Part of the reason that America is born in the world is to demonstrate an openness and a goodness and a compassion that is all too absent. It's part of the reason that I feel every day so blessed that I and so many Jews have found this wonderful haven, and I hope that we can spread that message and that people who come here will find it as inspiring as I think all of us do.

One of the things that makes God different from people is that God is always available to listen.

Still when it comes to finding fault we are fonder of windows than of mirrors.

The only whole heart is a broken one because it lets the light in.

You have to guard the integrity of your soul and what you believe and have a certain amount of faith not only the country but in God that this is part of the mission.

Prayer is not a monologue. It speaks to God and to the community. In the last analysis, religion is not what goes on inside a soul. It is what goes on in the world, between people, between us and God. To trap faith in a monologue, and pretend that it resides solely inside the self, undermines the true interchange of all belief.

It doesn't have to be somber to be sacred.