Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 8
“To stem the expansion of man’s needs, which in turn is brought about by technological and social advancement, would mean to halt the stream on which civilization is riding. Yet, the stream unchecked may sweep away civilization itself, since the pressure of needs turned into aggressive interests is the constant cause of wars, and increased in direct proportion to technological progress.” ( Insecurity of Freedom pg. 6)
Rabbi Heschel, in the words above, captures the ongoing human dilemma, how to live in the both/and of progress and restraint. Hence, the Bible was given to us to help us navigate the “stream on which civilization is riding” and to ensure that we don’t have “the stream unchecked” because it truly “may sweep away civilization itself”. Religion, which has gotten such a bad name, rightfully so because of the charlatans that have wrapped themselves in their false interpretations of what the Bible is actually saying, actually is a gift that helps us use technology to promote social advancement, it helps us navigate the “stream on which civilization is riding” without being swept away by the man-made rapids of “aggressive interests”.
We are witnessing, once again, a moment in time where some men, and now women have joined the fray, have become so needy to keep power, to take power, to abuse power and to be ‘king of the hill’ that across the globe there is a constant drum beat of war-external and internal. Here in America, we are engaged in another “great civil war” between the white folk who are desperate to hold onto power and are using the Bible and religion to validate their “aggressive interests” and jettisoning of the rule of law, of being held accountable and those who say NO, those who are going around the country and declaring what the Bible says in Lev. 25:10 “Proclaim Liberty throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”. There are those who want to fight the white folk trying to hold onto power by saying only certain minorities belong to their group, throwing Jews out of their coalition as the women’s movement, the Black Lives Matter movement have and those who say we need to all have a seat at the table, even those with whom we disagree. Our news media is overwhelmed with liars and grifters either at the head of the various media outlets or by giving the grifters, liars, war mongers (like Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Kash Patel, AOC, anti-semites like Ilan Omar, et al) air time and validity.
Technology has advanced so much and what is an amazing tool for education, edification, etc has been turned into a weapon of mass destruction by people who have turned their “needs” are actually “”personal desires in disguise”. We see this in the way lies are promoted by people like Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, Bibi Netanyahu and his family, Trump and his merry band of liars and cheats, etc. We are watching the prescience of Rabbi Heschel’s words come to life. Technology is being used to launch drones and missiles that are crippling the electrical grid of Ukraine and the liars and grifters, the idolators and charlatans say nothing-because they have more in common with the authoritarian regime in Russia than they do with the freedom fighters in Ukraine! And this is whom will be in power in all three branches of government come January 20, 2025. While AI is an important tool for advancing society, it is also a dangerous one in the ‘wrong hands’ and the ‘wrong hands’ are in power and winning the battle of this civil war right now, here and in Israel.
All is not lost, we do not have to sink into despair! We, the People, have the power to overcome what is happening right now, we have the power to stand up for the advancement of society, the advancement of civilization, we just have to exercise it and use it wisely. We, the People, have to learn, grow, re-learn (whatever the case) how to live in the “Both/And” of life. We, the People, have the opportunity to re-read the Bible and see how we have faced this dilemma before and overcome it, to re-read history and see how we have been at the brink of civilization and, instead of it falling into the abyss, it grew into something more and better, if only for a moment. We are celebrating Christmas, New Years, Hanukkah - all capturing moments in time when tyrants were waging war against the spirit and the teachings of the Bible, the spirit and teachings of how to live together in peace, the spirit and teachings of how to advance civilization and do so in proper measure and in measured steps. The Maccabees were waging a war against the Jews who were becoming hellenized more so than against the Greeks themselves. They were afraid of losing the essence of Judaism, rather than seeing how some aspects of hellenism could enhance Jewish ideas and ideals. Judah Maccabee was a HERO, and his descendants fell into the abyss because of their need to hold onto power and it corrupted them to the point of them becoming more hellenized than the Jews killed in the Hanukkah wars and then sold out to the Romans, who ushered in the 1900 year exile from the Land of Israel, the Land of Canaan. Christ came along at this time and preached the words of the prophets, he, too, believed: “Not by might, not by power, but by My spirit alone says the Lord” as the path to promoting civilization while not letting it go unchecked. He believed in a civil war that began in the soul of every person, a way of being that allowed our basic goodness of being to triumph, as the Bible shows us in a myriad of ways. Yet, his followers became rabid anti-semites, blaming the Jews for everything bad and scapegoating them up to and including with Adolf Hitler!
In this time of celebration, lets remember that Hanukkah translates as “dedication”, it reminds of Sukkot, when we rejoice at all that is the earth’s bounty that we can enjoy and we are all equally worthy and dignified, we all can survive the elements with our combined efforts and without cooperation, we will become extinct. None of us will survive forever, the “personal desires in disguise” as needs are bullshit and We, the People, like our ancestors, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Judah Maccabee, before us have to stand up and say YES to the advancement of civilization and technology being controlled by the social advancement of “one law for the stranger and citizen alike”, “love the stranger because you were strangers in the Land of Egypt”, “love your neighbor as you love yourself”. This is the basis for our new adventure: Spiritus. This is an online community of people discussing how to live our spiritual and moral values in everyday life and in all of our affairs. If you are interested, please email me at rabbimark@rabbimark.com. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark