Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 257

“There is no human being who does not carry a treasure in his soul; a moment of insight, a memory of love, a dream of excellence, a call to worship.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 84).

Today, and everyday, we wake up to a new order, a new way of being, a new awareness because of our experiences of yesterday, because we are able to synthesize and incorporate our life’s experiences a little more each day. The decision by Joe Biden to “pass the torch” in the middle of an election season is one of the proofs of Rabbi Heschel’s words above. He had “a moment of insight, a call to worship” and found that it was time for him to let go and let God, as we say in the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is heroic to take the actions of our worship and our faith, our insights and our dreams and Joe Biden is a hero.

We all have the same heroic tendencies and calls within us, we are so gobsmacked by someone responding to “a call to worship” because it is done so rarely. We are so awed by people who follow through on “a moment of insight” that helps another human being without it being about them because it is such a rarity. We are angry and jealous when someone speaks from the “treasure in his soul” because we are so afraid to. All of these ways of being noted above are open and available to all of us-yet the vast majority of us refuse to take advantage of them, use them and, instead, go along with the societal norms and the deceptions of the selfish, narcissistic ‘leaders’ who want complete control and all the wealth.

While this way of being is ‘understandable’ in the young-after all “youth is wasted on the young” as the song says- for those of us in the older generation to continue to speak these lies to ourselves and teach them to our young is criminal! We people of experience and age, of having lived through the myriad of horrors that “societal norms” and deceptions by another(s) as well as self-deception have caused, have to be the ones who teach our children of the “treasure in his soul” that we ignored for so long, maybe even up to today. We, the ‘old folks’ are being called to share our “moment of insight” with our children and grandchildren, with the college students and the babies, with the inheritors of our businesses and positions, because we have the perspective they can never have. We have to see the younger generations as gifts and extenders of our work, our love, our insights, our treasures, not competitors.

To do this, to offer and give away the “treasure in his soul” that we all carry, we have to acknowledge our treasure to ourselves. All of us, young and old, have to accept that we are more than our deeds, more than our physical beings and rise up to meet the “treasure in his soul” and follow the path it leads us on. We are all needed, no matter what our age, race, gender, ethnicity, faith, etc. and the “treasure in his soul” is unique to each and every human being. We are being called upon to live our “treasure” out loud and, in certain times, very loudly. Rabbi Heschel lived the “treasure in his soul” very loudly both in his writings and his actions. So did Rev. King, LBJ, the Kennedy brothers, the Berrigan brothers and so many more of my youth. My father did as well, even though he didn’t make money off of “the treasure in his soul”, he shared it with his children, his family, his friends and all those around him. The “treasure in his soul” is, of course, the unique spark of the divine, the kernel of higher consciousness that is unique to an individual, and this is what we are being called to add to the world. Those of us of ‘a certain age’ have to share with the younger generations the pitfalls, the traps of living the “treasure” out loud-the scorn that Don Quixote sings about as well as the joy from knowing we are following our soul’s script and living authentically and in line with the divine/responding to the call of the universe.

“A call to worship” is essential to living well and to giving away what we know. We need to hear from our higher self, listen to our intuition, receive the strength from a higher power often in order to overcome the selfishness and greed that courses through the veins of human beings. We need to engage in “worship” so we are able to admit our errors to ourselves and another(s), so we can appreciate our ‘victories’ and not gloat about them, so we can hear the next right action to take for the betterment of our world, our community, our families and our self. Without engaging in “a call to worship” we will never recall “a memory of love” that has sustained us, we will not be able to appreciate and use the moments of solitude to meet God, engage with the self we are created to be and know we are loved by an the eternal love of the universe. Sharing this “memory of love” is crucial for the spiritual health and growth of the younger generations. We have the opportunity to not just pass down our material wealth, we have the opportunity and, I believe, the duty to pass down our spiritual wealth, our spiritual journeys, our spiritual growth. After all, only through our spiritual growth and having our souls direct our brains can we achieve even a part of our “dream of excellence”.

This teaching is what propels me to keep writing this blog, to keep passing on what I know and how to apply ‘ancient’ wisdom to today’s world. There is “nothing new under the sun” and our challenge is to apply the wisdom and the lessons of antiquity to mitigate the dangers, the horrors and the destructions that happened then and up to today. I know to some I sound like “chicken little” and to others “a broken record” and I am sad for this. I know my delivery is not for everyone and I work hard to “speak to people in the way he/she/they can understand”. Most of all, I love sharing the “treasure” in my soul with another human being. I love living in the “memory of love” each day because this memory is alive and well in my relationships with the people around me. I am humbled by the many times each day I experience a  “moment of insight” because I respond to “ a call to worship”. I am grateful beyond measure for the ability to “dream of excellence” and the power to carry at least of a part of it out. I am blessed beyond words, certainly beyond my deserving, and I know the only way to repay these gifts is to pay it forward. I hope you do also. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark