Abstract
A. J.
Heschel's original philosophy is strongly influenced by his Hasidic story: he was brought up in a famous Hasidic family, ordained a Hasidic rabbi, his whole life faithful to the Hasidic legacy. Two Hasidic giants were instrumental in the creation of his own philosophical thought: the founder of the Hasidic movement, the Baal Shem Tov (Besht), and dissident of the sixth Hasidic generation Menahem Mendel of Kotzk (the Kotzker).
The tension between fundamental notions characterizing the attitudes of both great thinkers, "love" in Besht's case, and "truth" in the Kotzker's, have proved creative: Heschel's philosophy can be understood as a kind of a synthesis (or at least an attempt at a synthesis) of these two opposite poles of the Hasidic intelectual patrimony.