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    Human: God’s Ineffable Name
    Human: God’s Ineffable Name
    Human: God’s Ineffable Name
    Ebook135 pages46 minutes

    Human: God’s Ineffable Name

    By Abraham Joshua Heschel

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    About this ebook

    Although Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) is well-known today—as a philosopher, a Jewish theologian and a social activist—Heschel the poet is not. Nevertheless, those who have read his writings in English, spiritual classics like The Sabbath and Man is Not Alone, and have been moved by the power of his prose and the subtlety of his expression, will not be surprised to find that in his youth he had actually published a volume of Yiddish poetry in the heyday of Yiddish literature before the Holocaust. The 66 precious poems of Der Shem Ham’forash—Mentch, published by Indsel Verlag in Warsaw in 1933, remained close to Heschel’s heart all of his life, though few people knew of their existence. It was more than a decade after his passing before most of his admirers learned of them, being treated to a few tantalizing snippets in Samuel Dresner’s anthology, I Asked for Wonder (a line taken from the dedication of Der Shem Ham’forash—Mentch). But what was unknown to most of Heschel’s readers was that a complete translation of his poetry in English already existed in his lifetime; and still more amazing, it had been made by his younger contemporary, Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (b. 1924), who would himself become a towering figure in Jewish and world spirituality, but who at the time was just coming into his own and looked to the older Heschel as a mentor. As we learn in the introduction, the first drafts of these translations were given as gifts to Heschel after his heart attack in 1969 to cheer him through his convalescence (sometimes accompanied by recordings of Schachter-Shalomi reading both the Yiddish originals and the English translations!) Schachter-Shalomi notes that Heschel was satisfied with some of these early drafts and unsatisfied with others. The poems were deeply personal to him and the translations would need to be revised. Unfortunately, Heschel died before he and Schachter-Shalomi could come together to discuss a revision and the translations were put on a shelf. But now, in honor of the 40th anniversary of Heschel’s passing, Schachter-Shalomi has taken them down again and completed his own revision for the modern reader of sacred poetry. Thus, we have in this volume something truly unique—the combined work and vision of two of the 20th century’s greatest Jewish spiritual luminaries and master’s of Yiddish!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlbion-Andalus Books
    Release dateJun 7, 2015
    ISBN9781310926303
    Human: God’s Ineffable Name
    Author

    Abraham Joshua Heschel

    Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) was one of the most celebrated and original Jewish thinkers of the twentieth century. Though renowned in his day as a theologian and philosopher, Heschel is also celebrated today for his tireless activism against the war in Vietnam and his work for civil rights with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is the author of numerous spiritual classics, including: The Prophets, The Sabbath, Man is Not Alone, God in Search of Man, and The Earth is the Lord’s.

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      Book preview

      Human - Abraham Joshua Heschel

      Human —

      God’s Ineffable Name

      Abraham Joshua Heschel

      A New Rendering of
      Der Shem Ham’forash—Mentsch by
      Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi

      Published by Albion-Andalus Books at Smashwords

      Boulder, Colorado 2015

      "The old shall be renewed,

      and the new shall be made holy."

      Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Kook

      Copyright © 2012 Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi & Susannah Heschel

      First edition. All rights reserved.

      This ebook may not be re-sold or given away. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, except for brief passages in connection with a critical review, without permission in writing from the publisher:

      Albion-Andalus, Inc.

      P. O. Box 19852

      Boulder, CO 80308

      www.albionandalus.com

      Design and composition by Albion-Andalus, Inc.

      Cover design by Sari Wisenthal-Shore.

      Cover photo of Abraham Joshua Heschel used by permission of Susannah Heschel.

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      ISBN: 9781310926303

      I asked for wonder

      ‘Stead of comfort,

      And yes, You gave me

      Wonder.

      This book was made possible with

      a generous donation by

      Aaron Claman

      Contents

      Introduction

      I. HUMAN IS HOLY

      I and You

      Help

      Millions of Eyes Choke on One Teardrop

      Suicides

      Human Eyes Plead and Wait

      Forlorn

      God’s Tears

      God and Human

      Battle and Victory

      From One Heart to Another

      Night Lament

      II. BEARING WITNESS

      God Pursues Me Everywhere

      The Word Most Precious

      Need

      Brother God

      Promise

      Intimate Hymn

      At Dusk

      Palaces in Time

      City Evenings

      Street Dusk

      Hymn to the Lord of Time at the Very Last Hour

      III. TO A WOMAN IN A DREAM

      To a Woman in a Dream

      In the Mansions of Your Face

      A Lady Pledged

      Dedication

      In Your Arms

      Awkward Moments

      Eyes to Dream

      The Longing of My Early Youth

      Wonder, Anticipation

      My Farthest Intimacy

      IV. BETWEEN ME AND THE WORLD

      Between Me and the World

      Youth

      Secrets of My Longing

      In the Park

      Lonely

      My Seal

      Debts

      When I Wander

      Cirrus Clouds

      V. PANTOMIMES OF NATURE

      My Song

      Summer

      I Befriend Woods

      Tammuz in the Fields

      Waterfall

      A Sunday in July in Berlin

      Autumn—Greatest Love

      Snow on Fields

      Sea

      Dusk

      At Night

      Earth

      VI. TIKKUNIM

      Guilt

      Forgiveness

      The Schlimmazel

      Is a Song of this Sort for Singing?

      Gentle Friend

      At Night

      Prayer for All Rulers

      The Patient

      Who Is Real?

      Prayer

      Midnight Lament

      Teshuvah

      My Song

      Appendix: Two Poems

      Biographies

      Introduction

      Anyone acquainted with the brilliant theological and philosophical writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel—with his use of metaphor, his evocative imagery, his deep wish to connect and relate, to heal and bring light to a suffering world—will find all of these themes and qualities presaged in his slim volume of Yiddish poetry, Der Shem Ham’forash—Mentch, published in Warsaw by Indsel Verlag in 1933. But I leave it to those interested in such matters to trace the development of these themes from his poetry, written in his youth, through his more mature theological writings. A translator ought not to write commentary for a poet. Any attempt to make the poet appear as if he had used a left-brained approach to writing his poetry

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