A PASSION FOR SINCERITY

It is not inaccurate to describe this book, as the publisher does, as ""a study in depth-theology"" and ""an important contribution to religious thinking."" But that is only half the story. The other half is that it is a series of about 100 short, delightful essays on man in direct confrontation with God in everyday life. The raw material of Dr. Heschel's book is the lives and works of two great Jewish teachers, Baal Shem Toy and Menahem Mendl, and the Christian philosopher Kierkegaard. The finished product, however, is his own, and ranges from the joy and agony of faith (""Be Upset and Believe"") to the challenge of radicalism (""Money, Phui!"") to alienation (""The world stinks!""). A study? Yes. A contribution? Certainly. But also a compendium of intensely personal meditations which represent, for both Jew and Christian, the sharing of the uncommon wisdom of Abraham Joshua Heschel.