Video from The On Being Project
The Spiritual Audacity of Abraham Joshua Heschel - Arnold Eisen
"A conversation exploring teachings and resonance for now from one of the great rabbis of the last century. Many have been enriched by Abraham Joshua Heschel's theology of "radical amazement," his magnetic fusion of the mystical and the pragmatic, and a poetic language of prayer — teased out in this beautiful conversation with Heschel's student Arnold Eisen, like this: "God, to whom our life can be the spelling of an answer...” Krista's conversation partner is Heschel student and scholar Arnold Eisen. He is a former chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. His books include The Jew Within: Self, Family, and Community in America; Rethinking Modern Judaism; and Conservative Judaism Today and Tomorrow. He also keeps a blog called "On My Mind." This episode last aired on September 21, 2017." from video introduction
Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Prophet’s Prophet
Heschel aimed, through his writing and teaching, to shock modern people out of complacency and into a spiritual dimension
braham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), a descendant of two important Hasidic dynasties, was born in Warsaw. After receiving a thorough Jewish education in Poland, Heschel entered the University of Berlin, where in 1934 he received his doctorate for a study of the biblical prophets… . In 1937 Heschel became Martin Buber’s successor at the Judisches Lehrhaus in Frankfurt and head of adult Jewish education in Germany, but the following year, he and other Polish Jews were deported by the Nazis. [Martin Buber (1878-1965) was a German-Jewish social and religious philosopher. The Frankfurt Lehrhaus, an experimental center for adult Jewish education, aimed to teach marginal, acculturated Jews about Judaism.]
After stays in Warsaw and London, in 1940 he came to the United States to teach at the Hebrew Union College. In 1945 Heschel became professor of ethics and mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and began to publish a series of works, ranging from studies on the piety of East European Jewry and the inward character of Jewish observance, to religious symbolism, Jewish views of humanity, and contemporary moral and political issues. Before his untimely death, Heschel had become highly respected among American religionists of many faiths not only for his writings but also for his active role in the civil rights and peace movements of the 1960s and in the Jewish-Christian dialogue..." from the article: Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Prophet’s Prophet
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