I bought Thunder in the Soul from Plough Books by mistake. I’m generally not fond of excerpt books; they tend to display the mind of the editor better than the heart of the writer. However, I loved Abraham Joshua Heschel’s book The Sabbath. Egged on by Thunder’s subtitle, To Be Known By God, and a deal for subscribers to their scrumptious magazine, Plough Quarterly, I paid the paltry penny and ordered the book.
Yes, I was disappointed when it arrived, having missed the fact that this wasn’t another book by Heschel, but excerpts from his writings, edited by Robert Erlewine. Sigh. However, having it, there seemed to be nothing to do but read it. An invitingly small book, this is one of Plough’s Spiritual Guide series. Being a book of bits, it lended itself to being read in bits, floating around coffee tables and bedsteads, or jammed into a purse or swim bag.
The most notable concept I gleaned from the fragments, was Heschel’s assertion that the Jewish God is a God of EVENTS. This idea attached itself to my native sense of the primacy of story. The little book also reminded me how much I appreciated Abraham Joshua Heschel, and encouraged me to look for another one of his (whole) books. Have you read one you particularly liked?
I’m happy to pass on Thunder in the Soul to anyone who wants it. Let me know if you’re interested.