Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 107

“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)

Rabbi Heschel published The Prophets in 1962 and the words above are as relevant today as they were 62 years ago, maybe even more relevant. “The voice of God” is calling out to all of us today regarding “the silent agony” we all experience. “The plundered poor” strain to hear “a voice” and the prophets’ words are ringing out throughout the world and we still fail to heed their words, hear “the voice” and ignore the call of God to us. It is infuriating, it is sad, it is criminal and it is devastating. Our inability to hear, heed, and act on “prophecy” our unwillingness to live into Rabbi Heschel’s teachings calling to us to change, to sharpen our hearing, to take different actions is a sign of our decay as a society.

We, human beings, seem to be incapable of realizing that each time we engage in plundering the poor, stealing from them their dignity, their work efforts, turning them into property rather than seeing their humanity, their worth, their divine image, we put ourselves deeper into “silent agony”, we demean our selves, tarnish our souls and imprison our humanity over and over again. Watching the movie, “Zone of Interest” about the Nazi commander of Aushwitz and his life outside the camp, the ‘normalcy’ his family experienced while smoke came out of the ovens, bullets were being fired, people were crying out just over the wall of their ‘home’ brings home to me the lunacy of hiding from and ignoring the words of the prophets, “the voice God has lent to the silent agony” of the human soul. It is infuriating and one can only imagine the experience of Rabbi Heschel, the prophets, Rev. King, Jesus, Moses, and all of the other prophetic voices throughout the millennia knowing and speaking the words of the prophets, teaching us all how to live these words, attempting to heal “the silent agony”, caring for “the plundered poor” and trying to minister to those who held/hold “the profound riches of the world”.

Throughout time immemorial there have been people, seemingly ‘good’ people, seemingly ‘religious’ people who have added to “the silent agony” rather than alleviated it through their bastardization of the prophetic tradition. While a Mike Johnson and his ilk may quote Isaiah to prove that Jesus was the messiah, they all fail to aid “the plundered poor”, in fact, they increase “the silent agony” of the “plundered poor” by continuing to ravage them, continuing to violently (physically and spiritually) abuse them, seek to ignore their humanity and turn them into chattel for their own use. Every time we think of, call, treat another human being as “vermin”, every time we engage in actions which will “purify the blood of our country”, separate ourselves from another group, see anyone who is different from us as “the other”, we are failing to heed “the voice God has lent to the silent agony, a voice to the plundered poor”. Yet, so many of the “spiritual leaders” of our time and throughout time have led the charge against God, against the words and meanings of prophecy. We are in desperate need of a renewal of studying, hearing, and acting on the words of the prophets, the call of God, and introspection into ourselves.

We have fallen into the same ways of being as Ancient Israel and Ancient Judea did. We are so enamored with “the profound riches of the world” and seek to “get our share” that we deny these riches to another(s) because of the color of their skin, the faith and/or non-faith they practice, because they ‘are not like us’. When Davos is hailed, when human rights is called for one people and ignored towards another, when terrorism is hailed as freedom fighting, when “from the river to the sea” calls for extermination of a group of people based on there religion, ethnicity, when Elon Musk is celebrated because he is rich and he spews hatred that people take as gospel truth, when women are denied the right to choose what happens to their bodies, when they are left to die rather than receive life-saving abortions, when the fetus is more important than the mother, when the borders are so porous as there is no control over who enters and so rigid as to deny any one of a ‘certain’ color entry, we are increasing “the silent agony” of another(s) and re-enforcing the agony of our own souls. We have the opportunity to “share the wealth”, to end our plundering of the poor, stop stealing the intellectual property of another(s), get a “new pair of glasses” so we can see the divinity in each and every person, live into the words of the prophets so we can heal our souls, help another human being to live better and repair the world.

In recovery, we hear “the silent agony” of another human being and we give voice to our own agony. We take action to help “the plundered poor” and we ned our need to ‘have it all’. We are students of spiritual growth and health, we are active participants in being of service, we pray: “My creator, I am now willing you should have all of me, good and bad which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows…”

I grew up in a family that helped “the plundered poor”, even in my alcoholism I found ways to help at times. In my recovery, I have railed against selfishness, pettiness, etc. I have given voice to “the silent agony” people in recovery experience and, to the best of my ability in the moment, I have lived into Rabbi Heschel’s teachings and the ways of the prophets. I continue to give voice to my “silent agony” and I use the richness of life to help another live well. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark