The Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize in memory of Samuel Gewurz z”l was established by the Gewurz family of Montreal, Canada, to recognize individuals who have made exceptional contributions as public intellectuals, advancing the ideas, values, and practical concerns central to the work of the late distinguished leader and thinker Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.

The recipient of the inaugural prize, bestowed at the Bar-Ilan University May 2025 Board of Trustees events, was Prof. Robert Putnam of Harvard University one of the most cited political scientists of the past fifty years, who enjoyed a fruitful intellectual dialogue with Rabbi Sacks.