Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 10
“Having absorbed an enormous amount of needs and having been taught to cherish the high values, such as justice, liberty, faith, as private or national interests, we are beginning to wonder whether needs and interests should be relied upon. While it is true that there are interests which all men have in common, most of our private and national interests, as asserted in daily living, divide and antagonize rather than unite us.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg 6)
Reading and re-reading the first sentence, I am struck by the meaning in-between the words, the chords it strikes within a person and the indictment of our societal education system. Using the word “enormous” signifies the overproduction of “needs” society has produced both as a whole and within the individual human being. Do we really “need” to be billionaires? Do we really “need” to “keep up with the Jones”? Do we really “need” to be lied to and deceived so we can ‘feel good’? Do we really need to ‘drink the juice’ that following “the party line” or “believe the cult leader” demand? Do we really “need” to go to war and take over the land and culture of another group of human beings rather than find ways to co-exist, acknowledging everyone’s right and “need” to belong to their own tribe and be part of the whole world as well? Do we really “need” to be xenophobic, homophobic, anti-Muslim, anti-Catholic, antisemitic, racist, in order for ‘our kind’ to survive? Do we really “need” to have the latest and greatest ______ to feel okay?
All of these “needs” we have “absorbed” have not brought us to a place of wholeness nor a place of inner growth. They have not helped us to “cherish the high values, such as justice, liberty, faith” as universal values, as values that everyone is entitled to, as the Declaration Of Independence asserts, it says “all men are created equal” not just those living in the 13 colonies, not just those who’s skin is white and they could not live up to these “high values”even as they knew them to be right and true. Instead, even the men writing this holy document, took these “high values as private or national interests” not as universal ones. These values did not extend to the Black men and women they brought from Africa to be slave labor, they did not extend to the Indigenous People who were here before them and, following the words of the Bible, cared for the land and the creatures on it much more than the ‘white man’ ever did. Do we really believe that our “enormous amount of needs” should be the guiding light upon which we base our actions, upon which we allow ourselves to indulge in actions that go against the “high values” we have been “taught to cherish”, which we use “private or national interests” as excuses for acting against these “high values” when choosing our self-interest uber alles?
We have witnessed throughout the millennia how “our private and national interests as asserted in daily living divide and antagonize rather than unite us”. We are in such a dramatic period right now. The death of President Jimmy Carter points out how being a person of faith, of decency, living the “high values” mentioned above, can make a difference in the world. I did not agree with President Carter vis a vis his words and actions towards Israel, I did not think he was a particularly strong President, and I know he was a decent man, a man who did not shy away from admitting his own errors, a man who lived his principles in all of his affairs. Agree or disagree, I respect his congruence and his passion, he did push Habitat for Humanity to the forefront of our consciousness. Now, we have Trump and his hate-filled rhetoric, his angry and hate-filled sycophants who are willing to do his bidding and their own to show how their interests are the only ones that matter, that the “high values, such as justice, liberty, faith” only apply to their personal interests, only are viable for them and their cronies and the rest of the people have to become their slaves, their lackeys! Their “private and national interests, as asserted in (their) daily living, (are meant) to divide and antagonize us”. This is their hope, this is their goal and this is the challenge for all of us.
We, the People have to take a stand for the “high values” that we have “been taught to cherish” as universal values, not just private nor national ones. No where in the Bible does it say these values are only for the Israelite people, they are for all people! “Justice, justice you shall pursue, righteousness, righteousness you shall pursue”, are not for one people, they are for all people. “One law for the citizen and stranger alike” is universal, not private nor nationalistic, “love your neighbor” is not only for people of the same skin color or faith. “Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein” is not for the invaders alone, it is for all people in every land. We, the People, have to say NO to the “enormous amount of needs” that society has put upon us which are not truly necessary, we have to say NO to the ridiculous notion that our values are private and/or national interests. We have to END our silence, END our acquiescence to the ‘strong leader’ who is actually a weak suck. We have to say NO to the lies we have told ourselves and the whoring after our ‘heart’s desires’ and what our eyes settle upon. We the People, have to say YES to practicing the principles and values we cherish, that are universal in all of our affairs. We, the People, have to say YES to using our values to unite us, to help us see our commonality and cherish our uniqueness as helping us all reach the goals of “justice, liberty, faith” and kindness, truth, love, caring for the stranger, the needy, the poor, giving voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless. We, the People, are being gifted with the opportunity to move humankind forward and set us upon the right path for growing our society into “a more perfect union”.
Harriet and I were talking about “needs” and “interests” the other day and then again yesterday, on her Birthday. Our needs are minimal and we have them covered, our interests are vast and we engage in them as we can each day. We are interested in people, in change, in growing our personal spiritual paths and in growing our relationship ever more. We realize that we can say no to our wants and not make them into needs. We do not “need” to do the perfunctory nor the ‘looking good’ things to impress anyone else. We do “need” to be of service and share our thoughts, our ways, our learnings and teachings with people. We do “need” to be part of the world and contribute through our writing, speaking, engaging where asked and when needed. We are not using our “high values” to divide and antagonize anyone, we are using them to unite us with people who also want to rise above their self-interest to respond to the call of the universe/God that reverberates in all of us. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark