Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 96
“Let us not labor under no illusions. There are no easy solutions for problems that are at the same time intensely personal and universal, urgent and eternal. Technological progress creates more problems that it solves.. Efficiency experts or social engineering will not redeem humanity.” (God in Search of Man pg. 372).
Today, being the official celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday, the truth of Rabbi Heschel’s words above are obvious. Here we are, not even 55 years since his assassination, not even 60 years since the Civil Rights Bill and the Voting Rights Bill passed Congress and powerful people have been and continue to whittle away at both of these bills, they continue to deny Black people their dignity and rights as citizens of this country and they use technology to ‘prove’ themselves correct. Like Hitler in the 30’s and 40’s, we still hear from these White Supremacists that Blacks are inferior because of their ‘scientific studies’, much like the Jews being subhuman in Nazi Germany and beyond. Technology and science, like religion are being used to deny truths, rather than promote them. Opinions become facts by these deceivers, these haters using both technology and science and too many people buy into it, subliminally and outwardly.
These White Power people, who are in power in the House of Representatives now, in power in business, like Leonard Leo, Charles Koch, etc, they use social engineering to prove they aren’t prejudiced, they just are following the ‘facts’ from social engineering that will give us the best outcome. They just believe in the “survival of the fittest” theory of Darwin. Yet these White Power people, being led in the House of Representatives by Kevin McCarthy and his aide de camp, Jim Jordan, are not the fittest because they would have never survived the enslavement and disempowerment that Black people have in this Country. They voted to kill the John Lewis Civil Rights Bill that is necessary because the Republicans, including Moscow Mitch gutted it when it came up for renewal and Jordan was one of the loudest voices saying we didn’t need it anymore, Mark Meadows using Elijah Cummings as his proof he wasn’t a racist and then has proven his true colors through his actions. 55 years since Rev. Kings assassination and these gutless deceivers, these scared little white boys who have never served We, the People, are trying to kill Social Security, kill Medicare, kill the necessary fundamentals so the powerless and the voiceless can live and some American people, ie other White Power/White Supremacists, think this is efficiency and will redeem our country and all of the people in it!
In a recent poll, it was revealed that 85% of Americans believe, speak or repeat some AntiSemitic Trope. As Rev. Al Sharpton said even Black people and Black Preachers are spouting this vile trope. 85%, that could be more than are racist in this country! Now everyone knows that Jews should have been social engineered out of existence. We should have gone the way of all the civilizations from Antiquity went-extinction. Yet, here we are, we may be the fittest because we have survived 2000 years of hate, war, being tossed here and there, the Spanish Inquisition Nazi Germany and now the anti-semitic doings of Orban, Jordan, et al. These “good christian people trying to annihilate Jews, Blacks are doing the exact opposite of God’s Will and Christ’s teachings.
Rev. King, Rabbi Heschel came together from their souls knowing one another, from their deep faith and believe in Biblical teachings, from being immersed in the Bible, from being color-blind and judging one another “on the content of their character” and because they both knew the effects of hate, of racism, of anti-semitism, etc. No amount of lies and deceptions could shake their connection, they were more than friends, they were brothers, they are warriors in the fight against evil, they are lights to illumine the path out of our confusion of good and evil, they are our teachers, our leaders, and we are their heirs. Will we grow our inheritance as the White Supremacists grow theirs or will we wilt and give up, be overtaken by technology’s lies and succumb to the efficiency of going along to get along?
In recovery, we surrender to gain/regain control of our living. We have been the haters, we have had our prejudices and we, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, drop these false selves, these false personas we had adopted because we were afraid to be hurt, to be laughed at, to be ‘caught’ in our lies and deceptions. We work hard to not bastardize the Grace God has granted us to be alive, to be healthy, to be in recovery and be part of a group that is multi-racial, multi-cultural, welcoming people of all faiths and of no faith.
I have learned being color-blind is not enough, as I ponder Rev. King’s words, Rabbi Heschel’s words, we have to see the differences in color, religion, thoughts and welcome them, embrace them, discuss them and learn from everyone. I have to notice that Black people are more easily singled out for prejudice than Jews like me. I have to notice that some Jews are still afraid to speak up, less the christians come for them again. I have to engage with people who still have antiquated ideas about Jews, Blacks, etc, so I can open their thoughts up and/or know who to be wary of. There are no easy solutions, true solutions take a lot of hard work and dedicated souls. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark