As Rabbi Sacks’ yahrzeit approaches, we’re finally releasing the full 2024 interview recorded for our documentary series.

Gilles Gade, founder and CEO of Cross River Bank, and Dr. Erica Brown, Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and Director of the Sacks-Herenstein Center, share how Rabbi Sacks shaped their lives and work.

Erica was Rabbi Sacks’ student and thesis advisee in London. Gilles never met him, but calls him his rebbe after 15 years of reading Covenant and Conversation. Together they get into how his Torah plays out in a boardroom, a bank, and a home.

In this episode:

• Why influence outlasts power, and what Avraham teaches us about selling
• Multipliers, diminishers, and why a bad boss is “graduate school”
• Simcha vs. sasson, and why consumerism can’t deliver salvation
• Shmita as an economic reset, and how Gilles applies it to consumer lending
• Rabbi Sacks’ weekly class for philanthropists
• Work and family: quality over quantity, and the hidden cost of mission-driven careers
• Tzedakah as tzedek, justice rather than charity
• Prioritizing mental health and healthcare after October 7
• Hope vs. optimism

Timestamps:

• 03:08 How Gilles and Erica found Rabbi Sacks
• 10:01 Power vs. influence
• 19:31 Consumerism, joy, and the American dream
• 22:41 Banking, credit, and shmita
• 31:02 Rabbi Sacks and the business world
• 33:52 Balancing work and family
• 44:08 Tzedakah as justice
• 52:03 Prioritizing after October 7
• 55:44 Closing thoughts on hope

Guests:
Gilles Gade is the founder and CEO of Cross River Bank.
Dr. Erica Brown is Vice Provost for Values and Leadership at Yeshiva University and Director of the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks-Herenstein Center.

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