Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 320
“For a word of the Bible to happen it must permeate the soul, relate to one’s problems, dreams, and emotions. Detached from the living issues of the human situation, our commitment becomes dim, inane. In other words, to teach religion means to teach a way of dealing with living problems of human existence, with the problems of the student who sits in front of us. Otherwise it remains trivial. And religious cannot survive as a triviality.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 57)
Today is the last day of Sukkot, the eighth day and tonight is Simchat Torah, the rejoicing of the ending and new beginning of reading the Torah as well as the first anniversary, Yahrtzeit, of the Oct. 7th terrorist attack which killed over 1200 people, took 251 hostages of which some 101 hostages either dead or alive remain in captivity in Gaza. On the eighth day after a birth, a boy is circumcised and receives his name, I pray that on this eighth day the hostages and their families are given hope that a deal is being made, that the terrorists of Hamas, the government of Netanyahu and his thugs realize the importance of human life according the “word of the Bible”.
Rabbi Heschel, in the first two sentences above, describes the dilemma we are in, Be it in the Middle East, America, in our cities and communities, in our religious centers, in our individual being. “A word of the Bible” does not “permeate the soul”, it does not relate to one’s problems, dreams” and this is because many people teaching and engaging in “a word of the Bible” are unwilling to allow the words to “permeate their soul”, unable to hear truth and are more interested in twisting the “word of the Bible” to their selfish, greedy, goals of power and control.
I am struck by the first sentence in that Rabbi Heschel is talking about “a word of the Bible to happen”. He is reminding us and demanding of us, calling out to us and begging us to remember the words mean nothing if we don’t make them happen in the moment, in the world and in our inner lives. Otherwise, what is happening in ‘houses of worship’ is worshiping idols, is, in Hebrew, Avodah Zarah-worship of idols. He is also telling us how to make “a word of the Bible happen”, by having it touch our souls, by allowing ourselves to be changed by this “word of the Bible” in this moment and knowing that an imprint of this experience is left upon our inner life. We will never be the same after we allow “a word of the Bible” to “happen” to us, to “permeate the soul” because only then can we experience and understand how this “word of the Bible” relates and helps us find solutions to our “problems, dreams and emotions”. Only by making “a word of the Bible happen” in our souls so we make it “happen” in the world can we begin to breathe a little better, can we end our constant worry and holding of our breathe to see if we are going to be okay. Only by realizing that the Bible is a blueprint for all of life’s ups and downs, a solution “to one’s problems, dreams and emotions”, can we find the right solution for this moment in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Only by allowing “a word of the Bible to happen” can we end our constant fear and loathing of another human being, can we throw the Idols in the Temple out, can we light the candles of Hanukkah and rededicate ourselves to the words “of the Bible” in truth.
On page 3 of his book, God in Search of Man, Rabbi Heschel describes the reason for “the eclipse of religion in the modern world.” “Religion declined not because it was refuted, but, because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid.” It has not gotten any better since 1955 when these words were first published, in fact, I would offer each of these descriptors have gotten more embedded in the minds, teachings, preachings of the so-called ‘religious’ establishment. Because so many faith leaders have “detached from the living issues of the human situation, our commitment” has “become dim, inane”. The so-called ‘religious’ establishment in Israel, in Iran, in Gaza and in Lebanon have made “a word of the Bible”, a word of the Koran, empty and use the words found in these holy texts for their vanity, not for the sake of heaven! The same is true here in the U.S. People who claim Trump was anointed by Christ to lead America are saying this for their own power grab, they actually believe Trump will not turn to fascism, they actually believe they will thrive under a man who worships Hitler, loves authoritarians like Putin, etc. It will not be ‘christian’ law, it will be Trump-Law and this will not bode well for anyone but the Trumps! We have Idolators in the Temples and the Churches, in the Mosques and the Synagogues, yet we continue to listen to them, we continue to pay them to destroy us, to tell us ‘don’t worry, he will fix all your problems,’ and other such bullshit! Because of the Idols in the Temples, religion has lost its moral high ground, it has lost its raison d’être, “to permeate the soul” and change our hearts and actions, to make a “more perfect union” between human beings and between us and God.
We can still turn this runaway train around, we can still rescue the hostages in Gaza, in Russia, in our own communities, in our country. It will take a herculean effort to throw the idolators out of our religious institutions, it means changing the power structure, the board structure, it means demanding of our clergy that they teach the Bible and the particular religious tenets as solutions to the problems of today, that they teach all of us how to use the Bible in order to “relate to one’s problems”, how to “circumcise the foreskins of our hearts” and how to let go of our vanity and stop worshiping the emptiness of mendacity and self-deception. We do this by immersing ourselves in the spiritual texts of our faith, we do this by making “happen” a phrase like “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” in our daily activities, we do this by making “happen” a call to “care for the stranger, the orphan, the widow, the poor, the needy” every day reaching out to help rather than abuse another. We have the blueprint, we have the inner strength, we have the leadership of Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Buddha, and our ancestors who have kept their teachings alive and present. We just have to have the courage to “Go for yourself, go to yourself” and live a life of blessings rather than be seduced by the curses.
I have been successful in my years of recovery to allow “a word of the Bible to happen” by having them “permeate my soul”. This is my “gift”, I can sit with someone, find the “word of the Bible” they need to hear so they can find a solution for their problems, their dreams. This is the honor I have been given by God and the task I have been created for. I am grateful that people keep helping me have the words of the Bible permeate my soul so I stay fresh, current and growing. I am no longer an empty, vain vessel, I am a servant and a student. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark