Menahem Mendel de Kotzk citations

Menahem Mendel Morgensztern de Kotzk, dit le Rabbi de Kotsk ou Kotzker Rebbe, est un maître hassidique polonais du XIXe siècle .

Attiré par le hassidisme de Yaacov Yitshak Horowitz, il devient le binôme et disciple de rabbi Yaacov Yitshak Rabinowitz, le « Juif saint de Przysucha » et, à la mort de ce dernier, celui de rabbi Simhah Bounem de Pshiskhe.

Fondateur de la dynastie hassidique de Kotzk, il est célèbre pour ses citations et ses enseignements hassidiques, originaux et controversés. Wikipedia  

✵ 1787 – 27. janvier 1859
Menahem Mendel de Kotzk: 8   citations 0   J'aime

Menahem Mendel de Kotzk: Citations en anglais

“God is only where you let Him in.”

As quoted in Innerspace : Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation and Prophecy‎ (1990), by Aryeh Kaplan, p. 160; This expression is said to have originated when he was five years old and asked his father "Where is God?" to which his father answered: "God is everywhere!" Rebbe then responded "No, I think God is only where you let Him in."
Variants:
Where is God to be found? In the place where He is given entry.
As quoted in The Sayings of Menahem Mendel of Kotsk (1995) by Simcha Raz and Edward Levin, p. 10
God is where you let Him in.
As quoted in Everyday Kabbalah: A Practical Guide to Jewish Meditation, Healing, and Personal Growth (1998)

“Do not be satisfied with the speech of your lips and the thought in your heart”

As quoted in T'he Season of the Witch : Le Couer Dechire (2008) by Etienne De Mendes http://www.etiennedemendes.com, p. 545
Contexte: Do not be satisfied with the speech of your lips and the thought in your heart, all the promises and good sayings in your mouth, and all the good thoughts in your heart; rather you must arise and do!

“First, a man is created in his own image, and only afterwards in the image of God.”

As quoted in Leaping Souls : Rabbi Menachem Mendel And The Spirit Of Kotzk (1993) by Chaim Feinberg
Variant translation: Man must "guard himself and his uniqueness, and not imitate his fellow … for initially man was created in his own image, and only afterwards in the image of God.

“If I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you. But if I am I because you are you and you are you because I am I, then I am not I and you are not you!”

As quoted in Tales of the Hasidim : The Later Masters (1948) by Martin Buber as translated by Olga Marx
Variant translations:
If I am I, simply because I am I, and thou art thou, simply because thou art thou; then I am I and thou art thou. But if I am I because thou art thou, and thou art thou because I am I, then I am not I and thou art not thou.
As quoted in The Rift in Israel: Religious Authority and Secular Democracy (1971) by Samuel Clement Leslie, p. 145
If I am I, because you are you, and you are you, because I am I, then I am not I, and you are not you. But if I am I because I am I, and you are you because you are you, then I am I and you are you, and we can talk.
As quoted in Let Us Reason Together (1970) by William Berkowitz and William Leonard Laurence

“All that is thought should not be said, all that is said should not be written, all that is written should not be published, and all that is published should not be read.”

As quoted in Triumph of Survival : The Story of the Jews in the Modern Era 1650-1995‎ (1993) by Berel Wein, p. 96

“When a man makes a reverent face before a face that is no face — that is idol worship!”

As quoted in Tales of the Hasidim : The Later Masters (1948) by Martin Buber as translated by Olga Marx