We burned with love for ourselves, all of us, starters of the fire we suffered- our love was the affliction for which only our love was the cure.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
Jews have a special relationship to books, and the Haggadah has been translated more widely, and reprinted more often, than any other Jewish book. It is not a work of history or philosophy, not a prayer book, user’s manual, timeline, poem or palimpsest - and yet it is all these things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The Haggadah is a unique text that encompasses multiple genres and serves a special role in Jewish culture.
In this quote, Jonathan Safran Foer highlights the multifaceted nature of the Haggadah, a central text in Jewish tradition, which transcends typical classifications of literature. It is revered not merely as a religious or historical document, but as a complex amalgamation that serves various purposes in Jewish education and spirituality, reflecting the deep connection of the Jewish people to books and texts.
Themes
HaggadahJewishBooksTraditionCulture
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of cultural heritage, I could cite Foer's insights on the Haggadah.
More from Jonathan Safran Foer
All quotes →Memory was supposed to fill the time, but it made time a hole to be filled. Each second was two hundred yards, to be walked, crawled. You couldn't see the next hour, it was so far in the distance. Tomorrow was over the horizon, and would take an entire day to reach.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
She was not crying Which surprised me very much But I understand now That she had found places For her melancholy That were behind more masks Than only her eyes
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What do babies dream of? She must be dreaming of the before-life, just as I dream of the afterlife.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
A few weeks after the worst day, I started writing lots of letters. I don't know why, but it was one of the only things that made my boots lighter.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
What is being awake if not interpreting our dreams, or dreaming if not interpreting our wake?
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
Similar quotes
God has given to every one of us more than fourteen billion cells and connections in our brain. Now why would God give us such a complex organ system unless He expects us to use it?
Benjamin CarsonRead
It was the kind of library he had only read about in books.
Alan BennettRead
You have got to keep autistic children engaged with the world. You cannot let them tune out.
Temple GrandinRead
We were taught to be dependable, responsible, the top of our classes at school, the most organized and efficient babysitters in town, the very miniature models of our hardworking farmer/nurse mother, a pair of junior Swiss Army knives, born to multitask.
Elizabeth GilbertRead
When I talk to students - and I still think of myself more than anything as a kind of professor on leave - they say, 'Well, how do I get to do what you do?'... And I say, 'Well, you have to start out by being a failed piano major.' And my point to them is don't try to have a 10-year plan. Find the next thing that interests you and follow that.
Condoleezza RiceRead
There is no reason why an American scholar cannot by himself or herself develop an adequate understanding of another culture. And I don't find any reason to suppose that the birth within a culture automatically confers understanding.
Martha NussbaumRead