Yonason Sacks is an Orthodox

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva

Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...

 at Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...

, as well as the spiritual leader of the Agudas Yisroel of Passaic Park in Passaic, New Jersey

Passaic, New Jersey

Passaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...

.

Family history

Rabbi Sacks' father was one of the leaders of Jewish education in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, and his great-grandfather was the Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi

Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...

 of Jerusalem, Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank

Tzvi Pesach Frank

Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank was a renowned halachic scholar and the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for several decades.-Biography:...

. Rabbi Sacks dedicated his first book, Chemdas Yomim (focusing on the laws of the Sabbath) in memory of his father.

Education

Rabbi Sacks attended the high school headed by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Shlomo Riskin

Shlomo Riskin is the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 12 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the West Bank; dean of Manhattan Day School in New York City; and founder and dean of the Ohr Torah Stone...

 and Rabbi Pinchas Bak in Riverdale, New York in the mid 1970's.

Rabbi Sacks graduated from Yeshiva University in 1981 and was ordained by the University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...

 in 1984. Two years later, he was awarded Semikha Yadin Yadin, an advanced rabbinic ordination enabling him to serve as a posek

Posek

Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....

 - decisor of Jewish law.

Educational method

When giving a shiur Rabbi Sacks uses a two step approach to topic analysis. First, in an effort to understand the topic in a wider context than the case at hand, Rabbi Sacks will branch out into other areas of halacha (Jewish Law) examining the topic as it appears throughout the Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

. The information gleaned from the broad analysis is applied to the case at hand. Secondly, Rabbi Sacks will elaborate on parenthetical points made by the Gemara

Gemara

The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...

, giving his students a background in these important issues.

Works

Sacks is the author of three books on Jewish law:

• Hagadas Chazon L'Yomim
• Chazon L'Yomim 1, 2 & 3, which focuses on Tractate Pesachim, Beitzah
• Chemdas Yomim, which focuses on the laws of Shabbos
• Orchos Yomim, which focuses on kriyas shema
  Shema Yisrael
  Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
  
   and shmoneh esrei
  Amidah
  The Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
  
  
• Yimei Temimim, which focuses on Pirkei Avos