Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 200
“One may be decent and sinister, pious and sinful.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 92)
Continuing the theme of “indifference to evil”, Rabbi Heschel reminds us of the dual nature of human beings, a divine inclination and an earthly one. We are never ‘one way’. This sentence comes to remind us to not fall into the trap of self-deception, the thinking that because I am a “decent” guy I don’t have to question myself, I don’t have to do T’Shuvah, inventory of my actions, I can ‘cruise’ through life because I’m a decent person. This type of thinking is the root of so much evil being perpetrated and ignored throughout history and especially in today’s world.
In the Book of Leviticus, Chapter 19, we are told “You shall be holy, because I your God am holy”. In the myriad of commentaries on this verse, one stands out for me, that of the Ramban. Moses ben Naimon was a 13th Century scholar and leader in Spain, his commentary on this verse in Leviticus speaks to the need for this commandment; we had already been called a nation of priests, we were told we are a holy nation, we had been given so many ways to be holy-why were these words necessary? The Ramban answered: “because it is possible to be a scoundrel within the bounds of the Torah”. His ability to see the truth of the “pious” at times, to know that people could use the laws and ways of Judaism to pervert the very goals and service they are meant to express lights the way for all of us.
We are being called to account in the words above, in the Biblical stories, in the study of our history as human beings, and we seem to do everything we can to evade our own accounting. Being “sinister”, aka evil, while also being “decent” happens with and without intention. There are many people who try and come across as decent human beings, on the ‘right’ side of causes and do so for their own good, for their own gain and, once they have gained the wealth, the power, the reputation, they go about their lives serving their needs rather than the needs of another, they betray the very principles they swore to uphold in the beginning of their search. They knew their intentions from the beginning and just did what they had to in order to get their hooks in and exert their power. These are the people who go to Congress to serve their own need for power and control, these are the people who go on Boards in order to gain power and control, these are the people who take over companies and institutions to make them over in their own image. Some people do this because they buy into the deceptions of another(s) that this is the only way that will ensure long-term success, so they are “decent and sinister” unintentionally.
Those who are “pious and sinful”, however, have a special place in hell, I believe. These charlatans pound the Bible, pound the New Testament, pound the Koran, etc and when their pounding is challenged, they pound their challengers and they pound the table. Piety and sin are not strangers to one another, while being pious is supposed to help us overcome our sinful natures, we have found the “pious” are fundamentalists in disguise, people who want to use their piety for control, for power, to destroy their ‘enemies’ whom they label as enemies of God, of Spirit, because, after all, only the “pious” know what God wants. These people have committed more evil in the name of God, started more wars in the name of God, than their secular counterparts. While they know better, while they are aware of the teaching of the Ramban, they continue to be scoundrels in the bounds of the Torah. They continue to bastardize the texts to fit their personal pushes for power and control, wealth and prestige. There is no text that shows Donald J Trump is sent by Jesus. There is no text that says abortion is a sin. The text used against abortion actually is a polemic against pedophilia. Yet, these “pious and sinful” people continue to spread their lies, hold onto their power and lead people away from spiritual health, away from a real connection with God, a real connection with their fellow human beings!
We are told to do T’Shuvah one day before we die and since we don’t know the day of our death, we should do it everyday. The Church suggests confession at least once a week, the recovery movement says we should “continue to take personal inventory”. We are in need of doing this type of self-reflection and self-inspection often because we know the depths of our self-deceptions, Rabbi Heschel has taught us that “self-deception is a major disease”. The Bible knew this and every spiritual discipline has some path to returning after making mistakes. The problem with the “decent and sinister” and “the pious and sinful” is their willful blindness to their own self-deceptions, their inability to admit their errors and repair the damage from them. We have become a society; 1) that values deceptions rather than truth, 2) that is intolerant of errors and those who make them, 3) refuses to admit their spiritual maladies and seek spiritual healing for them. Hence we will continue to be plagued by the “decent and sinister” and the “pious and sinful” like Mike Johnson, the rest of the Republicans seeking to tear down the rule of law and our democracy.
I work hard each day to be “pious” in that I am devoted to nurturing my own spiritual growth and that of another. I live a life of decency and I take my own inventory daily. I am well aware of my own self-deceptions and my need to be on top of the signs that point to my being “sinister and sinful” because they are subtle and deadly. I let go of resentments as quickly as possible and keep allowing them to flow through and out of me as they arise. I am grateful each day for life and for all that I have, good things and troubling things. These are some ways I keep self-deception at bay. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark