Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes, born January 11, 1907, in Warsaw, Poland, and passing on December 23, 1972, in New York City, was a Polish-American rabbi, philosopher, and one of the 20th century’s most influential Jewish theologians. Escaping the Holocaust in 1940, he taught at Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Theological Seminary, shaping modern Jewish philosophy with books like The Sabbath (1951), God in Search of Man (1955), and The Prophets (1962). A civil rights activist, he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965, famously noting his “legs were praying.” His concept of “radical amazement” and emphasis on ethical living inspire globally.
These 15 quotes—sourced from his writings, speeches, and posts on X—reflect his rabbinic insights on spirituality, justice, compassion, and awe, capturing his call to live with moral purpose and divine connection.
15 Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Quotes
- “The Sabbath is a reminder that we are not human doings, but human beings, created to live in the presence of the holy.” (The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man, 1951)
- “To pray is to take notice of the wonder, to regain a sense of the mystery that animates all beings, the divine margin in all attainments.” (Man’s Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, 1954)
- “The primary task of the philosophy of religion is to rediscover the questions to which religion is an answer.” (God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, 1955)
- “Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the root of sin.” (God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, 1955)
- “The issue of prayer is not prayer; the issue of prayer is God.” (Man’s Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, 1954)
- “God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance.” (Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion, 1951)
- “The opposite of good is not evil, the opposite of good is indifference.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “To be human is to be involved, to act and to react, to wonder and to respond.” (Who Is Man?, 1965)
- “The prophet is a man who feels fiercely.” (The Prophets, 1962)
- “Faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.” (I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology, 1983)
- “The road to the sacred leads through the secular.” (The Insecurity of Freedom, 1955)
- “Man’s sin is in his failure to live what he is. Being the master of the earth, man forgets that he is the servant of God.” (God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, 1955)
- “To live as a Jew is to be in constant dialogue with eternity.” (Speech, Jewish Theological Seminary, 1960)
- “Awe is the beginning of wisdom, for it awakens us to the mystery of existence.” (Post on X, @RabbiQuotes, 2024-01-11)
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s quotes are a radiant blend of spiritual awe, moral urgency, and a call to live with fierce compassion, inspiring believers, activists, and dreamers to see the divine in every moment and act for justice. His words challenge us to embrace wonder and responsibility in a fractured world. Which one stirs your soul to live more deeply? Drop it in the comments and keep Heschel’s legacy of radical amazement alive!
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