ON THE INEFFABLE NAME OF GOD AND THE PROPHET ABRAHAM: AN EXAMINATION OF THE EXISTENTIAL-HASIDIC POETRY OF ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL

Carl Stern once asked Heschel if he considered himself a prophet. The question was asked in light of Heschel's prominent involvement in the American civil rights movement. Heschel answered that he could not accept such honor, but that he hoped that he would be worthy of being considered one of the "sons of the prophets". This modest reply does not preclude the seeking of a clearer answer through reading the volume of poetry that Heschel published in Warsaw in 1933. Here, Even-Chen examines the question and consider the substantive relationship between that and Heschel's conception of God's ineffable name as presented in those poems. Heschel believed that books were a window into the writer's soul, and that through a philosopher's writings one might apprehend the problems, doubts and motives behind the written text.