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On Being with Krista Tippett

Arnold Eisen -- The Spiritual Audacity of Abraham Joshua Heschel

On Being with Krista Tippett

On Being Studios

Sociology, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Krista Tippett, Arts, Culture, On Being, Society, Society & Culture, Science, Social Sciences

4.710.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2017

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

“In a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.” A mystic, a 20th-century religious intellectual, a social change agent, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel marched alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., famously saying afterwards that he felt his legs were praying. Heschel’s poetic theological writings are still read and widely studied today. His faith was as much about “radical amazement” as it was about certainty. And he embodied the passionate social engagement of the prophets, drawing on wisdom at once provocative and nourishing.

Transcript

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0:00.0

On Being is brought to you by the John Templeton Foundation.

0:03.6

The Templeton Foundation supports academic research and civil dialogue on the deepest, most perplexing questions facing humankind.

0:11.0

Who are we? Why are we here? And where are we going?

0:14.8

To learn more, please visit Templeton.org. The Templeton Foundation. Stay curious.

0:21.0

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was a mystic, a 20th century religious intellectual, a social change agent.

0:28.5

He was perhaps best immortalized in a famous photograph taken of the 1965 Selma Tim at Gumree Civil Rights March.

0:36.0

He's a conspicuous bearded figure, looking every bit the Hebrew patriarch in the front line of leaders surrounding Martin Luther King, Jr.

0:45.0

Heschel later said in words that became famous, I felt like my legs were praying.

0:50.5

His poetic theological writings are still read and widely studied today.

0:55.5

His faith was as much about radical amazement as it was about certainty.

1:00.5

As instructive for us now is the way Heschel embodied the passionate social engagement of the prophets,

1:07.0

drawing on wisdom at once provocative and nourishing.

1:10.5

In a free society, he said, some are guilty, but all are responsible.

1:15.5

And the opposite of good is not evil, but in difference.

1:20.0

I would say about individuals, and individual dies, but he sees this to be surprised.

1:27.5

I am surprised every morning that I see the sunshine again.

1:32.5

When I see an act of evil, I am not accommodated. I don't accommodate myself to the violence that goes on everywhere.

1:40.0

I'm still surprised. I am against it. I can fight against it.

1:44.5

We must learn how to be surprised. Not to adjust ourselves.

1:49.0

I am the most melodious person in society.

1:52.5

The message from Heschel was that whatever age you are, you have a soul, you have a spirit, you have a heart, you have a mind, use them.

2:01.0

You have experience drawing it. You have challenges to pose them.

...

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