Joshua Heschel: The Prophets

Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American Rabbi and author whose most prestigious book was The Prophets. In this book Heschel explains his point of view on who prophets are, what they do, and how they act. He states that “The prophet is a lonely man. He alienates the wicked as well as the pious, the cynics as well as the believers, the priests and the princes, the judges and the false prophets. But to be a prophet means to challenge and to defy and to cast out fear” (Heschel, 22). The prophet’s job is to speak to the people and give the people a message of doom, but end with a message of hope. “The words of the prophet are stern, sour, and stinging” (Heschel, 14). And there are many people that can be described this way and only one

This is because no matter what people’s personal memories of Fitzgerald may have been of, it was universally agree that his books and fiction writings were remarkable achievements. And to this day, Fitzgerald is one of the world’s most renowned authors of all time in the history of American literature. Although Fitzgerald craved the wealth that came with being a celebrity, no price was set high enough for his inspirational writings. Heschel said that, “The prophet is a witness, and his words a testimony-to His power and judgment, to His justice and mercy” (Heschel, 27). Fitzgerald wrote such powerful and outstanding pieces of work that it shook society to its core and made people see the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of everything around them. Scott books were all based on his own life and experiences which made each story seem even more alive and in depth. Even Heschel knows that “The greatness of the prophet lies not only in the ideas he expressed, but also in the moments he experienced” (Heschel, 27). It’s not hard to see that Heschel, Fitzgerald, Amos, and all the other Old Testament prophets are all one and share one mission on Earth under God’s