Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Receives Templeton Prize at London Ceremony

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/371901 )

Performers at the ceremony include the Shabbaton Choir, the Sacks Morasha School Choir, and organist Gerard Brooks from Central Hall Westminster.

In prepared remarks, Rabbi Sacks warns about the dangers of outsourcing morality.  "You can't delegate moral responsibility away.  When you do, you raise expectations that cannot be met. And when, inevitably, they are not met, society becomes freighted with disappointment, anger, fear, resentment and blame."

HRH The Prince of Wales hosted a private reception in honour of Rabbi Sacks at Clarence House earlier this spring. 

Rabbi Sacks, 68, first gained attention by leading the revitalisation of Britain's Jewish community while Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013.

Central to his message is appreciation and respect of all faiths, with an emphasis that recognising the values of each is the only path to effectively combat the global rise of violence and terrorism.

Valued at £1.1 million (about $1.6 million , €1.4 million), the Templeton Prize is one of the world's largest annual monetary awards given to an individual and honours a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.

Rabbi Sacks joins a group of 45 former recipients.  The 2015 Prize Laureate was Canadian philosopher Jean Vanier , founder of L'Arche. Czech priest Tomáš Halík was the 2014 Laureate, preceded by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2013 and the Dalai Lama in 2012.

Established in 1972 by the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton , the Templeton Prize is a cornerstone of the John Templeton Foundation's international efforts to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the of human purpose and ultimate reality.

of the ceremony will be available from http://www.templetonprize.org on Friday 27 May.  

will be available from http://filetransfer.ctn.co.uk User ID: tp2016 Password: accessTP2016 from 10.30pm on 26 May.