Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 198
“The more deeply immersed I become in the thinking of the prophets, the more powerfully it became clear to me what the lives of the prophets sought to convey: that morally speaking there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings. It also became clear to me that in regard to cruelties committed in the name of a free society, some are guilty while all our responsible.” (Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity pg. 225)
While progress is the hallmark of a healthy society/civilization, Rabbi Heschel’s teaching above reminds us of the need to use our past to make progress, to move forward in our care and concern for one another and for ourselves. Blame and shame are the enemies of responsibility and when we immerse ourselves “in the thinking of the prophets” we can move past both of these to being responsible for our part of each and every situation. As I immerse myself in the wisdom above, I am certain that being responsible is the path to healing the inner turmoil every human being experiences and moving us to a healthier and better society. While we learn to lie and deny from a young age because we are afraid of punishment, afraid of embarrassment, this is not a sustainable way of living well. Blaming of another for our foibles is how we stay stuck in the past, how we limit our human connection, how we shirk our responsibility, how we mislead ourselves into thinking we are safe.
Responsibility begins at home. It starts within ourselves. The Bible gives the examples of people who take responsibility for their actions, good and not good, as well as showing us what happens when we don’t take responsibility for our actions and for ourselves. Adam hides, he blames Eve, and he is sent out of the Garden of Eden until he can learn how to be responsible and teach responsibility to his children/descendants. Cain denies his crime and is sent to wander,Isaac goes along with the subterfuge of Rebecca and Jacob and when he hears Esau’s cry for a blessing, he still blames Jacob rather than admit his part in the theft. The Israelites learn how to do T’Shuvah, how to be responsible, how to admit their part in the various errors they make learning how to be free people. King David gives us the lesson of, after hearing of his crime, admits and repents.
It is crucial for us to be responsible for our part in every interaction; the good we do as well as the not good we do. Nothing is ever 100% our fault nor our doing. It truly takes a village to make things happen, good and not good. Witnessing what is happening in the world and our country right now, the return to authoritarianism, the return to false interpretations of spiritual truths, the bastardization of “what the lives of the prophets sought to convey”, we, the people, have to be responsible for the parts we play in the meanness, the vitriol, the selfishness, the deceptions, the mendacity that is plaguing us. It is not ‘just their fault’, we have a part and we must examine ourselves before we blame another. While I can and do rail about the charlatans, I also look within myself to be responsible for how I have allowed, through indifference, being too busy to notice, staying in my own silo, these deceivers to take such a strong hold on our society, on our government, on our daily discourse. Until we take personal responsibility, any solution we dream up will never truly work for long-term change. As a witness and participant to the progress of the Civil Rights movement in the 60’s, because people themselves could not be responsible for their prejudices, could not do T’Shuvah/Amends for their evil actions, the progress was only temporary, there was not sustainable change and movement so everyone could declare victory over our innate desires to blame, shame and rule over another group of people.
In recovery, the 10th step of AA is to “continue to take personal inventory and promptly admit when we are wrong”. This is the responsibility that all of us in recovery have to take in order to be in recovery. Our old ways of blaming, denying, shaming don’t work, they are antithetical to living well, to living a life of service, to living a life dedicated to principles, to spirituality, to something greater than ourselves.
I rail against the lies, the indifference, the refusal to learn from our past, for the Torah, from the prophets, etc that I engage in as well as those another engages in. I see the subtle ways I have been indifferent to the call of God, the call of people both before and since my spiritual awakening. I also know there is no perfection, only progress. What is most important is that I continue to seek the truth within me, I continue to hear the truth from another(s) so I can be one grain of sand better each day. Being responsible means my flaws no longer define me. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark