Yeshayahu Leibowitz Quotes on God
Yeshayahu Leibowitz was a Latvian-Israeli philosopher, scientist, and Orthodox Jewish religious thinker, professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in biochemistry, neurology, and philosophy, and one of the most distinctive and uncompromising voices of late twentieth-century Israeli thought. This page collects quotes attributed to Yeshayahu Leibowitz on the topic of god, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Yeshayahu Leibowitz:
“Judaism is constituted by the commandments, not by beliefs about history or metaphysics.”
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Attributed to Yeshayahu Leibowitz:
“The state is not a religious value; it is a political instrument that may be used well or ill.”
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Attributed to Yeshayahu Leibowitz:
“Faith is the recognition of the obligation to serve God for no reward.”
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Attributed to Yeshayahu Leibowitz:
“To attribute holiness to the state is to commit idolatry.”
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“As for the " religious " arguments for the annexation of the territories—these are only an expression, subconsciously or perhaps even overtly hypocritical , of the transformation of the Jewish religion into a camouflage for Israeli nationalism . Counterfeit religion identifies national interests with the service of God and imputes to the state—which is only an instrument serving human needs—supreme value from a religious standpoint.”
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“Only a religion addressed to life's prose, a religion of the dull routine of daily activity, is worthy of the name.”
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“The religion of halakhic practice is the religion of life itself.”
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“From a religious point of view the triadic classification of being as nature, spirit, and God has no validity. There is only the dyad: nature, which includes the human spirit, and God. The only way man can break the bonds of nature is by cleaving to God; by acting in compliance with the divine will rather than in accordance with the human will.”
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