was a frequent visitor to the United States, where he taught courses at New York University and Yeshiva University, and to Israel, where he led classes at the Hebrew University.