Rating: 
Summary: Different strokes for different folks
Review: I think Heschel revealed a lot of himself in his works--more than other writers, perhaps. He seems to me to be very emotional regarding his opinions and beliefs. He came from an Eastern European Hasidic family whose ancestor was the Great Maggid of Mezerich. He was a leader in the Civil Rights movement as well as the Vietnam anti-war movement. He was on the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary, JTS, (of the Jewish Conservative movement). This is rather humorous, I think, since he was obviously quite the idealistic Liberal. He had a reputation as a mystic, causing him conflict with other JTS professors. He was a very forceful personality. IMHO he was very much a literary expressionist--putting his feelings into writing. He was also quite poetic--his books include many clever and beautiful turns of phrase. However, much of what he writes comes off as if they are sermons, as if he KNOWS. I respect his views, but don't often agree with them. This book doesn't read like philosophy to me (you can read "Between Kant and Kabbalah" by Mittleman on the Jewish philosopher Breuer, for example). As a scientist, I object to anyone dismissing the contributions of science in virtually any arena. Certainly psychology is a player in anything involving humans. As a mystic, I certainly agree that the Divine is ineffable. But people translate their contact with the Divine into human terms--mostly reflecting their individual propensities, biases, views, etc. That secondary process is psychological/scientific. Indeed, such communications have been compared to radio and television with a transmitter and receivers. Furthermore, research into ESP (Dr. Rhine etc.) shows considerable applicability in understanding the processes involved in communicating with higher powers (e.g. God). In addition, Heschel insists that the Bible be understood in terms of Biblical people. Certainly, such an approach can provide an historical or hagiographical context for the causes that produced beliefs and documents (e.g. The Torah). But, it is essentially irrelevant to today's individuals attempting to apply such beliefs and documents into their lives. It is obvious that praying, studying Torah, putting on Tefillin, etc. excites and completes Heschel, but that doesn't mean they do for everyone--and certainly not identically. He makes the common human mistake of assuming everyone is like him (or should be). I humbly disagree. Nevertheless, he did provide a differing point of view to be considered as well as a couple of good quotes for my collection.:
p. 317: When superimposed as a yoke, as a dogma, as a fear, religion tends to violate rather than to nurture the spirit of man. Religion must be an altar upon which the fire of the soul may be kindled by holiness.
p. 361: Every act done in agreement with the will of God is a mitzvah.
Mostly, however, I have to say (though I'm sure it will upset some people) that I found this particular book very boring. I liked "Moral Grandeur & Spiritual Audacity" better.
Rating: 
Summary: More insightful, wise, and human than a book should be.
Review: My room abounds in books that all promise their little secrets and yet there is just one always near me. One book that is exalted in my eyes despite the unassuming cover that adorns it. I am referring to God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism by Abraham Joshua Heschel. I recommend anything by this man whom Martin Luther King Jr. called a prophet but this has to be the deserted island pick. There is simply no book that has calmed me through a sleepless night so reassuringly, that has peeled more scales off my eyes and heart, and has had more to speak to the questions I'd just as soon forget than this work of religious art.
Don't let the title ward you off, by the way. This book is accessible to those who know nothing of philosophy, to Jews and non-Jews alike, to everyone who still feels awe at the great mystery of existence. I recommend it with great pride
Rating:
Summary: A WONDERFUL DISCUSSION OF JUDAISM
Review: Originally written in 1955, this wonderful 400-page book provides in layman's terms the reasoning for Jewish practice and belief.
Rating:
Summary: This book is special
Review: Read this book. It doesn't matter if you are Jewish, Christian, Hindu, Agnositc, whatever; this book was written for you. It should not be at all surprising that the most spiritual personalities of our age, Tillich, Ghandi, Bonhoeffer, Heschel, Barth, King, all defy the limitations of religion when expressing matters of faith; true faith somehow becomes deeply personal and at the same moment completely universal. As Heschel once said: "Religion is man's answer to God's question, not God's answer to man's question." Read this book.
Rating:
Summary: Essential Reading
Review: Regardless of whether you've never read a book on Judaism before, or you knocked off a blatt of gemara over breakfast, you need to read this book. Far above distinctions of movements and denominations, it provides a moving and thought-provoking phrasing of how the Jew beholds the world.
Rating:
Summary: In a word- awesome
Review: Reverence and awe are what come to mind when I discuss Heschel, and this work in particular. He was an incredible scholar, steeped in multiple cultures (Eastern European Hasidism, Early twentieth-century Berlin, post WWII America) and he embodied so much. He was a poet as well, which is why this book, while an explication of Jewish philosophy (which can be complex at times), is also beautifully written. If you want to understand the worldview of the Hebrew Bible, God in Search of Man is a must read. If you want to understand Judaism (and to a certain extent Christianity and Islam) this book will help you. The book is so powerful because Heschel wrote it in such a way as to evoke the very emotions (and lessons) that he felt the Bible was trying to teach.
Rating:
Summary: A Centering Experience
Review: The philosophy and theology of Judaism in this work are wonderfully user-friendly. More importantly, if the reader approaches this book slowly, a little at a time, he or she will be profoundly engaged by the God of Heschel. It is poetry masquerading as prose, touching the soul and strengthening the faith no matter what religious tradition one does or does not espouse. Chapters 7, 13, 41 and 4 are my favorites. I read a few paragraphs from one or the other every day and just sit with it for a while before going to work in a transitional program for individuals leaving prison wanting to change their lives. This book teaches one to listen and not get in the way of grace.
Rating:
Summary: A Centering Experience
Review: The philosophy and theology of Judaism in this work are wonderfully user-friendly. More importantly, if the reader approaches this book slowly, a little at a time, he or she will be profoundly engaged by the God of Heschel. It is poetry masquerading as prose, touching the soul and strengthening the faith no matter what religious tradition one does or does not espouse. Chapters 7, 13, 41 and 4 are my favorites. I read a few paragraphs from one or the other every day and just sit with it for a while before going to work in a transitional program for individuals leaving prison wanting to change their lives. This book teaches one to listen and not get in the way of grace.
Rating:
Summary: God's Work
Review: Were I to write to Abraham Joshua Hesschel, I would ask if I were not the type of reader he secretly had in mind: someone not raised in the same background of faith and worship but a seeker open to the essential in all religions. I would ask him why the word philosophy in the title? And he would say that he means philosophy as that urgent, life and death inquiry into the source of all. I would thank him for opening my heart to the Mystery that manifests Itself in the words of the Torah. I would say thank-you for addressing both my intellect and my heart. Clearly you sought to reach my spirit also. This is evident in the way you write. Words moist with passion, blooming with the fruit of sacrifice and faith.
Rating:
Summary: Some Reservations
Review: When I was still interested in Orthodox Judaism I found Heschl's book to be very refreshing because it offered a perspective on Judaism that seemed to be more based on reason and argumentation than many of the views fellow members of my synagogue were expounding to me. However, since then I've fallen away from the religion. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't read an argument in favor of God's existence but it does mean I view such arguments with a certain skepticism and emotional revulsion. This book fails to overcome that revulsion; it presents a one-sided, a-historical view of the Jewish faith centering on the so-called concrete event of revelation; it generally distorts common views and rejections of the Bible and for the large part ignores one of the most pressing issues for atheists today -- Biblical criticism, archaeological evidence, and the intolerance and close-mindedness of the religious outlook. This book claims to be a cogent argument for faith, but it's really just bad philosophy. If you're looking for poetry and you can stomach the argumentation, however, there are a few nice turns of phrase, and the book is rightly praised for being clear and easy to follow. Works of true philosophy, however, are difficult to follow for a reason -- the ideas they express are nuanced and demanding; there are no nuances or demanding ideas here. Alex
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