Rating: 
Summary: Must read for any study of the Hebrew Prophets.
Review: This is classic Heschel and worth reflecting and studying when one is seeking to develop a fully rounded picture of the ancient Hebrews prophets and the role of the prophetic in culture.
Rating:
Summary: A fine Jewish perspective on the biblical prophets
Review: This two-volume work is one of the best I know of for explaining how Jews relate to the Prophets. While non-Jews tend to think of "prophets" as psychics who foretell the future, the Jewish concept of a prophet is someone who is inspired by God to advance the cause of social justice by confronting the people and their rulers. "Feed the widow, the orphan, the stranger!" shouts the prophet in the marketplace. "Forsake your dead idols -- return to the Lord!" he tells the king. Yes, the prophet may foretell future events, but he also preaches another option: return to the ways of God, and the terrible things foretold in a prophecy may not have to happen. A prophecy is a warning, a call to repentence -- not a prognistication written in stone. Heschel's scholarship in this work is excellent and very, very readable, even if you are not a seminarian. Like his shorter books, such as "The Sabbath" and "The Earth is the Lord's," this work is written in dynamic, inspiring prose that reaches the level of fine literature. In the first volume, he discusses specific biblical prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. (Christians may be surprised to learn that, in classical Jewish sources, the "suffering servant" refers Jacob who, in turn, is used by Isaiah as a metaphor for the entire Jewish people collectively. In other words, the Jews are the "suffering servant" of God, not Jesus.) Volume II discusses more general concepts about prophets and prophecy. As an historical note, I would add that Rabbi Heschel not only wrote about prophets and social responsibility, he also walked the walk -- quite literally. He was active in the Civil Rights movement in the USA, and walked with Dr. Martin Luther King in the second Selma march in Alabama (look for a white-haired man in a black skullcap near King, next time you view footage of that event.) Rabbi Heschel said of that march that he "felt as if his feet were praying." His book, "The Prophets," will let you enter the mind and soul that went with those feet.
Rating:
Summary: A fine Jewish perspective on the biblical prophets
Review: This two-volume work is one of the best I know of for explaining how Jews relate to the Prophets. While non-Jews tend to think of "prophets" as psychics who foretell the future, the Jewish concept of a prophet is someone who is inspired by God to advance the cause of social justice by confronting the people and their rulers. "Feed the widow, the orphan, the stranger!" shouts the prophet in the marketplace. "Forsake your dead idols -- return to the Lord!" he tells the king. Yes, the prophet may foretell future events, but he also preaches another option: return to the ways of God, and the terrible things foretold in a prophecy may not have to happen. A prophecy is a warning, a call to repentence -- not a prognistication written in stone. Heschel's scholarship in this work is excellent and very, very readable, even if you are not a seminarian. Like his shorter books, such as "The Sabbath" and "The Earth is the Lord's," this work is written in dynamic, inspiring prose that reaches the level of fine literature. In the first volume, he discusses specific biblical prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc. (Christians may be surprised to learn that, in classical Jewish sources, the "suffering servant" refers Jacob who, in turn, is used by Isaiah as a metaphor for the entire Jewish people collectively. In other words, the Jews are the "suffering servant" of God, not Jesus.) Volume II discusses more general concepts about prophets and prophecy. As an historical note, I would add that Rabbi Heschel not only wrote about prophets and social responsibility, he also walked the walk -- quite literally. He was active in the Civil Rights movement in the USA, and walked with Dr. Martin Luther King in the second Selma march in Alabama (look for a white-haired man in a black skullcap near King, next time you view footage of that event.) Rabbi Heschel said of that march that he "felt as if his feet were praying." His book, "The Prophets," will let you enter the mind and soul that went with those feet.
Rating:
Summary: Volume 2 also a Classic
Review: While volume one of Heschel's definitive work concentrates more on specific prophets, volume two delves more into the general office of prophecy as well as the various concepts of God held by philosophers from around the globe (most notably the Greeks such as Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Chrysippus, Strato, or Xenophanes.) He explores different ways others have tried to understand the Hebrew prophets, comparing and contrasting biblical prophecy with religious ecstasy, poetic inspiration, psychosis and neuroses, literary devices, and prophets throughout the world (e.g. Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Americas, China etc). While these modes of analysis have validity as tools of study, ultimately they all fall short in adequately explaining - and therefore understanding - the prophets. Heschel's amazingly wide range of scholarly studies give him a unique ability to assess these remarkable prophetic revelations recorded in the scriptures. I found his comments sagacious and illuminating. This is not a book of light reading, but neither is it a dreary pedantic tome. It is a classic that is helpful for both scholars and lay public alike, deserving to be studied, underlined, highlighted, and commented upon while reading through it.
Rating:
Summary: Volume 2 also a Classic
Review: While volume one of Heschel's definitive work concentrates more on specific prophets, volume two delves more into the general office of prophecy as well as the various concepts of God held by philosophers from around the globe (most notably the Greeks such as Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Chrysippus, Strato, or Xenophanes.) He explores different ways others have tried to understand the Hebrew prophets, comparing and contrasting biblical prophecy with religious ecstasy, poetic inspiration, psychosis and neuroses, literary devices, and prophets throughout the world (e.g. Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Americas, China etc). While these modes of analysis have validity as tools of study, ultimately they all fall short in adequately explaining - and therefore understanding - the prophets. Heschel's amazingly wide range of scholarly studies give him a unique ability to assess these remarkable prophetic revelations recorded in the scriptures. I found his comments sagacious and illuminating. This is not a book of light reading, but neither is it a dreary pedantic tome. It is a classic that is helpful for both scholars and lay public alike, deserving to be studied, underlined, highlighted, and commented upon while reading through it.
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