Chronicle of Heschel

Review by Daniel E. Levenson

Few Jewish thinks of the last century had the depth and breadth of the late Abraham Joshua Heschel. He was a man steeped not only in Jewish learning who reached out within the Jewish community across the spectrum from Reconstructionist to Orthodox, but also an activist deeply devoted to the political and spiritual causes he held dear.

Heschel was in many ways a unique product of pre- World War II Jewish Europe: heir to a great rabbinic dynasty; a probing scholar whose interest reached well beyond the realms of traditional Jewish learning that he knew so well; and a man who always strove to push himself beyond his limits. He was also someone who never failed to challenge the thinking and conscience of American society when he saw injustice or hypocrisy.

In his new book, “Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America,” author Edward K. Kaplan has done a very thorough job of chronicling the many ups and downs of Heschel’s personal and professional life. This new volume, which completes the two volume biography of Heschel begun by Kaplan and the late Samuel H. Dressner, continues where the first left off, exploring Heschel’s life in America after his escape from Europe at the beginning of World War II. Readers who pick up only this second volume will have no trouble at all with the text, as Kaplan has done a very good job of telling the tale of the latter half of Heschel’s life and inserting necessary background information where necessary.

In this new book Kaplan does a masterful job of balancing the story of Heschel’s role as a kind of modern-day prophet – widely respected and at times a very public figure – with the personal and professional frustration and pain he often felt. It is also worth noting that the author does not gloss over Heschel’s faults, noting how the venerable scholar occasionally overstated his role in historical or world events, his absent-minded teaching style, and the way in which he sometimes alienated people with inappropriate humoror his demanding demeanor. One thing that would have been nice from a historical perspective would have been to hear more of Heschel’s own voice in the book, but since he apparently did not keep a diary or journal, Kaplan, and his readers, are limited to quotations from speeches, letters and of course Heschel’s large body of written work.

Kaplan does an excellent job of chronicling Heschel’s often difficult, sometimes adversarial, relationship with the American Jewish community. For Heschel, who had been raised with the twin influences of an open, joyful Hasidic community as well as the more demanding, sometimes harsh, teachings of the Kotzker Rebbe, making the adjustment to American Jewish life was not an easy process. Kaplan chronicles the frustration and disappointment that Heschel felt as he tried to find a spiritual and intellectual place in the American Jewish community, and the way that he tried to address what he saw as the short-comings of each of the movements.

Sometimes his criticisms were well received, at other times they were not, but Heschel always kept pushing forward, trying to not only find a place for himself in America, but also to reshape the way that American Jews viewed their own sense of Jewish identity and community.

Some of the most interesting aspects of Heschel’s life that the book explores is the growth of his popularity among Christian theologians, his efforts to convince the Vatican to change Catholic teachings about Jews and Judaism, and the work that he did with Martin Luther King, Jr. on issues of race and injustice. For fans of Heschel’s writings, as well as those who enjoy reading well-written biographies, this book will not disappoint. It is not only the story of Heschel’s life, but a chronicle of a difficult time for both American Jewry and the United States as a whole, and one man’s sometimes painful, often brilliant, response to those turbulent times.

This review originally appeared in the Jewish Advocate newspaper in 2008.