Illuminations: Appreciating Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel

On the weekend before Martin Luther King Day (1/17/11), it was somewhat ironic that I thought about doing a piece on the late great Jewish philosopher & mystic, Abraham Joshua Heschel. It's ironic because I never made any direct connection between Abraham Heschel & M.L.K, but having read that he and M.L.K were very close friends (even marching with King in the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in '65) , it felt like a reunion of sorts of two fellow pilgrims fighting the good fight of faith in action. 


I've read quotes and excerpts of Heschel's work over the years & always kept his presence on the back-burners hoping one day to know more about him. Dr Cornel West has referred to Heschel quite often in his books and speeches & I think he was the one who introduced me to Heschel in the first place. Heschel's illumined soul has much to teach us. A few morsels.....

On What to Pray For: "We do not know what to pray for. Should we not pray for the ability to be shocked at atrocities committed by man, for the capacity to be dismayed? Prayer should be an act of catharsis or purgation of emotions, as well as a process of self-clarification, of examining priorities, of elucidating responsibility.... Prayer is meaningless unless it is subversive, unless it seeks to overthrow and to ruin the pyramids of callousness, hatred, opportunism, falsehood. The liturgical movement must become a revolutionary movement, seeking to overthrow the forces that continue to destroy the promise, the hope, the vision."

Attitude Towards The Old: "A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. It is easy to love children. Even tyrants and dictators make a point of being fond of children. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture."

 

"Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy." 

"When I was young, I used to admire intelligent people; as I grow older, I admire kind people." 

"A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair." 

"As civilization advances, the sense of wonder has declined. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind. Humanity will not perish for want of information, but only for want of appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living".

"Self-respect is the root of discipline: The sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself." 

 "People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active state, an act of expressing reverence or appreciation. To be entertained is a passive state--it is to receive pleasure afforded by an amusing act or a spectacle.... Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one's actions".

 An excellent primer to Heschel's thought & understanding of our times is , The Wisdom of Heschel. The following clip also provides an excellent intro to this remarkable person:





OneLove!


:::MME:::