Customer Reviews

Ineffable Name of God: Man: Poems in Yiddish and English

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This book is a parallel- language edition of the sixty- six poems Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote in his youth. They are faithfully and beautifully translated by Morton M. Leifman. There is an informative introduction by Edward K. Kaplan. The dual language work is laid out in a clear and readable way with the Yiddish original on the left, and the English translation on the right- facing page.

The poems themselves are rich in complex perception and idea. They contain hints of ideas which will be more fully developed in Heschel's mature works of thought.

I was greatly moved by them. I found them daring and original in idea. They show Heschel's God- centered way of feeling, his deep sense of God in Man and in the world. They too address God with a familiarity and closeness the burning passion of a true Hasid.

The poems are divided into six sections: Man is Holy,Bearing Witness, To a Lady in a Dream,Between Me and the World, Natural Pantomines, Repairing the World.

These poems are inspirational in the deepest sense. The poetic passion is real in each and every one of them.

They are poems to restore and enrich the soul.

The books epigraph is Heschel's " I prayed for wonders instead of happiness, and You gave them to me."

These poems are rich in wonder and will be I believe especially enjoyed by those for whom connection with , relation to, questioning of God being with God is central to their lives.

These poems are in class with the great mystic poets, Donne, Blake and Dickenson. Fine translation and beautiful book.

I read this book after reading Heschel's God in Search of Man. In these early poems, we see the seed that produced such rich fruit in Heschel's later years. His radically God-centered perspective is still refreshing today.

This book was so inspiring that I bought two of them. One for me and a friend.