Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence

Acknowledgments

Ac k n o w l e d g m e n t s Ihaveaccumulatedagreatmanydebtsinthelonganddrawn-­outprocess of producing this book. I wish to offer especial thanks to the following teachers, colleagues, students, and friends. Professor Jon Levenson has been a significant teacher, valued mentor , and cherished friend for two decades now. My thinking in general and this work in particular have been immeasurably enriched by his incisive questions, consistently origi­ nal insights, and keenly criti­ cal eye. This book began as a dissertation, and I could not have asked for a more supportive and responsive advisor. Let me state at the outset: any errors, oversights, or lapses in judgment in this work are Jon’s fault; any insights are entirely my own. Or something like that. Inrecentyears,ProfessorMichaelMorganhasbecomeanimportant teacher and a cherished friend. He is a philosopher in the truest sense of theword:aloverofwisdom—andawonderfulpersontoboot.Mythinking , on Heschel and on much else, has been deepened by our exchanges and conversations. Ken Koltun-­Fromm and Robert Erlewine were kind enough to offer extensive feedback on the manuscript. Bob and I have since had a productive series of exchanges, and my thinking and writing about Heschel have grown in clarity and sophistication as a result. He has also been producing some of the best, most insightful work about Heschel, and I am honored by and grateful for his support of my work. ProfessorArthurGreenopeneduptheworldofHasidictextsforme, and he has been unflagging in his encouragement of my work. Art has also served as an important model for me in integrating a life of scholarix x Acknowledgments ship with a deep commitment to serving the Jewish community and the broader world. Professor Khaled Anatolios was a skilled guide through the landscape of Christian theology in the twentieth century. Jonathan Boyarin graciously allowed me to consult his unpublished draft translation of Kotzk: In Gerangl Far Emesdikeyt. In very different ways and in very different registers, Rabbi Yitz Green­ berg and Rabbi Louis Jacobs opened up the world of Jewish theology to me. They both taught me never to fear questions, and never to apologize for them. My debt to Yitz is boundless, and I am honored to call him my teacher. Bernie Steinberg has given more to this study, and to my understanding of my work in the world, than he knows; he has been a model and an inspiration in countless ways. Bill Lebeau taught mehowtobearabbi.BarryMeschgavememyfirstopportunitytoteach Heschel some two decades ago. A variety of friends made important contributions to this work, sometimes through explicit conversations about content, but far more of­ten through the sheer delights of friendship and mutual support. I will not mention them all, but I thank a few in particular who have, in ways direct and indirect, shaped the content and vision of this work: Yehudah Mirsky, David Starr, Steve Greenberg, Jeremy Dauber, Jeffrey Wechselblatt, Michael Kress, David Hoffman, Marcie Lenk, Or Rose, Shaul Magid, and Mark Nussberger. Elie Kaunfer, Ethan Tucker, and Avital Hochstein have been partners in building Mechon Hadar, an institution that embodies many of the values I hold most dear; we have worked together with a remarkable and all-­ too-­ rare spirit of mentschlichkeit and camaraderie. In countless ways, our shared work delayed this project, and in equally abundant ways, their encouragement and support helped move it forward. To them,andtoallofmycolleaguesatMechonHadar:myprofoundthanks. The countless hundreds of students with whom I have studied Heschel ’s writings and ideas have taught me more than I can ever hope to repay.Theirof­tenrelentlessquestioning,theirpersistentchallenges,and their frequently profound openness to new and provocative ideas have again and again inspired me to dig deeper and think harder. Thanks to all of you, and to each and every one of you. Acknowledgments xi Librarians (especially interlibrary loan librarians) at Harvard, Columbia , and Brown Universities, as well as at the Jewish Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary, have been patient, helpful, and resourceful. My thanks to them all. Jaclyn Rubin and Gabriel Seed served as research assistants at vari­ ous stages of my research, and I am grateful to them, both for their industriousness and for their mentschlichkeit. I am also thankful to Jaclyn for asking me questions, and then asking me some more, and then, well, you get the picture. Abby Phelps and Rachel Scheinerman provided extremely useful first rounds of copyediting with abundant good cheer. Rachel Druck also cast a careful eye on early drafts of several chapters. Dee Mortensen, Sarah Jacobi, June Silay, and Dave Hulsey of Indiana University Press have...