Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 287

National Days of Repentance and Change

TO PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, THE WHITE HOUSE, JUNE 16, 1963

I LOOK FORWARD TO PRIVILEGE OF BEING PRESENT AT MEETING TOMORROW AT 4 P. M. LIKELIHOOD EXISTS THAT NEGRO PROBLEM WILL BE LIKE THE WEATHER. EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT IT BUT NOBODY DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT. PLEASE DEMAND OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT NOT JUST SOLEMN DECLARATION. WE FORFEIT THE RIGHT TO WORSHIP GOD AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO HUMILIATE NEGROES. CHURCH SYNAGOGUES HAVE FAILED. THEY MUST REPENT. ASK OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO CALL FOR NATIONAL REPENTANCE AND PERSONAL SACRIFICE. LET RELIGIOUS LEADERS DONATE ONE MONTH’S SALARY “TOWARD FUND FOR NEGRO HOUSING AND EDUCATION. I PROPOSE THAT YOU MR. PRESIDENT DECLARE STATE OF MORAL EMERGENCY. A MARSHALL PLAN FOR AID TO NEGROES IS BECOMING A NECESSITY. THE HOUR CALLS FOR HIGH MORAL GRANDEUR AND SPIRITUAL AUDACITY. ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL” (Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity)

“Audacity” comes from the Latin meaning “bold”, in the Oxford Dictionary it gives two definitions, one being “willingness to take bold risks” and “rude or disrespectful behavior; impudence”. The Hebrew given is Chutzpah, which can be a word of praise and/or have a derogatory connotation. Rabbi Heschel, of course, is calling for the 1st definition, asking President Kennedy to “take bold risks” because seeing a human being as a human being no matter the color of their skin, the faith (or no faith) they practice and live into the words of the Declaration of Independence: “all men (and women) are created equal endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” was, at the time, a bold risk! It is still a bold risk today, unfortunately.

While it is easy to hold our leaders to blame and be frustrated with the inhumane ways some elected officials behave and try to, and sometimes succeed, in governing only for ‘their’ people; it is also true we have to blame, be frustrated, and hold ourselves accountable for electing these people, for not seeing the humanity of another person even when they are covering it up, not being able to nor trying to reach the soul of another person because we are too busy seeing them as less than, ignorant, seeing them through our own bias’ and prejudices, rather than seeing them for who they are, lost sheep like us and, as a Hassidic story teaches us, together we can find the ways not to go anymore.

We, the people, during this month of Elul, are in desperate need to see how we have used our spirituality to be audacious, to be bold and, of course, to be disrespectful and rude. We have to do an inner investigation into the myriad of ways we have failed to respond to “the hour calls for high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity”. We have failed in the ways we talk to one another, the ways we complain about homelessness and believe putting the homeless in jail is a good idea. We have failed in the lack of humanity shown at our borders to people of color, mostly, who are seeking a better life, as every immigrant wave has, as the ‘founding fathers’” did! We have failed to to respond to this hour of crisis in the world with “spiritual audacity”, we have failed to hold our leaders like Johnson, McConnell, Schumer, et al to being spiritually audacious in the ways they govern and help the people who are the most vulnerable, the people that Jesus speaks about, the people the Bible reminds us that God hears the cry of the stranger, the poor, the needy, the widow and the orphan. We have failed to demand boldness in responding to the Climate Crisis, the threat of autocracy here and abroad, the rude and disrespectful behavior of Bibi and his right-wing coalition towards both the Palestinians in the West Bank, the Hostage Families, the Israelis who are fighting and losing their business’ while the ‘religious’ idolators ‘study in their Yeshivas so as to save Israel’.

We, the people, have failed because we have been too afraid to live in “spiritual audacity”! We have been content to complain and blame and not courageous enough to take Rabbi Heschel’s words to heart. Yet, they are not really his words, they are the words of the prophets, the words of the Bible, they are the words that describe King David’s way of admitting he was wrong and doing his own form of T’Shuvah. We are in the month of Elul, now is “the hour calls for high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.” We have throughout the Bible moments where our imperfect heroes rise above their flaws and respond with audacity, with boldness, with greatness which I believe is what makes them heroes-their ability to rise above their flaws in moments of need, hours that call for “spiritual audacity”. The world is in need of our “spiritual audacity”, we are facing a myriad of challenges to the dictum: “Proclaim Freedom throughout the Land and to All Its Inhabitants therein”(Lev.25:10). We, the people, have to demand through our actions that our leaders engage in “high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity” instead of the mendacity and deceptions that are so prevalent in both politics, business and organized religion. We have to live our spiritual audacity so everyone will take responsibility for the good and not good each one of us does daily, repent and change. NOW IS THE TIME!

I have “a willingness to take bold risks” and some people believe I am “impudent” and both are true!! I live in “high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity” and I do not always achieve either. This is my truth of my humanity, my knowing of my limitations and flaws. AND this doesn’t stop me from continuing to grow in both “moral grandeur and spiritual audacity”, the fact that I am “not like the other Rabbis” is true and I am grateful that people see me, good and bad, liking me and not liking me, frustrating me and supporting me, frustrated by me and supported by me for who I am-not some cookie cutter of a Rabbi nor an opaque human being. I am remorseful for the myriad of times I have hurt someone because of my boldness, I am remorseful for the misunderstandings my audacity has caused. I continue to improve my ways of communicating without ever changing my core values, without giving in so I can “go along to get along” or ‘shh-don’t let them hear what you are thinking cause they will fire you’ ways of being. I, like the song says, “took the blows and did it my way” because authenticity is at the core of “spiritual audacity”. I continue to sing the song of my soul because without doing this, I am like the walking dead. I commit to continue to be bold and take risks because this is the path of my soul, the response to this hour. I am grateful to everyone for helping me see truth and be bold, be audacious. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi MarkDaily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel

Year 3 Day 287

National Days of Repentance and Change

TO PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY, THE WHITE HOUSE, JUNE 16, 1963

I LOOK FORWARD TO PRIVILEGE OF BEING PRESENT AT MEETING TOMORROW AT 4 P. M. LIKELIHOOD EXISTS THAT NEGRO PROBLEM WILL BE LIKE THE WEATHER. EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT IT BUT NOBODY DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT. PLEASE DEMAND OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT NOT JUST SOLEMN DECLARATION. WE FORFEIT THE RIGHT TO WORSHIP GOD AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO HUMILIATE NEGROES. CHURCH SYNAGOGUES HAVE FAILED. THEY MUST REPENT. ASK OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO CALL FOR NATIONAL REPENTANCE AND PERSONAL SACRIFICE. LET RELIGIOUS LEADERS DONATE ONE MONTH’S SALARY “TOWARD FUND FOR NEGRO HOUSING AND EDUCATION. I PROPOSE THAT YOU MR. PRESIDENT DECLARE STATE OF MORAL EMERGENCY. A MARSHALL PLAN FOR AID TO NEGROES IS BECOMING A NECESSITY. THE HOUR CALLS FOR HIGH MORAL GRANDEUR AND SPIRITUAL AUDACITY. ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL” (Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity)

“Audacity” comes from the Latin meaning “bold”, in the Oxford Dictionary it gives two definitions, one being “willingness to take bold risks” and “rude or disrespectful behavior; impudence”. The Hebrew given is Chutzpah, which can be a word of praise and/or have a derogatory connotation. Rabbi Heschel, of course, is calling for the 1st definition, asking President Kennedy to “take bold risks” because seeing a human being as a human being no matter the color of their skin, the faith (or no faith) they practice and live into the words of the Declaration of Independence: “all men (and women) are created equal endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” was, at the time, a bold risk! It is still a bold risk today, unfortunately.

While it is easy to hold our leaders to blame and be frustrated with the inhumane ways some elected officials behave and try to, and sometimes succeed, in governing only for ‘their’ people; it is also true we have to blame, be frustrated, and hold ourselves accountable for electing these people, for not seeing the humanity of another person even when they are covering it up, not being able to nor trying to reach the soul of another person because we are too busy seeing them as less than, ignorant, seeing them through our own bias’ and prejudices, rather than seeing them for who they are, lost sheep like us and, as a Hassidic story teaches us, together we can find the ways not to go anymore.

We, the people, during this month of Elul, are in desperate need to see how we have used our spirituality to be audacious, to be bold and, of course, to be disrespectful and rude. We have to do an inner investigation into the myriad of ways we have failed to respond to “the hour calls for high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity”. We have failed in the ways we talk to one another, the ways we complain about homelessness and believe putting the homeless in jail is a good idea. We have failed in the lack of humanity shown at our borders to people of color, mostly, who are seeking a better life, as every immigrant wave has, as the ‘founding fathers’” did! We have failed to to respond to this hour of crisis in the world with “spiritual audacity”, we have failed to hold our leaders like Johnson, McConnell, Schumer, et al to being spiritually audacious in the ways they govern and help the people who are the most vulnerable, the people that Jesus speaks about, the people the Bible reminds us that God hears the cry of the stranger, the poor, the needy, the widow and the orphan. We have failed to demand boldness in responding to the Climate Crisis, the threat of autocracy here and abroad, the rude and disrespectful behavior of Bibi and his right-wing coalition towards both the Palestinians in the West Bank, the Hostage Families, the Israelis who are fighting and losing their business’ while the ‘religious’ idolators ‘study in their Yeshivas so as to save Israel’.

We, the people, have failed because we have been too afraid to live in “spiritual audacity”! We have been content to complain and blame and not courageous enough to take Rabbi Heschel’s words to heart. Yet, they are not really his words, they are the words of the prophets, the words of the Bible, they are the words that describe King David’s way of admitting he was wrong and doing his own form of T’Shuvah. We are in the month of Elul, now is “the hour calls for high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity.” We have throughout the Bible moments where our imperfect heroes rise above their flaws and respond with audacity, with boldness, with greatness which I believe is what makes them heroes-their ability to rise above their flaws in moments of need, hours that call for “spiritual audacity”. The world is in need of our “spiritual audacity”, we are facing a myriad of challenges to the dictum: “Proclaim Freedom throughout the Land and to All Its Inhabitants therein”(Lev.25:10). We, the people, have to demand through our actions that our leaders engage in “high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity” instead of the mendacity and deceptions that are so prevalent in both politics, business and organized religion. We have to live our spiritual audacity so everyone will take responsibility for the good and not good each one of us does daily, repent and change. NOW IS THE TIME!

I have “a willingness to take bold risks” and some people believe I am “impudent” and both are true!! I live in “high moral grandeur and spiritual audacity” and I do not always achieve either. This is my truth of my humanity, my knowing of my limitations and flaws. AND this doesn’t stop me from continuing to grow in both “moral grandeur and spiritual audacity”, the fact that I am “not like the other Rabbis” is true and I am grateful that people see me, good and bad, liking me and not liking me, frustrating me and supporting me, frustrated by me and supported by me for who I am-not some cookie cutter of a Rabbi nor an opaque human being. I am remorseful for the myriad of times I have hurt someone because of my boldness, I am remorseful for the misunderstandings my audacity has caused. I continue to improve my ways of communicating without ever changing my core values, without giving in so I can “go along to get along” or ‘shh-don’t let them hear what you are thinking cause they will fire you’ ways of being. I, like the song says, “took the blows and did it my way” because authenticity is at the core of “spiritual audacity”. I continue to sing the song of my soul because without doing this, I am like the walking dead. I commit to continue to be bold and take risks because this is the path of my soul, the response to this hour. I am grateful to everyone for helping me see truth and be bold, be audacious. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark