Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational family,

Wednesday, the 18th of Tevet marked the Yahrzeit of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who passed away in 1972, just a few days after he appeared on Meet The Press. Born into a European Hasidic dynasty, Rabbi Heschel came to the United States, where he taught at the Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Theological Seminary. He influenced and inspired generations of North American rabbis and Klal Yisrael, the totality of the Jewish people.

Rabbi Heschel wrote many important classics, some of which include: God in search of man, Man's quest for God, the Prophets, the Sabbath, and much more. Locally, a Jewish day school is named in his honor and memory.

Philosophically, he aimed at making Tanakh, Halakha, Tefila, Midrash, and other disciplines meaningful and accessible to contemporary Jewry. His classic work, Heavenly Torah as refracted through the Sages (translated by Rabbi Gordon Tucker) had a profound influence on my own theology. His articulation of Torah as Midrash allowed me and many others to affirm the divinity of Torah while embracing modern forms of Torah scholarship.

Rabbi Heschel was ahead of his time in nurturing Catholic-Jewish relations in the 1950's and 1960's. Much of the Church's reappraisal of its relationship with Judaism can be attributed to the dialogue shared with Rabbi Heschel.

Many photographs taken during the civil rights movement in the U.S. include the presence of Rabbi Heschel, who walked side by side with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. For Rabbi Heschel, civil rights was a religious, spiritual, and moral imperative.

While Rabbi Heschel had passed away many years before I attended rabbinical school at JTS, I was privileged to study with scholars who had studied with him and embodied his teachings. Naturally, I have read many of his books and articles during my tenure at school and during my years in the rabbinate.

May the lessons of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel continue to influence and inspire present and future generations of rabbis, teachers, and the Jewish people at large.

Yhi Zichro Baruch - May his memory be for a blessing.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Howard Morrison