Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 340
“Extremely important in Jewish tradition is the spiritual centrality of the word. It is…in the word where the insights and the spiritual power of more than thirty centuries is contained. These repositories will remain locked, the thoughts they contain will remain out of range, unless we approach them with heart and soul, with intelligence and imagination.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg 62)
I have been trying to not have the same paragraph for more than 2 days, yet here I am using this one for 3 days because the ideas, the paths to freedom and “centrality” of the spirit are so wide that I could not write it all in just 2 days.
The “repositories will remain locked, the thoughts they contain will remain out of range” reminds us of how easy it is to be oblivious to the “word” and the “spiritual power” that are contained within each and every “word” of the Bible. We have been given a gift that goes beyond the comprehension of our rational minds, a way of being that responds to and helps to grow our inner life, our higher consciousness and appeals to a higher logic that can only be understood, lived, maintained and grown through “heart and soul, with intelligence and imagination”.
We are in an era where people who have or could have the keys to “these repositories” have either lost them, used the “word” to further their self-interests, not the interests of spirit nor of another human being nor of God. They are using the words in “these repositories” to bastardize the teachings of Moses, of Christ, of Mohammed, of Buddha, as well as using our Biblical characters and stories to lie about what was, what is and what should be-their being in control. Many of the people who have the keys to the “repositories” are more interested in lining their own pockets, in electing their own puppets-even if these puppets owe or pledge allegiance to Putin and his gangs-, and in selling their lies and deceptions to enslave the masses.
We have lost faith in our faith leaders because we have found them to be self-serving and mendacious. We have found them to not truly care about the poor, the stranger, the needy, etc. They are not interested in tithing themselves, they want everyone else to pay for their needs and the livelihood they have come to expect. The rich backers of these idolators are seeking to use them to make the masses more pliable as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer so the masses don’t revolt. Instead they teach the ‘prosperity gospel’ which tells the masses that they are not rich cause God doesn’t love them as much as God loves the rich! I call BULLSHIT on these liars and courtiers of Pharaoh, of Trump, of Putin, Orban, Netanyahu, etc. These ‘faith’ leaders have earned our disrespect, they have earned their low stature in the eyes of people who really have and live their faith.
The “repositories” are the scrolls that have been left to us by great spiritual leaders and thinkers. They are the Bible, the New Testament, the Koran, the words of Buddha, the Big Book of AA, and other great teachers, they are the commentaries on all of these holy texts. I use the word “holy” to indicate words and deeds that elevate the human being, separate us from the animal kingdom, and connect us to one another. This is the main goal, I believe, of these “repositories” and, only when “we approach them with heart and soul, with intelligence and imagination” can we truly unlock their wisdom, their firm guidance, and the path to inner and outer freedom they gift to us. They are a gift that has been left to us, the inheritors of great spiritual elders, the inheritors of great inventors, the inheritors of the good people who, against all odds, have kept humanity from killing itself throughout the millennia. It is up to us to open these “repositories” and allow them to uplift and grow our inner lives, allow them to rip away the “foreskin of our hearts”, to use our mind and soul in cooperation and collaboration with one another to uncover the hidden gems of wisdom found in them. It is way past time for us to immerse ourselves in the “imagination” of these “repositories” by spreading the words: CHOOSE LIFE!
To live into the wisdom above takes the ego strength to live our lives in “proper measure”, which is what the Hebrew word “midot” means. A “midah” is a measure and “midot” is the plural-the word has come to mean “traits”, so each trait we have we are being called to use in proper measure rather than any way we want to. Each time we want to exert power just because we can, we are reminded by the “repositories”, by the spiritual will of our ancestors, to use our power to uplift and help, to continue and grow the individual and collective freedom for all. Each time we want believe our money, our station, our lack of money, our ‘victim identity’ gives us the right to ‘get what we want’, to ‘get even’, to ‘bend the law to our will’; our “repositories” illumine a path of “proper measure” for us to follow instead. We have to unlock “these repositories” for our sake, for the sake of our descendants, for the sake of human beings everywhere. The global world is not a new phenomenon, even though we speak of it as if it is. There were traders going from place to place sharing not just goods and services, they were sharing the wisdom and treachery of Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Greek mythology, Roman Mythology, the Psalms of David, the Torah, the words of the prophets, the teachings of Jesus throughout the world that they knew and beyond as the Polynesian religion included “Cities of Refuge” in it-the only other religion besides Judaism to have it as part of their code! We have the examples of people who “approach them with heart and soul” like Thomas Merton, St. Francis, The Baal Shem Tov, Rev. King, etc that we can follow their lead if we are willing to summon the courage ‘go against the grain’ which is the foundation of the books and examples of living that these “repositories” hold.
These “repositories” were opened for me some 37 years ago and I keep having my mind, heart and soul opened and grown by my continuing to engage with them. They show me the “error of my ways” and are the guide book to living well. They help me forgive and not hate, rebuke and not wallow in guilt, accept life on life’s terms and continue to do T’Shuvah each and every day. They give me a bad conscience at times when I hear the them demand me to be holy when I just want to wallow in the mud, they pat me on the back when I do the next right thing and they are my punishment when I make an error-they force me to make amends and to emend my ways- and my reward when I do the next right thing-they force me to reflect my divine image back to me as a gift and an impetus to continue to live well. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark