Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 15
“The greatness of the prophets was in their ability to voice dissent and disagreements not only with the beliefs of their pagan neighbors, but also with the cherished values and habits of their own people.” (Essential Writings pg. 107)
Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom is teaching us about our need to constantly look inside of ourselves and wrestle with our own “cherished values and habits” as well as those of our neighbors. In this moment of turmoil in the world, in this moment of the war in Israel, in this moment of, “pure evil” as President Biden calls what Hamas did on October 7th, we need to hear the dissent of the prophets, we need to disagree with those who are using the cruelty, the evil perpetrated by Hamas as reasons to condemn Israel. This is not to say everything Israel has done is right, this is not “Israel, love it or leave it”, I am saying it is time to stand up against evil, to stand up against anti-semitism, to stand up for Israel’s right to exist which Hamas denies, to stand with Israel against senseless hatred, etc. The devastation in Gaza is terrible-full stop and no one is saying how to decimate Hamas without going into Gaza. Yet, when the U.S. went into Afghanistan, when we went into Iraq, after 9/11, everyone understood the need to root out the evil of Al Qaeda, the evil of ISIS. When it comes to the Jews, however, more people are willing to side with the evil of Hamas by giving them aid and comfort, by explaining their evil as ‘the logical consequences of Israel’s actions’! In the spirit of the prophets, in the teaching of Rabbi Heschel we all must stand up and say NO to the apologists of Hamas, the supporters of evil, the funders of terror, and the perpetrators of this evil that hasn’t been seen since the evil of the Nazis!
Israel, people say, was weakened by its internal strife, by the disagreements of Netanyahu’s far right government that has been so supported by the Republican Party and its current leader, Donald J Trump. I believe, in light of the brilliance above, Israel was living its heritage, the dissent is our continuing the spirit and ways of the prophets. The dissenters exercise “their ability to voice dissent and disagreements…with the cherished values and habits of their own people” just as the prophets did in their time, making Israel a more Jewish Nation, making Israel a stronger democracy, by keeping the Israeli Declaration of Independence alive.
The apologists for Hamas, the college-age students and groups that have arisen to decry Israel’s right to exist under the cover of the ‘poor Palestinian people’, fail to decry the suicide bombers, the numerous incursions of killing and kidnapping of Hamas, the PLO, the Munich Olympics, etc. They failed to dissent within their own ranks when the Palestinians were afforded 95% of what they asked for and refused to make a deal. They have failed to dissent “with their own people” and keep pointing their fingers at Israel, at Jews worldwide. How sad, how tragic, what an example of mendacity, self-deception, hatred.
The Jewish world is not monolithic, nor has it ever been. We have been arguing with one another since the beginning, we have used these arguments to learn how to live better with one another, with the world around us. Our Talmud is filled with the arguments and dissents of the Rabbis regarding the ‘best’ ways to serve God, we carry on this tradition today with the arguments we have internally within the different denominations of Judaism. We continue to wrestle with one another over ethics, over our actions, over service, over Israel. and over distinguishing light from dark. We have a tradition of arguing to learn rather than arguing to be right, even though we succumb to our egotistical need to be right at times. This is how we continue to honor the ways of the prophets.
We have never truly known acceptance by the world even though we have given the world the moral code that is universally accepted, the 10 Commandments. We have never truly known acceptance by the world even though we have made discoveries that have furthered the health of the world, the knowledge of the world, over 20% of Nobel Laureates are Jewish! We have fought for the rights of people no matter the color, the race, the creed. We respond to crisis’ across the globe with aid and comfort, money and support, according to the website Define Financial, Jews in America give the most individually and “Jews and Muslims give more to public society benefit organizations involved in civil rights and social inequalities”. We help our neighbors and one another as part of our ethic, as part of our DNA.
I recovered my voice when I began my journey of recovery. I speak loud, abrasive and loving as the prophets teach us. I stand with Israel, I stand against hatred, evil. I stand against the cruelty of Hamas and I stand against their supporters. Isn’t it time for all of us to stand against those who perpetrate evil and stand for good, for justice, for mercy and love? God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark