Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 321

“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 Simchat Torah in parts of the Jewish World, Simchat Torah means the Joy of Torah, the joy of learning, the joy of growing in understanding, wisdom and actions. Rabbi Heschel’s words above are so crucial to celebrating the amazing blueprint for living that the Bible, the Torah is. The Bible and the Torah, while universal documents, are deeply personal to each and every individual, helping each and every one of us “dealing with living problems of human existence”. To be human is to have problems, to be deeply engaged in living gives us more problems and, as Rabbi Heschel says, the deeper the problems, the richer our living!

Religion is not a one-size fits all, it is not a panacea for what ails us, it will not take away our troubles. Religion gives us paths to deal with life’s challenges and problems, to deal with the war within us, to deal with living in a communal society without giving up our uniqueness, to live our uniqueness out loud so we can add to our corner of the world. Religion teaches us morality, it teaches us how to return after we err, how to fix our messes, how to restore our dignity and the dignity of another human being after we and/or someone else tarnishes/damages our dignity or the dignity of another. Religion teaches us the pitfalls of egocentric behaviors, of jealousy, of comparisons. It teaches us the dangers of worshiping false gods, bowing down to people and giving over the control of our minds and spirits to “the new Pharaoh arises”. Religion teaches us to hold onto our choices, to choose wisely, to not accept bribes, to not buy into the lies of the false prophets, to not engage in senseless hatred and to not ignore the plight of voiceless and powerless, the poor and the needy, etc.

On a more personal level, religion teaches “the student who sits in from of us” how to deal with their individual problems and, if as teachers and practitioners of religion, we are not doing this, if we are not seeing the individual student in front of us, if we are not responding to the call of their souls, if we are not helping them find their solutions in the text, then we should not be teaching religion because we are charlatans. If we cannot see the problems of the student who sits in front of us, if we cannot admit to our own problems then we are trivializing religion, we are making a mockery of what has sustained the world for over 2500 years and transformed humanity from ‘wild beasts’, from a “dog eat dog’ mentality to a society that has empathy and compassion, one that seeks truth, one that seeks to live into acts of kindness towards all. We have to see the person in front of us as a divine image seeking a framework to express their purpose and passion through religion, through the Biblical teachings and our job is to help guide them.

Of course, we see that religion “remains trivial” to so many because they were never seen as individuals in need, the teaching of religion has been more about rules than compassion, more about creed, power, habit and not about the crisis of today, not about faith as a living fountain that we can all drink from, it has become more about authority than learning solutions to today’s problems. We have allowed the liars and the deceivers to take over the Temples, the Churches, the Mosques, and the Synagogues. We have allowed them to do the least possible and we have accepted crumbs instead of demanding a seat at the table, instead of demanding that the words of the prophets be heard, taught and followed, we have allowed the people in ‘power’ to be more like the priests, the royalty, the wealthy when both Temples were destroyed and the 10 Tribes of the Northern Kingdom were dispersed among the Assyrian nation!

Religion is not the problem, it is the solution-full stop. We are the problem both the people teaching religion, the people espousing false religious beliefs and false prophecy as well as those of us who are accepting their lies and deviousness. When we fail to see that Donald Trump is a bad human being, when we fail to call out his love of dictators and Hitler, when we call him the ‘anointed one of god’ when we use ‘christian nationalism’ as a euphemism for control by the wealthy and the white supremacists and we believe that this is freedom - it is not religion that fails, it is us who trivializes religion. When we cannot see the difference between good and evil, when we cheer a team that celebrates what Hitler’s generals did, when we vote for a candidate that fomented an insurrection and/or his cronies who kiss his ass now when they know the truth of who he is and what he is, it is our failure, not religions.

We, the people, have to take back the teaching of religion. We, the people have to return to the text and follow the example of King David who could admit his errors and do his repentance. We, the people, have to stop thinking that the teachings of religion are far away, when they are “in our mouths and in our hearts”. We have to stand up for what is right no matter the personal cost because not standing up costs so much more. We, the people, have to look ourselves in the mirror, look our children in the eyes and answer the question: “Daddy, Mommy, why did you allow these idolators to take over the Temples, the Mosques, the Churches, the Synagogues, and the country?”

I live with the teachings each day, I have worked hard to never trivialize the texts and the lessons. I have found the solutions needed to deal with my problems and the problems of living that confront me daily in the Bible. I have done the best I know to teach another how to use the texts to seek the solutions for their particular issue in any given moment. I have counseled people for years and helped them find the solutions that are particular to them always seeking to lift them up and follow my passion and purpose. I believe the words above, I live these words and am profoundly grateful for all the teachers who have seen me and showed me texts that are my solutions. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark