Rabbi Joshua Hoffman > Quotes

“Where we welcome guests, we welcome the presence of God.”
― Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, The Holiness of Doubt: A Journey Through the Questions of the Torah

“God can only create and destroy the world. It’s up to human beings to make it more humane.”
― Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, The Holiness of Doubt: A Journey Through the Questions of the Torah

“Our legacy, then, is the recognition that destiny is not history—that the past is not the future. Only change confirms this.”
― Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, The Holiness of Doubt: A Journey Through the Questions of the Torah

“Becoming a people, then, is as much about self-determination as it is about distinguishing a group from its neighbors. Indeed, this is a core feature of Jewish identity: we are constantly striving toward who we might yet be.”
― Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, The Holiness of Doubt: A Journey Through the Questions of the Torah

“In the late twentieth century, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was famously quoted as saying, “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.”
― Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, The Holiness of Doubt: A Journey Through the Questions of the Torah

“Instead, Jacob’s growing awareness teaches us to cultivate the personality trait that sees past cleverness to the face of kindness. Some may even call this humility.”
― Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, The Holiness of Doubt: A Journey Through the Questions of the Torah