Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 254

“This, then is a most urgent problem: How to convey the inexpressible legacy, the moments of insight, how to invoke unconditional commitment to justice and compassion, a sensitivity to the stillness of the holy, attachment to sacred words.” (Insecurity of Freedom pls 83,84)

The questions Rabbi Heschel asks above have been at the core of human existence since the days of Adam and Eve, or at least Cain and Abel. Given that these words were written and spoken some 60+ years ago, did our parents generation find a solution to “this, then most urgent problem”? Many did as we witnessed the support of Civil Rights, Voting Rights, Rev. King, Bobby Kennedy, the protests against the Vietnam War, etc. the real issue is how we, of this generation of elders, may have not! We became obsessed and focused on “success” and “generating generational wealth”, and raised our children with either privilege or poverty as birthrights. We built more and more gated communities to keep ‘those people, the riffraff’ out of our ‘pristine neighborhoods. We tried to perfect the two-tiered justice system, and other such separations, we forgot the lessons of the previous generation after they saw the horrors in the aftermath of the Nazis and the destruction of Europe by both the Axis and Allies.

Across the globe we are witnessing the replaying of Moses and Pharaoh, arguing as to whether Pharaoh will heed “Thus says God, Let My People GO!!, or will Pharaoh continue to seduce the people themselves into believing they are better off under his/her thumb than being free. “How to convey the inexpressible legacy” of desire to be free, the actual leaving of slavery-inner and outer- and the long road ahead to create an environment of freedom for all, to “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein” as we are taught in Leviticus 25:10. We read this each year in the weekly Torah readings not because we don’t know the story, rather precisely because we know the story, we need to live the story out loud, we need to find ways to express this “Inexpressible legacy” of freedom for all, express the “inexpressible legacy” of the end of slavery in Egypt, in America some 3100+ years after the Jews left Egypt! What we are finding is there are many people who want to keep the myriad of “inexpressible legacies” quiet, they are in desperate need of denying the exodus from Egypt, denying the right of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists to practice their faith (which has happened off and on throughout history), and the need to deny truth, deny the “unalienable rights…to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” that our Declaration of Independence calls for. Like some in the State of Israel, some here have said the Declaration Of Independence means nothing and only the ‘christian nationalists’, the ‘real jews’, ‘the true believers in Islam’ know who should really have those rights and who should not-according to these ‘religious fanatics’, these people wanting their version of what their particular ‘religious law’ says to be the law of the land for one and and all. Rather than “proclaim liberty/freedom” they want to proclaim adherence and slavery and, unfortunately, because they waive the false flag of ‘we will let YOU keep your money’ too many people are selling themselves and the rest of us down the river.

We have seen this movie before, many times throughout history and, we seem incapable of learning the lessons of our legacies with tyrannies, with despots, with authoritarians, etc. We seem to be incapable of truly living into the legacy of Paul Revere, the Adams Brothers, Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, Joshua, Caleb, the Prophets, Jesus, Mohammed, Lincoln, Roosevelts(both of them), Kennedy, Johnson, G.W. Bush, McCain, etc who have found the ways to speak truth to power and listen to truth when they had power. We have watched people ignore this “inexpressible legacy” in favor of ‘winning’, in favor of ‘making a lot of money’, in favor of enslaving/blaming someone else. We are seeing the results of the poor jobs some of the elders of this generation have done in expressing the legacy of freedom, the legacy of unalienable rights, the legacy of democracy and we are seeing the results of those of the current generation who are using the legacies for their own power, for their own greed, in order to be taskmasters, slave owners, Pharaohs! This is one of the problems that have been with us for time immemorial; using the legacies of goodness, justice, compassion, truth, for one’s own benefit, as ‘covers’ for the real agenda which is power, wealth and control. When we “convey the inexpressible legacy”, we have to be careful and aware of how people receive it, we have to ensure, to whatever extent possible, that they do not use the Goebbels method of accusing someone else of what they themselves are doing. We have to ensure, to whatever extent possible, they are not proclaiming evil, good; wrongs, rights; slavery, freedom; etc. It is a hard task and it is our task, we are seeing the fruits of inaction in these ways today as a criminal is immune from his crimes, a party is buying into ‘christian nationalism’ that has the opposite principles of Christ, and a populace who believe these selfish, power-hungry, despots will give them more freedom to..hate, to feel superior to those Jews, Blacks, Muslims, Asians, Hispanics? We, the people, have to rise up, as the Founding Fathers did, as Paul Revere’s Ride did and “PROCLAIM FREEDOM THROUGHOUT THE LAND AND TO ALL ITS INHABITANTS THEREIN!”

I am writing this because the words above stir me to think of the ways I have and have not expressed the “inexpressible legacy” to family, friends, people around me, congregants, and the world. I know I am a small voice with a small platform and I know if I can light a fire in someone else’s belly, as Jeremiah says” then we can begin to effect change. My father did not have enough time to express the “inexpressible” to me and, I hear him speaking it to me daily, I never met nor learned directly from Rabbi Heschel and I hear him expressing the inexpressible to me and everyone who studies with him, I have heard great teachers like Rabbi Harold Shulweis and he, along with Rabbi Ed Feinstein, Father Greg Boyle, John Pavlovitz, Dr. Lisa Miller, Rev Mark E Whitlock have ignited a fire within me that is never quenched nor drowned out. This fire propels me to be bombastic if that’s what it takes, to keep pounding the pulpit until people realize the rank manipulations that the ‘good people’ are pulling, until those who buy into the subterfuge of both the left and the right are able to “lift up their eyes and see” truth, justice, compassion, etc. Human beings need love not absolute control, we need companionship not ass-kissers, we need truth not the lies that make us feel good, we need freedom, not the subtle chains of slavery being promoted.  I pray we all begin/continue to express the “inexpressible legacy” of our families, our faith, our beliefs, our countries, etc. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark