Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 17
“Tanks and planes cannot redeem humanity, nor the discovery of guilt by association nor suspicion. A man with a gun is like a beast without a gun. The killing of snakes will save us for the moment, not forever. The war has outlasted the victory of arms as we failed to conquer the infamy of the soul: the indifference to crime, when committed against others. (Man’s Quest for God pg. 150)
Rabbi Heschel’s last sentence above demands all of us to look inside of ourselves as well as towards our enemies. The war against Hamas, the war against the evil, the war against the senseless hatred has to be fought on the ground, in the air, at sea AND inside of each of us. While we witness the myriad of nations and people criticizing Israel for bombing Gaza, for cutting off the supplies to Gaza, we are failing to hear the cry of the Israelis, the call for the return of the hostages, innocent adults of all ages and children, in return for power being restored. It is a simple request, it is not an unreasonable request, yet we are hearing about the barbarism of Israel and no condemnation of Hamas, no condemnation of the terrorism perpetrated upon Israel on October 7!
Israelis are not rejoicing at their need to harm the civilians of Gaza, they are not cheering for the bombs being dropped, the rockets being sent over, the people who are dying, maimed, emotionally scarred by this latest war. They are crying over their losses, they are scared for their hostages, they are bewildered by the brutality of the terrorists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Yes, Israel has made many mistakes in its dealing with the Palestinians AND, when given different opportunities, Arafat and others have said no when they received offers of 95% of their demands! There have not been elections in Gaza nor in the West Bank as both the PA and Hamas are ‘making’ too much money for their leaders by staying in conflict. Both are true, there is plenty of fault to go around, starting in 1948 when the Arab Nations did not accept the UN Partition and declared war against Israel. Watching the demonstrations in support of Hamas, listening to Iran warn Israel about Hezbollah, listening to the joy Putin is experiencing, are all examples of Rabbi Heschel’s teaching above: “the indifference to crime, when committed against others”. These ‘freedom fighters’ don’t consider Israel or Jews worthy of freedom, they don’t want true freedom for all, they want to control, maim, kill, anyone and everyone who stands in the way of their power, they want to decry crimes against them, ie cutting off power to Gaza to get the hostages back, while perpetrating whatever crimes they want; Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022, Iran’s backing of terrorist organizations like Hamas, ISIS, Hezbollah, etc, Hamas’ terrorism on Oct. 7, etc.
The demonstrators are not looking inside of themselves, they are not working to cure the “infamy of the soul” that resides in each of us. Israelis, Jews have to do this as well-this is the foundational principle of T’Shuvah. We are all in need of seeing the evil which resides within us, not because we are evil people, not because we have to beat ourselves up, rather in order to see our whole selves, to distinguish the evil from the good inside of us, just as we learned in last week’s Torah portion, that God distinguishes between light and dark, good and not good, and everything that makes up the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis-distinguishing, not separating, nor killing, rather distinguishing so we can use our ‘evil’ inclination to do good, to be holy, to be aware and love mercy.
Rabbi Heschel’s words, spoken/written in 1938 Germany, are about recovering our goodness of being, recovering our ability to be responsible to and for our inner lives and outer actions. This is what the recovery movement is all about, it is to connect us to a “power greater than ourselves” which many people call God, and recover “the self we are created to be” rather than the self that lives in “the infamy of the soul”, we seek to “conquer” this infamy with introspection, by being responsible for our actions from before, make a plan to not repeat them, live our amends each day by growing our spiritual life, and practicing these spiritual principles in all our affairs. T’Shuvah, the recovery movement, true faith, Eastern practices, all lead us to “conquer the infamy of the soul” without demanding nor expecting perfection.
I find myself enraged at the inability of people to distinguish evil from good, distinguish the need to “conquer the infamy of the soul” of Hamas, of terrorists. I know that the world has a history of turning on the Jews, and I know I cannot hate anyone because they do not know better, because they are indifferent. I can only do my best to meet the evil I see with strength lest I get pulled down by it. I have conquered the “infamy of the soul” within me and I still make mistakes, hence my need to continue to do T’Shuvah every day. God Bless, pray for Israel and the innocents in Gaza and stay safe, Rabbi Mark