Space and Time in Abraham Joshua Heschel's Zionism

Seventy-five years after the publication of Abraham Joshua Heschel's The Sabbath, it has become a well-worn truth that that book privileges time over space. That is not quite true; for Heschel, we should use the things of space in accordance with the primacy of time, with a philosophy of history premised on the claim that history is God's to steer, not humans'. Focusing on Heschel's argument in this manner helps to clarify some of the puzzling (and overly aphoristic) claims in Heschel's 1969 book Israel: An Echo of Eternity. Reading that book in light of The Sabbath allows us to see that Heschel's Zionism is limited. The point of Zionism and its historical successes is only to verify that God's promise is still in effect, not to fulfill those promises. And any expression of Zionism that privileges power over others is to be rejected.