Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 253
“The mitsvah, we have said, is our instrument in dealing with evil. But do we employ the instruments adequately? If kavanah is as intrinsic to the service of God as impartiality of judgment is to scientific investigation; if, in other words, it is not only essential what one does but also what one is motivated by, the possibility of true service, of genuine piety may be questioned.”(God in Search of Man pg. 387)
“The mitsvah, as we have said, is our instrument in dealing with evil” comes to remind us that we have to our deeds and actions have power. Yet, the “mitsvah” itself will not help us in “dealing with evil” unless and until our motivation, our kavanah, is pointed towards serving God. We are witnessing, once again, humanity’s use of the “mitsvah”, use of ‘the law’ to serve evil rather than deal with it. We are participating in this misuse as well. In yesterday’s LA Times, there was an op-ed describing “conspirituality”, a new concept to me, where yoga and conspiracy theories go together! Qanon and Yoga are being put together by some people. Deep and dark money is supporting the No Labels ‘party’ in a third party bid for the Presidency, Steve Bannon supports RFK Jr.’s ideas, Trump et al want to make the Presidency autocratic and usurp our Constitution by making the Executive Branch able to overrule the other supposedly co-equal branches of government. All of this in the name of religion, in the name of “love your country”, in the name of spirituality.
On a personal level, we witness and participate in the facade of ‘being on the right side of …” as a pedigree for a person’s ‘goodness’, a person’s service, a person’s piety. Are we forgetting the scandals that reveal the frailty of our clergy, our elected officials, our Universities? Are we forgetting the myriad of domestic violence perpetrated by “pious” people? Are we ignoring our own self-righteousness? We are suffering a loneliness, as the Surgeon General speaks about, precisely because, in my opinion, our institutions have engaged in false piety, they engage in service for their own sake, they ‘follow the rules’(which have become onerous and don’t necessarily serve anyone) and care about how it looks rather than how it is. We worship celebrities having no idea nor care about their inner lives, their issues, etc and are disappointed when they prove to be human. We have stopped saying hello and offering handshakes to everyone and have become suspicious and wary of one another. We are using ‘piety’ and ‘service’ for our own sake, not for the sake of another.
We are desperately in need of immersing ourselves in the teachings of Rabbi Heschel! We have the power and the path to return to the intent of the “mitsvah”, helping us to become more whole, more complete, more holy, more spiritually mature, more connected to our authentic self and more connected to people everywhere. The “mitsvah” with the proper kavanah, with the motivation of service to God, service to humanity, with the motivation of serving our authentic and ‘higher’ self is transformative. “It is not only essential what one does but also what one is motivated by” reminds us to be in truth with ourselves, to point our actions and motivations toward serving “a power greater than ourselves”, to have a routine of prayer, meditation, service that raises up our actions and motivations to the level of being human instead of being selfish. It is not an abnegation of our self, rather it is a raising of our authentic self, it is a connection to our self, to God, that helps to relieve/cure our loneliness. Rabbi Heschel was never alone because of his connection to God, to his soul, to his family, to his tradition. We have the same opportunity when we immerse not only our deeds but our motivation in using “the mitsvah” as “our instrument in dealing with evil” rather than using “the mitsvah” as an instrument to promote evil. It all depends on our motivation and our choice of whom to serve.
Each day, I take my own spiritual temperature through this blog, I am constantly doing my own inventory of these lessons and ways of being. As I write about this paragraph, I realize that my motivations were not always understood because of my ways, my loudness, my aggressiveness, my desperate need to prevent death and prison, sadness and evil. I am deeply sorry to the people who did not understand that my way was motivated by service to them, service to God, even when it seemed like it was service to me. I understand and apologize for my part in not making it clear and for my delivery which put some people off. I am also aware that I am not that pious as to say there was no motivation for self in my actions. Yet, my overriding “kavanah” was to serve, to save souls, to help another human being. I do my best to ensure that my heart is pointed in the direction of serving God and human beings first and I pray I continue to deepen this path . God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark