Abraham Joshua Heschel, PhD, (1907–1972) escaped Nazi Germany to become an influential Polish American rabbi, theologian, philosopher, and author. As a professor of Jewish mysticism at Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Heschel focused on Jewish spirituality over strict textual study. Active in the civil rights movement, Heschel marched in Selma, Alabama, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and opposed the Vietnam War.