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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In my previous religious life, praying for me was about technique, but without intention. Heschel changed my attitude in prayer. Sefi Dahan Rabbi Heschel taught the Bible and linked it to our present time with effortless elegance.  Reverend Johnnie Moore Heschel’s confidence in the power of the tradition was a constant example throughout his life. Rabbi David Wolpe