Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 105
“Religion, therefore, with its demands and vision is not a luxury but a matter of life and death. True, its message is often diluted and distorted by pedantry, externalization, ceremonialism, and superstition. But, this precisely is our task: to recall the urgencies, the perpetual emergencies of human existence, the rare cravings of the spirit, the eternal voice of God, to which the demands of religion are an answer.” (God in Search of Man pg. 372)
As I wrote yesterday, the top 2 “cravings of the spirit, the eternal voice of God” that we are to recall and respond to with “the demands of religion” are: 1) being free and being human; 2) Answering God’s call to do justly, love mercy, walk in God’s Ways. I wrote about the first using the 10 Sayings/Commandments and today I want to delve into the second. What does religion demand of us to do, why does the word demand bring up rebelliousness immediately? When something is demanded, we know the truth of the demand when it is from a power greater than ourselves and we are afraid we won’t get it done right, we want to do what we want, we do not want to open the door to hear the cravings of our souls, hence Rabbi Heschel’s use of the word “rare”. Yet, as we see from all of Rabbi Heschel’s writings, the eternal voice of God calls us to use religion/spirituality to fulfill the demands of God and, in turn, be more human and freer.
What does religion demand of us (no matter how people practice or preach, we are speaking of the original texts)? I find it throughout the Bible and especially in Leviticus, Chapter 19, verses 1-18
We are holy! The 2nd verse teaches us, the word “shall” as in “you shall be holy” is in the future/imperfect tense which denotes an action that is begun, just not completed. We are born holy, we never lose our innate holiness, we never kill the divine Image we are created in. By fulfilling the “cravings of our souls” we grow in our holiness and we grow in our humanness.
Do not worship idols, don’t make idols for yourselves. Stop finding ways, things, facades, masks, intellects, rationalizations, etc to hide behind and hide from people and God. Become more open and authentic about your strengths, your weaknesses, your fears and your facades. Stop engaging in faux connections and be in true connection with self, with another(s), with God.
“When you bring a wholeness offering, do it from your own free will”. This could be one of the most overlooked demands and freedoms. We are called upon to donate when things are good as a sign of gratitude, wholeness, etc. Yet, too many of us have to be asked, cajoled, courted, and need to get our needs met, put strings on our giving, which is in direct violation of the demand to give freely and from one’s soul. We misuse the demand of religion/spirituality/God to make people dance to our tune rather than give freely and enjoy the bounty God has provided us with and the bounty we are passing on to another(s).
“Leave the corners of your field, don’t gather the gleanings of your harvest, don’t glean your vineyard nor gather every grape of your vineyard, your shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am God.” God, through our religious and spiritual disciplines is demanding that we not be pigs! The demand is we give each person their inherent dignity and honor their intrinsic worth. That we stop thinking we are the cause of our successes, that “only I can save you”, “I made it on my own”. We are being called on to remember that everything belongs to God and everything we have we have to tithe as Jacob promised back in Genesis. We have to stop our greediness ,we have to stop our protectiveness of our things. Religion is demanding we realize that our success doesn’t set us apart, it gives us the opportunity to fulfill a need of the stranger and the poor-food, shelter, health, jobs, etc. It also frees us from the “bondage of self” that so many of us fall into and become enslaved by.
I will write more on this tomorrow.
Recovery is a spiritual discipline that is totally in concert with spirituality, with religion, especially when we consider these four demands: Be Holy- we recognize the divine image in each member and we help one another polish our souls and get the tarnish and junk off of our souls, we pry off the barnacles of negativity that surround our spirits and our minds; Don’t worship Idols- acknowledging our powerlessness over ___, we are surrendering our idol worship to God, we are returning to our source and the source of all/everything; Free-will offering-we pass the basket and people put their money into it without anyone knowing who gives and how much they give, there is no names on the doors, buildings for our free-will donations; leave the corners of the field- we tell people to take from the basket if they need to, we help one another with housing, with jobs, with places to get help, we respect and honor the worth and dignity of every human being without fear nor favor.
I am a witness to the power of these demands, I can testify to their constant challenge, the consistent way they raise my humanness, lift up my spirits, help me answer the demand and call of God. I can also testify to the power of connectedness I experience with family, friends, strangers, etc. as a result of responding to these demands. I can testify to the power of living into these demands and living into the repair when I fall short of the demands. I am seeing the Holiness Code and the 10 Sayings completely new because of Rabbi Heschel’s brilliance. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark