Gathers essays by the Jewish scholar, activist, and theologian about Judaism, Jewish heritage, social justice, ecumenism, faith, and prayer

This first collection of Heschel's essays - compiled, edited and with an introduction by his daughter Susannah Heschel, is a stunning reminder of the virtuosity of one of the most well respected minds in Judaic studies.

1940

Abraham Joshua Heschel remains one of the most creative Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. These essays demonstrate that Heschel became a spiritual guide, not only in America but in many other parts of the world, especially in Poland, where he was born, and in Israel, where the prophets gave the world a dream of everlasting peace.

“An important and powerful work that speaks to Mordecai M. Kaplan’s position as perhaps the most significant Jewish thinker of the twentieth century.” (Deborah Dash Moore coeditor of Gender and Jewish History) Mordecai M. Kaplan, founder of the Jewish Reconstructionist movement, is the only rabbi to have been excommunicated by the Orthodox rabbinical establishment in America. Kaplan was indeed a radical, rejecting such fundamental Jewish beliefs as the concept of the chosen people and a supernatural God. Although he valued the Jewish community and was a committed Zionist, his primary concern was the spiritual fulfillment of the individual. Drawing on Kaplan’s 27-volume diary, Mel Scult describes the development of Kaplan’s radical theology in dialogue with the thinkers and writers who mattered to him most, from Spinoza to Emerson and from Ahad Ha-Am and Matthew Arnold to Felix Adler, John Dewey, and Abraham Joshua Heschel. This gracefully argued book, with its sensitive insights into the beliefs of a revolutionary Jewish thinker, makes a powerful contribution to modern Judaism and to contemporary American religious thought. “An interesting, stimulating, and well-done analysis of Kaplan’s life and thought. All students of contemporary Jewish life will benefit from reading this excellent study.” —Jewish Media Review “The book is highly readable―at times almost colloquial in its language and style―and is recommended for anybody with a familiarity with Kaplan but who wants to understand his thought within a broader context.” —AJL Reviews

Studies in Jewish Theology invites the reader into the 'laboratory' of a Jewish theologian as he confronts visceral issues that have confronted classical Jewish theology and that continue to challenge contemporary Jewish theological inquiry. After offering an exposition of the nature of Jewish theology and demonstrating why and how it is crucial and relevant for understanding the nature and meaning of Judaism as a religious faith, the author proposes a creative and compelling methodology for 'doing' Jewish theology. This methodology is then applied to various perennial issues of Jewish theological concern, including: the problem of evil, the nature of God, love and awe of God, God's love and law, theological foundations of the Jewish holydays, philosophies of Jewish law, and the application of Jewish theology to matters of social ethics and spirituality. Attention then turns to a consideration of Jewish-Christian theological dialogue, where a Jewish theology of Christianity, an explication of John Paul II's theology of Judaism, and medieval Jewish and Christian views of 'original sin' are presented. Finally, new perspectives on the work of contemporary Jewish theologians such as Solomon Schechter, Abraham J. Heschel, Louis Jacobs, and a survey of American Jewish theology, are discussed. A combination of erudite and accessible exposition of a wide variety of theological issues, this volume collects seventeen studies, written over three decades, by an eminent American Jewish theologian.

An author and subject index to selected and American Anglo-Jewish journals of general and scholarly interests.

This volume deals with the various ways in which Jews and Christians define their religious identity, people or community, as being holy. This is done throughout history to the present time and in an interdisciplinary perspective.