Remembering Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)

Abraham_Joshua_Heschel (1907-1972) was Professor of Jewish Ethics and Mysticism at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, a distinguished author, lecturer, philosopher and activist. He marched with Martin Luther King, Jr.; he called that “praying with his legs.” He wrote prolifically, but had never done an interview on tape or film until he allowed Carl Stern to interview him on NBC in 1972; as it turned out, the interview took place two weeks before his death. The interview was a breathtaking experience for many who watched. NBC received a quarter million requests for a transcript of the interview. It is possible that no television interview in history touched on so many of life’s deepest questions with greater sincerity. That is what Heschel was: a sincere man.

    Heschel was peculiarly aware of the danger of indifference. In such a time as this, with all that is happening in Lybia, the Ivory Coast, Syria, Yemen, and beyond, he would have been unable to sleep through the night, just as he was unable to sleep through the night during the Vietnam War.

    Heschel might well have said, “My God is an angry God.” According to Heschel, God’s anger is full of tears. In Heschel’s own words: “The prophet's angry words cry. The wrath of God is a lamentation” (From "Religion and Race," in The Insecurity of Freedom , p. 110).

     Here is a collection of online material of use in remembering Avraham Yehoshua Heschel:

Carl Stern reminisces about his interview with Abraham Heschel
Compressed transcript of the interview
Video of interview (1)
Video of interview (2)
Video of interview (3)
PBS Profile of Abraham Joshua Heschel
Notes on a Friendship: Abraham Joshua Heschel and Reinhold Niebuhr
The Spiritual Audacity of Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel and Martin Luther King Jr.
Heschel and the Recovery of Biblical Faith

    Here is a session outline for a class on “The Bible and Current Events” on the topic of “My God is an Angry God.”

My God is an Angry God

Review and Q & A on Previous Sessions

My God is an Angry God
Nahum 1:2-3a Then and Later
On the Impassibility of God
Divine Anger according to Abraham Joshua Heschel
I too am a theopaschite

Clips: Abraham Joshua Heschel interview (1)
Abraham Joshua Heschel interview (2)
Abraham Joshua Heschel interview (3)

Assigned texts: Nahum; Psalm 94; Romans 12:19; Revelation 6
Essay Topic: Anger as an expression of Love
Excerpts from Heschel, The Prophets

Comments

[TheraP]

A brief memory of Heschel:

I was a college Freshman or Sophomore when I had the privilege of hearing Heschel speak. I have a vivid memory of his lecture (on the "Holiness of Time") and it seemed to me (at 19 or so) that what he conveyed was both simple and profound. He did not speak in complex sentences as I recall but in words which seemed to go straight to the heart (and the heart of the matter). My best friend for a few blessed years of childhood was Jewish - so I knew enough to feel graced by this man's Holiness. I recently described him here:

https://castingwordstothewind.wordpress.com/2010/10/08/presence-and-priesthood/#more-446

And in another context here:

http://wisdom4nothing.blogspot.com/2009/06/in-stillness-dancing.html

Thank you for this post!

[JohnFH]

"Abraham Joshua Heschel, the first holy man I ever heard, a man whose words and presence have never left me" - what a beautiful tribute, Thera.

Thanks for the links.

[Mike Gantt]

A treasure. Thanks!

[Celucien Joseph]

Dear John:
Thanks for this post on the great Rabbi Heschel. The resources provided are very helpful.
Lou

[John Anderson]

I have always found myself enriched and encouraged by reading the work of Heschel (and Buber, and Levinas, and Wiesel, among others). I've seen the Stern interview before, but it was a joy to watch it again. He is captivating to watch, and I still smile everytime I see his kipa--at last having fallen off his head--lying on the ground. So animate, and as Thera rightly indicates, such powerful and transformative words. All biblical scholars should read Heschel, Buber, et. al. and be enriched.

[JohnFH]

Thanks for chiming in, John.

[Pulp Fiction 4]

I read the transcript of the interview, and was particularly interested by the idea that God can’t help people with many of their problems because it would interfere with the free will of someone else. Then that got me to thinking about God using the Assyrians to punish others. Was that an exception to the rule? Or could it be that God had created those Assyrians in such a way that they would want to punish the unrighteous, and He had planned it that way all along? That made me feel a lot more respect for the works of God.