Holiness in Words

Edward K. Kaplan is Professor of French and Comparative Literature and Research Associate at the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry at Brandeis University. In addition to books on the French writers Jules Michelet and Charles Baudelaire, he has published extensively on Abraham Joshua Heschel, Thomas Merton, and Howard Thurman.

"A brilliant, and at the same time, moving, and deeply personal interpretation of the works of one of the greatest religious thinkers of this century. By skillfully analyzing Heschel's rhetoric and mastery of language—his 'poetics of faith'—Edward Kaplan acts as a guide to Heschel's writings for the specialist as well as the general reader, for Jew as well as non-Jew. Holiness in Words enables us to see that what Heschel wrote of scripture applies to his own works: '...the words became a live wire charged with His spirit.'" — Eva Fleischner, Professor Emerita, Montclair State University"Once again—and in a new way—the theological and moral nuances of Heschel's spiritual passion can be heard. Kaplan has set our ear to sounds long-forgotten or never known. His work is no deposit of academic travail, but exemplifies scholarship as service in the highest sense."A lifetime of listening has gone into the making of this book. Over many years, Edward Kaplan has contributed careful and perceptive studies on Heschel's poetic rhetoric, on his understanding of prophecy and prophetic consciousness, and on the moral life and its relationship to mysticism and transcendence. They are now put to the service of a full-scale exposition of Heschel's thought and spiritual orientation." — From the Foreword by Michael Fishbane"This work is an unusually poignant and unique study of understanding modern religious thought using literary criticism. Unrelated to this observation, but of equal significance, is the author's important presentation of Heschel's response to the Holocaust. Also important is his linkage between Heschel's theology—particularly his views of prophecy, and his biography—especially his involvement in social action. While other writers on Heschel have touched on these issues, no other author has done it with such depth or with such clarity. The focus upon the aesthetic features of Heschel's work makes this work unique and significant. The delineation of Heschel's 'sacred humanism' is very well done and could serve as a model for dealing with similar thinkers, e.g., Thomas Merton." — Byron L. Sherwin, Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies

• List of Illustrations Foreword by Michael Fishbane Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction I ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL IN AMERICA Theologian, Zaddik, Prophetic VoiceWriter and Teacher "A Brand Plucked from the Fire" Rescuing the Jewish Soul A Zaddik for the 1950s II A READING STRATEGYEmpathy with Critical AwarenessHow to Read Heschel The First Steps: Close Reading A Divine Perspective Prophetic Call Literary and Theological Insight Reading toward Community III THE DIVINE PERSPECTIVELearning to Think ReligiouslyThe Dynamics of Theocentric Thinking A Spiritual Itinerary The Endless Tension IV LANGUAGE AND REALITYToward a Poetics of FaithAgainst Fundamentalisms The Limits of Language Windows to the Spirit The Perspective of the FaithlessThe Structure of Biblical MetaphorThree Dimensions of Human Fullness V MYSTICISM AND DESPAIRThe Threshold of RevelationOut of the DarknessRecasting Mental HabitsMystical IlluminationThe Life of PietyResistance to Faith VI SACRED VERSUS SYMBOLIC RELIGIONSocial Science or God's Will?Spirit versus SymbolLaw and InwardnessBuber's Atheistic Theology?Poetics and ObservanceBecoming God's Symbol VII PROPHETIC RADICALISMSacred Humanism and Social ActionProphecy in the New WorldReverence for the Divine ImageProphetic Ethics versus ExpediencyPrayer and Political CourageGod as Touchstone VIII CONFRONTING THE HOLOCAUSTGod in Exile"The Mountain of History"Writing and Unspeakable EvilNo Post-Holocaust Theology IX METAPHOR AND MIRACLEModern Judaism and the Holy SpiritThe Historicity of Divine InspirationContemporary Judaism and God's PresenceToward the Future X HESCHEL'S UNFINISHED SYMPHONYReverence, Dismay, and ExaltationA Scholarly GoldmineA Personality for Our TimesTranscendence in DisguiseInterfaith Activism Appendix A: Study GuideAppendix B: Heschel in Germany Notes Annotated Bibliography in English Index