Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 171

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

Immersing ourselves in Rabbi Heschel’s thought above causes us to become aware, to recognize, of our “racial or religious bigotry”. Yesterday’s writing was about “religious bigotry” and today’s is about “racial bigotry”. What brings us to such fear, loathing, hatred of a person whose skin color is different than ours, whose ancestry is different than ours? It is an irrational fear, despicable hatred, which Rabbi Heschel defines as “satanism, blasphemy”. Both of his words describe ways of being that are profane, that are obscene and negate the dignity and worth of another human being based on our own prejudices. This denial of the dignity of another human being based on the person having a different culture, a different skin tone, in fact any difference we can see. While people of color are the easiest to spot as ‘different’, Italians, Irish, Asian, Jews have all be subjected to “racial bigotry” in the United States.

Our denial of the dignity of another person based on culture, on skin color is another power grab by the group promoting and engaging in this behavior. “Blasphemy” is defined as profane which is defined as “treating a person with disrespect/obscene. The Hebrew words for profane are “desecration of holiness”. Denying the dignity of another person because of their ancestry, their cultural heritage, their skin color desecrates the human spirit, our higher consciousness, and is a decision that says ‘he/she is not a member of the human race’! We have engaged in these behaviors for so long, society has become blind to our bigotry, we fail to recognize the bigotry of another, of ourselves, of our laws, and customs.

Two weeks from now, we will be celebrating the Exodus from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea. Pharaoh was unable to see the Jews and the other slaves as people, as having dignity and worth and he convinced the slave class that they were unworthy. It took a leader to remind the Israelites and other slaves that they had value, they have dignity and no person should deny this truth nor subjugate another person to their whims and their “harsh labor”. Yet, according to one Midrash, only 20% of the slaves left Egypt! This is how devastating “racial bigotry” is, it sucks the dignity out of another person and we fail to recognize our own intrinsic value.

The same techniques have been used for the millennia, be it against Blacks, Hispanics, Native American Indians, Jews, Muslims. As Hitler and Henry Ford proved, repeating a lie long enough and loud enough will make otherwise good people into bigots and they will join in acts of bigotry, of profanation towards “those people”. We see it happening today as it has throughout the history of the United States, there are those of us who thought the gains of the Civil Rights Movement were carved in stone, only to find out the backlash was so great that even the Supreme Court of the United States has imbued bigotry with the power of the Federal Government!

Lyndon Johnson said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”  How unbelievably true, how devastatingly sad and how destructive this truth is to the fabric of society and the inner life of the individual. What does it take to “recognize” our bigotry, our prejudices? It takes an honest look in the mirror, it takes an “fearless and thorough inventory” of our willful blindness and our hiding from ourselves. It takes a true connection to our Higher Consciousness, God, our souls that will not allow us to engage in self-deception and calls upon us to end our indifference to our own bigotry. We have to end our incessant need to believe the deceptions of another who is just “picking our pockets”, we have to let go of our worshiping at the altar of ‘satan’, of prejudice and stop needing “someone to look down on”. We have to recognize the inherent value of the person next to us, the dignity of the people who are against us, the right to freedom and free will choices of the people we have relegated to being beneath us, to being our ‘slaves’. We are able to rise above our worst natures, our strongest fears of being ‘less than’. We do this by our connection to our inner life and our connection to the universal energy that is all around us. We do this by seeing how similar we are to one another in our hopes, dreams, fears. We do this by not “judging a book by its cover” anymore and having a cup of coffee, sharing our stories and their stories with another human being.

I have fought against my own inner bigotry for as long as I can remember. I have been subjected to bigotry because of being a Jew. I have experienced bigotry because I am a recovering alcoholic. I have experienced bigotry because, as my father and grandfathers taught me, I see each person as a human being and don’t judge based on color, creed, ancestry, etc. I was shunned by ‘white people’ because I had friends who were people of color, I was mistrusted in prison because I would hang out with and help people of color, I have been pigeoned holed as a “niche Rabbi” because of my work at Beit T’Shuvah, I have been ignored because “who else would have ever hired him”. I understand bigotry viscerally AND my experiences give me the power to have compassion without believing my experiences match those of people of color-I don’t know how they feel, I don’t get pulled over because I am “driving while black”. I do know ridding myself of bigotry is a daily task, it is insidious and we all need to recognize it quickly and overcome this learned tendency and return to our natural desire to connect. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark