August 29, 2012
Why Heschel is relevant to modern Israel
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Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, second right, participating in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., on March 21, 1965. Photo from Dartmouth Department of Religion
Israeli author and lecturer Dror Bondi discusses his work teaching Israeli students about the American theologian and philosopher Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.
Shmuel Rosner: Heschel in Israel? Do Israelis really need him — don’t they have enough rabbis of their own?
Dror Bondi: Israelis who are satisfied with their situation — personally or nationally, socially or religiously — indeed do not need Heschel. Heschel is relevant only for seekers of change, only for those who cannot accept anymore what was relevant until today. In this sense, Heschel is not a rabbi, but a prophet: not one who engages in bequeathing the Jewish past — neither the religious, nor the national, nor the cultural — but one who calls for a renewal in the relations between God and Israel.
Read more at jewishjournal.com/rosnersdomain.
