Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 170

“Racial or religious bigotry must be recognized for what it is: satanism, blasphemy.” (Essential Writings pg. 66)

We are and, seemingly, always been confronted with the issue of “racial or religious bigotry”. It is an issue that plagues humanity and continues to live in the inner core of most people’s lives. “Bigotry” is defined as “stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own.” Since our need to be right, our need for certainty seems all-consuming, we become intolerant of anyone and anything that does not fit into our view of the world, of how life should be, etc.

Our fear of not being right, our fear of uncertainty causes us to be afraid of people who ‘are not like us’, who are not ‘our tribe’. Our need to “have rule and dominion” has exceeded the call in Genesis Chapter 1 which tells us to have both over the earth and the other animals. We have extended this call to humankind who are ‘not like us’. Our “stubborn and complete intolerance” of feeling ‘less than’, of ‘not being in charge’ has birthed our “racial” and “religious” bigotry and, as we can see from history, these bigotries have not made our lives any better, in fact, I would posit they make our lives much worse.

Our drive to bigotry has led to, and continues to lead to, the dumbing down of humankind. We lost many works of art and many artists because of the Church’s need to dominate, because of the Rabbis fear of ‘being like those christians’, because of discrimination against women and their artistry. We lost untold numbers of symphonies, of music that was defiant and called for change during the middle ages because of the domination of the church and their doctrines. Remember Galileo was imprisoned because he went against Church doctrine saying the Earth revolved around the Sun and this was considered heresy! Jews were put into ghettos, relegated to being ‘money-changers’ because the Church was afraid of and practiced religious bigotry against Jesus’ own people! They were afraid of and hated Muslims, remember the Crusades. The Roman Catholic Church did not admit its responsibility in spreading anti-semitism until 1965 and did not make amends till Pope John Paul II in 2000!

Muslims were such a majority that they had their own countries and, for a long period, welcomed Jews and gave religious freedom to Jews. Maimonidies was physician to the Grand Vizor of Egypt. Yet, this too came to an end when the British promoted anti-semitism within the Arab population of what was then called Palestine. We see the expansion of religious bigotry in both the ultra-religious Jews and radical Islamic Arabs in the region and how ugly, how destructive our “stubborn and complete intolerance” is!

We have within us a drive to get along, a drive to connect as well. Yet, this learned bigotry seems to have become epigenetic, baked into our DNA handed down by parents to children, at least since at least the 4th Century until now. Rather than appreciating the different paths to the same ‘end’-wholeness and community, spirit and connection- we have become so parochial, so insular that we demean another religion, despise the people who practice differently than us even within the same religious tradition, and then wonder why so many people are leaving ‘organized’ religion. Unfortunately, religion seems to be organized around “religious bigotry” rather than covenantal love-not because of the foundational values of religion, but because people have promoted “intolerance of any belief that differs from their own”. History has taught us of the violence, the senseless hatred, the murders done in the name of “religious bigotry” and we are witnessing the same right this moment.

There is a solution, however. There is a path of change. Tolerance, learning from one another, seeing our similarities and loving our differences. Letting go of our stubbornness and our need to be intolerant of anyone who is not like us and embracing the wisdom and wonder of the religious tenets of all faiths. Recognizing, as the Dalai Lama taught me, “all faiths, all spiritual traditions have at their core: love, kindness, truth, compassion, grace.” Understanding and appreciating the different languages and paths to achieve these core ways of being is crucial because humanity is not a “one-size fits all”. We are not the same, we are not “Stepford Wives”, we are not able to understand the same words in the same ways. In Proverbs it says we “should teach each child according to their understanding”. It doesn’t say teach everyone to be the same, it doesn’t say to teach in the ways we want to. This ancient wisdom foresaw the issue of “religious bigotry” before it became so big as to encompass the world and had an antidote. We can and must follow it!

I have been attacked verbally and physically because I am a Jew. I am watching the world attack Israel because of the propaganda of Hamas and the “religious bigotry” that still is alive and well today. “Jews will not replace us” rings in my ears as I listen to Trump and the Republican Party hustle “God Bless America Bibles” and bastardize the teachings of Jesus. The Cease-fire that was in place on Oct. 6, 2024 was not broken by Israel and people seem to conveniently forget this, the ultra-religious settlers and their supporters in the Government of Israel promote “intolerance” against the Arabs of Gaza and the West Bank. All of this is wrong, all of this is caused by senseless hatred and ends up in the killing of innocents. We, the people, can only end this war in the Middle East, the rise of authoritarianism by ending our own intolerance and stubborn need to be right. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark