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    The Earth Is the Lord's: The Inner World of the Jew in East Europe
    The Earth Is the Lord's: The Inner World of the Jew in East Europe
    The Earth Is the Lord's: The Inner World of the Jew in East Europe
    Ebook94 pages1 hour

    The Earth Is the Lord's: The Inner World of the Jew in East Europe

    By Abraham Joshua Heschel

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    About this ebook

    Earth Is The Lords is a riveting portrayal of a bygone culture of Jews in Eastern Europe by one of the foremost Jewish thinkers of the century.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJun 1, 1979
    ISBN9781466800380
    The Earth Is the Lord's: The Inner World of the Jew in East Europe
    Author

    Abraham Joshua Heschel

    Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) was one of the most prominent Jewish theologians and philosophers of the twentieth century. Born in Poland, he moved to America in 1940. Maintaining that religion and justice were inseparable, he was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements. His books include The Earth Is the Lord’s (1950), Man Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion (1951), The Sabbath: Its Meaning to Modern Man (1951), Man’s Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism (1954), God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (1956); and The Prophets (1962).

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      Book preview

      The Earth Is the Lord's - Abraham Joshua Heschel

      e9781466800380_i0002.jpg

      Preface

      THE STORY ABOUT THE LIFE OF THE JEWS IN EASTERN EUROPE WHICH HAS COME TO AN END IN OUR DAYS IS WHAT I HAVE tried to tell in this essay. I have not talked about their books, their art or institutions, but about their daily life, about their habits and customs, about their attitudes toward the basic things in life, about the scale of values which directed their aspirations.

      It is a story about an entire era in Jewish history, in which the attempt is made to portray the character of a people as reflected in its way of living throughout generations, in its loyalties and motivations, in its unique and enduring features. Viewed from a wide historical perspective, issues that loomed important in recent years were considered only in proportion to the total picture of the Ashkenazic period which extended over eight hundred years.¹

      My task was, not to explain, but to see, to discern and to depict. An investigation of the social, economic, and political factors which were effective during the period, and their impact upon the spirit of the people was not within the scope of this essay. It was likewise not my intention to dwell upon the various achievements of that period, such as the contributions to science and literature, to art and theology, the rise of the Wissenschaft des Judentums,² the revival of the Hebrew language, the modern Hebrew and Yiddish literatures, the development of the Yiddish language, Zionism, Jewish socialism, the establishment of new centers, the rebuilding of Israel, the various attempts to modernize Jewish life and to adapt it to changing conditions.

      For how do we appraise the historic significance of a period? By what standards do we measure culture? It is customary in the modern world to evaluate a period by its progress in general civilization, by the quality of the books, by the number of universities, by the artistic accomplishments, and by the scientific discoveries made therein. As Jews, with an old tradition for appraising and judging events and generations, we evaluate history by different criteria, namely, by how much refinement there is in the life of a people, by how much spiritual substance there is in its everyday existence. In our eyes, culture is the style of the life of a people. We gauge culture by the extent to which a whole people, not only individuals, live in accordance with the dictates of an eternal doctrine or strive for spiritual integrity; the extent to which inwardness, compassion, justice and holiness are to be found in the daily life of the masses.

      The pattern of life of a people is more significant than the pattern of its art. What counts most is not expression, but existence itself. The key to the source of creativity lies in the will to cling to spirituality, to be close to the inexpressible, and not merely in the ability of expression. What is creative comes from responsive merging with the eternal in reality, not from an ambition to say something. To appraise adequately the East European period in Jewish history, I had to inquire into the life-feeling and life-style of the people. This led to the conclusion that in this period our people attained the highest degree of inwardness. I feel justified in saying that it was the golden period in Jewish history, in the history of the Jewish soul.

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      ONE

      The Sigh

      MOST OF US SUCCUMB TO THE MAGNETIC PROPERTY OF THINGS AND EVALUATE EVENTS BY THEIR TANGIBLE RESULTS. We appreciate things that are displayed in the realm of Space. The truth, however, is that the genuinely precious is encountered in the realm of Time, rather than in Space. Monuments of bronze live by the grace of the memory of those who gaze at their form, while moments of the soul endure even when banished to the back of the mind. Feelings, thoughts, are our own, while possessions are alien and often treacherous to the self. To be is more essential than to have. Though we deal with things, we live in deeds.

      Pagans exalt sacred things, the Prophets extol sacred deeds. The most precious object that has ever been on earth were the Two Tablets of stone which Moses received upon Mount Sinai: The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets. ³ But when coming down the mount—the Two Tablets he had just received in his hands—Moses saw the people dance around the Golden Calf, he cast the Tablets out of his hands and broke them before their eyes.

      The stone is broken, but the Words are alive. The replica Moses had subsequently made is gone too, but the Words did not die. They still knock at our gates as if begging to be engraved on the Tablets of every heart. While others have carried their piety, fervor, faith into magnificent songs of architecture, our ancestors had neither the skill nor the material necessary to produce comparable structures. Phoenician craftsmen had to be brought to Jerusalem by Solomon the King to assist in erecting the Temple for the Lord. But there were Jews who knew how to lay bricks in the soul, to rear holiness made of simple deeds, of study and prayer, of care, of fear and love. They knew how to pattern and raise a pyramid that no one could see but

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