Interfaith Activism
Abraham Joshua Heschel and Religious Diversity
- World Religions
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Published: 2015
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Publisher's Description
Abraham Joshua Heschel was the towering religious figure of American Jewry in the twentieth century. In Interfaith Activism, Harold Kasimow, who is known for his work on Heschel and on interfaith dialogue between Jews and members of other faiths, presents a selection of his essays on Heschel's thought. Topics include Heschel's perspective on the different religious traditions, Heschel's three pathways to God, his deep friendship with Maurice Friedman and Martin Luther King Jr., and his surprising affinity to the great Hindu Vedantist Swami Vivekananda and to Pope Francis. A new essay examines Heschel's struggle with the Holocaust. Since the late 1950s, when Kasimow was Heschel's student, he has wrestled with Heschel's claim that "in this eon, diversity of religions is the will of God" and Heschel's belief that there must be dialogue "between the river Jordan and the River Ganges."
Endorsements (8)
“"In this original book of essays, Harold Kasimow provides an intimate portrait of Abraham Joshua Heschel's prophetic commitment to interreligious dialogue, nonviolence, social justice, and the power of faith to transform the heart. . . . A truly important book, not to be missed.”
“Kasimow is one of the most creative and inspiring disciples of Heschel. . . . He is at home not only in his own Jewish tradition but also with the Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim traditions--quite an unusual phenomenon in our polarized and conflicted world.”
“Anyone who is interested in the powerful voice of Heschel will be interested in Kasimow's book. Interfaith Activism . . . collects his published essays about Heschel over the last dozen years. Who could resist reading Kasimow's arrangement of Heschel's core ideas that focus on religious diversity as the will of God and on social activism as our way of implementing that will?”
“Kasimow, with his ideal and intimate acquaintance with the whole of Heschel's thought, does not hesitate to touch upon difficult and disputed questions, such as Heschel's struggle with God's role during the Holocaust. He also highlights Heschel's unique contribution to the Catholic-Jewish dialogues that led to the Second Vatican Council's revolutionary document Nostra Aetate: Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.”
“Abraham Joshua Heschel's life and writings model a deep commitment to his own Jewish tradition, the depths of which enabled him to reach out, understand, and engage other faith traditions. He avoids both easy universalism and sectarian pride through his personal commitment to Torah, allowing him to set a model for others in a radical openness to other faiths that emerges from a Judaism that plumbs the depths to construct a broad and wide space for interreligious understanding and cooperation.”
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