Louis Finkelstein Quotations

I feel very strongly that it is vital for us to constantly keep in mind the fact that the Jewish problem is but a phase of the world problem.

For as Jews, the problem happens to be more urgent and vital than for others; because the destruction of religion on America will involve the destruction also of the religious training of freedom; and with that our civil liberties.

From the long range point of view, I do not know of anything we can do more important than to make some contribution to the preservation of religion as a vital force in America.

A rabbi should not despair if people do not do as much as they should. Every parent has that with children. God is merciful.

In taking action we must remember that the things which are happening to the Jews today are but a part of the general disintegration anticipated by philosophers and historians of different schools for almost half a century.

It therefore become essential for the future of Judaism itself that its advancement should be correlated with a similar effort to advance the cause of religion generally.

It is a grave matter to enter a war, without adequate military preparation; it may prove fatal to come into peace, without moral and religious preparation.

I hope to devote all of my spare time, which ordinarily would go to research, my summers, and every ounce of strength I can muster to further the project.

The road to success, and by that I mean... the possibility of giving the best one has to the cause that one loves most, is not easy.

We realize that Judaism as a faith can survive only in an atmosphere of general faith.

So far as Jews are concerned... there is no safety for them unless they manage to establish higher ethical standards in their own life.

Wisdom begins with sacrifice of immediate pleasures for long-range purposes.

Pharisaism became Talmudism...But the spirit of the Ancient Pharisee survives unaltered. When the Jew...studies the Talmud, he is actually repeating the arguments used in the Palestinian academies. From Palestine to Babylonia; from Babylonia to North Africa, Italy, Spain, France and Germany; from these to Poland, Russia and eastern Europe generally, ancient Pharisaism has wandered...

The Talmud derives its authority from the position held by the ancient (Pharisee) academies. The teachers of those academies, both of Babylonia and of Palestine, were considered the rightful successors of the older Sanhedrin...At the present time, the Jewish people have no living central authority comparable in status to the ancient Sanhedrins or the later academies. Therefore, any decision regarding the Jewish religion must be based on the Talmud as the final resume of the teaching of those authorities when they existed.