Israel: An Echo of Eternity is Dr. Heschel¿s book about the past, present, and future home of the Jews. According to Dr. Heschel the presence of Israel has tremendous historical and religious significance for the whole world: ¿History is not always made by men alone ... Israel is a personal challenge, a personal religious issue. We are God¿s stake in human history. We are the dawn and the dusk, the challenge and the test. The presence of Israel is the repudiation of despair. Israel calls for a renewal of trust in the Lord of history.¿ Abraham Joshua Heschel, one of the foremost religious figures of our time, died in 1972. Israel: An Echo of Eternity is his powerful and eloquent book on the meaning of Israel today. New Introduction by Susannah Heschel, director of Jewish studies, Dartmouth College.