Radical Amazement and Subversive Prayer: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Poetry

Bnai Keshet congregant Richard Skeen leads the first of a two-part discussion of influential 20th century theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Civil Rights activist who, in _The Sabbath," recast the way we think about time and space. Born to Hassidic royalty, educated in pre-war Vilna, friends with Martin Buber and Martin Luther King Jr. and a force for three decades at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Heschel seemed connected to every major Jewish 20th century trend and influenced virtually every rabbi in the non-Orthodox world. 

Yet Heschel's message is more nuanced and profound than the quick quotes in our siddur or images of him marching with Dr. King can provide; maybe more than any other Jewish thinker of the modern era, Heschel seemed intent on summoning the message of the Biblical prophets of justice for Heaven's sake.

Heschel’s ideas are inseparable from the language and idioms he uses; in this series we'll sample some of his "deep cuts" to explore his  ideas of "Radical Amazement", harsh criticism of "dull and insipid religion" and prayer, his poetry that so beautifully captures the tension between heaven and earth around topics like culpability for the Shoah, and finally Heschel's eloquent calls for action.