David Wolpe: preference

Transcript context

…Abraham Joshua Heschel. What’s his importance? There were two thinkers who were most important to me in different ways, although it’s hard to say, partly because of where I grew up, and I think one was Heschel, the other [Martin] Buber. The reason that Heschel is so important is less for the content of his thought — although sometimes that’s powerful — than the frequently breathtaking prose in which he put it, and it was the first time that I read somebody who could move me with the poetry of his language even though, as I expressed to you earlier, sometimes he’s over-flowery, sometimes he could’ve used a good editor. But there are some passages where, like in his little book The Sabbath, which everybody who’s interested in Judaism or in God or theology should read, where you think it’s just so extraordinarily beautiful that it’s an illustration of what it talks about. That is, it is something that touches your soul as it talks about the necessity for your soul to be touched. So again, I’m an outsider in this dialogue, but say I were thinking of converting to Judaism and I were asking you about Hasidic philosophy. Now in terms of some social connections, I probably would fit better into your congregation than into a Hasidic congregation. But if I ask you, on theological grounds alone, is there a reason why I should be hesitant about Hasidic philosophy? From the point of view of theology, what do you think is the greatest weakness there, or your biggest difference with it, given how much you like Heschel?…

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