Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 193

“Those who neither exploit nor are exploited are ready to fight when their own interests are harmed; they will not be involved when not personally affected. Who shall plead for the helpless? Who shall prevent the epidemic of injustice that no court of justice is capable of stopping?”(Insecurity of Freedom pg. 91)

The last two sentences above are the questions that have haunted humanity for time immemorial. 36 times in the first 5 Books of the Bible we are told to care for the stranger, help the poor, give voice to the voiceless and power to the powerless. Most of the stories in the Bible re-iterate this theme, either showing how to fulfill this mitzvah or how people don’t fulfill it. From Cain’s question: “am I my brother’s keeper” to God’s response: “the bloods of your brother cry out to me”, we have hear the call to “plead for the helpless”. As Rabbi Heschel says in his interview with Carl Stern; “God is waiting”, waiting for us to answer the call, I believe.

People of all faiths want the Messiah, either to return or come for the first time, and yet, we do everything we can to keep the Messianic Era away. God demands justice, Abraham demands justice from God, the prophets call us to return to being a just society, God calls us back constantly and consistently and we continue to further “the epidemic of injustice” rather than “prevent” it. So, we wonder why God has abandoned us when it is us who has abandoned God! We are waiting to be saved rather than saving one another with justice, mercy, righteousness. Rather than pursue righteousness as we are told to do, we have perverted justice by bribing the judges with loyalty to a political bias which blinds their eyes to truth. “No court of justice is capable of stopping” its own prejudice and, once it accepts the bribes of gifts, money, ‘friendship’, power, etc, is unable to stop the “epidemic of injustice” it brings upon itself and the people it is supposedly serving.

There are a myriad of stories about Elijah the prophet, who will herald the coming of the Messiah, and all of them have him living as a poor person, on the street, a beggar, a leper, etc. Since we have all these stories why hasn’t the Messiah shown up, you might wonder. Well maybe it is because Elijah is never treated with any respect, any care, there is no one to plead for his helplessness, there is no one to stop the injustice of raiding the homeless encampment so the ugliness of our actions that create homelessness, the injustice of locking people up for no serious reason, etc doesn’t permeate our senses and we change our ways.

Of course the answer to Rabbi Heschel’s questions above are the same as the answer to God’s questions in the Bible. Who among us will be like Judah, who among us will be like King David? Both of these leaders were able to admit their errors and do T’Shuvah. They are the examples of excess and doing what they want to just because they can and then having their errant ways showed to them and they repent-“She is more righteous than I” is Judah’s response to Tamar showing him his error. “I have sinned” is King David’s response to Nathan’s accusations. They both had the power to deny, deny , deny-yet they had the spiritual maturity and depth to admit their errors and not do the same thing again.

The only people who can “plead for the helpless” is us! The only people who can “prevent the epidemic of injustice” is us. We, the people, have to answer this call, we, the people, have to take the next right action and end the cries of the helpless, we have to cure the epidemic of injustice that has overtaken the world. And, as with everything else, it begins with our inner life.

We have to end our incessant need and obsession with ‘optics’! The Rabbis were overly concerned with “Maris Ayin”, how things look. People in power and those not in power are concerned with how things look, individuals are worried about how they look in the eyes of the people in the country clubs, beauty parlors, etc. We are obsessed with wearing the “right” face for the moment rather than being real and engaging in the truth of what is. Rather than hear the actual cries of the helpless, many people plead the case they want and call it pleading for the helpless. Rather than “prevent the epidemic of injustice” that the courts are both incapable of stopping and they are promoting, people obsessed with “optics” will defend their choices and their injustices as good and holy! “God told me that you are an abomination because _____ and it says so in the Bible” is a popular refrain of people who obsessed with optics, with power, with promoting injustices and creating a greater “helpless” population.

As one who felt helpless and unheard much of my life, these questions go right to the heart of my existence. My father was my champion, his death left me without anyone to plead to me and for me. The injustices I saw and the ones I conjured up turned me sour and I became a weaver of pictures and lies to get what I wanted, to take advantage of another and, though I told myself they had more than me, they were helpless in their own ways and I took advantage of their vulnerabilities. My bombastic style is probably a result of not being heard, of feeling helpless and a result of knowing how to speak to people in ways they can hear, knowing that I am responding to the fire in my belly and knowing I am trying to reach another person-the helpless one and the one promoting injustice. I am grateful for the ability to plead for the helpless before God, before the courts, before the rich and powerful. I am saddened for the ones I lost and the ones I did not see. I am remorseful for any injustices I promoted and/or did not try to stop and I am grateful for the lives I have helped to save and the souls I have helped to return. Let’s all “plead for the helpless” and stop the “epidemic of injustice” a little more today. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark