Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 23
“We must beware of converting needs into ends, interests into norms. The task is precisely the opposite: it is to convert ends into needs, to convert the divine commandment into a human concern.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg.8)
Some philosophers and historians say history doesn’t repeat itself, it just reflects upon future generations. In reading the words above, I would say there seems to be no repeating nor reflecting, just a continuation that hides sometimes, that lies dormant at others, and disguises itself at still other times. How else can we explain the consistency with which human beings continue “converting needs into ends, interests into norms”?
There is no greater example of this continuation of the history of humanity’s worst actions than Trump and the MAGA crowd. Not all of the people who voted for them are bad people, not all of them are “converting needs into ends, interests into norms”. Yet everyone who elected him and them to powerful positions, every Senator who will approve his ridiculous Cabinet choices like Hegseth, Gabbard, Oz, etc. are all responsible for buying the lie, ignoring what “the task is” and helping to kill democracy as we know it, substituting autocracy instead.
We are watching in real time how Musk and his billionaire friends are taking control of spending and taxes-these greedy bastards can never have enough. We are watching in real time how Zuckerberg, Bezos, et al are kissing Trump’s ass and maybe giving him a blow job as well in order to curry favor with the ‘boss’. We are witnesses to the decimation of the Justice Department, the Rule of Law, and the wiping away of the Truth by Bannon, Trump, Bondi, et al. The abandonment of the principles that Robert F. Kennedy believed in and died for by his son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is almost too much for those of us who did and still revere Bobby Kennedy to bear. Yet, here it is-all because We, the People have been asleep at the wheel while the kleptocrats, the autocrats, the billionaire class were “converting needs into ends, interests into norms” right in front of us and we were listening to their words instead of watching their actions.
It is antithetical for a Jew to not pay attention to their own actions nor to not pay attention to the actions of another(s). Yet, many Jews have ‘gone over to the dark side’ and engaged, much less not beware of, “converting needs into ends, interests into norms.” Listening to people speak of Joe Biden being anti-Israel is so ridiculous given what he has done for his entire public service career in support of Israel and especially since Oct. 7th, 2023-yet in a world where Truth, EMET, has no meaning nor bearing on what We, the People believe-Trump, MAGA, Bibi, et al can tell the lies they want to and people have been like guppies swallowing the lies and the mendacities up; hook, line and sinker. To be a Christian and ignore the words and deeds of Christ in favor of buying a Trump Bible is another example of buying the bullshit and ignoring the Truth.
What makes us do this? It is more than identity politics, I believe. The fires in Los Angeles are teaching us a lot about humanity, the immense outpouring of aid, donations to the people and institutions that need and offer help makes one’s heart swell with joy; we really do know how to help the needy, take care of the poor and the stranger. Yet, at the same time, there are people who are only interested in blaming the victims, blaming the politicians of ‘the other party’, there are those, like Mike Johnson-that good ‘christian fellow’- who are talking of withholding FEMA money for the victims, while during and since the Hurricanes that struck Republican States, there was no victim shaming nor victim harassment by the Biden Administration-yet Joe is the bad guy???
The state of our democracy right now is tilting towards autocracy and the people who support this are unaware that they have been “converting needs into ends, interests into norms” for some time, in fact it is generational. How many of us have heard, ‘that’s just the way it is, deal with it’? Yet, as Rabbi Heschel says above, “the task is precisely the opposite; to convert ends into needs, to convert the divine commandment into a human concern.” It is way past time for We, the People to heed the call of these words, the call of the Bible, New Testament, Koran, all Spiritual Texts: “in a place where there are no humans BE HUMAN!”(Pirke Avot 2:5). This is the task that has been handed down to us, and while no generation has done this perfectly, it is at least been the goal-even when men let their egos’ blind them to how to be human. It is not okay to accept “what is and deal with it”, it never has been and it never will be. It is time for We, the People to heed the call of the universe, open our eyes and our ears up to the call of the Bible, to “proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”, to “love your neighbor as your love yourself”, to see the reflection of the divine in the eyes of every human being. These are the “divine commandments” that religion comes to teach and model-yet some/many of today’s Preachers and Teachers, Rabbis and Ministers, Imams and Priests either are “covering needs into ends, interests into norms” and leading their flocks to bow down to the autocrat, similar to the ways the clergy in Germany did in the 1930’s (again-not repeating, just rising up again), or they are too afraid to stand up to their Boards of Directors, their Elders, the Powers that Be in the Church/Temple, or the ones outside. When American Jews say “Trump is good for Israel” and this is the issue they care about, it is a travesty because if they are so concerned about Israel-why are they not there, fighting for the ‘homeland’?? Because they are full of shit, they have turned their back on the ethics found in Torah and the gifts of America while proclaiming they are ‘Torah Jews’-another example of words and actions not matching.
I am enraged, as you can probably tell, and I am volcanic inside. I am watching on a global stage and a micro stage the lies and the foolishness people buy into in the name of ‘community’, in the name of ‘safety’. I know one cannot be safe when one is lying and/or buying into the lies of another. I made the world unsafe for those around me when I was stealing, drinking, lying and hiding-just ask any family member-and I have spent the last 36+ years making living amends. I have bought into the last sentence above, I convert the “divine commandment into a human concern” each day, which in my case makes me volcanic, unable to buy into the ‘half-truths’ of the mendacious ones. There is no ‘half-truth’-something is either true or a lie-not discerning between the two kept my ‘life of crime’ alive long after it had stopped serving me. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark