The Legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel

Abraham Joshua Heschel, teacher and prophet of social justice, wrote that God wants the world to be redeemed and that the world is redeemed through justice. For a Christian it reminds me that God wants to draw us into the life of the Trinity—the just society. In the mystery of the Trinity, the Father accepts and nurtures the Son, the Son accepts and nurtures the Father, and the Holy Spirit is this acceptance moving human beings in the world to live righteously and joyfully. This joy is not the “Oh yeah” of triumphing over another person in a spirit of competition. This joy is working with the other person in a spirit of solidarity, which includes laughing at foibles, shrugging off sin, hoping for peace, and seeking to turn each labor into something that is life-giving for the entire community. Most Jewish people that I have known have been so very open to me and have challenged me at times to consider all of my motivations—whether or not I truly opt for the common good of the world.


At times, we all live from a sense of being wounded and that leads to more conflict. The Dalai Lama writes that at those times, one must meditate. For me it also helps to pray with the Spirit of the Risen Christ. And to listen very carefully. We live in a world with a lot of noise, but God’s word is spoken very gently—as Elijah realized at Mount Carmel. Last night I attended a series of talks about the Theology and Social Justice teaching of Rabbi Heschel. Prior to last night I knew only one story about Heschel and I recall it very vaguely. I cannot even remember exactly in which book I read about it, but it goes something like this: a friend of Heschel’s was complaining about himself wondering why he couldn’t be more like Moses. Heschel responded: “God does not ask of me why are you not Moses? Rather, God asks me why are you not Heschel?” Apparently, Heschel was Heschel most of the time for he taught with such insight he moved Senator Sherrod Brown, Congressman Louis Stokes, Reverend Marvin McMickle, Ambassador Andrew Young, and Stephen Hoffman, a friend of President Bush and interim president of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute.

The story I knew about Heschel has stayed with me for about 20 years. I repeat it to myself at times, even if I have some of the details wrong. God wants me to be me, not anyone else, but I am me only in authentic relationship with others. As Jesuit Conference 32 notes, oppression oppresses the oppressed but also the oppressor. Our hearts are not at peace while we try to torment or control another. We know this because when we are acting in such a way, we whine about everything and we resist any kind of positive change. Oppression--anti-charity, anti-reconciliation—is poison. Healing means letting go of the desire to control others—whatever position of power or powerlessness one finds oneself in. Nevertheless, the efforts of the poor to cry out for justice are not an attempt at control. The LORD hears their cries because God is charity, perfect Trinity, perfect society, and God tries to freely draw the human community forward into the goal of human history—justice.

Marxism was an attempt to control and thus created havoc. We have the imagination to envision creative strategies to work with the LORD toward this goal, but it requires patience and acceptance. I pray that I might have such patience and that I can be accepting and forgiving as Heschel was for Heschel wrote that God does not demand judgment. Rather, God wants repentance and redemption. God wants justice.
So much from the evening stayed with me, but since I am currently watching my three year old, I will comment on a few nuggets of wisdom: In Dr. Susanna Heschel’s keynote about her father, she remarked that a Jew was a person in whom Abraham was alive. She also noted that since Abraham challenged God we are free to challenge all of our leaders when they stray from justice. She told the story about how when Rabbi Heschel showed up at a Viet Nam War Protest, someone asked him why he had come. Heschel replied that he came to the protest because he could not pray. When asked why he could not pray, Heschel replied that when he opened his prayer book, he saw Vietnamese children burning. She concluded by remarking that her father constantly asked “How can we make this a better world? “ Heschel was a prophet of progress.
Senator Brown appropriately connected health care reform to the vision of Heschel. We do need this reform, including the public option, for in the words of Senator Brown and Rabbi Heschel “Mankind must live by justice and compassion.”
Representative Louis Stokes spoke of how Blacks and Jews worked together in the 50s and 60s and need to work together again to continue to spread civil rights to all. He spoke of the need to continue to change our great country and I agree with him because our country is great because it has been a beacon of positive change for over two centuries.
Reverend McMickle really moved me. His knowledge of scripture is inspiring. He spoke of Heschel’s understanding that God gets angry at human cruelty and injustice, but that God wants his anger to be annulled by people’s repentance. That way the need for judgment would be set aside. Rev. McMickle also gave an insightful interpretation of the transfiguration: Jesus tells Peter not to tell anyone about this great event and then continues on with his ministry. As Rev. McMickle interprets the text, it means that we should not cling to past milestones and accomplishments in justice work but need to keep building. He noted that MLK and Heschel would not let us rest. I pray that that spirit might guide me and others.
Ambassador Young, who helped bring the Olympics to Atlanta, emphasized the need to help people who have become sick because of their injustice, not to become angry with them, which is something the ambassador did in living through the violent reactions to his civil rights work with MLK.
Unfortunately, I needed to leave in the middle of Mr.Hoffman’s speech. I had to get home to allow my wife time to grade her papers and prep her classes. It would have been unjust to her if I had stayed.

I am so deeply grateful to have attended this evening. The cultural life of Northeast Ohio is so very rich. I hope that I can contribute to this rich cultural life with the Innovation conferences and the Lake Erie Olympics I have dreamed about, but I will need a lot of help to make the dreams a reality. I am not a great detail or calendar person.

Finally, as we read about the struggle in Brazil to end violence and keep their homes powered, we need to enter into a relationship of solidarity with that wonderful country. Let’s not Brazil lose their Olympics. Let’s rally to Brazil’s side and help them develop solutions to these problems, as people rallied to our side after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.