Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 315

“Supremely sensitive as the prophets are to the wickedness of man and deeply conscious of his stubbornness and callousness, they also insist upon the ability of man to change, to repent, to return to God and live by justice and compassion. Prophecy may be defined as a formidable effort to change any spiritual status quo, as an everlasting protest against any fatalistic conscription of life, against those who teach that human nature will never change.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 56)

“Prophecy may be defined as a formidable effort to change any spiritual status quo” can change both the ways we understand the role of the prophet, the “vengefulness” of God that people speak about when Moses foretells what is going to happen to the people when they decide to worship false gods, and it could, possibly, stop us from scouting out “after our heart and eyes because we will whore after them”(Numbers 15:39) and in the 3rd paragraph of the Shema.

The prophets were speaking truth to power AND they were making “a formidable effort” to change the people as well. Unfortunately, not enough people took their words into their hearts and changed their “spiritual status quo” then and we still haven’t leaned into them today. I hear Rabbi Heschel demanding we engage with the prophets and with the prophetic vision they have left for us, I hear him calling out for us to end our spiritual stuntedness and allow ourselves to grow spiritually, morally, mentally. When wonder is the foundation of living, then we can never be stuck in a societal “spiritual status quo”, we have to keep growing and changing. Yet, we seem to be unable to throw the “Idols in the Temples” out, just as the Priests were unable to in the days of the prophets and since.

For many in the world the “spiritual status quo” is one of anger and rage, feeling like a victim and having to be part of an identity group that has been wronged. It is always being the underdog and “THEY” are out to get us. We see the progressives engaging in anti-semitism with no thought to how the Jews have supported the underdog, the widow, the orphan, the poor, the needy, and the stranger throughout history. We watch in horror as white supremacists claim they are the group being discriminated against while they spew lies, rage, rebellion against democratic norms and democracy itself. We are witnesses to the lies of the media along with the bias’ so it is almost impossible to get the facts. Be it Bibi or Trump the ‘poor me’ and ‘strongman’ themes that both of them perpetuate are false, they are dangerous, they are demeaning and they are not in keeping with the words of the prophets, they are not to be found in the Bibles they claim to revere, yet people believe them, people are worn out by them and people have forgotten the words of the prophets and the actions those words call for. We have to reclaim our heritage, we have to reclaim our calling, we have to reclaim our spiritual health. The time is now, the way is clear and the purpose is to “form a more perfect union”, to “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein” which is inscribed on the Liberty Bell and in the Bible, Lev. 25:10. When the far left and the far right attempt to pull us towards idolatry, we have to say NO, loudly and proudly declaring our spiritual growth and our loyalty to the principles of the Bible and to the words of the prophets.

We, the people, have to stop going along with the lies and worshiping the idols of power, authoritarianism, hatred, victimhood, mendacity, self-deception among others. We can do this by going the “protest agains any fatalistic conception of life”. “Thats the way it is and always will be” is a lie promoted by society to control the masses. “The Bible says….” Is usually an interpretation not the actual words and when the words are used out of context they create a false justification for bad actions. The call of the Rabbis to not hear the call of the prophets but to shift their words to make them more benign and not call the people to revolt was their way of holding power and, to be fair, to keep Judaism alive as well as changing it to fit their vision. The Rabbis and Priests, Ministers and Imams who preach hatred, who support the extremism of the far left and the far right are assisting “Idols in the Temple” to flourish. The worship of the moneyed class by elected officials and by staff at non-profits as well as in the boardrooms of for-profit companies is reminiscent of the same worship that caused the destruction of both Temples and the exile of Jews from Israel and from Judea. Because of the “idols in the Temple” that Israel had, they became the “lost tribes” which is an important lesson for us all. Keeping “Idols in the Temple” will always lead to our becoming lost and, if we don’t “protest…against those who teach human nature will never change”, we will not even leave a record for the next generations.

There is a solution! Recover our spiritual passions, uncover our true selves, discover our unique gifts and purpose and continue to engage in spiritual growth. We have to be forever unsatisfied with the “spiritual status quo” no matter how good we think it is. Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski once told me: “As soon as you think you are spiritual, you aren’t!” While we have to be satisfied with our growth, with our portion, satisfaction doesn’t mean stopping nor settling. It means we accept that this is the best we could have achieved for today, knowing tomorrow will be one grain of sand better. All of us yearn to connect to another human being, all of us are haunted by hiding our true selves for fear of being made fun of, all of us know we have a purpose and gifts and our afraid society will not accept our gifts and deny us our purpose. We can do this when we decide to serve something greater than society. We can do this when we realize we have a seat at the table and nobody can stop us except us. We can do this when we know change is the only constant and our evolution is imperative for the world to evolve as well.

I rail against the “spiritual status quo” all the time and I keep growing myself. I call bullshit on the ideas that change is not possible and I believe in the wonder and possibility of life. I believe everyone can change and those who choose to be extremists have to be treated like the ones who have “Tzaarat” in the Bible-sent outside the camp to be ministered to and healed. I was the Rabbi of one such camp for many years and helped many people heal and return to their proper place. This is my unique gift and I rejoice in it. I continue to speak out against “a leopard doesn’t change its spots” when it comes to human beings, I am grateful to the myriad of teachers who helped me and I continue to put these vibes into the world. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark