It’s only natural to focus on our individual interests and to rely on a transactional approach: to act only in immediate self-interest and assume others will do the same. Much of our current capitalist system relies on this idea. But the truth is that contractual thinking can only take us so far–and in true moments of disaster, it can lead to ruin. Conversely, covenantal thinking can keep us all afloat.
The great moralist and philosopher, the late Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks powerfully explained the difference between a contract and a covenant.
