Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 138
“If the nature of man were all we had, then surely the outlook would be dim. But we also have the aid of God, the commandment, the mitsvah. The central Biblical fact is Sinai, the covenant, the word of God. Sinai was superimposed on the failure of Adam.”(God in Search of Man pg 374)
I agree with Rabbi Heschel’s prescription for the healing/uplifting of “the nature of man”; the problem of course, as we are witnessing today and have throughout the millennia is using the “aid of God, the commandment, the mitzvah” wisely, as God would have us do and according to the guiding principles of the prophets, the Torah, the Bible, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, etc. We continue to hear, follow and prostitute these aids in uplifting our nature, the paths to growing our spirit and inner life, these essential ingredients for living a “life that is compatible with being a partner of God” as Rabbi Heschel reminds us over and over again.
One of the ways to test if we are using the aids Rabbi Heschel is teaching to use is to ask ourselves if what we are saying, what we are doing and/or about to do, is just, merciful, truthful, necessary, of service to another(s) and in service of caring for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the poor, the needy. Some ‘religious’ people believe only in fulfilling commandment, embellishing on how much one fulfills the commandment, yet not allowing the claim of the mitsvah, the power of the commandment to fill them/us up, to change us, to go through us. We have witnessed this phenomena throughout history. The crusades, the numerous wars fought “in the name of God”, Bob Dylan’s song “God on our Side”, our ‘religious’ right wingers who want to deny free will to people, who want to make Christian Law the norm, the Orthodox Jews who want to make their brand of Orthodoxy the law in their communities here and in all of Israel, all of this “in God’s Name” is actually a Hillul HaShem-a desecration of God’s Name. I believe these ‘religious’ people believe their words and I know they have been led astray by their leaders, they have been deceived for so long they do not know commandment from sin, they are unable to entertain any other thoughts except the strict adherence to the laws as the men/women deceivers have defined them for them. The ultimate in desecration-using God’s name to have another(s) sin for you! For these aids, that Rabbi Heschel is teaching us about, to work; we have to receive them, we have to be like Moses, like Jesus, like Mohammed, and receive these aids of God, the commandments and the mitzvot, into our souls, into our spiritual arteries and allow them to flow through us. In this way, our actions will always have a hint of holiness, our nature will be tempered by these aids and, just maybe, we will not embrace self-deception, power, deception of another(s), and mendacity with such joyous ferocity as we do now and have always done.
Receiving them means to read the prophets and hear their call to return to God and Godliness, rather than continue to follow the false prophets of greed, power, unwelcoming the stranger, not helping the poor, ignoring the needy. The Republican Party, the party of the ‘religious right’, the ‘orthodox Jews’, want to eliminate Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, they want to tax the middle class more so the rich can enjoy less taxes, they want to end free and fair elections, they are seeking to rule a woman’s body, embrace the authoritarianism of Orban, Putin, and want to install their own unique brand here. All the while deceiving themselves that they are following in the footsteps of the founding fathers, Lincoln, etc-all the while convincing their followers that lying is good, we should have entered WWII on the side of Germany-as Ford, Lindbergh, the America First believed. And, most of the 70 million who voted from Deceptive Donald do not realize how they have “drank the Kool-Aid” and this is the saddest thing of all.
In my recovery and in recovery in general, we are hyper-sensitive to our “nature” and the harm we have brought and the harm we can bring to self, family, community, world. I/we have a program of recovery which keeps us on the path to use the aids Rabbi Heschel reminds us of above. I use the “aid of God” throughout every day, sometimes I forget to live a commandment/mitzvah when it is most needed though. I am constantly seeking out the subtle lies I tell myself to make something that is not right okay to do-I have seen the errors I have committed in the past and I am deeply sorry. I also am aware of the errors that we all get accused of which are just deceptions another(s) person uses to make themselves feel okay. It is these deceptions which I perpetrated prior to my recovery that I am very aware of today and I guard my tongue to ensure that I do not fall back on my old playbook which Goebbels defined so well: “Accuse others of that which you are guilt of”. I am watching in horror as the “religious/good people” are doing this with no regret and no accountability. I no longer am willing participate in this type of destruction! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark