HAROLD KASIMOW

 

KASIMOW@grinnell.edu
George A. Drake Professor of Religious Studies, Senior Faculty Status
Education / Degrees: 
B.H.L. from Jewish Theological Seminary
M.A. - Temple University
Ph.D. - Temple University
Publications: 
TitleURLSynopsis
To Build a Civilization of Love: Pope Benedict XVI on Islam in a Global Agehttp://www.rk-world.org/dharmaworld/dw_2010janmarcivilizationoflove.aspxThe author of this essay feels that the views on inter-religious dialogue held by the head of the Roman Catholic Church have been misconstrued. The pope believes that such dialogue may help reduce violence and promote justice and peace, but its ultimate goal is the quest for truth. It must not only be about recognition of similarities, but also about the differences.
Abraham Joshua Heschel: Introducing a Messenger of Hope (pdf)http://www.interreligiousinsight.org/April2009/April09KasimowLitwin.pdfNote from the Editors of Interreligious Insight: We are delighted to devote this issue’s “Creative Encounters”section to the life and thought of Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the true pioneers of interreligious dialogue and engagement. We are grateful to Professor Harold Kasimow and Rabbi Daveen H. Litwin for assembling a fine team of scholars whose reflections on the impact of Heschel make this a notable issue of Interreligious Insight.
The Binding of Isaac: What if the angel had arrived too late?http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11858&o=35574
Heschel’s View of Religious Diversityhttp://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol2/iss2/4/A number of prominent Christian theologians who have contemplated the issue of religious diversity speak of three major models for approaching it: exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist. Claiming that “diversity of religions is the will of God,” Abraham Joshua Heschel was certainly no exclusivist. But he also was neither a pluralist nor an inclusivist in the way these terms are commonly used by Christian theologians. Much like the Dalai Lama’s perspective on Buddhism vis-à-vis other religions, Heschel’s distinctive Jewish approach to religious diversity transcended the categories created by Christian scholars.
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel's Paths to Godhttp://books.google.com/books?id=Ps82EBeyuUcC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=kasi...
Swami Vivekananda & Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Standing on the Shoulders of Giantshttp://www.interreligiousinsight.org/July2003/July03Kasimow.html
Curriculum Vitae/Resume: 
application/pdf iconkasimow_2010_resume.pdf
Other Academic Interests: 
Comparative Religion
Jewish Studies

Articles on Kasimow and his Works

Judaism Open to the Religions of the Nations: A Polish Catholic Theologian reads an American Jewish Pluralist

A review of Professor Harold Kasimow's The Search Will Make You Free: A Jewish Dialogue with World Religions

To Be a Mensch

Professor Harold Kasimow's Lecture Tour in Poland

Defying Darkness: Three Children Who Survived the Holocaust

In this piece, you will meet three Grinnellians who survived the Holocaust as children: Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies Harold Kasimow, Celina Karp Biniaz '52, and Sam Harris '58.