Life of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Inspires Community Discussion

About 80 people attended the free screening of Martin Doblmeier’s documentary, Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story on May 16.

The event was co-sponsored by the Sun Valley SDA Church, Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Valley of Peace Lutheran Church, Light on the Mountains, and Wood River Jewish Community to foster an interfaith conversation about the role of faith in the modern world. 

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was one of the most remarkable and inspiring figures of the American 20th Century. He was a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr and the entire Civil Rights Movement, a leading critic of the Vietnam War, a champion for Soviet Jews and a pioneer in the work of interfaith dialogue. The hour-long documentary included video footage and historical photos of Heschel, as well as commentary by theologians, civil rights leaders, and historians.  

Tony Evans, Idaho Mt. Express reporter, moderated a discussion after the screening with panel members representing the co-sponsors. Audience members also joined in with comments and questions. 

Sample statements Heschel is most famous for include: 

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement… get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. To be spiritual is to be amazed.”

“We are closer to God when we are asking questions than when we think we have the answers.”

“When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendors of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion, its message becomes meaningless.”

“Indifference to evil is more insidious than evil itself. It is a silent justification affording evil acceptability in society.”

“The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of the world.”

The group of co-sponsors intends to continue to collaborate on similar future events as well as partnering on community social action.