Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 179
“Evil is not only a threat, it is a challenge… The mitsvah, the humble single act of serving God, of helping man, of cleansing the self, is our way of dealing with the problem. We do not know how to solve the problem of evil, but we are not exempt from dealing with evils.”(God in Search of Man pg. 377)
Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom in the last sentence above teaches us of the obligation and joy of being human, I believe. As we immerse ourselves in his brilliance, we are able to stop wringing our hands at the “evils” we witness and get into action to deal with them. We will never “solve the problem of evil” and we can deal with the with “evils”. This is our challenge and reminds us of our ability to “live a life that is compatible with being a partner with God”, as Rabbi Heschel describes what it means to “be human”.
Living into Rabbi Heschel’s words above means we can stop living in despair, we can stop whining and bemoaning the state of our world. We are not powerless over the “evils”, we can do something about them, we can mitigate them, we can cease to engage in them. By being a “mitsvah”l ie: by doing the next right thing; by seeking truth; living a life of service; caring for the stranger, the poor, the needy; by doing justly; loving mercy; we deal with the myriad of evils that we and others have perpetrated upon one another, upon ourselves and upon the world.
Having the courage to look inside ourselves, allowing the “mitsvah” to help with the “cleansing of the self”, gives us the roadmap to living well and dealing with “evils”. We are 2.5 weeks from the beginning of passover and 4.5 weeks till we receive the Torah, according to the Jewish Tradition. We take this time to let go of and cleanse ourselves of the slavery we were in last year, the ways we engaged in “evils” wittingly and unwittingly. We make a commitment and a plan in how not to get caught up in selfish desires, in self-seeking behaviors, in self-deceptions and in mendacity. Once we commit to live in truth, we can begin to see the world through the “eyes of God”, we can join with our neighbors and friends to talk about and see the whole picture of what is happening and how to deal “with evils.” This is a path to freedom, freedom from living life from a slave mentality, living life as oppressed/oppressor, living life in fear of loss, living life in a state of despair. Living in truth allows us to more fully realize the Serenity Prayer that Reinhold Niebuhr wrote: We are aware of the grace(pleasing nature) that acceptance(taking in) with serenity(clarity) of the things we cannot change can give us. We can take pleasure in accepting the truth of Rabbi Heschel’s words above, “ we do not know how to solve the problem of evil” with clarity and pleasure. It is a pleasure to know not only are there things I cannot change, they are the things I am not supposed to change! Then we can have the clarity to take in with pleasure “the things we should change”, the “evils” Rabbi Heschel is speaking about above.
Isn’t it time to stop bemoaning what is going on and get into action to change these “evils”? Isn’t it time for us to cleanse our selves of “doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results” as Einstein defines insanity? Isn’t it time for us to “love our neighbor as ourself” as the Bible teaches us? Isn’t it time to stop throwing stones at someone else while we are as guilty as they? Isn’t it time to remember that one can sell the Holy Torah if necessary in order to ransom the captive? Isn’t it time for us to stop being captive to the lies and deceptions of society? Isn’t it time for us to end our dependence on “evils” to get ahead and wield power? Isn’t it time for us to let go of our resentments and hatreds, our jealousies and envies in order to join with one another to make our world as free of “evils” as we can?
In recovery, we are constantly saying and living into the Serenity Prayer. It is not just a mantra, it is a path for us to follow towards the road of happy destiny. In recovery, we engage in freedom from the bondage of self, in freedom from the bondage of jealousy and hatred, freedom from the bondage of self-deception, freedom from the bondage of comparison, freedom from the bondage of resentments, etc. We live into service, into doing the next right thing, into taking Good Orderly Direction, into helping one another, into “loving our neighbor” with a newfound love of self. We are not engaging in the “evils” anymore, we are dealing with them as they come up and we are seeking help from one another. In recovery, we know we have to be vigilant and we leave despair because we learn anew and engage anew each day being free, serving God, helping another and cleansing our self. If only our leaders would engage in a program of Recovery, if only everyone would engage in a program of Recovery, we would deal well with the “evils” and maybe “evil” would diminish. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark