Abraham Joshua Heschel
Polish-born American rabbi, theologian, and civil rights leader
Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi, theologian, and philosopher who became a prominent voice in 20th-century Jewish thought and the U.S. civil rights movement. He taught Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and wrote extensively on Jewish philosophy.
Heschel was born in Warsaw, the youngest of six children to Moshe Mordechai Heschel and Rifka Reizel Heschel. His father died of influenza in 1916, when Abraham was nine. Both sides of his family traced their lineage to prominent European rabbis, including his paternal great-great-grandfather, Rebbe Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt. A Gerrer Hasid tutored him and introduced him to the ideas of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.
After a traditional yeshiva education and Orthodox rabbinical ordination, Heschel earned a doctorate at the University of Berlin and also received ordination from the non-denominational Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums. His teachers included Hanoch Albeck, Ismar Elbogen, Julius Guttmann, Alexander Guttmann, and Leo Baeck, with David Koigen as his mentor. He later taught Talmud at the Hochschule and joined the Yiddish poetry group Jung Vilna. In 1933 he published a volume of Yiddish poems, *Der Shem Hamefoyrosh: Mentsch*, dedicated to his father.
In late October 1938, while living in a rented room in Frankfurt, Heschel was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Poland during the Polenaktion. He spent ten months lecturing on Jewish philosophy and Torah at Warsaw’s Institute for Jewish Studies. Six weeks before the German invasion of Poland, he fled Warsaw for London, aided by Julian Morgenstern and Alexander Guttmann, who secretly altered his ordination certificate to satisfy U.S. visa requirements.
His sister Esther died in the bombing of Warsaw. His mother was murdered by Nazis who broke into her Warsaw Ghetto apartment; his sister Gittel also died there. His sister Devorah was deported from Vienna to Auschwitz, where she perished. Heschel never returned to Germany, Austria, or Poland, later writing that every stone and tree there would remind him of contempt, hatred, and murder.
He arrived in New York City in March 1940, then moved to Cincinnati to teach at Hebrew Union College for five years. In 1946 he returned to New York to join the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he remained a professor of Jewish ethics and Kabbalah until his death. He lived near JTS at 425 Riverside Drive. He married concert pianist Sylvia Straus on December 10, 1946, in Los Angeles; their daughter, Susannah Heschel, became a Jewish scholar.
Heschel’s work covered medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and Hasidic thought. He focused more on spirituality than on critical text study, which was common at JTS. For years he was not assigned a graduate assistant and taught mainly in the education or rabbinical school rather than the graduate program. He maintained a cordial friendship with colleague Mordecai Kaplan, despite their differing approaches to Judaism.
He believed the Hebrew prophets called for social action, writing about segregation: “Some are guilty, but all are responsible.” He worked for African American civil rights and opposed the Vietnam War. He criticized “pan-halakhism,” an overemphasis on religiously compatible behavior at the expense of non-legalistic aspects of rabbinic tradition.
Heschel is known for advancing a “Nachmanidean” school of thought, which emphasizes the mutual dependence of God and humanity, in contrast to the “Maimonidean” school, where God is independent and unchanging. He associated these perspectives with Rabbis Yishmael and Akiva, arguing that both must be interwoven. He described Kabbalah as an outgrowth of classical rabbinic sources that depict God’s reliance on humans to fulfill the divine plan, differing from Gershon Scholem’s view that Kabbalah reflected non-Jewish influences. While Scholem focused on Kabbalah’s metaphysics and history, Heschel emphasized the human religious experience; recent scholarship has increasingly followed Heschel’s approach.
- born
- January 11, 1907, Warsaw
- died
- December 23, 1972
- field
- Jewish theology, philosophy, mysticism
- nationality
- Polish-born American
- known_for
- Leading Jewish theologian, civil rights activist, author of 'Man Is Not Alone' and 'The Sabbath'
Lore & Background
Abraham Joshua Heschel was born in Warsaw in 1907, the youngest of six children of Moshe Mordechai Heschel and Rifka Reizel Heschel née Perlow. His father hailed originally from Medzhybizh and his mother was from Mińsk Mazowiecki. He was descended from preeminent European rabbis on both sides of his family. His siblings were Sarah, Dvora Miriam, Esther Sima, Gittel, and Jacob. Their father Moshe died of influenza in 1916 when Abraham was nine. He was tutored by a Gerrer Hasid who introduced him to the thought of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. After a traditional yeshiva education and studying for Orthodox rabbinical ordination, Heschel pursued his doctorate at the University of Berlin and rabbinic ordination at the non-denominational Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums. There he studied under notable scholars including Hanoch Albeck, Ismar Elbogen, Julius Guttmann, Alexander Guttmann, and Leo Baeck. His mentor in Berlin was David Koigen. Heschel later taught Talmud at the Hochschule. He joined a Yiddish poetry group, Jung Vilna, and in 1933, published a volume of Yiddish poems, Der Shem Hamefoyrosh: Mentsch, dedicated to his father. In late October 1938, while living in a rented room in the home of a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Heschel was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Poland in the Polenaktion. He then spent ten months lecturing on Jewish philosophy and Torah at Warsaw's Institute for Jewish Studies. Six weeks before the German invasion of Poland, Heschel fled Warsaw for London with the help of Julian Morgenstern, president of Hebrew Union College, and Alexander Guttmann, an eventual colleague at the Hebrew Union College, who secretly re-wrote Heschel's ordination certificate to meet American visa requirements. Heschel's sister Esther was killed in the German bombing of Warsaw. His mother was murdered by Nazis who broke into her flat in the Warsaw Ghetto, where his sister Gittel also died, and his sister Devorah was deported from Vienna to Auschwitz, where she perished. He never returned to Germany, Austria or Poland. Heschel arrived in New York City in March 1940. He soon left for Cincinnati, serving on the faculty of Hebrew Union College for five years. In 1946 he returned to New York, taking a position with the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He remained with JTS as professor of Jewish ethics and Kabbalah until his death in 1
Reader's Guide
Heschel explicated many facets of Jewish thought, including studies on medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and Hasidic philosophy. He believed that the teachings of the Hebrew prophets were a clarion call for social action in the United States. He wrote about segregation, 'Some are guilty, but all are responsible'. He worked for African Americans' civil rights and spoke out against the Vietnam War. He also criticized what he specifically called 'pan-halakhism,' or an exclusive focus upon religiously compatible behavior to the neglect of the non-legalistic dimension of rabbinic tradition. Heschel is notable as a recent proponent of what one scholar calls the 'Nachmanidean' school of Jewish thought - emphasizing the mutually dependent relationship between God and man - as opposed to the 'Maimonidean' school in which God is independent and unchangeable. Heschel described kabbalah as an outgrowth of classical rabbinic sources that describe God's dependence on man to implement the divine plan for the world. As a representative of American Jews at the Second Vatican Council, Heschel persuaded the Catholic Church to eliminate or modify passages in its liturgy that demeaned Jews, or referred to an expected conversion of the Jewish people to Christianity. His theological works argued that religious experience is a fundamentally human impulse, not just a Jewish one. He believed that no religious community could claim a monopoly on religious truth. Martin Luther King Jr. called Heschel 'a truly great prophet.' Heschel actively participated in the Civil Rights movement, and was a participant in the third Selma to Montgomery march, accompanying Dr. King and John Lewis.
Did You Know?
- Heschel was the youngest of six children, not four.
- He fled Warsaw for London six weeks before the German invasion of Poland.
- His mentor in Berlin was David Koigen.
- He was arrested by the Gestapo in Frankfurt in late October 1938 and deported to Poland in the Polenaktion.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"Abraham Joshua Heschel l (11 January 1907 – 23 December 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi, considered by many to be one of the most significant Jewish theologians of the 20th century." — Abraham Joshua Heschel "Man's Quest For God: Studies In Prayer And Symbolism (1954), p. 7; Heschel would later use this analogy in several minor variations in other writings." — Abraham Joshua Heschel "Some are guilty, but all are responsible." — Abraham Joshua Heschel "The Religious Basis of Equality of Opportunity—The Segregation of God" (1963) in Race: Challenge to Religion (1963) Edited by Mathew Ahmann." — Abraham Joshua Heschel
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