In 2002 Jonathan Sacks became a patron of JAT, the Jewish Aids Trust. At the time the United Synagogue, the Orthodox organisation of which he was chief rabbi, was reluctant to acknowledge the presence of gay men or lesbians within the Jewish community, or that HIV was a virus that Jews needed to worry about.
By speaking out, he enabled many not to feel excluded by their sexual orientation or having to conceal their state of health.
