I’d wager that Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) is the most well-known Jewish theologian of the 20th century, among both Jews and non-Jews. I won’t say too much about his biography here, because unlike most of this newsletter’s subjects, good, English-language resources about Heschel are widely accessible. In books like
Thanks for the Heschel poems, Danny—I had no idea he was a poet. I’m certainly not qualified to talk about how his poems relate to his theology, since I’ve only read “Sabbath,” but they certainly relate to his activism. Two lines particularly struck me—“Gentleness, you ineffable divine name, be my image of God.” Gentleness is not an attribute that we frequently ascribe to God, but it’s such an important part of his character and worthy of our deeper reflection. “Our brother, God!/Lower Yourself to us/from the last, endless, altitude/and kiss, gently and clearly,/every creature.” From my perspective as a Christian, this is such a beautiful description of the incarnation—Jesus emptying himself to be found in the likeness of humans. As always, your shared poems have enriched my day. Jim
Wow, what a treat. I had no idea Heschel was a poet, and am struck by the beauty and depth of these poems. He actually strikes me as pretty modern, though not in a flashy, experimental way. These could be contemporary! Poem as seed for philosophy? Poem as vessel for…divine?
These poems sent me off to read more Heschel. I have his commentary on the five books but I had no idea he'd written poetry. Great poetry! I'm wondering where you're finding the Yiddish originals of the poems you translate.
There is an excellent 2004 English translation of the Heschel collection by Morton Leifman with an Introduction by Edward Kaplan, Continuum Books, NY, Available in paperback 2007, also from Continuum. I got my copy of the paperback from Amazon https://a.co/d/c93FBdJ
Recent subscriber. Thank you so much for giving light to Heschel's poems. This is just what we need at this terrible time. Yosef Benshalem was moved to write his poem "The Face of God" ("Dos Ponem fun Got") after he read "I and You" from the same collection, "Der Shem HaMeforash: Mentsh". Benshalem asked me to translate it. It loses something in translation (in particular rhyme and meter), so any faults are mine:
The Face of God
You follow me everywhere
I cannot see you with my eyes,
It is on the back of my eyelids that I sense your reflection.
I feel you near, and sense when you draw away.
You are who you are, but you wait to see who I am.
Compassion, mercy, graciousness, slowness to anger
Kindness, truthfulness, and forgiveness draws you near
Your face shines through mine.
Together we comfort,
Alone there is only the still sound of sorrow.
Yosef Bensholem
At the risk of exceeding my remit, I see parallels to Rabbi Schulweis' 1975 proposal for a "Predicate Theology". We humans never will agree on the physical nature of God (the Noun, or Subject Theology) but we have a good chance of reaching agreement on Godliness (the Verb, or Predicate Theology). Bob
Thanks for the Heschel poems, Danny—I had no idea he was a poet. I’m certainly not qualified to talk about how his poems relate to his theology, since I’ve only read “Sabbath,” but they certainly relate to his activism. Two lines particularly struck me—“Gentleness, you ineffable divine name, be my image of God.” Gentleness is not an attribute that we frequently ascribe to God, but it’s such an important part of his character and worthy of our deeper reflection. “Our brother, God!/Lower Yourself to us/from the last, endless, altitude/and kiss, gently and clearly,/every creature.” From my perspective as a Christian, this is such a beautiful description of the incarnation—Jesus emptying himself to be found in the likeness of humans. As always, your shared poems have enriched my day. Jim
Wow, what a treat. I had no idea Heschel was a poet, and am struck by the beauty and depth of these poems. He actually strikes me as pretty modern, though not in a flashy, experimental way. These could be contemporary! Poem as seed for philosophy? Poem as vessel for…divine?
These poems are fantastic! I’d heard of him as an activist mostly.
Favorite lines:
“If in your veins a silent shiver
shimmers before God,
you should kiss a pauper's fingernails.”
I agree with the sentiment that these poems feel confident, contemporary in their simplicity and lack of formality.
These poems sent me off to read more Heschel. I have his commentary on the five books but I had no idea he'd written poetry. Great poetry! I'm wondering where you're finding the Yiddish originals of the poems you translate.
Never seen before the decorative written script that stretches to extra wide length the aleph, the he, the final mem, and the lamed
How did you find the photo from Meron?
There is an excellent 2004 English translation of the Heschel collection by Morton Leifman with an Introduction by Edward Kaplan, Continuum Books, NY, Available in paperback 2007, also from Continuum. I got my copy of the paperback from Amazon https://a.co/d/c93FBdJ
Recent subscriber. Thank you so much for giving light to Heschel's poems. This is just what we need at this terrible time. Yosef Benshalem was moved to write his poem "The Face of God" ("Dos Ponem fun Got") after he read "I and You" from the same collection, "Der Shem HaMeforash: Mentsh". Benshalem asked me to translate it. It loses something in translation (in particular rhyme and meter), so any faults are mine:
The Face of God
You follow me everywhere
I cannot see you with my eyes,
It is on the back of my eyelids that I sense your reflection.
I feel you near, and sense when you draw away.
You are who you are, but you wait to see who I am.
Compassion, mercy, graciousness, slowness to anger
Kindness, truthfulness, and forgiveness draws you near
Your face shines through mine.
Together we comfort,
Alone there is only the still sound of sorrow.
Yosef Bensholem
At the risk of exceeding my remit, I see parallels to Rabbi Schulweis' 1975 proposal for a "Predicate Theology". We humans never will agree on the physical nature of God (the Noun, or Subject Theology) but we have a good chance of reaching agreement on Godliness (the Verb, or Predicate Theology). Bob
I object to being called "they" in the link to my blog. You do not know I am a man?