Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 105

“The prophet is a man who feels fiercely. God has thrust a burden on his soul, and he is bowed and stunned at man’s fierce greed. Frightful is the agony of man, no human voice can convey its full terror. Prophecy is the voice God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor, to the profound riches of the world. It is a form of living, a crossing point of God and man.” (Essential Writings pg. 62)

Juxtaposing Rabbi Heschel’s words above with the mendacity of ‘religious’ people today, all of whom claim to be ‘speaking in God’s name’ and spreading hatred and lies about those they consider “the other”, is maddening! As I think about Rabbi Heschel’s words in the first two sentences above, I am in more awe of his courage and strength to stand up to the falseness of hatred and bigotry, the jockeying of ‘religious’ people to prove their way is the only way, and the greed of people to steal from one another their identities, their thoughts, their money, their dignity. Rabbi Heschel gives us a legacy of action and ways of being to meet the lies and deceptions we face today.

While there are very few prophets today, unfortunately, we have the blessings of being able to learn from the prophets of Israel, from people like Rabbi Heschel, Rev King, Einstein, the Baal Shem Tov, Thomas Merton, St. Francis of Assisi, etc. We can hear in their words ways to overcome our own “fierce greed”, we can learn from their ways of being how to accept and deal with the “burden on his soul” that God and the prophets have “thrust” upon us. I hear the call of Rabbi Heschel to all of us to stand up for what is true and right, to let go of “fierce greed” that we believe will protect us, to “feel fiercely” the plight of every human being, rich and poor, exalted and bowed, free and not free. Yet, for all of the talk of humanism, of religious zeal, many of us watch in horror at the bastardization of the words and deeds of the prophets, of the Bible, wringing our hands instead of taking action.

When people call the horrific actions of Oct. 7, 2023, anything but terrorism and an act of war, when people decry Israel’s right and need to defend itself against the desires for its extermination, when the world, once again, believes Jews deserve to die, all in the name of Islam and freedom-we are witnessing “man’s fierce greed”! When Hamas is exalted for taking innocent hostages, when Hamas is pitied for the response they wanted, when Hamas is extolled for turning down Cease-Fire proposals, many of us watch in horror at the inhumane reactions to the plight of the hostages, the plight of the Israelis who were brutally murdered, at the mendacity and deception of Iran, Hamas, the Arab world and the progressive-far right coalition of anti-semitism. How can these people not hear the voice and call of the prophets?

Not everything Israel does is perfect or right! Immersing myself in Rabbi Heschel’s words, I can safely say that Bibi and his ‘religious right’ coalition are not being “bowed and stunned” at their own “fierce greed”! They have much to be accountable for in this situation, they will have to answer to the people of Israel and to Jews around the globe. They too have been so involved in their ‘rightness’ they have not hear the call of the prophets, they have refused to accept the “burden” God has “thrust” upon them and upon all of us.

While Rabbi Heschel is speaking of the prophets in the teaching above, I also hear him reminding us that we have the benefit and responsibility of learning from their words, their actions and doing things differently than both the kingdoms of Israel and Judea did 2500+ years ago. We, the descendants of the prophets, have to also be “bowed and stunned at man’s fierce greed”, acknowledging and repenting that we participate, initiate and luxuriate in our own greediness. We, the descendants of the prophets, have to end our need for a ‘savior’ like people who are bestowing that claim upon Donald Trump, Bibi Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orban, etc. Rabbi Heschel’s teaching above is reminding us that we have to save ourselves, it is upon us to let go of our “fierce greed”, of our need to be ‘saved’ by authoritarians, by idolatrous people trying to deceive us into believing they are religious and people of God. We, the descendants of the prophets, have to respond to being “bowed and stunned” with action, with the ferocity that the prophets displayed at the injustices perpetrated by those who were so greedy as to forget the call of God, the words of the Bible, their vision so blurred they could not see the divine image in every human being they faced. We, the descendants of the prophets, have to stand up for the poor, the stranger, the needy, the powerless, the voiceless, women and children, all people who are not in the ‘ruling class’ with the strength and conviction the prophets taught us to.

It is called Alcoholics Anonymous because people had to hide from the stigma and the shame of being known as an alcoholic. We met in private places so as to not call attention to ourselves and to hide from the outside world. While the prophets called for the people to repent out loud and publicly, we alcoholics did this in private for fear of the repercussions of ‘those people’ who would use our alcoholism against us. Rather than support our recovery, we knew our recovery could and would be used against us. While there is still some stigma attached to recovery, it is more accepted and applauded, people in recovery are no longer held back by their past and, in some cases, elevated because of their psychic change because of their recovery.

I am grateful that I have been able to hear the call of the prophets, the call of Rabbi Heschel et al over these years of recovery. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark