Joseph Hertz Quotes

Sabbath rest is more than mere abstention from physical work; and, therefore, must include worship and Scripture-reading.

The immemorial ingratitude of rulers and commonwealths is proverbial. Especially common is ingratitude to Israel - the People that has achieved so much of eternal worth, but has rarely succeeded in winning gratitude.

Judaism stands or falls with its belief in the historic actuality of the revelation at Sinai.

In spite of the pangs of travail, the longing for motherhood remains the most powerful instinct in woman.

Prayer is a universal phenomenon in the soul-life of man. It is the soul's reaction to the terrors and joys, the uncertainties and dreams of life.

A wife is not a man's shadow or subordinate, but his other self, his "helper," in a sense which no other creature on earth can be.

Divine punishment is at once followed by Divine pity.

Life is a frail and transitory thing, but it has been given a higher purpose and dignity through the revelation of God's Teaching to Israel, and the resulting dedication of an entire people to God's service.

Because man is endowed with Reason, he can subdue his impulses in the service of moral and religious ideals, and is born to bear rule over Nature.

To Israel's faithful hosts in the past, as to its loyal sons and daughters of the present, the Siddur has been the gate to communion with their Father in Heaven; and, at the same time, it has been a mighty spiritual bond that unites them to their scattered brethren the world over.

Man must be a co-worker with God in making this earth a garden.

Everything in the Universe was as the Creator willed it - nothing superfluous, nothing lacking - a harmony.

Man's most sacred privilege is freedom of will, the ability to obey or disobey his Maker.

Not indolence but congenial work is man's Divinely allotted portion.

Though man comes from the dust, sin is not a part of his nature. Man can overcome sin, and through repentance attain to at-one-ment with his Maker.

Men of all lands and climes are brothers.

When we come to the Babylonian Gemara, we are dealing with what most people understand when they speak or write of the Talmud. Its birthplace, Babylonia, was an autonomous Jewish centre for a longer period than any other land; namely, from soon after 586 before the Christian era to the year 1040 after the Christian era - 1626 years.