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On one foot: Five essential things to know about Abraham Joshua Heschel on his 50th yahrzeit
(JTA) — Last week marked the 50th yahrzeit — or Hebrew anniversary — of the death of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972), the theologian, scholar, philosopher, Holocaust survivor and modern-day prophet who was long associated with the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary but whose embrace of “radical amazement” wasn’t contained by any movement or denomination. Monday is also Martin Luther King Jr. Day: The rabbi and the minister have often been linked thanks to Heschel’s civil rights activism and iconic photographs of them in the front lines of the march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery on March 21, 1965. (See below for events tied to the legacies of both men.)
I confess that Heschel’s lavish, epigrammatic prose and devotion to the living reality of God didn’t speak to a buttoned-down skeptic like me. I might quote his book “The Sabbath,” a lovely articulation of how Shabbat forms an island in time, but I’m more comfortable discussing Heschel’s political views, like his opposition to the Vietnam War, than his ideas on God and humankind.
I suspect others are similarly intimidated by Heschel, and could use a gentle onramp. For help I turned to Rabbi Shai Held, author of “Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence” (2015) and the president and dean at Hadar, the nondenominational yeshiva. I challenged Held to name five works, articles, films or other media that would help people appreciate who Heschel was and why he remains celebrated.
“I fell in love with Heschel as as a teenager, because I felt he both articulated intuitions about the world that I had but didn’t remotely have language for, and he also was the first person I had heard articulate a vision of what Judaism thought that the good life could look like,” Held told me. “As a day school grad I felt I knew a lot of stuff about Judaism, but if you asked me ‘what is Judaism about and what is it for,’ I would have had no idea what to say. And Heschel gave me that narrative. It was a story that spoke to my mind and my heart at the same time. It was like asking me to become something in the world and that was incredibly moving to me.”
Here are five great ways to access Heschel, with comments by Rabbi Held. I plan to make this an ongoing series of introductions to Jewish thinkers, writers and artists who are making news or are particularly relevant to the current Jewish conversation. If there is someone you’d like to see discussed, drop me a line at asc@jewishweek.org.
(For Rabbi Held’s own introduction to Heschel, see his video, “Why Amazement Matters.”)
“The Sabbath,” (1951)
(In this slim volume, Heschel describes the Sabbath as a “palace in time,” and an opportunity for spiritual communion with the potential to help shape how its observers live the other six days of the week.)
“The number of people I have met in my travels, who tell me about how that book opened them up to spirituality, is staggering. Two things about that book are very moving. One is, at a time when American Judaism was about integration and success, Heschel launched this dramatic insistence that Judaism was about the life of the spirit. I think it landed like a bomb for a lot of American Jews. It was totally revolutionary to them. One of the ways that the book has resonated and continues to resonate is that Heschel is rebelling against a culture of technology, and wants to place a stake in the ground for the value of appreciation and gratitude. One of my favorite sentences in all of Heschel is that ‘Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation.’ That line is from ‘God in Search of Man,’ but I think ‘The Sabbath’ is about Shabbat as a practice of appreciation.
“I also think that people had internalized the Christian, anti-Jewish idea that Christianity was about inwardness and spirituality and Judaism wasn’t. Heschel responds: We gave the world the gift of Sabbath which is about living in the presence of God.”
“God in Search of Man,” part 1 (1955)
(Held calls Heschel’s companion volume to his earlier work “Man Is Not Alone” a “beautiful evocation of what wonder and gratitude look like.”)
“This is Heschel as a phenomenologist: What is it like to have a sense that our lives are not something that we earned and that part of the religious life is to repay this extraordinary gift? He needs to write in a poetic mode, in part, because he’s trying to evoke in his readers a sense of gratitude, a sense of indebtedness, a sense of obligation. What I tried to do in my book is to [delete] sort of argue that amidst all that poetry, there’s an argument: Wonder is what opens the door to obligation. Wonder is about reawakening a sense that all of us, just by the nature of being human, have an intuition that we’re obligated to something and someone.”
“The Prophets,” 1962
(Heschel provides compact profiles of seven biblical prophets and attempts to understand the phenomenon of prophecy in general. Held recommends starting with the chapter titled, “The Theology of Pathos.”)
“Heschel makes the most eloquent case I think any Jew has ever made since the prophets for a God who cares, a God who is stirred to the core of God’s being by human suffering and especially human suffering that stems from oppression. It’s Heschel’s attempt to reclaim the God of the Bible from what he saw as the ravages of abstract philosophy that reduces God to an idea. God is not an idea. God is someone who cares about us. God has a name. There’s this amazing speech he gives to Jewish educators somewhere where he says, ‘I was invited to a conference to talk about my idea of God and I responded to them and said, ‘I don’t have an idea of God, I have God’ — Hakadosh baruch hu [the Holy one, blessed be God] who makes a claim on my life.”
“Religion and Race,” 1963
(On Jan. 14, 1963, Heschel gave the speech “Religion and Race” at a conference of the same name in Chicago, where he became close to King.)
“First of all, you see how Heschel’s theology and his activism are so entirely interwoven: The God who loves the downtrodden, the God who loves widows and orphans, is the God who requires us to stand up and fight for civil rights. It’s also extraordinarily beautiful, in that it combines really interesting biblical interpretation with [theological depth and profound] moral passion. Part of what Heschel and King meant to each other is that each one of them saw the other as a kind of living proof that God had not abandoned the downtrodden — and King was very important to Heschel in the context of the theology of of the Shoah: Martin Luther King embodies the reality that God has not abandoned the world. He really believed Martin Luther King was channeling God, nothing less than that.”
The NBC Interview (1972)
(Shortly before he died at age 65, Heschel recorded an interview with broadcaster Carl Stern. It aired on Dec. 10, 1972, on NBC-TV as an episode of “The Eternal Light,” the long-running religion and ethics show produced in conjunction with the Jewish Theological Seminary.)
“He makes this incredibly beautiful statement about telling kids to live their life as if it were a work of art. Which is just amazing — so beautiful and so simple. And there’s also this really interesting moment where Carl Stern asks him if he’s a prophet and he says, ‘You know, I cannot accept such a compliment. I am not a prophet. I am a child of prophets. But indeed the Talmud says all Israel are the children of prophets.’ I just love that combination of humility and elevatedness. That interview [offers a powerful glimpse of him as a human being, and not just a bunch of words on a page. You see a real person]. is also what makes him actually a human being and not just a bunch of words on a page. You see a real person.”
On Monday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. ET, Shai Held will join Arnold Eisen, chancellor emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary, for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day conversation reflecting on Heschel’s life, thought and legacy. (Register here for Zoom link.) That same night, at 8 p.m. ET, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah will commemorate Heschel’s 50th yahrzeit with a discussion with his daughter, Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. (Register here.)
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2026 Tribeca Film Festival to Screen World Premiere of Israeli Films, Including Noga Erez Documentary
A still from “What Is To Come.” Photo: Tribeca Film Festival
Organizers of the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival announced on Thursday the official lineup for this year’s event in June and it includes the world premiere of three Israeli co-productions.
“What Is to Come” will be screened as part of the festival’s International Narrative Competition. The drama from Israel and the United Kingdom is about a woman named Yehudit who unexpectedly loses her husband and is forced to start over on her own. “In the process, she finds that abrupt and painful detours can lead to bright roads,” according to a synopsis of the film. The feature is directed and written by Ruthy Pribar, and stars Ronit Yudkevitch, Yaakov Zada Danielm and Tovit Adis Semay. “What Is to Come” will make its world premiere on June 8.
Pribar’s debut feature film “Asia” screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020 and won three awards, including the Nora Ephron Prize for Pribar, a best actress award for Shira Haas, and best cinematography for Daniella Nowitz. The film also won nine Ophir Awards in Israel.
“Moishe Badhan (or The Tale of a Wedding Entertainer),” will also make its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, in the Viewpoints section. Directed by Gidi Dar and written by Shuli Rand, the co-production from Israel and the US is a comedy-drama about a disgraced Hasidic wedding-comedian who is trying to gather enough funds to marry off his daughter. The cast includes Shuli Rand, Tal Friedman, and American Jewish comedian Elon Gold, who is also an executive producer on the film. The world premiere will take place on June 4.
The 2026 Tribeca Film Festival will also feature the world premiere of the documentary “Noga,” about Israeli alternative pop singer Noga Erez. The movie, which was directed and co-produced by Jono and Benji Bergmann, is a c0-production from Austria, Germany, Israel, and the US. It examines how Erez “must redefine her role as an artist on a global stage” after the Israel-Hamas war breaks out in 2023. The film’s world premiere on June 7 will be followed by an acoustic performance by Erez and her longtime partner in music and life Ori Rousso.
Erez is performing twice at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this month. She has never performed at the festival before and has made history as the first Israeli singer to take to the stage at the annual event in Indio, California.
The 2026 Tribeca Film Festival will run from June 3-14. The event will feature 118 feature films including 103 world premieres, which is the most in the history of the festival, and 86 short films. The festival this year will represent 143 filmmakers, including 55 first-time directors, spanning 44 countries.
“Tribeca began 25 years ago as an act of healing, a mission to reunite our community through the power of storytelling. Today, that purpose feels more urgent than ever,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-chair and co-founder of the Tribeca Festival. “This year’s incredible feature and short film lineup includes stories from filmmakers who make us think, feel, laugh, cry, and ask why. Tribeca remains dedicated to the artists’ voices and diverse perspectives that challenge us to see one another more clearly.”
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Over 1,000 Entertainment Industry Figures Back Israel’s Inclusion in 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
A photographer takes a picture of a TV screen in Wiener Stadthalle, the venue of next year’s Eurovision in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
More than 1,000 members of the entertainment industry have signed an open letter expressing support for Israel’s participation in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) held in May, in response to demands to have the country excluded from the competition because of its military actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.
Creative Community for Peace, a non-profit organization comprised of prominent members of the entertainment industry, penned the initial open letter in 2024 in response to efforts by anti-Israel activists to have the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the ESC, ban Israel from the event and to pressure countries and artists to withdraw their participation from the competition. The open letter voiced support for Israel’s inclusion in Eurovision as well as solidarity with the contest’s participants, while denouncing calls for a boycott of the event.
Hundreds more entertainment industry leaders have since added their names to the open letter, including actresses Amy Schumer and Mila Kunis; singer Matisyahu; actors Jeremy Piven and Jerry O’Connell; television writer, producer, and directors Amy Sherman-Palladino and Matthew Weiner; “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins; and “Nobody Wants This” co-creator Erin Foster.
“We have been shocked and disappointed to see some members of the entertainment community calling for Israel to be banished from the contest for responding to the greatest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” the letter stated. “We believe that unifying events such as singing competitions are crucial to help bridge our cultural divides and unite people of all backgrounds through their shared love of music.”
“Music should bring us together,” said O’Connell. “No artist should be silenced for where they are from. These boycott efforts destroy the very connections the arts are meant to build.”
Those who signed the initial open letter back in 2024 include Helen Mirren, Boy George, Liev Schrieber, Sharon Osbourne, Gene Simmons, Debra Messing, David Draiman, Mayim Bialik, Julianna Margulies, and Ginnifer Goodwin.
“Artists and culture are being dragged into the angry, misinformed politics of the moment,” said Osbourne in a released statement. “Attempts to exclude Israelis from the international stage twist art into a tool of division and erode the shared humanity that the arts are meant to preserve. I’ve watched this play out for over three years, and it just breaks my heart.”
The 2026 Eurovision semi-finals will take place on May 12 and 14, and the final live show will be on May 16. The competition is being held in Vienna, Austria.
After the European Broadcasting Union confirmed late last year that it will allow Israel to participate in the 2026 ESC, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, and Iceland announced they will not participate in this year’s event.
Spain’s national broadcaster RTVE said it will not broadcast or participate in the event, which marks the first time the country has completely boycotted the ESC since it began participating in the competition in 1961. Spain’s Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun called the move “brave.”
Meanwhile, the EBU confirmed this week that for the first time ever the live shows of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest will be available to watch for free in the United States. It will air on YouTube but also be available for viewing in the US on the Peacock streaming service.
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Yale University Admits Role in Crumbling Public Trust in Higher Education
Graduates enter Old Campus at Yale University for Commencement Day exercises, in New Haven, Connecticut, US May 19, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Bryan Woolston
Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut blamed itself and other elite colleges for having played a role in crumbling public trust in higher education in a new committee report published on Wednesday.
Racial preferences in admissions, prohibitive sticker prices, declining academic standards, and advocacy of divisive progressive causes which polarized the American public to the point that “national divorce” became a byword on social media in recent years all contribute to a sense that elite higher education considers itself a class apart and above regular people, the report said.
Citing polling showing that just over a third of Americans, 36 percent, have “confidence” in higher education as opposed to 57 percent who did in 2016, it noted that “trust in higher education has declined faster than in other institutions and sectors.”
The statistics reveal uncertainty regarding the purpose of higher education and its relevance to a democracy that is contemptuous of gatekeepers and hollow indicators of status.
Yale University’s own opaque system of “preferences” in undergraduate admissions — which it said privileges the wealthy, athletes, and some minorities — is one source of discontent that needs to be addressed, the report said.
Yale University infamously adopted racial preferences under the leadership of president Kingman Brewster in the 1960s, despite growing evidence that the practice created an environment of academic maladjustment and racial division. This led to the creation of segregated programming and academic programs for African Americans, as well as a summer remedial program for minority students — PROP (Pre-Orientation Program) — that was eventually rebranded in the late 1990s when its apparent subtext proved unpalatable to a new generation of students.
“We recommend that Yale reduce preferences for special classes of applicants. We also believe that the admissions system can be made more effective and less onerous for applicants by establishing and making a public minimum standard of academic achievement necessary for consideration,” the report continued. “Under the current system, Yale informs potential students that everything matters, leaving applicants scrambling to second-guess what the university wants.”
The report authors, drawn from across Yale’s faculty, went on to recommend adopting a “minimum SAT score” or “Yale specific entrance exam” to “ensure that no student is admitted without the requisite academic preparation ability.”
Elite undergraduate admissions is a matter of growing importance to the Jewish community, as it has seen its representation in some Ivy League institutions plunge. According to a report issued by the Harvard Jewish Alumni Alliance in March, Jewish undergraduate enrollment at Harvard has plummeted to lows not seen since the eve of World War II and the Holocaust, falling to just 7 percent.
The same report also found that Jews are the only minority group at Yale University whose admittance rates have declined since the university expanded the size of its undergraduate class in 2018. The revelation has revived memories of elite education’s 20th century practice of “restriction,” by which admissions officers relied on a “holistic assessment” of applicants to deny admission to Jews.
Yale’s new report also touched on the charged issue of viewpoint diversity, a point of vulnerability for most universities.
“The campus has not been immune from pressures toward conformity, intimidation, and social shaming that have affected the rest of higher education and, indeed, the rest of American society,” it said, referencing a 2015 viral incident in which a Yale undergraduate shrieked at professor Nicholas Christakis because he had implored progressive students not to be hypersensitive over Halloween costumes portraying people of color. “Echo chambers do not produce the best teaching, research, or scholarship.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.