Sacks' grandfather, Rabbi Menachem Benzion Sacks, founded the Associated Talmud Torah in Chicago, Illinois. His great-grandfather was the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Tzvi Pesach Frank. [2] Sacks dedicated his first book, Chemdas Yomim (focusing on the laws of the Sabbath) in memory of his father.
Sacks graduated from Yeshiva University in 1981 and was ordained by the university's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1984. Two years later, he was awarded yadin yadin semicha.
