Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-1972 » (New Edition)

Edward K. Kaplan is Kevy and Hortense Kaiserman Professor in the Humanities at Brandeis University where he teaches courses in French, comparative literature, and religious studies. He has been writing on Heschel for many years, and his publications include Holiness in Words: A. J. Heschel’s Poetics of Piety. He lives in West Newton, MA.

Born in Warsaw, raised in a Hasidic community, and reaching maturity in secular Jewish Vilna and cosmopolitan Berlin, Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) escaped Nazism and immigrated to the United States in 1940. This lively and readable book tells the comprehensive story of his life and work in America, his politics and personality, and how he came to influence not only Jewish debate but also wider religious and cultural debates in the postwar decades.

 

A worthy sequel to his widely praised biography of Heschel’s early years, Edward Kaplan’s new volume draws on previously unseen archives, FBI files, interviews with people who knew Heschel, and analyses of his extensive writings. Kaplan explores Heschel’s shy and private side, his spiritual radicalism, and his vehement defense of the Hebrew prophets’ ideal of absolute integrity and truth in ethical and political life. Of special interest are Heschel’s interfaith activities, including a secret meeting with Pope Paul VI during Vatican II, his commitment to civil rights with Martin Luther King, Jr., his views on the state of Israel, and his opposition to the Vietnam War. A tireless challenger to spiritual and religious complacency, Heschel stands as a dramatically important witness.

Harold Kasimow

"This is a meticulously researched, beautifully written biography that captures the life and thought of a great man."-Harold Kasimow, Shofar

— Shofar

Introduction     ix
Cincinnati: The War Years     1
First Year in America (1940-1941)     4
Hebrew Union College (1941-1943)     19
Institutional Struggles and World War (1942-1944)     35
Architecture of a New Theology (1944-1945)     51
Rescuing the American Soul     67
First Years in New York (1945-1949)     70
Books of Spiritual Rescue (1948-1951)     97
Theological Revolution (1950-1952)     115
Critique of American Judaism (1952-1954)     137
A Jewish Summa Theologica (1952-1956)     157
Spiritual Radical     175
Building Bridges (1956-1959)     178
A Prophetic Witness (1960-1963)     197
We Shall Overcome (1963-1966)     214
Apostle to the Gentiles     235
Confronting the Church (1961-1964)     238
Vulnerable Prophet (1964-1965)     258
Interfaith Triumphs (1963-1966)     277
Final Years     295
Vietnam and Israel (1965-1967)     298
Dismay and Exaltation (1968-1969)     319
Stronger Than Death (1969-1971)     338
Summation of a Life (1972)     358
A Pluralistic Legacy     376
Notes     387
References     467
Permissions and Credits     497
Acknowledgments     499
Index     503