Jewish Wisdom Quotes

“Rabbi Hiyya advised his wife, “When a poor man comes to the door, be quick to give him food so that the same may be done to your children.” She exclaimed, “You are cursing our children [with the suggestion that they may become beggars].” But Rabbi Hiyya replied, “There is a wheel which revolves in this world.” —Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 151b”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom

“The question of bread for myself is a material question, but the question of bread for my neighbor is a spiritual question.”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom: An Essential Guide to Ethical Living with Insights from 3,500 Years of Biblical and Talmudic Teachings

“Whoever cannot survive without taking charity, such as an old, sick, or greatly suffering individual, but who stubbornly refuses to accept aid, is guilty of murdering himself…yet one who needs charity but postpones taking it and lives in deprivation so as to not trouble the community, shall live to provide for others." —Rabbi Joseph Karo (1488–1575), Shulkhan Arukh (The Code of Jewish Law), Yoreh Deah 255:2”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom

“Only God can give us credit for the angry words we did not speak. —Rabbi Harold Kushner, When All You’ve Ever
Wanted Isn’t Enough, page 187”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom: An Essential Guide to Ethical Living with Insights from 3,500 Years of Biblical and Talmudic Teachings

“In general, it should be noted, biblical law is evolutionary, not revolutionary...”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they become one flesh. —Genesis 2:24”
― Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom: An Essential Guide to Ethical Living with Insights from 3,500 Years of Biblical and Talmudic Teachings