Since people keep asking me about my blog, specifically why I haven't posted in so long, so I figure I might as well write something.

I am currently reading Passion for Truth, Abraham Joshua Heschel's last book, finished within weeks of his death. This work is fitting to be his last, because it would appear to be a last testimony to his hasidic upbringing, as he was tutored by a Kotzker Hasid in the art of searching for truth. In a certain way, his life exemplified this search. However. he begins the work comparing R. Menachem Mendel of Kotzk to his first love, the hasidism of the Baal Shem Tov. For the Baal Shem Tov, the goal was to create a Judaism that was inclusive. For Kotzk, the goal was the opposite, as it was designed for an elite few who were willing to undertake the task of spending life always scrutinizing the self. The second part of the work deals with comparing R. Menachem Mendel of Kotzk with Soren Kierkegaard, the 19th century existentialist Christian philosopher, who also preached a life of searching for the truth. The two thinkers both believed that life could never be static and that the goal was to always be thinking and scrutinizing, never to be sitting on our laurels.

As an aside, I find it interesting that both R. Menachem Mendel and Kierkegaard both attack those who try to prove G-d's existence. They both claim that religion begins with a semi-literal "leap of faith." The goal is to fight for continued faith.