Who is Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Here is a brief article I once submitted to National Public Radio, who asked for submissions of articles depicting the listener’s memories of Abraham Joshua Heschel. I don’t know if it was ever published, but, nonetheless, it represents “one man’s opinion.”

My most compelling memory of Abraham Joshua Heschel was watching him being interviewed on television when I was about 10 years old. The interviewer, who was also Jewish, seemed mesmerized and enthralled by the man, and I watched as Abraham Heschel leaned slowly back in his chair, pontificating his philiosophical views until he reached such an angle that the yarmulke, which was already precariously perched on his considerable head of hair, slipped to the ground. Neither he, nor anyone else felt compelled to pick it up. And this is the metaphor which has stuck with me which defines and describes his life. Stemming from an illustrious Hassidic family and once, himself, steeped in Torah and Hassidic philosophy in his youth, he was a Jew who lost his way and strayed from the path of Torah. In as much as he had once drunk deeply from the living waters of Torah, his own philiosophy, while errant, contained kernals of truth. Therefore, he was able to have a huge influence on many secular Jews who were seeking spirituality, as every Jew who is not completely cut off from his or her spiritual source does, but were of course not interested in making any changes in their essentially secular and non-Torah observant lives. While he was a great humanist and advocate for social change, he was, in the last analysis a great Jewish soul whose potential for great spiritual achievement was sadly lost, obfuscated and squandered in pusuit of the current winds of “isms”–secularism, humanism, activism, etc.

HaRav Heschel was truly a Gadol BaTorah. He never abrogated Halacha and the only reason why he joined JTS is because he thought it would become something similar to what YU is now. He thought potentially it would adhere to Halacha and reach out to the Jewish ignorant masses in a modern style. It is to bad he was wrong. Its interesting that his mechitza beis medresh in JTS still exists.

My father who has smicha from Rav Aharon Soliveitchic has many of HaRav Heschels sfarim.

Its alot easier to be frum in the US because of people like Rabbi Heshel.

Until the 1960’s relgious rights were somewhat limited. While its true you could get a new job everyweek at some point many people gave up and eventually worked on Shabbos.

The US army did not have kosher provisions and while some tried (and did keep kosher) many were not able to.

Things like leaving work early on Friday was unheard of. Money for Yeshivas (There is indirect money and lots of it for stuff like books, School buses and more)

You needed people to get the laws and attitude in the US to be changed in order for frumkite to exist.

Sam, many founders of the Conservative movement were observant in private life. I don’t think that is metaher them, though.

I’m well aware that Saul Lieberman’s scholarship was well regarded by talmidei chachomim in “our camp.” Hence my analogy to Yochanan kohen gadol, and let’s add in Acher for good measure.

Sagacious, do you even appreciate what it meant to wear a kippah on national TV in 1972? Also, I would go to youtube to watch the interview you are referring to–I’m not so sure you are remembering correctly (that R Heschel kippah fell off and no one picked it up). Maybe he didn’t feel it fall off. How do you really know? As for the “isms”–you clearly have not read any of R Heschel’s books. If you had, how you can say he was influenced by “secularism”–that is just false and mind boggling. He would be horrified to be associated with secularism. He fought against it with every fiber of his being. And activism and humanism–you think rescuing Soviet Jewry and equal rights for minorities are bad things?

rationalfrummie, you don’t seem to know anything about Heschel’s influence at JTS. He had none. He was an outsider–a chossid in a misnagdishe rationalist institution. Never made it to full professor. He didn’t have the power to change the place. They resented him because they were doing academic scholarship and failed to have a global influence, whereas he wrote about God and succeeded. But internally at JTS? He was a nobody.

I haven’t read even one comment about “the Avraham Yehoshua Heschel” the Kapishnitzer Rebbe z’tzal. The Kapishnitzer Rebbe was a first cousin to Professor Heschel and also his brother-in-law. The Rebbe maintained a close relationship with Professor Heschel and Professor Heschel attended many of The Rebbe’s Tishen. They sat shiva together when the Rebetzin was niftar.

The Kapishnitzer Rebbe had an open heart and open arms for anyone and everyone who sought him out, despite his politics or his level of Yiddishkeit.

Rav Aharon Kotler z’tzl referred to the Kapishnitzer Rebbe as

“The Goan of Chessed”. The Rebbe immigrated to the US during the war from Vienna and settled on The Lower East Side of New York on Henry Street. The word quickly spread of his presence and gadlus and thousands flocked to him for a bracha, an eitza or some other type of help. There are hundreds of accounts of things that he did, many of them recorded in books that are readily available today. He was a central member of Vaad Hatzalah and worked tirelessly to help save yidden from the European inferno. He was also a member of The Moetzes Gedolei Torah of Agudas Yisroel. He was loved and respected by all, Chassidish, Litvish, Sfrardic, Ashckenazic. Many factions who did not get along with each other but all loved and respected The Rebbe. His advice was sought on community issues by many of the other Gedolim. Millions of dollars went thorugh his hands for tzedokah, everyone knew he was the most trustworthy person and therefore trused him to disperse their tzedokah funds.

I could write and write and not touch the tip of the iceberg about the gadlus and helligkeit of The Kapishnitze Rebbe. Ask the oldtimers who lived on the Lower East Side and then The Rebbe established a Bais Medrash in Boro Park on 55th Street. His anivus, ehrlichkeit and gadlus are legendary.

In our day and age you can even google him. But whatever you read is but a dot on a canvas of who this Rebbe was and how many people and mosdos he helped. He wasn’t interested in building an edifice to his name but rather gave and gave and gave to others, individuals and mosdos to help them establish theirs. Rav Moshe Feinstein z’tzl and other Gedolim would send people to him for eitzes and brochos.

I would be much gratified if some of you would research The Rebbe and learn who we had in our very own generation. The Rebbe was niftar in about 1967, after which his son Rav Moshe Mordechai Heschel took over the mantal of Kapishnitz and headed it until his untimely passing about seven years later.

PizzaPizza, what is your point, exactly? Also, I don’t understand your question. He didn’t fit in at HUC either and didn’t agree with the hashkafa (if you could call it that) of the school. I don’t understand your other comment, either. Saul Lieberman and Louis Finkelstein were Litvaks (certainly not kofrim) and Heschel was a chossid. They ran the place and Heschel was the odd man out. Are you disputing that?

There is definitely an inyan of not learning from sources that are not truly kosher.

“he wrote about God and succeeded”

He also played a major role in having the Catholic Church reverse its more than a millenia old policy of anti-Semitism at Vatican II. Rov Soloveitchik z’tz’l publicly objected to this kind of interfaith dialogue in his epic essay, “Confrontation”.

Heschel clearly wasn’t Orthodox. He had “smicha” from Geiger’s Conservaform seminary in Berlin. And he couldn’t decide between Hebrew Union College and JTS.

oldman: Your disingenuous genuflection toward Saul Lieberman is pathetic.

Sam, that depends on your definition of “talmid chochom”.

His learning was respected, but his being at JTS was held against him personally.

‘He had “smicha” from Geiger’s Conservaform seminary in Berlin.’

That might make him not an Orthodox rabbi; it doesn’t make him not Orthodox.

‘ And he couldn’t decide between Hebrew Union College and JTS.’

That is a lie. He left HUC and spent the rest of his career at JTS. I guess truth is optional if you are sufficiently Orthodox?

“oldman: Your disingenuous genuflection toward Saul Lieberman is pathetic.”

Rov Soloveitchik z’tz’l was willing to convene a beit din with Rabbi Lieberman z’tz’l. Or are you going to call The Rov disingenuous, too?

Of course, this all depends on one’s definition of Orthodox.

Dear Sam,

Your funny anecdote about tosefta kifshuta being on a seforim shelf has been verified many times. It was known (can’t verify it for modern times) that many serious yeshivas had it on the shelf without making a fuss about it. Most people learned it without knowing they were supposed to have first dissected the hashkafic kishkes of the author.

But I’d like to go back to Rebbe yid’s comment to me above. If we get past the ignorance and adolescent kana’us of the comment, it represents a legitimate point of view. Many yeshivishe hold that emes can only be brought forth from a kosher source, and one must avoid any contact or even appearance of it with one deemed a “rasha (sic)”. This is a legitimate point of view.

The other side, held by many if not most world class lamdanim, is that emes is emes no matter who says it. They may or may not feel comfortable learning R’ Lieberman’s scholarly works, but they know genius when they see it, and their intellectual drive and thirst for truth far outweigh any possible hashkafic discomfort. For the ones who avoid it at all costs, one can’t help but feel for them, their depth of understanding will necessarily be compromised. But my feeling is that the abstainers are a small minority.

Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Akiva in Avoda Zara 16b-17a and Rav in Shabbos 75a seem to agree to Rebbi Yochanan that ?? ???? ??? ????? … ????? ???? ???? and Rebbi Meir was an exception since ?? ????? ?? ????.

To hal,

I don’t draw any conclusions from the gemara with acher.

Different time periods require different attitudes towards these issues. Everyone has their own border they won’t cross, everyone has their own slippery slope and everyone thinks they know who the bad guys are and who the good guys are.

Today I read a pashkvil put out by a well known and large chassidic sect, forbidding listening to or reading the seforim of someone who Rav Kaniefsky shlit”a himself proclaimed to be the godol hador. What does one make of that?

Unfortunately, the Torah observant world has expended so much energy in paselling everyone else, that no one is left. We’re all pasul. Kofrim. Assurim b’maga u’tmei’im b’ohel. Sad, isn’t it?

dear hal,

i just read your two year old question about heschel and all the “wise things” your friends replied. i just felt that there is one thing i need to advise you: if you truly believe that no one should read just any jewish material before checking out it author, then heschel is not for you. and neither are all the jewish scholarly article that might interest you. what im saying is: when a person approaches a scholarly article, he must be open-minded enough to absorb the material so he can be able to decide if he agrees with the ideas or not. but with your attitude, there is no point in reading heschel, or buber, or even the rambams moreh, because you needa double check the idea with your ruv, if its oisgehalten! so why you bother reading them? people like you boggle my mind! trying to educate themselves but dont know how to due to religious anxiety.

anyways, back to your question, as far as im concerned there is nothing nontraditional in heschel’s writings that might upset even a conservative like you. he was a brilliant jewish scholar and he staunchly defends his faith against all his religious antagonists. i believe that his books have the power to inspire conservatives and liberals alike. i just finished reading his biography, and i was truly inspired by him. he was a great jewish thinker.

philo:

If you truly believe that everyone should read just any Jewish material without checking out its author, then Shabbsai Tzvi may be just your thing.

In other news, he was a Conservative Rabbi. Period. Why is this still a discussion?

And no, let’s put a stop to the myth that the Conservative movement was frum until they let people drive on Shabbos. They had already “mattir’d” swordfish, gelatin, treif cheese, altered the nusach, done away with mechitzas, done away with pretty much all hilchos tznius. Did I miss anything? They might have already said a Kohen can marry a convert by that point, but I’m unsure of that one. Point is, the Conservative movement was never OK. If you think it was, you’re either not informed or you simply aren’t Orthodox. Mr. Heschel, for example, was not.

rav Shecter who is not a conservative Rabbi has mattered Sword Fish , its not Pushut that its Treif

“What is alarming to me is the attitude of ‘NevilleChaimBerlin’ that has become pretty mainstream- disqualifying anyone who and anything that does not conform to the (extreme) chareidi line. “

While I often find NevilleChaimBerlin’s opinion to be extreme, here he is saying nothing extreme. Like it or not, we judge people by the company they keep, especially when they are there for decades. Beside which, we all have our “red lines” which we say is too much. When there is wholesale abandonment of Mitsvot and denial of Torah min hashamayim, that should be any Orthodox person’s minimum red line to say that’s not Orthodox.

If Heschel joined JTS supposedly before it went OTD, I could somewhat justify his staying there. But first he went to the Reform HUC, which had already thrown off Torah and Mitsvot for years. Like, what was he thinking?

Even at JTS, it was just a few years later that they “mattired” Chillul Shabbat. That did not happen in a vacuum. It’s not like they were following halacha l’mahadrin and then just said, hey let’s drive on Shabbat. They obviously were on a spiritual plummet from smaller breach to larger breach.

Maybe Heschel thought he could mekarev them. I can’t comment so well as I am not in his shoes, but if that was his intention, he clearly failed. In fact he clearly failed to see how he would fail.