In This Hour

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–72) was a rabbi, scholar, and philosopher. In 1937 Martin Buber appointed him as his successor at the central organization for Jewish adult education in Frankfurt am Main. In time he became one of the most influential modern philosophers of religion in the United States. He formulated an original philosophy of Judaism, expressed in such foundational books as Man Is Not Alone (1951) and God in Search of Man (1955).

“This is a tremendously important work of testimony and erudition in the service of saving Jewish history-and the Jewish people-from oblivion. The essays fill a significant void in Heschel’s bibliography. The academic community will welcome the relatively unknown aspects of Heschel’s development as a teacher and public intellectual, and all readers will appreciate Heschel’s gripping literary testimony in impeccable translation.”-Edward K. Kaplan, author of Abraham Joshua Heschel: Prophetic Witness “Just when we thought the luminous Heschel canon was complete, we are gifted with this extraordinary volume-a treasure trove of Heschel essays and speeches that have never before been seen in English. At a moment when civility and spirituality hang in the balance, these excavated words from one of our seminal thinkers and teachers could not be more timely or challenging. I hope you give yourself the immense pleasure and education of delving into In This Hour.”-Abigail Pogrebin, author of My Jewish Year: Eighteen Holidays, One Wondering Jew “A deep learning characterizes all of Heschel’s writings. Here, in particular, Heschel’s extended meditations on Talmudic learning and on repentance are extraordinarily illuminating. The original writing is at once rigorously analytical and prescriptive, at times exhortative and elegiac, and the translation commendably conveys the spare elegance of the prose. Furthermore, the introductions and notes provide historical and personal context in impressively erudite and engaging ways.”-Nathaniel Deutsch, author of The Jewish Dark Continent: Life and Death in the Russian Pale of Settlement “This collection of early writings by Abraham Joshua Heschel significantly expands our awareness of his full oeuvre. Readers of Heschel will want to see these prior confrontations with key issues and Heschel’s earliest stages as an activist in response to Nazi persecution.”-Rabbi Arthur Green, coeditor of A New Hasidism: Roots and A New Hasidism: Branches “These essays brilliantly portray the intellectual development of a shining twentieth-century Jewish thinker and leader. This book is an indispensable part of Heschel’s legacy to us.”-David Teutsch, Louis and Myra Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization Emeritus, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

• AcknowledgementsForeword by Susannah HeschelIntroductionEditors' Note1. London: Jewish Learning in ExileIntroductionThe Idea of Jewish EducationNotes for a Lecture on Jewish Education in the Modern Era2. Personalities in Jewish HistoryContextRabbi Johanan ben ZakkaiRabbi Gamliel IIRabbi AkibaRabbi Shimon ben Gamliel IIElisha ben AbuyahRabbi MeirRabbi Judah HanasiRabbi Hiyya3. Don Yitzhak AbravanelContextOn HistoryA Life Between State and GodOn the Origin of the WorldThe Two Paths to the Imitation of GodOn the End of TimeInterpreting ScriptureA Legacy of Failed Advocacy4. For the Jewish Holidays in BerlinContextThe Power of Repentance (Rosh Hashanah, 1936)The Meaning of Repentance (Rosh Hashanah, 1936)Lights Over the Sea (Hanukkah, 1937)5. MeditationsContextOn SufferingOn the Seriousness of PrayerOn Dreaming God's DreamOn ReturnNotesSelected BibliographyContributors