of man’s creative activities in the arts, thought, and noble living. Just as no flora has ever fully displayed the hidden vitality of the earth, so has no work of art, no system of philosophy, no theory of science, ever brought to expression the depth of meaning, the sublimity of reality in the sight of which the souls of saints, artists, and philosophers live.
The sublime, furthermore, is not necessarily related to the vast and overwhelming in size. It may be sensed in every grain of sand, in every drop of water. Every flower in the summer, every snowflake in the winter, may arouse in us the sense of wonder that is our response to the sublime….
The sublime is not simply there. It is not a thing, a quality, but rather a happening, the act of God, a marvel. Thus even a mountain is not regarded as a thing. What seems to be a stone is a drama; what seems to be natural is wondrous. There are no sublime facts; there are only divine acts. (Heschel 38)
Heschel had the power to confront questions of faith and contemporary doubt head on and with clarity and conviction:
Since the days of the Deists, the idea of man’s self-sufficiency has been used as an argument to discredit the belief in revelation. The certainty of man’s capacity to find peace, perfection, and the meaning of existence, gained increasing momentum with the advancement of technology. Man’s fate, we were told, depended solely upon the development of his social awareness and the utilization of his own power. The course of history was regarded as a perpetual progress in cooperation, an increasing harmonization of interests. Man is too good to be in need of supernatural guidance.
The idea of man’s self-sufficiency, man’s exaggerated consciousness of himself, was based upon a generalization; from the fact that technology could solve some problems it was deduced that technology could solve all problems. This proved to be a fallacy. Social reforms, it was thought, would cure all ills and eliminate all evils from our world. Yet we have finally discovered what the prophets and saints have always known: bread and power alone will not save humanity. There is a passion and drive for cruel deeds which only the awe and fear of God can soothe; there is a suffocating selfishness in man which only holiness can ventilate. (Heschel 74)
He can challenge some of the most revered ideas of the late 20th century, such as the new worship of nature, with such precision as to make one seriously question deeply held beliefs:
It is suspiciously easier to feel one with nature than to feel one with every man: with the savage, with the leper, with the slave. Those who know that to be one with the whole means to be for the sake of every part of the whole will seek to love not only humanity but also the individual man, to regard any man as if he were all men. Once we decide to serve here and now, we discover that the vision of abstract unity goes out of sight like lightning, and what remains is the gloom of a drizzly night, where we must in toil and tears strike the darkness to beget a gleam, to light a torch…. The norms of spiritual living are a challenge to nature, not a part of nature. There is a discrepancy between being and spirit, between facts and norms, between that which is and that which ought to be. Nature shows little regard for spiritual norms and is often callous, if not hostile to our moral endeavors.
Man is more than reason. Man is life. In facing the all-embracing question, he faces that which is more than a principle, more than a theoretical problem. … Yet, to refer to the supreme law of nature as God or to say the world came into being by virtue of its own energy is to beg the question. For the cardinal question is not what is the law that would explain the interaction of phenomena in the universe, but why there is a law, a universe at all. (Heschel 100)
Heschel explores the fundamentals of Judaism with such insight as to seem to be a man in the dark with a flashlight illuminating concepts as he approaches them. He describes mitzvot, commandments, as, “spiritual ends, points of eternity in the flux of the temporality.” He describes life as a concern, “A man entirely unconcerned with his self is dead: and man exclusively concerned with his self is a beast.” He regards needs as natural to humans but, “He who sets out to employ the realities of life for satisfying his own desires will soon forfeit his freedom and be degraded to a mere tool. Acquiring things, he becomes enslaved to them; in subduing others, he loses his soul.” Heschel regards the ultimate need not one of ours but the need of God for man. Man is needed. Life is a partnership with God - a commitment - a covenant. Heschel does not look to God in heaven but believes the true dwelling place of God is in the heart of everyone willing to let God in. He believes that law of the Torah is what holds the world together but it is the love of the Torah that will bring the world forward.
Abraham Joshua Heschel had deep compassion in interpreting a Judaism of constructive love and law; but he also looked upon contemporary times with great despondency and said the only honest preaching of the day can be a “theology of despair.” He said:
The central problem of this generation is emptiness in the heart, the decreased sensitivity to the imponderable quality of the spirit, the collapse of communication between the realm of tradition and the inner world of the individual. The central problem is that we do not know how to think, how to pray, how to cry, or how to resist the deceptions of the silent persuaders. There is no community of those who worry about integrity. (Heschel 251)
But even in his despair he did not give up hope:
The spirit is still a small voice, and masters of vulgarity use loudspeakers. The voice has been stifled, and many of us have lost faith in the possibility of a new perceptiveness. …
Yet, man is able to break the chains of despair, to stand up against those who deny him the right and the strength to believe wholeheartedly. Ultimate truth may be hidden from man, yet the power to discern between the valid and the specious has not been taken from us.
Surely God will always receive a surprise of a handful of fools - who do not fail. There will always remain a spiritual underground where a few brave minds continue to fight. Yet our concern is not how to worship in the catacombs but rather how to remain human in the skyscrapers. (Heschel 254)
Judaism is a religion, a way of life, a design of a relationship between God and people in this life. There is little talk of heaven, paradise, devils, and hell. The emphasis is on living a life of justice and wisdom in a covenant with God.
The legacy of Judaism to the Western world is enormous. It has not only created a remarkable religious, philosophical, and historical heritage - no small accomplishment for a small, usually weak and many times countryless people - it is also the fertile ground on which two more of the world’s most influential religions grew, Islam and Christianity. Not all of the Jewish heritage may be looked upon by all with glowing favor, including the male-dominated patriarchal society, a contribution to Western society that Judaism shared with the ancient Greeks. To look upon Judaism and see the 3000 year transition from a small, sacrificial cult to the living, evolving religion of today, to look upon the heritage of faith, wisdom, and determination of this extended family of Israel, to gain some insight into this religion and people is an experience of awe.
SOURCES CITED
Gates of Repentance, The New Union Prayerbook for the Days of Awe, New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1984.
Heschel, Abraham J., Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism, selected, edited and introduced by Fritz A. Rothchild, New York: The Free Press, 1959.
Neusner (I), Jacob, A Short History of Judaism: Three Meals, Three Epochs, Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press, 1992.
Neusner (II), Jacob, The Mishnah:
