By Pearl Markovitz  September 25, 2025

Erica Brown and JBS’s Justin Pines in conversation. (Credit: Jiaci Yan/The Rabbi Sacks Legacy)

Congregation Ahavath Torah of Englewood hosted a three-pronged milestone event on the evening of Sept. 9. In conjunction with the Jewish Broadcast Service (JBS-TV), and in partnership with the Simchat Torah Challenge, the event marked the publication in September of the new Magerman Edition “Koren Shalem Humash,” which coincides with the fifth yahrzeit of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, zt”l, whose outstanding English commentary is featured in the new publication.

“For decades, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l inspired the Jewish world with his profound wisdom, bridging ancient tradition with contemporary thought. With the publication of the Magerman Edition of the Koren Shalem Humash, Rabbi Sacks’ legacy will be perpetuated and available to all in a precise and elegant format. The Koren team, in partnership with the Rabbi Sacks Legacy, has meticulously crafted this Humash to make Rabbi Sacks’ teachings more accessible than ever, ensuring that his voice will continue to guide future generations. The new Humash, which features Rashi and Onkelos in Hebrew alongside Rabbi Sacks’ commentary in English, will serve as a gateway to Rabbi Sacks’ enduring vision of Judaism, rooted in tradition and speaking powerfully to the challenges of today.”

At the event, Rabbi Justin Pines, CEO of the Jewish Broadcasting Service (JBS), engaged in “A Conversation on Interpretation” with Dr. Erica Brown, vice-provost for values and leadership at Yeshiva University and the founding director of its Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center for Values and Leadership. Brown has master’s degrees from the Institute of Education at London University, Jews’ College, and Harvard University. She earned her Ph.D. from Baltimore Hebrew University. She was both a Wexner Scholar and a Jerusalem Fellow. At Jews’ College, a division of the University of London, Brown was both a faculty member and a student of Rabbi Sacks, who served as her master’s thesis adviser. Among her many publications, Brown has published two works with Koren Publishers, on Kohelet and Megillat Esther, with more to come.

After opening the program with the recitation of Tehillim, Rabbi Chaim Poupko, rav of Congregation Ahavath Torah, praised the Rabbi Sacks commentary on the new chumash for its refinement and expert pedagogical approach, both traits intrinsic to Rabbi Sacks’ scholarship. This approach encourages students of the Torah to think for themselves.

Matthew Miller, publisher of Koren, referred to the new edition as offering joyful scholarship, moral clarity, universal relevance and refreshing engagement—all components of Rabbi Sacks’ wisdom and contribution to Torah study. Joanna Benarroch, who worked alongside Rabbi Sacks for 25 years, expressed that for Rabbi Sacks, Torah was deeply personal, a book of humanity in which each of us has a story.

During their conversation, Brown shared the special time she spent under the mentorship of Rabbi Sacks as a young wife living across the street from Jews’ College in London. Rabbi Sacks’ study was a small shed piled high with books on every topic imaginable. She would watch him as he created his sermons and when he delivered them with passion and eloquence. She conveyed that his greatest joy was in addressing audiences of young people whom he would dazzle with his ebullience. She considered it a great personal privilege that a scholar of his caliber would actually spend quality time reviewing and editing her work.

Rabbi Pines recalled his memories of Rabbi Sacks from the years he spent as a visiting professor at the Bronfman Center at NYU. He recalls the shabbatonim when Rabbi Sacks would stay up late conversing with the students, which he greatly enjoyed.

When asked by Rabbi Pines about Rabbi Sacks’ greatest achievement in the study of Torah, Brown responded that he taught the reader to slow down, pause, look deeply into the text, and become part of the conversation. Brown suggested that Rabbi Sacks was the Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch of our generation in that he, too, merged the current culture with our ancient traditions. In his “Nineteen Letters” Hirsch spoke to his German-Jewish community much as Rabbi Sacks speaks to our generation in his “Letters to the Next Generation.”

When Rabbi Pines asked what Brown thought was Rabbi Sacks’ mission, she responded, “Perhaps it was to revivify Judaism in the eyes of those to whom it has become stagnant. Also, to create a moral compass for us during troubling times. Most importantly we must remember that Rabbi Sacks did not abide in darkness. He was constantly aboard the wings of light. He was a man of courage and conviction. Always hopeful. And according to his daughter Gila, ‘Happiness was very important to my Father but he had to work hard at it!’”

The Simchat Torah Challenge was created in reaction to the horrific events of Oct. 7. Its mission is to encourage Jews around the globe to take a few minutes each week to read the weekly parsha. To date the STC has signed on over 20,000 Jews worldwide who are discovering the wisdom within our sacred Torah. Of these, 97% of readers want to deepen their knowledge of Jewish texts; 88% of readers want a stronger connection to their Jewish identity; 93% say they feel much more connected to Jewish texts.

You can sign up for free at SimchatTorahChallenge.org and receive a weekly newsletter with the Parsha of the week, “a deep dive into biblical themes that help make sense of the present day, and everything else needed to start reading the greatest story ever told.”

Congregation Ahavath Torah was gifted with 300 copies of the new Magerman Edition Koren Shalem Humash by two local Englewood families, Cheryl and Lee Lasher and Dr. Kenny Prager in memory of his beloved Jeannie.

The Magerman Edition Koren Shalem Humash is available at your local Judaica bookstores and directly through Koren Publishers.

Englewood’s Ahavath Torah and Koren Honor Rabbi Sacks’ Fifth Yahrtzeit