Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 47
“The outbreak of war was no surprise. It came as a long expected sequel to a spiritual disaster. Instilled with the gospel that truth is a mere advantage and reverence weakness, people succumbed to the bigger advantage of a lie-“the Jew is our misfortune”-and to the power of arrogance-“tomorrow the whole world shall be ours”, “the peoples’ democracies must depend upon force.” (Man’s Quest for God pg. 149).
Immersing ourselves in Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom above and looking at our world today we are compelled to look at the “power of arrogance” that is ‘in vogue’ in our countries and in ourselves. We seem to fall into the arrogance of our paths, the arrogance of our thinking, the arrogance of our use of power by governments, by elected officials, by authoritarians, by each of us as individuals. It is both frightening, dangerous and sad. We are witnesses to this “power of arrogance” in our global world and we seem to be unable to stand up to it. This is true on both ends of the spectrum, extreme right and progressive left. Israel and it’s right wing government have flexed their “power of arrogance” muscles to the detriment of both Israelis and the Arab people under their ‘control’. Their attempt to take over the Judicial system, however, was met with protests, with a powerful NO by the Israeli people in an attempt to check their arrogance. Hamas, the Arab countries and people around the world who have supported their efforts with money to build tunnels, to build up their weaponry, to continue to NOT help their ‘own people’, to plan and applaud Hamas’ evil intentions and actions to “wipe out the Jewish people” are also prime examples of “the power of arrogance”. Hamas’ goal of “from the river to the Sea” is being supported by many around the world, including the United Nations, Russia, Iran, Qatar, and so many others. The difference between these two examples is no one is trying to check their arrogance, in fact, their arrogance is being applauded, while Israeli people constantly are checking the arrogance of Netanyahu and his band of cronies.
In the United States, we see the arrogance of both right and left as well who want their demands, their ways of exclusion, their ideas to reign without any compromises, without any pushback, because, in their arrogance, they believe they are right, they are the only ‘good ones’ and they have all the answers. The far-right ideologues truly believe they are the only ones who should have power, they are the only ones who believe in God, they are the only ones who ‘know’ what the framers of the Constitution had in mind. Their “power of arrogance” tells them that whatever means necessary to achieve their being in charge be it by force, by limiting voting to ‘their kind’, by passing laws that restrict the freedoms our founding fathers and mothers fought for is good and right. The far left/progressives believe the same way, they use their “power of arrogance” to make it “my way or the highway” not caring about seeing the nuances of life, being so sure of themselves(arrogance) they cannot entertain anyone else’s point of view. In their fight for inclusion, diversity, and equity they refuse to give anyone who doesn’t ‘toe the party line’ a voice! Their abandonment of the Jewish People, their calling of Israel as Nazis, their beliefs that mirror the beliefs of white supremacists are more examples of their use of “the power of arrogance”.
While it is easy and comforting to point our fingers outward, while it is true and holy to rebuke another, it is also true we have to first look inward. We have to look at our own individual use of “the power of arrogance”. We need to do an accounting of our own souls to find the hidden arrogance of our “indifference to the sublime wonder of living” as Rabbi Heschel teaches. We have to look inside of ourselves to seek out the arrogance of our own puffed up parts that block us from learning and being able to change our minds based on new information. We have to begin to change our inner arrogance that blinds us to the nuances of each and every experience of living. We have to stop being “adjusted to the conventional notions and mental cliches” of societal norms and live in wonder and radical amazement instead. We have to let go of our armor of ‘rightness’ and go to battle with our inner demons so we don’t meet the world as soldiers of arrogance, rather we meet the world as servants of God. When we do this, we will change the ways of our own governments, we will change the ways of our global world and, hopefully, “nations shall not lift up swords against nations”(Isaiah 2:4) instead we will transform our “power of arrogance” to the Power of Love.
The recovery revolution does this, in fact, I would suggest this is the very core of recovery. We say “let us love you until you can love yourself” to the newcomer. We seek to surround people with enough love so another human being feels safe in letting go of their armor of arrogance, releasing their hold on their “power of arrogance” so they can experience life on life’s terms, they can take in the love they are being showered with and they can see the possibilities they have for a new life, a self they will love and one that gives them purpose and passion.
I have been fighting the “power of arrogance” within me for the past 36 years. It is a constant battle because I have to keep myself open to new information, to new learning, to new ways of seeing and using the knowledge and truth I possess. While I have seen truths before another at times, I wrestle with myself to ensure that I don’t use the power of truth in arrogant ways. It is hard to put “the power of arrogance” in check and it is one of the struggles that enriches my life, it opens me up to new possibilities, new connections, new ways of hearing God, the prophets, my peers, and my loved ones each day. I am sorry for the times my passion was taken for arrogance because of my presentation and the reception of the person(s) in front of me. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark