LONDON – Jonathan Sacks, the former chief rabbi in the U.K. who reached beyond the Jewish community with his regular broadcasts on radio, has died at 72.A statement on his Twitter page said he died early Saturday.Sacks served as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, the figurehead of British Jews, for 22 years, stepping down in 2013.
He was succeeded by the current chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, who said the world had lost an “intellectual giant who had a transformative global impact."For many people in the U.K., Sacks was best known for his regular broadcasts on the “Thought of the Day” fixture on BBC Radio 4's “Today” program, the network's flagship morning news program.