Heschel

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907 – 1972)

Rabbi Heschel was a descendant of preeminent rabbinic families of Europe: the family of Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, and that of Rebbe Avrohom Yehoshua Heshl of Apt, the Apter Rebbe – Ohev Yisroel. He was the youngest of six children. In his teens he received a traditional yeshiva education, and obtained traditional semicha, rabbinical ordination at the age of 16.

  • Why I Am Trying to be Religious

    On My 80th Birthday - An Open Letter to My Children, Grandchildren, and Great-Grandchildren

    In Heschel, Jewish Thought and Philosophy and Parashat Devarim by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    What does it mean to spend a lifetime trying to become religious?

    On his 80th birthday, Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo writes not about accomplishments or memories, but about wonder, failure, gratitude, and the lifelong struggle to remain astonished by existence.

    This deeply personal letter to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren is both a reflection on eight decades of life and an invitation to rediscover the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary.

  • Learning the Art of Dying by Learning the Art of Living

    In Heschel and Parashat Ha'azinu by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Moshes’ final ascent in Ha’azinu is not a defeat but a masterclass in how to die—by first learning how to live. Ha’azinu invites us to hear life as a composition: rehearsed through daily practice and resolved in a final, dignified cadence. To live and die with grace is not resignation but art: shaping a soul that can leave a world more awake than we found it.

  • Judaism without God

    In Franz Rosenzweig, Heschel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    With the terrible pogrom which took place in my hometown, Amsterdam, and the ongoing Anti-Semitism in Europe, the United States, and indeed worldwide, it is time to give proper attention to one of the great mistakes of modern Jewish history. This is the myth that if Jews would only “normalize” themselves, anti-Semitism would come to an end. This constantly repeated mantra has proven to be entirely wrong and in fact, dangerous.

  • The Enduring Preciousness of the Secular Jew

    Some thoughts inspired by the writings of Avraham Joshua Heschel

    In Heschel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    There is little doubt that secular Jews, consciously or unconsciously, keep a large number of commandments. Many of them may not be in the form of rituals, but there is massive evidence pointing to secular Jews’ commitment to keeping interpersonal mitzvot. Beneath the divisiveness of traditional commitment lie underpinnings of religion such as compassion, humility, awe, and even faith.

  • Syria and the Scandal of Our Orthodox Synagogues

    In Heschel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    How dare we come before the Lord of the Universe with our personal prayers asking Him for His kindness and gifts, when we ignore the enormous atrocities done to other human beings?

  • Debating Orthodox and Reform Beliefs

    Wanted: Rabbinical Courage

    In Heschel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    Orthodox leaders must remember is that we owe much of our knowledge not to those who agreed with us, but to those who differed and therefore challenged us to sharpen our minds.

  • The Preciousness of My Children – A Terrifying Story

    In Heschel and Jewish Thought and Philosophy by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo

    I have learned to be constantly thankful to God for His incredible gift of children, children-in-law and grandchildren. I learned this on Friday, June 11, 2010, when my wife and I nearly lost a daughter and three grandchildren.