He wants to see whether we are capable of overcoming out base instincts, of killing the Satan within ourselves. We have no right to despair. And if he punishes us mercilessly, it is a sign that He loves us that much more.

Holy War is a contradiction of terms.

The story [of the Sacrifice of Isaac ] is much more a part of theology than of history.

There is not anti-semitism as an ideology. The civilized world must think that anti-semitism is stupid.

If God exists, how can we lay claim to freedom, since He is its beginning and its end?

Better that one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all.

This day I ceased to plead. I was no longer capable of lamentation. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused.