When Abraham Heschel wrote one of his most famous books, The Prophets, he wrote with the intent to discuss and educate people on the Hebrew prophets and their biblical writings. As a part of Heschel’s Jewish background, he subscribed to the medieval Jewish philosophy of Kabbalah (Abraham Joshua Heschel). Kabbalists view God in two separate ways: “(a) God in essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless Divine simplicity, and (b) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which he creates and sustains and relates to mankind”(Kabbalah). To put it in layman’s terms, Kabbalists believe in the idea of a God that is both omnipotent and omnipresent. The God that is spoken of is all-powerful, yet at the same time manifests…show more content… He did what his religion told him was the right thing to do. Even though his viewpoint on the war was extremely unpopular at the time, Ali shed the criticism, much as a prophet would do. Being a prophet is a distinction because it separates a prophet from the rest of the people. Being a prophet puts that individual up on a pedestal, and gives them the platform in society to voice their thoughts. Often this would be seen as a good thing, but it can also be viewed as an affliction. This is due to the fact that they are constantly in the public eye. Everything that they say or do is magnified due to their position in society. Any good that they do is broadcast to the whole community, but in a same way any mistake they make is magnified as well. So some would look at Muhammad Ali’s situation and think that it would be better to not be know, because then no one will talk about or remember that he refused to be drafted. However, Ali would argue that being given the spotlight was a blessing. He used his platform to act as an example for other black Americans, or anyone else who felt similarly to him.
Muhammad Ali grew up during a time when the struggle for black freedom was at an all time high, and growing up in the South only magnified how bad things were. One historian summed it up by
