Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 3 Day 256
“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)
Continuing to engage in responding to “a most urgent problem”, before we seek the “how”, we have to first understand and accept what an “unconditional commitment to justice and compassion” and “the stillness of the holy, attachment to sacred words” are. “Unconditional” is defined as “not subject to any conditions” and synonyms are: “wholehearted, complete, unreserved, full, etc”. “Commitment”, as we have defined earlier comes from the Latin meaning to “join, entrust”, English defines it as a “pledge or undertaking” and Hebrew uses a word that also can mean obligated. Justice is defined and demonstrated in the Bible in many different ways and compassion is demonstrated throughout the Bible, beginning with God’s compassion towards Cain after Cain killed his brother, or the better part of himself, as a friend and teacher taught me this week-depending on how one interprets this story and continues throughout the Bible. Caring for the stranger, the poor, the needy; making sure Judges are not blinded by bribes and carry out “righteous judgment” and we constantly are “pursuing righteousness” are foundational to our system of laws-biblically and in democratic countries. “Stillness” of course means “not moving or making a sound”, “deep silence and calm”, etc. “Invoke” comes from the Latin meaning “to call upon”, the Hebrew is to request” and the English is “to call for earnestly” among others.
Using the different definitions, now we can begin our search for “how to invoke…” We begin with asking ourselves to end our hidden agendas, we make a decision to be transparent with the people around us, we adopt a “what you see is what you get” modus operandi. We no longer talk in riddles and we call upon ourselves to live in truth and openness. We call upon those we love and show them our inner life, asking for their help to put our inner life into better shape, to know us in our core, and, of course, to see all of us and love us with our flaws and wholeness. The first step in the “how to” is to call upon ourselves in truth and call out to one another in truth and need.
The second step is rise above the societal bullshit of ‘everything is conditional’, ‘it depends’. In order to “how to…” we have to let go of our preconceived conditions, to release our fears of acceptance and follow the example of Abraham when he was told “Go to/for yourself, leave your land, your relatives and your father’s house to a land I will show you.”(Gen:12:1). We have to leave the expectations of ‘tit for tat’, of reward and punishment, we have to “let go completely” of our old ideas and be wholehearted in our calling upon our selves and one another to engage in the commitments that are the solution to the different “most urgent” problems facing us. We cannot be in any solution when we ‘hedge our bets’, we have to be “all in” with reckless abandon because the people who want to pervert justice, deny compassion are “all in” for their quest for power, for dominion, for rule and for themselves.
Rabbi Heschel is calling out to us to truly “join with” our Higher Consciousness, Power Greater than Ourselves, the Ineffable One, the Creative Energy of the Universe to bring about justice that is true and certain, that is not determined by the status or wealth of the defendant, that there truly is “one law for the stranger and the citizen alike” (Ex: 12:49). We have to rise above our baser nature for survival, for power, for wealth, for fitting in and make a decision to belong to the goodness of the Universe, to constantly rise above our more negative tendencies. The freedom of another and of ourselves depends on our standing for what is just, what is true, rather than standing with the liars and charlatans, with the corrupt priests and rulers/authoritarians. We can see throughout history what happens when the ‘religious’ become so criminal and deceptive, when the ‘ruling’ party is interested in their wealth and their power, countries collapse into chaos, the rule of law is forsaken, justice is laughed at, the Temple is destroyed (twice) and the ‘religious’ blame everyone else because they are incapable of being responsible.
The words above are meant for us to hear, see and understand our obligation. “This, then, is a most urgent problem” is for all of us to solve, all of us to find and be part of the solution otherwise we are part of the problem. It doesn’t matter if it is MAGA lies of Trump, the Council for National Policy, Ginni Thomas or Paul Weyrich, Ken Peters of Patriot Church- they are all rejoicing over the subjugation of women, the rising tide of “white power” being installed for good in our country, for the democratic norms to be replaced by the mendacity and bastardization of Christ’s words and deeds. We, the people have to rise up and join with Rev William Barber, Steve Schmidt, Russell Moore, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Jamie Raskin, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Gretchen Whitmer, et al who are doing everything they can to “invoke unconditional commitment to justice and compassion”. They need help and we must help them to ensure that our children enjoy the same freedoms we have, our grandchildren grow up without fear of being discriminated against because they are Jewish, Muslim, Asian, Latino, Black, LGBTQ, etc. We, the people, are being called upon to tell the stories of freedom and the fight to keep it and expand it that our ancestors went through and we have gone through so the younger generation doesn’t buy into the lies of the MAGA’s, the Trumps/Vances, etc.
I know what it is like to have an “unconditional commitment to justice and compassion” and what it is like to pretend to have one. I have lived both and, while the former is tougher to live, it doesn’t give me everything I desire and want-it is a far better way of living than the latter! My father, my aunts and uncles grew up with an “unconditional commitment…” because this is the way my grandfather lived. He was poor and he got by financially, spiritually and morally he was the richest guy in town because everyone had a good word to say about him and he did not deny justice and compassion to anyone-even those who hurt him, took advantage of him. I know my pretending led to my criminality and alcoholism and they led to my pretending. In these last 35+ years, my commitment is true and complete, I experience being “called upon” and I know I am obligated to give 100% to being just and compassionate even to those who do not reciprocate. I have learned that my personal hurts mean much less than the call of “this most urgent problem”-saving a life, saving our freedoms, living into and being the “divine need” I was created to serve. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark