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(Updated quote at end)Sometimes I feel like I have been robbed of a portion of my spirituality. Skeptic groups with their meticulous dissection of the Torah with the scalpel of logic has enlightened my intellectual understanding of religion but at the same time amputated my yearning for the ineffable mystery and experiential aspects of human existence (say what?). And so I have chosen to read Between God and Man: An interpretation of Judaism from the writings of Abraham J. Heschel, a great Jewish philosopher. I'm not thoroughly versed in philosophy and often find I get so lost in the verbose presentation that I begin to think the philosopher (in general) hadn't a clue as to what he was writing about. If you can't break it down into simple language, you ain't got it.
Back to this book in particular. I started reading the preface by F.A. Rothchild and found my head spinning and quite lost. I was about to give up on the book when I just decided to jump ahead to the text from Heschel. It was surprisingly easier to read than I imagined. I'm still wrestling with some of the concepts and not sure I agree with them all but he seems to be addressing my concerns mentioned at the very beginning of this post. But why on Earth would you make the preface less accessible to the reader than the text itself? Quite frustrating to say the least.
Back to this book in particular. I started reading the preface by F.A. Rothchild and found my head spinning and quite lost. I was about to give up on the book when I just decided to jump ahead to the text from Heschel. It was surprisingly easier to read than I imagined. I'm still wrestling with some of the concepts and not sure I agree with them all but he seems to be addressing my concerns mentioned at the very beginning of this post. But why on Earth would you make the preface less accessible to the reader than the text itself? Quite frustrating to say the least.
As I searched for an image of the cover, I discovered a newer edition than the one I'm reading which has a foreword by David Hartman. From other writings of Hartman, I expect more philo-talk. So I'll skip that too.
In the meantime, for all you quote-miners out there:
"Remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power. Never forget that you can still do your share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and frustrations and disappointments." -A. J. Heschel
In the meantime, for all you quote-miners out there:
"Remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power. Never forget that you can still do your share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and frustrations and disappointments." -A. J. Heschel
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"The unthinking embrace of irrationality is literally madness. But embracing rationality while denying the existence of any mystery to life and its meaning-that is no less a form of madness than eager devotion to unreason." -Odd Thomas in Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
