Thunder in the Soul: To Be Known By God

by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Robert Erlewine (Editor), Susannah Heschel (Introduction)

Overview

Like the Hebrew prophets before him, the great American rabbi and civil rights leader reveals God’s concern for this world and each of us.

Abraham Joshua Heschel, descended from a long line of Orthodox rabbis, fled Europe to escape the Nazis. He made the insights of traditional Jewish spirituality come alive for American Jews while speaking out boldly against war and racial injustice.

Heschel brought the fervor of the Hebrew prophets to his role as a public intellectual. He challenged the sensibilities of the modern West, which views science and human reason as sufficient. Only by rediscovering wonder and awe before mysteries that transcend knowledge can we hope to find God again. This God, Heschel says, is not distant but passionately concerned about our lives and human affairs, and asks something of us in return.

This little book, which brings together Heschel’s key insights on a range of topics, will reinvigorate readers of any faith who hunger for wonder and thirst for justice.

Plough Spiritual Guides briefly introduce the writings of great spiritual voices of the past to new readers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874863529
Publisher:	Plough Publishing House, The
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Series:	Plough Spiritual Guides: Backpack Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	168
Sales rank:	479,176
File size:	764 KB

About the Author

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) was one of the most prominent Jewish theologians and philosophers of the twentieth century. Born in Poland, he moved to America in 1940. Maintaining that religion and justice were inseparable, he was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements. His books include The Earth Is the Lord’s (1950), Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion (1951), The Sabbath: Its Meaning to Modern Man (1951), Man’s Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism (1954), God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (1956); and The Prophets (1962).
Robert Erlewine, Isaac Funk Professor of Religion at Illinois Wesleyan University, teaches courses on philosophy of religion and modern Judaism. As a scholar, Dr. Erlewine explores the interconnections between modern Jewish thought and broader social and political concerns. He is the author of Monotheism and Tolerance (2010) and Judaism and the West (2016), and has served as managing editor of the Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy.
Susannah Heschel, The daughter of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Susannah Heschel is the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College.  Heschel's scholarship focuses on Jewish and Christian interactions in Germany during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. She is the author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus (1998), and other works. Susannah is one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.

Table of Contents

Who Was Abraham Joshua Heschel? Robert Erlewine vii

Reading Abraham Joshua Heschel Today Susannah Heschel xxii

1 Every Moment Touches Eternity 1

2 The Only Life Worth Living 12

3 In the Presence of Mystery 18

4 The Prophets Show Us God Cares 30

5 God Demands Justice 45

6 Modernity Has Forfeited the Spirit 56

7 Prayer Is Being Known by God 68

8 A Pattern for Living 73

9 The Deed Is Wiser than the Heart 86

10 Something Is Asked of Us 95

11 Faith Is an Act of the Spirit 103

12 Not Our Vision of God but God's Vision of Us 115

Notes 128

Bibliography 133

Editorial Reviews

01/18/2021

In this illuminating collection, Erlewine (Judaism and the West), professor of religion at Wesleyan, arranges 12 excerpts from the theological writings of Abraham Heschel (1907–1972), a Polish American Jewish theologian, thinker, and civil rights activist. The selections emphasize Heschel’s major themes, including the primacy of deed over thought and collective responsibility. For example, the excerpt from God in Search of Man (1955) contends that a concrete act always has intrinsic meaning because “its value to the world is independent of what it means to the person performing it. The act of giving food to a helpless child is meaningful regardless of whether or not the moral intention is present.” By eliminating spiritual purity as a prerequisite to helping others, Erlewine contends, Heschel enables more practical good to be done. He also targets inaction, maintaining that in a civilized society (such as the U.S. in the 1960s, with respect to racist oppression), “Some are guilty, but all are responsible.” Prologues by Erlewine, and Heschel’s daughter Susannah, a Jewish Studies professor, provide useful context. Those new to Heschel will appreciate this accessible introduction. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Illuminating. . . . Those new to Heschel will appreciate this accessible introduction. – Publishers Weekly

Maintains the poetic cadences and relentless spirit of inquiry that dominated all of Heschel’s work, but distills his lovely and provocative arguments into snack-sized helpings for the seeker on the go. “The world … is crammed with marvel,” Heschel wrote; the same is true of this humble introduction to his work. —Foreword Reviews

“Thunder in the Soul” aptly describes Heschel’s extremely intelligent state of mind and crystal clear mental framework. He spoke his mind fearlessly without mincing words. He sounds like a solitary voice in the wilderness, crying out against the injustices of our time. — Miriam Jacob

Thunder in the Soul compiles Heschel’s writings on a number of topics, from the distressing lack of wonder and awe in modern Western society to the nature of God’s relationship with humans. —Illinois Wesleyan University

Anyone looking for inspiration from the prophets in order to create a more just world will appreciate Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Thunder in the Soul: To Be Known by God. — The Reporter Group, Jewish Federation of Greater Binghamton

Plough has done a mitzva by publishing this collection of his works, and in a form that honors Heschel’s own subordination of intellectual systemization to the breath of God moving over the human heart... As the book itself explains, “Heschel... challenged the sensibilities of the modern West, which views science and human reason as sufficient. Only by rediscovering wonder and awe before mysteries that transcend knowledge can we hope to find God again.”— Scott Beauchamp, Law & Liberty

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