OUR INSPIRATION

Anne Frank

“How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment to start to improve the world.”

Golda Meir

“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”

Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis

"There are two ways of looking at every situation. You can see light or darkness, blessing or curse. You can see the world with a good eye or a bad eye. Depending on which eye you choose, you can become either considerate or bitter, patient or angry, giving or niggardly, content or miserable, warm or cantankerous, loving or critical — it's all contingent upon how you train your eye. And that is the legacy that you leave behind. That is your eulogy."

Dr. Ruth Westheimer

“Tel Aviv, with its young Olim community, is the sexiest thing on the entire planet.”

Henrietta Szold

“The Jewish heart has always starved unless it was fed through the Jewish intellect.”

Ayn Rand

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”

Emma Lazarus

“Let our first care today be the re-establishment of our physical strength, the reconstruction of our national organism, so that in future, where the respect due to us cannot be won by entreaty, it may be commanded, and where it cannot be commanded, it may be enforced.”

Gertrude Stein

“A creator is not in advance of his generation but he is the first of his contemporaries to be conscious of what is happening to his generation.”

Hannah Szenes

“One needs something to believe in, something for which one can have whole-hearted enthusiasm. One needs to feel that one’s life has meaning, that one is needed in this world.”

Rabbi Shlomo Goren

"The Jewish People must not be divided in two...The devil dances at divisiveness, and everywhere there is unity there is holiness and success."

Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook

“A Jew cannot be as devoted and true to his own ideas, sentiments, and imagination in the Diaspora as he can in Eretz Yisrael.”

"The purest righteous do not complain about evil; rather, they increase justice.
They do not complain about godlessness, but increase faith.
They do not complain about ignorance, but increase wisdom.”

"I don't speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don't have the power to remain silent.”

Rebbe Menachem Schneerson

“God enabled the Jewish People to live as sovereigns in the Holy Land, the place of our forefathers – the Land promised to the Jews by God. This reality places a special burden and privilege upon Israel’s citizens and its government, to preserve the Jewish integrity of the country. Its educational system must be founded and inspired by Jewish values and the Jewish tradition so that its citizens grow to be proud keepers of their Jewish heritage.”

Rabbi Joseph Solovetchik

“Man’s task in the world, according to Judaism, is to transform fate into destiny; a passive existence into an active existence; an existence of compulsion, perplexity and muteness into an existence replete with a powerful will, with resourcefulness, daring, and imagination.”

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

“There is nowhere better in the world today to lead a Jewish life than Tel Aviv.”

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach

“On Shabbat something happens to the world – the world becomes infinite again.”

Theodor Herzl

“It is true that we aspire to our ancient Land. But what we want in that ancient Land is a new blossoming of the Jewish spirit.”

Vladimir Jabotinsky

“Eliminate the Diaspora, or the Diaspora will surely eliminate you.”

Menachem Begin

“Even with all the troubles and problems, Am Yisrael Chai!”

David Ben-Gurion

“Ours is a country built more on people than on territory. The Jews will come from everywhere: from France, from Russia, from America, from Yemen… Their faith is their passport.”

Abba Eban

“Zionism is nothing more, but also nothing less, than the Jewish People’s sense of origin and destination in the Land linked eternally with its name. It is also the instrument whereby the Jewish Nation seeks an authentic fulfillment of itself.”

Ariel Sharon

“Aliyah is the central goal of the State of Israel."

Abba Kovner

“This is the story of a people which was scattered over all the world and yet remained a single family, a nation which time and again was doomed to destruction and yet, out of the ruins, rose to new life.”

Aaron David Gordon

“Nowhere in the world can the Jew savor the taste of Homeland save in the Land of Israel.”

Berl Katznelson

“Those who will find here a hold for their souls, an anvil for their hands, and vitality for their hearts, will build both their lives and the land.”

Shmuel Yosef Agnon

“As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem.”

“A quotation at the right moment is like bread to the famished.”

– The Talmud

“Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.”
– The Rambam, Guide for the Perplexed

“Shimon (son of Rabban Gamliel) says: It is not what one says, but rather what one does, that makes all the difference in the world.”
– Pirkei Avot 1:17

“Without vision a people perishes.”
– King Solomon

“Tzedakah and acts of kindness are the equivalent of all the Mitzvot of the Torah.”
– Talmud Yerushalmi, Pe’ah 1:1

“So says the Lord God: Behold I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the Tribes of Yisrael his companions, and I will place them with him with the stick of Yehuda, and I will make them into one stick, and they shall become one in My hand…”
– Yechezkel 36

“And say to them, So says the Lord God: Behold I will take the Children of Yisrael from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side, and I will bring them to their Land upon the mountains of Yisrael…and they shall no longer be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms anymore.”
– Yechezkel 37

“See, God has called by name Bezalel…and filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, and with knowledge in all work. And God instilled thoughts (in Bezalel’s mind) in order for him to make designs of all kinds.”
– Shemot 35:30-32

“And the Lord said to Avraham…’Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the Land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will aggrandize your name, and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you.'”
– Beresheet 12

“I shall build thee and thou shalt be built.”
– City of Tel Aviv-Yafo motto, Yirmiyahu 31:3

“For I have selected him (Avraham) so that he may instruct his children and his posterity after him to keep God’s ways: to do what is just and right.”
– Beresheet 18

“And the desolate Land shall be worked, instead of its lying desolate in the sight of all that pass by. This Land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden.”
– Yechezkel 36

“Join the company of lions rather than assume the lead among foxes.”
– Pirkei Avot 4:20

“If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
– Rabbi Hillel

“Examine the contents, not the bottle.”
– The Talmud

“Who is a wise person? He who learns from all people.”
– Pirkei Avot 4:1

“The highest form of wisdom is kindness.”
– The Talmud, Brachot 17a

“If you are not going to be better tomorrow than you were today, then what need have you for tomorrow?”
– Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

“Let all who occupy themselves with communal affairs do so for Heaven’s sake, for then the merit of their fathers sustains them and their righteousness endures forever.”
– Pirkei Avot 2:2

“Do not separate yourself from the community.”
– Pirkei Avot 2:5

“For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, until her righteousness comes out like brilliance, and her salvation burns like a torch.”
– Yeshayahu 62:1

“Act while you can: While you have the chance, the means, and the strength.”
– The Talmud, Shabbat 151b

“It was the ideal of living in Eretz Yisrael that took me out of my house, out of my country and caused me to travel from my place. I left my house; I repudiated my inheritance…Why? Because I wished to travel to the bosom of my mother, Eretz Yisrael.”
– The Ramban

“There is no pity for a man who moans about living in one town and does not move to another.”
– The Talmud

“The Ingathering of Exiles is as important as the day when heaven and earth were created.”
– The Talmud

“The beginning of wisdom is to get wisdom.”
– Mishlei 4:7

“Even if the land is full of all good things, still you must plant… even if you are old, you must plant. Just as you found trees planted by others, you must plant them for your children.”
– Midrash Tanchuma, Kodashim 8

“Israel is like a vine: trodden underfoot; but some time later its wine is placed on the table of a king. So Israel, at first oppressed, will eventually come to greatness.”
– The Talmud

“Divided as we may be by religion, we are united by charity.”
– Rashi

“Do not withhold good where it is due, if it be in your power to bestow it!”
– Mishle 3:27

“Thus will be the redemption of Israel…first it will glimmer, then sparkle, then shine forth more and more brightly.”
– Talmud Yerushalmi

“The one who causes a good deed to be performed is as meritorious as the one who performs it.”
– The Talmud

“As a torch is not diminished though it kindles a million candles, so will he not lose who gives to a good cause.”
– Midrash Shemot

“Moshe said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuven; Shall your brothers go out to war while you settle here?”
– Bamidbar 32:6

“If charity costs nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists.”
– Yiddish Proverb

“The goal of the Redemption is the redemption of truth.”
– The Vilna Gaon

“Klieg, Klieg, Klieg- Du bist a Nar. You are smart, smart, smart – but you are not so smart!”
– Yiddish Proverb

“Zion, thou art doubtless anxious for news of thy captives; they ask after thee, they who are the remainder of thy flock.”
– Yehuda HaLevi

“It is the obligation of each person in Israel to raise up the Fallen Bride from the dust into which She has fallen.”
– The Ramchal

“If you keep silent and fail to seize the moment now, salvation and redemption will come to the Jews from elsewhere, while you and your father’s house will be lost. And who knows whether it was just for such a time as this that you attained the royal position!”
– Book of Esther 4:14

“If the Bible didn’t show us the weaknesses, the vulnerabilities, the sins of our heroes, we might have deep questions about their true virtue.”
– The Baal Shem Tov

“Man is wise only while in search of wisdom; when he imagines he has attained it, he is a fool.”
– Solomon Ibn Gabirol

“The sign of a great man is that the closer you get, the greater he seems.”
– The Chofetz Chaim

“When God created Adam, God led him around all the trees in the garden of Eden. God said to him, “See how beautiful and praiseworthy all of My works are? Everything I have created has been created for Your sake. Think of this, and do not corrupt or destroy my world; for if you corrupt it, there will be no one to set it right after you.”
– Kohelet Rabbah 7:13

“One day Honi Hameagel, a righteous miracle worker, saw an old man planting a carob tree. Knowing that a carob tree took 70 years to bear fruit, and that therefore the old man would not live to see the results of his labor, he asked why he was planting a tree whose fruits he would never enjoy. ‘Carob trees were here when I was born, planted by my father and his father,’ answered the old man. ‘Now I plant trees for the enjoyment of my children and their children’s children.”
– Talmud Ta’anit 23a

“Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai said: If you have a sapling in your hand, and someone says to you that the Messiah has come, stay and complete the planting, and then go out to greet the Messiah.”
– Avot D’Rabbi Natan, 31b

“In the time of the footsteps of the Moshiach, Chutzpah will swell.”
– The Talmud, Sotah 49b

“Fear not for I am with you; from the east I will bring your seed, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, “Give,” and to the south, “Do not refrain”; bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth.”
– Yeshayahu 43:5-6

“Desert and wasteland shall rejoice over them, and the plain shall rejoice and shall blossom like a rose. It shall blossom and rejoice, even to rejoice and to sing; the glory of the Lebanon has been given to her, the beauty of the Karmel and the Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, the beauty of our God.”
– Yeshayahu 35:1-2

"O house of Jacob, come and let us go in the light of the Lord."

– Yeshayahu 2:5

“And I will return the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall rebuild desolate cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their produce. And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no longer be uprooted from upon their land, that I have given them, said the Lord your God.”
– Amos 9:14-15

“And I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will return your captivity and gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will return you to the place whence I exiled you.”
– Yirmiyahu 29:14

“From the Depths I call out to you…”
– Tehillim 130:1

“The Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you. Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there. And the Lord, your God, will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed, and you too will take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and He will make you more numerous than your forefathers.”
– Devarim 30:3-5

“When God brings about the return to Zion, we were like dreamers.”
– Tehillim 126

“One who occupies himself with the needs of the community is as though he occupies himself with the words of Torah.”
– Rav Yermiyah, Talmud Yerushalmi, Berakhot

“Beloved is man, for he was created in the image of God. Beloved are Israel, for they were called children of God. Beloved are Israel, for unto them was given the desirable Torah”
– Rabbi Akiva

“Shabbat is the Queen of the week.”
– The Talmud, Shabbat 119a

“Scholars are builders, builders of the world.”
– The Talmud: Shabbat 114a

“The Torah begins and ends with kindness.”
– The Talmud: Sota 14a

“Now O Israel, listen to the decrees and to the laws that I teach you to perform, so that you may live and come an possess the Land that Hashem, the God of your forefathers, gives you.
– Devarim 4:1

“I then strengthened myself in accordance with whatever the hand of Hashem my God gave me the ability to do, and I assembled leaders from Israel to ascend with me.”
– Ezra 7:28b

“Justice, justice shall you pursue, so that you will live and possess the Land that Hashem you God gives you.”
– Devarim 16:20

“Kol Yisrael arevim zeh bazeh – All of Israel is responsible for each other.”
– The Talmud, Shavuot 39a

“Let all who are hungry come and eat.”
– Passover Haggadah

“Sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles and bring us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You O Lord, who gathers the dispersed of His People Israel.”
– The Amidah

“And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst”
– Shemot 25:8

“David went and brought up the ark of God…into the city of David with joy…and David danced with all his might before the Lord…and David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the shofar.”
– Shmuel II 6:12-15

“In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man.”
– Pirkei Avot 2:6

“The People came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month (Nisan), and encamped in Gilgal.”
– Yehoshua 4:19

“Na’aseh v’nishma – We will do and we will listen.”
– Shemot 24:7

“Great is study for it leads to action.”
– Kiddushin 40b

“Livnot u’lehibanot – To build and be built.”
– Zionist Folk Song

“We have not taken a foreign land; we do not hold the property of others. Rather, the Land is our ancestral inheritance taken from us lawlessly. When God gave us the strength, we returned it to ourselves”

– Maccabees 1 15:33–34

“Let us go and see what God has planned for the world.”
– Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai