I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology

This is a composite of the most poetic, sparkling bits of Heschel. It is to be savored, bite by delicious bite. Heschel is so rich I can only read him in small mouthfuls, one at a time. He is a major poet of Judiasm and a sage as well.

for several decades, I have taken this book with me to disaster sites where I work relief. I have given away many copies, bought many more, given away so many. Heschel speaks to the bones of it all, short passages that can be read at those short moments of rest in the midst of so much travail, his strength of spirit... how can I say it, jumps from the page into those who need to keep going, often without sleep, who just need to keep on. The words within, to me, are nourishing after nourishing tastes of G-d.

This book will satisfy the soul of any lover of wisdom. It's important to recognize that it's not just for followers of Judaism. Heschel is everyone's wise man. The best way to describe I Asked for Wonder is to think of a quotation book where you want to underline everything. Here is a deeper dimensionality of understanding where having a sense of wonder for God and the universe He created is the beginning of wisdom. Heschel himself is a wonder.

There are few authors that one is even tempted to call "wise" - with Heschel one wishes to say "very wise". This anthology of short excerpts should be read in a meditational manner - he gives one much to think about - to not think about it is to miss the point of the book.An example: "Life passes on in proximity to the sacred, and it is this proximity that endows existence with ultimate significance. In our relation to the immediate we touch upon the most distant. Even the satisfaction of physical needs can be a sacred act. Perhaps the essential message of Judaism is that in doing the finite we may perceive the infinite."This perception of the infinite in the finite is what is called "sacramental imagination" in the Christian tradition ... which is to say while Heschel is fully within the Judaic tradition, one need not be of his tradition to learn from him.Add this to your must read list.

This book is a "best of" selection from the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, put together posthumously by Samuel Dresner. The title comes from the preface in Heschel's book of Yiddish poems, where he comments, "I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And You gave it to me." This 123 page anthology has numerous selections ranging from one sentence to five pages in length. (Most selections are a few paragraphs in length.) There is ample material for reflection, and Heschel's wise insights and commentary provide spiritual nourishment and admonition. I enjoyed working my way through this compendium, underlining passages and writing commentary in the margins, using it as a devotional work.