Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 192
“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)
One of the reasons I began this iteration of my blog some 504 days ago is “the more deeply immersed I become” in the thinking of Rabbi Heschel, “the more powerfully it became clear to me” that we are in desperate need of hearing, learning, and acting on his wisdom, his guidance and his example of a life well-lived. We quote Rabbi Heschel much and often, we read the prophets often and we hear and deliver homilies on what their words. We study the ‘historical’ events of the prophets, of the Bible, we engage in critical thinking and learning of Bible, commentaries, Psalms, Proverbs, etc as well as quote the verses either in full or by citation. The problem is we are not immersing ourselves in the wisdom, in the prior failures of humankind. We are not living into, leaning into the spiritual and moral lessons of the prophets, of the Bible, of Rabbi Heschel-we satisfy ourselves with just quotations and citations. The Bible-Christian and Jewish, the Koran, the books of Eastern Philosophies are not to be read as history books, not to be called upon to make ourselves feel good; they are guides on how to live well, how to live in ways that are compatible with our being a partner of God, how to live one grain of sand better each day.
Rabbi Heschel is calling out to us to be “involved in the Peace Movement” that is in front of us today. Peace, as I am using it, includes seeing each person as a unique human being, ridding ourselves of prejudice and hatred, jealousy and deception towards another(s). It is ending the wars that we engage in with one another because we need to be right, we need to win, we need to be adored and we need subjects to serve us. Immersing ourselves in Rabbi Heschel’s Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity gives us pathways to getting closer to “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.”
Every human being suffers! We suffer loss, we suffer from fear, we suffer from the lies we tell ourselves and the societal lies we buy into. We suffer from our longing to belong, our longing to be connected to one another and to the Universe, to God. We suffer from the “eye disease” and “cancer of the soul” of prejudice as Rabbi Heschel teaches, we suffer from misplaced and misguided desires to be all-powerful-that job is taken by God, so isn’t it time for us to take our proper places?
The gunman in Texas over the weekend supposedly was all about white supremacy, students at UC Santa Cruz celebrated Hitler’s birthday last month, hatred is on the rise, gun sales are on the rise, fear is on the rise, there seems to be no place safe to hang out anymore, AND, elected officials offer prayers rather than action, they offer condemnations of those of us who are calling for sensible gun control laws, they wring their hands at the tragedies while doing nothing to solve our societal ills. Our religious leaders are not standing up for and together with people of color, Jews, Muslims, Asians. We seem to not be able to immerse ourselves “in the lives of the prophets” and what their lives “sought to convey”.
In recovery we stand up for and with one another, we are witnesses to the “sufferings of human beings” including our own sufferings. We are engaged in serving those who suffer, knowing that by being a witness and of service to those who suffer we heal our own suffering a little more. We are not willing to “stand idly by” the suffering of another, we reach out, we carry a message, we practice spiritual principles in all of our affairs.
I am so enraged at the state of affairs we find ourselves in because of how deeply immersed in Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom and teachings I am. My career as a Rabbi is based on my “concern one must feel of the suffering of human beings” and I do my best to relieve some of this suffering. I am also aware that I contribute to the suffering of humanity as well. Each day, in writing this blog, I move the pile from suffering to healing at least one grain because I change my actions so I can live more congruently with Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom. I am sorry for the suffering I have brought and added to, I am strengthened by the healing I have brought and added to as well. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark