Casper ter Kuile

The Nearness
New York, New York

Where did you first encounter Heschel’s work?

Harvard Divinity School, where I found Heschel’s The Sabbath in the library stacks. I read it in one weekend and fell completely in love with his theological imagination and clear conviction.

How did Heschel and his thinking inspire your work, religious life, or civic engagement?

Personally, he inspired my own “tech sabbath” practice. I started to turn off my phone and laptop on Friday nights in early 2014, and that practice has sustained me for nearly a decade! I don’t always manage to keep to the full 24 hours, but the rhythm of the week (and my own sanity!) is totally inspired by this Heschel-shaped practice. Because I’ve added a note to my emails about my tech sabbath, I’ve had countless people ask about it; I always point them to Heschel.