review
God Seeks Man is a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel – a Hasidic Jew by origin and a traditional rabbi who later became a liberal – in which a philosophy of Judaism is discussed. Heschel is considered one of the most important Jewish thinkers of the 20th century. God Seeks Man is Heschel’s magnus opus. According to the Jewish philosopher, religion fell into disrepair because it became dull, oppressive, and mindless. The message of faith has become meaningless because faith has been replaced by doctrine, worship by discipline, and love by habit. Faith must be professed with compassion or its message is meaningless. In his book Heschel argues that religion is an answer to the deepest questions of man. Heschel is on a quest for forgotten questions. As a philosopher, he understands the art of asking the right questions and formulating answers that Judaism has given to them.
- data
- Who was Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)?
- Contents of the book ‘God is looking for man’
- Further Jewish explanation of the book
data
- Title: God Seeks Man (God in Search of Man) – A Philosophy of Judaism
- Author: Abraham Joshua Heschel
- Year: 1955 (Dutch translation 1987)
- Publisher: De Haan / Unieboek bv Houten
- ISBN 90 228 4578 8
Who was Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)?
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Jewish American rabbi, scholar and philosopher. He was deeply involved in the US Civil Rights Movement.
Liberal Rabbi with a Hasidic background
Heschel came from a Hasidic family. On his father’s side by Dov Bear (the Maggid) from Mezeritch and Abraham Joshua Heschel from Apta (Opatow). On his mother’s side, he was descended from Levi Isaac of Berdichev. After traditional Jewish Studies he was appointed Rabbi. He received his doctorate from the University of Berlin. At the Hochschule für die Wissenshaft des Judentums, where he taught Talmud, he became a liberal Rabbi. He later succeeded Martin Buber. When inquiring with Chabad rabbi Kazen, Heschel has always remained traditional despite his liberal views and has not denied his Hasidic background in his work and books. Heschel has taught at the Warsaw Institute of Jewish Studies, the Institute of Jewish Learning in London, the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) where he was a professor until his death in 1972.
Books
Heschel has written extensively on medieval Jewish philosophy and Hasidism. He has been one of the most influential Jewish philosophers in the modern era and is loved by both Jews and Christians. With his work he sought to permeate and illuminate the underlying religion, the living and dynamic relationship between Gd and man, through the empathetic understanding of the documents of Israel’s tradition and the experience of the religious Jew. He emphasized the fact that reason itself reveals its limits and that the undisputed quality of the Divine cannot be completely limited to a concept of conceptual categories, because man is more than he can comprehend.
Heschel’s life’s work can be seen as two parallel strands:
- the commitment to study and interpret the classical sources of Judaism;
- striving to offer his contemporaries a theology that flows from the application of the insights from the traditional sources of the problems and questions facing the modern Jew.
Heschel has written several books that have also been translated into Dutch such as:
- God seeks man; a philosophy of Judaism (Amsterdam, 2011)
- The Sabbath & Renewal from tradition; a Jewish vision (Amsterdam, 2006)
- In the Light of His Face (Utrecht, 1954)
- The Prophets (Vught, 2013)
- Uncertainty in Freedom (Houten, 1989)
- The Sabbath & Renewal from Tradition (Amsterdam, 2006)
- Man is not alone (Utrecht, 2011)
- The Earth Is the Lord’s (Baarn, 1991)
Heschel’s philosophy
Two books are very important with regard to Heschel’s philosophy: Man is not alone and God seeks man.
The “divine care” or “divine pathos” is the central category of Heschel’s philosophy. Man’s ability to transcend his self-centered interests and respond with love and devotion to the divine demand for his “pathos” or “transitive concern” is the root of Jewish life with its ethics and precepts. Israel’s failures and successes in responding to Gd’s call are the drama of Jewish history from the standpoint of theology.
Heschel’s religious philosophy has a twofold purpose: to multiply the conceptual instruments with which one can adequately approach this reality and evoke it in modern man:
- by describing traditional piety and the relationship between Gd and man;
- the sympathetic appreciation of the sacred dimension of life without which no isolated analysis can penetrate to the reality that is the basis of all art, morality and faith.
Contents of the book ‘God is looking for man’
Judaism
In the phrase ‘philosophy of Judaism’ the term ‘Judaism’ can be interpreted in two different ways:
- as object: an assessment of Judaism as object or theme;
- as a subject: Judaism as a source of ideas we try to understand.
In this book, the term Judaism is mainly used as a subject. It looks at exceptional events that took place, at certain foundational lessons, and at the commitment of the Jewish people to Gd.
Three parts
The book consists of three parts: Gd, revelation and answer. Each part is divided into a number of chapters in which different topics are discussed. The chapters are not too long and contain short paragraphs which is pleasant to read.
The first part about Gd discusses what Gd is. Thus Heschel discusses ways to His presence, the sublime, the wonder, the mystery of G-d, the unsolved riddle, awe of Him, the glory of G-d, the meaning of G-d, G-d seeks man, faith, etc. In the second part, Heschel examines the mystery of revelation, the paradox of Sinai, the obligation of Israel, the prophets, the Bible, etc. Finally, in the last part, the answer is given with emphasis on observance of the Torah and the obligation of the mitzvot.
Further Jewish explanation of the book
Anyone who reads this book well will hardly notice that Heschel was a liberal Jew. He writes about Judaism from the traditional Jewish point of view. There is no other way because the sources he uses are all traditional. Heschel is an expert on medieval Jewish philosophy and then liberal Judaism did not even exist. Heschel’s liberal character was probably expressed primarily in his commitment to non-Jews such as the African American Jews who were discriminated against and for his commitment to better relations between Judaism and Christianity. However, as far as Jewish theology is concerned, he is quite strict in teaching. Heschel writes in awe and love about G-d and the Torah and the important role Israel plays in the Creation process. He also points out, for example, the dangers of glorifying science. This threatens to become dogmatic, whereby scientists believe that they can explain everything on the basis of science and exclude G-d.
Although Heschel does not use too difficult language, knowledge of Judaism is required in order to understand the book properly. Many of his readers are Christian and will read his book with the figure of Jesus in mind. For example, they may not be able to properly understand and appreciate everything that Heschel writes, such as the importance of observance of the Torah and the absolute unity of G-d instead of trinity. The book is therefore more suitable for Jews and Noahids in whom the Torah and the unity of Gd do play a major role.