Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 165
“The biblical answer to evil is not the good, but the holy. It is an attempt to raise man to a higher level of existence, where man is not alone when confronted with evil.” (God in Search of Man pg. 376)
On this first day of Passover, as the dawn breaks and the Israelites realize they are no longer trapped under the thumb of Pharaoh, they are also on the run from Egypt, lest Pharaoh come to his senses and realize what he has done and chase after them. I am sure they feel exhilaration and fear, which is the description for our encounter with God and with the “holy”. While it is fun for some and boring for others to sit at the Seder table and tell the story, it is imperative for us to engage in the story of the Exodus from Egypt “as if we ourselves had been redeemed from Egypt”, as the Haggadah teaches us. Which, in my thinking means we have to leave at least one of the myriad of inner slaveries that we are in.
It is impossible “to raise man to higher level of existence” when we are stuck in the mud, the muck, the mire, of our inner slaveries. When we are stuck in an ego that says we are never wrong, when we have to be right to everyone on our outside, never admit our own errors/our own part in any negative interaction, when we have bought this lie of ‘smartest person in the room’, ‘don’t they know who I think I am’, we are enslaved and alone-no matter how many people we have around us. We also, somewhere, know that we are fallible, know we have to make/should make amends, desperately want to have real connections and we are too stuck in the deceptions of our inner evil inclination, hence we stay a slave to self-deception and mendacity. How many of us are afraid to raise up “to a higher level of existence” because it will mean we cannot wear the mask of perfection?
Our Seders, the story, the food, all come to remind us that redemption from slavery is possible, that leaving Egypt was not a one and done experience, it is a constant possibility, as long as we are willing to leave. There is a midrash(commentary) that says only 20% of the slaves left Egypt-80% were more fearful of freedom, of redemption, of the “holy” than they were of the ignominy of being a slave! Another of the inner slaveries that many people suffer with is ‘nothing will change’, ‘this is my lot in life’, ‘I am a victim’, etc and these lies we tell ourselves keep us locked into the slavery of blame and hopelessness. The story of the Exodus from Egypt, the story of crossing the Red Sea, all show how the “holy” raises us up to believe in and participate in our liberation, redemption and journey towards freedom. We are in a world where pointing the finger to deflect from anyone seeing us, to blame everyone else for our circumstances, to give up any hope, any effort to change are strangling the freedom that Passover embodies.
There are many more inner slaveries that I could mention. It is important for everyone to look at their lives and see which Egypt you are still enslaved in, which Pharaoh you are still serving with glee and joy, unaware of your enslavement. It is imperative to “lift up your eyes and see” as God tells Abraham, the masks you wear, the inauthentic lifestyle you practice and the evil you produce. “Holy” is here to help us, the Seder is “holy” because it comes to help us remember our proper place in life being free people. It helps us to raise every person “to a higher level of existence and reminds us this is the call of the poor and the needy, the stranger and the citizen alike. Our inner slaveries are like cataracts on our eyes, they give us the vision that slavery is freedom, evil is good, profane is “holy”, they turn everything upside down, they are the source of the sickness of our souls. Yet, “holy” is still with us, the story is still being written by us and we can say YES to liberation and journey to freedom, we can say NO to self-deception and mendacity. Which will you choose this year?
Recovery teaches us to “live life on life’s terms” and “life’s terms” change daily, when I chose recovery, I changed the terms on which my life was based. When I engage in “holy” the terms of my life change, so “life on life’s terms” is a continuum, not a constant. Leading a Seder, participating at a Seder, just being a Seder, can change “life’s terms” for any and all of us. It does each year for me, I look at where I have been freer and where I am still stuck. This year I am leaving the Egypt of distraction, I am committing to set aside time to look at emails, texts, dumb TV, and limit rather than have distractions rule me. I pray you find your inner Egypt that you will leave this year. God Bless and here’s to a little more freedom, Rabbi Mark