Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 2 Day 292

“Such a person is worse than an idol-worshiper … . The latter, paying homage to the stars, worships an object that does not rebel against God, whereas the former worships beings some of whom rebel against God. The former only worships one object, but there is no limit to the number of human beings whom the perverse in religion may worship. Finally the inner attitude of the idolator is apparent to everybody; people can guard themselves from him—his denial of God is public knowledge. The hypocrite’s denial, however, is unnoticed … . This makes him the worst of the universal evils(Bahya, Duties of the Heart, Chapter 4). (God in Search of Man pg. 392)

Continuing Rabbi Heschel’s writing on “disguised polytheism”, this quote from Bahya Ben Joseph Ibn Pekudah, a 10th Century Spanish Jewish scholar and mystic, illuminates the issues we face daily, are our ‘religious’ acts that are out of fear of another human being, that are to benefit from another human being or are they truly religious acts that are serving God. Bahya’s differentiation between an idolator and a person who does things to serve another out of fear and/or to benefit themselves is crucial for us to look inside of ourselves during this month of Elul and see the damage we bring to ourselves and to another(s) when we practice “disguised polytheism”. While we rail against the “idol-worshiper” and, in many circumstances, call anyone who doesn’t worship the way we do an idolator, a pagan, Rabbi Heschel’s use of Bahya’s words here demand we look at ourselves, demand we see the ways we have acted in hypocritical ways and the evils we have perpetrated this evil upon another(s) and upon the world. It is very difficult for most of us to admit the hypocritical acts we have committed, the ways in which we have “sold out” our friends in order to ‘go up the ladder’, the ways we have ‘gone along to get along’, the actions we have taken ‘because it was just business’, ‘everyone does it’, all the while extolling ourselves for our charity and, as I read the quote above, false piety. Bahya’s words describe how we ‘hide in plain sight’. It is a universal challenge for us to look at ourselves, see how we do this in daily activities, do our T’Shuvah, and change our ways.

We are quick to point out the ways another(s) act in hypocritical ways and seem to be unwilling to see the 3 fingers pointing back at ourselves. We are all guilty of being hypocritical, none of us are perfect, and we are being called out for these actions by the words above. We worship the ‘leader’, we seek to ‘be on the right side’ of things/life, we speak out against injustices in the public square and engage in injustice in our private affairs. Business’ have decided providing more money to their shareholders is more important than taking care of customers, they have hidden facts, provided false narratives/reports, engaged in misleading advertising, etc, knowing full well that what they are doing is just for the sake of their jobs, their longevity, ie from fear of losing something and to benefit themselves and another who holds some power over them. We see this in our political realm, how Jim Jordan, et al, are weaponizing Government while accusing the Democrats of doing this ala Josef Goebbels’ “accuse another of that which you are guilty of” and how many people are deceived by these tactics. We also see this in our personal lives, people trying to hide their hypocritical acts by defending them, by accusing another of the same action, by forcing their will upon their children, their parents, their neighbors, their schools, religious institutions, their local social-service institutions and lying to ourselves that this is ‘in the best interests of all concerned’.

Recovering people no longer hide, we still act in hypocritical ways at times and we do our daily, yearly inventory to uncover these blind spots, make our amends and change our ways. We also learn how to spot the path of our own hypocrisy quicker and get back on the path of truth rather than continue on the path of  “disguised polytheism”. My own inventories over the days and years have shown me that I still engage in hypocrisy and I don’t live there anymore. I have, in the past, said I welcome everyone and, at the same time, been judgmental. I have spoken of living an examined life and, at times, been willfully blind to my own shortcomings. I have said I love all while not liking some and my bluster, my aggressive ways have pushed people away. I have spoken truth to power and, at times, lied to myself. The difference between being in recovery and being in denial is my hypocrisies are actions, not the way I am living. I live out loud, so it is easy for another to spot my hypocrisies and help me get back on the path, rather than hiding in plain sight as so many people do. I also know I am not a hypocrite nor an idolator, I am human and T’Shuvah, Step 10 in AA, gives me the ability to see my hypocrisy sooner, hear people when they call me out, and change. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark