Tender in the midst of inward panic - Heschel (z”l) reader and webinar
by Rabbi Nate DeGroot
“Hence the prophet is neither a messenger, an oracle, a seer, nor an ecstatic, but a witness to the divine pathos, one who bears testimony to God’s concern for human beings.
— Dr. Susannah Heschel, Introduction to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s The Prophets
Dear ones,
Rabbi Nate DeGroot here, The Shalom Center’s still-new Director.
As Los Angeles has gone up in flames, I’ve watched from afar. A place I used to live, that I still think of as my spiritual home.
I’ve held my breath as close friends have evacuated. Trembled as colleagues and companions have shared in real time that their homes, their synagogues, are now ash and rubble. Crying, scrolling through the deluge of images, videos, alerts, and updates, with the words above, written by Dr. Susannah Heschel as an introduction to her father’s conception of the prophet, ringing in my ears.
We are living in extraordinary times. And they don’t stop with just the fire. Next weekend - will the flames still be raging? - we will experience a sort of existential coalescence.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s 52nd yahrtzeit falls on Shabbat. That Shabbat is Shabbat Shemot, in which “a new king arises over Egypt that did not know Joseph.” The formal Inauguration of our next President happens two days later, the same day as the observance and celebration of MLK Day. A weekend of prophets and pharaohs of epic proportions and import, of spiritual earthquake and divine tumult. A desperate call for wholeness.
In the midst of it all, The Shalom Center is proud and humbled to share today, in collaboration with Dr. Susannah Heschel, a Heschel reader featuring timely, hand-selected prophetic texts from her father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, along with a live webinar next Thursday, where Dr. Susannah Heschel and I will be in conversation on those texts and this moment.
These resources are designed to spiritually ground and intellectually orient us toward this moment, next weekend, and the years ahead, helping us, in the words of Rabbi Heschel, “to remain tender in the midst of inward panic.”
To view the reader and to register for the webinar, please see below.
Reader
Five writings from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, chosen by Dr. Susannah Heschel for this moment, in honor of her father’s 52nd yahrtzeit.
Read here or below.
Webinar
Dr. Susannah Heschel and Rabbi Nate DeGroot in conversation on Heschel texts, prophecy, and this moment.
Register here or below.
Knowing the tears I’ve cried and the horror, heartbreak, and panic I feel as the fires rage and we creep towards Inauguration, and knowing the tears and horror and heartbreak and panic that so many I love and care for are feeling, I can’t help but imagine the tears, horror, heartbreak, and panic that God must be experiencing in this moment. YHVH’s precious, beloved Creation, aflame, amiss, and afraid.
If through God’s ears the prophet hears the “silent sigh” of humanity, like Rabbi Heschel writes, how much more so the screams of anguish rising like plumes of smoke and licking flames?
The first response to this “flood of fire” should be financial and practical support to those most affected. For a list of reputable places to give support, click here, here, or here.
The second step, we believe, should be spiritual grounding. We hope you’ll spend time with the reader and join us for the webinar for just this reason.
And third, as new opportunities emerge to support rebuilding efforts in LA, to mobilize for climate justice on Temple Earth, and to spiritually orient and nourish ourselves for the path ahead, we will share them.
For now, may we meet this moment and the moments to come with ever-tender hearts, even and especially in the midst of whatever panic and horror ensues. And may we continually return and attune to the ever-thrumming call of YHVH, the Interbreathing of All Life, beckoning for Wholeness.
With great care and blessings,
Rabbi Nate DeGroot