Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 248
“It is not necessary for man to submit to the constant corrosion of his finest sensibilities and to accept as inevitable the liquidation of the inner man. It is within the power of man to save the secret substance that holds the world of man together. The way to overcome loneliness is not by waiting to receive a donation of companionship but rather by offering and giving companionship and meaning to others.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 83)
In the first sentence above, Rabbi Heschel delineates the issue facing all of us, especially as we age. In the next two sentences he gives us a solution and we have to engage in this solution in order to make it work for our benefit and the benefit of everyone. Please notice that this is not a prescription for Jews alone, it is for “man”/humankind.
The first bit of strength and encouragement we receive in the writing above is that we have the power to solve the problem that society and our history has proven to be so endemic to human beings. Reading the above reminds me of the verse in Genesis that says “mankind is evil from their youth” meaning, in this context, that “the constant corrosion of” our “finest sensibilities begins in our teen-age/formative years, even before our brain is fully formed and our spiritual knowing is so woefully underdeveloped. AND, we have within us “the power…to save the secret substance that holds the world of man together”- overcoming “loneliness” and stopping the “constant corrosion” and a non-acceptance of “the liquidation of the inner” person. We do this by offering and giving rather than waiting to receive. What a concept!!
In an entitled world, which has been this way almost since the beginning of humankind, we sit on our tuches’ and wait to be served. Just as in a restaurant, when we are not served quick enough, we moan, groan, yell, abuse the people we believe should be serving us. When we do not get what ‘we deserve’, we rail against ‘the man’. When we are so haughty and entitled, many people then believe the people serving them are slaves, indentured servants rather than human beings trying to make a living the best, and sometimes only, way possible for them. We are witnessing the “waiting to receive” attitude and how it makes people mean and miserable in our political realm, aka MAGA crowd who all feel ‘less than’ when anyone of color or non-christian/catholic gets ahead of them, accomplishes something they believe is theirs, earns more than they, etc. The entitled need someone to put down and the people on the far ends of both political poles continue to be exploited because of this need by their ‘leaders’ who are actually opportunists seeking their own donations of money, power, status.
In an entitled world, we watch how companies and corporations cry and whine about being compelled to use safe practices, how they pay off people quietly for the wrong doings they have committed, how they ‘make’ people sign NDA’s in order to get the money due them, etc. We are witnesses to the exploitation of humankind by the anti-vaxers who want to live “survival of the fittest” idea to its illogical solution. We are watching ‘good people of faith’ deny the right to choose the health care they want and is best for them for millions of women. We are watching these ‘good christian conservatives’ roll back the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts of the 1960’s because ‘there is no prejudice anymore’ according to Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas. We are watching our youth, in their search for connection, turn to a myriad of faux connections, their screens, the amount of likes on social media, alcohol, drugs, etc and blaming them, their parents rather than seeing how the unchecked marketing of drugs, ‘feel good’ panaceas, pushing entitlements/celebrities, and having the ‘good news bible’ of white supremacy blaring from right-wing conservatives day in and day out.
In all of these situations and more, truth is forgotten, alternative facts are all that matter, what the ‘leader’ says is good and what truth says is bad. Love is turned into false worship of the authoritarian and giving is for suckers! Here is where Rabbi Heschel’s solution is so crucial for the welfare of humanity. “Loneliness” can only be “overcome” when we are “offering and giving companionship and meaning to others”. What I hear Rabbi Heschel calling us to do is to go beyond our selfish, entitled ways of being; to be “maladjusted to words and notions” in order to have “an authentic awareness of that which is” as he writes in his description of wonder in “Man is Not Alone”. We see bumper stickers saying “practice acts of random kindness”, we read often about the “good” people do for those in trouble, we are hearing more and more super-wealthy people giving the bulk of their estates to charities, we watch in awe of the men and women who volunteer for our Armed Services, we are in gratitude for the people who work in non-profits helping those in need while they could make a lot more in the for-profit world. We are witnesses to “thousands points of light” as President George H.W. Bush spoke about. Some of us are participants in these actions, veterans of these offerings and giving opportunities of companionship and meaning and how much richer are our lives for it. Yes, as we age, we have to make room for the younger generation and we have to raise them up right-as my grandmother used to say. Many in the recovery movement, like the therapeutic world, is succumbing to the greed of human beings and more about the bottom line of profit and loss than about the bottom line of saving a soul. As our institutions and governments succumb to the “constant corrosion of our finest sensibilities”, we, the people, the elders, have to help them reverse their corrosion through “offering and giving companionship and meaning” to themselves as well as to others. We have to help them remember their need to serve and offer, their need for meaning and “it is not good for humans to be alone”.
I have spent my entire recovery living into the solution Rabbi Heschel offers after spending over 20 years in abject loneliness which corroded my being and I kept selling/giving away my inner life and finer sensibilities. Since the beginning of my recovery, Rabbi Heschel has understood my loneliness and always has a solution for me to be connected. “Offering and giving companionship and meaning to others” has enriched my life to the point where even now, in my ‘older years’ when not too many people seek me out, I am not lonely, because I keep offering and giving my truth, my wisdom, my spirit and my love to all around me. This makes the rejection of some like flicking dust off of my clothes sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly. I know that I am never lonely. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark