A Passion for Truth

A Passion for Truth (1973)

This book was published posthumously and is significantly autobiographical. It compares and contrasts the life and thought of the enigmatic Hasidic Rebbe Menahem Mendl of Kotzk with that of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. A secondary contrast that is that between the Baal Shem Tov (considered the founder of Hasidism) and the Kotzker Rebbe, a duality that Heschel maps onto the mind and soul.

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It was my own encounter with Heschel’s writings as an adolescent and young adult that challenged me. Rabbi Simkha Weintraub He lives on in me in my social and interfaith activism, as I expect our partners to stand by us as we stand by them. Rabbi Susan Grossman Heschel’s confidence in the power of the tradition was a constant example throughout his life. Rabbi David Wolpe