Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 72
“Although all men are potentially free, it is our sacred duty to safeguard all those political, social, and intellectual conditions which will enable every man to bring about the concrete actualization of freedom which is the essential prerequisite of creative achievement. Insecurity of Freedom pg.15)
Over 60 years ago Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, in his “I have a Dream” speech said:”Free at Last, Free at Last, Thank God Almighty, I am Free at Last” which is a quote from a “Negro Spiritual” speaking about death as the ultimate freedom when one is a slave. Hearing Rabbi Heschel’s words written 5 years prior to that speech and prior to ever meeting Rev. King, I immediately thought of these words. “Free at Last” is not just about outer freedom, it is also about inner freedom. Without inner freedom, without sharing our path to inner freedom, we will never move beyond “potentially free” and we certainly will not fulfill our “sacred duty to safeguard all those political, social, and intellectual conditions…”. This, of course, is the demand of the first sentence; to see what our “sacred duty” is and this “sacred duty” is not just about some ritual we perform to ‘look good’ in the ‘eyes’ of God or the people in our houses of worship, it is about how we help every human being “bring about the concrete actualization of freedom” and this is what Rev. King may have been pointing to when he ended his I have a Dream speech with “Free at Last”. He unburdened himself of the shackles of sticking to the page, he allowed his soul to speak for him and he, as Mahalia Jackson suggested, preached his Gospel, the same Gospel found in the Bible, in the words of Jesus, etc.
In our present climate, these words, the words of Rev King seem trite and ridiculous. Maybe they were then as well, I just remembering being enthralled by Dr. King and his speeches because they said the same things that my father, z”l, was teaching my brothers and me-it is our duty to treat all people with respect regardless of race, color, creed, religion. In the 1960’s I was not aware of Rabbi Heschel, unfortunately, and these words written in 1958 point to his being able to incorporate the errors of past generations and what he saw in the moment with his prophetic vision and give us these warnings, which, of course, we have failed to heed. The goal of our Declaration of Independence and the path laid out by the Constitution are lofty and match this first sentence above; the issue being that we have failed to move them forward to a tipping point whereby every different administration, every different Congress, every single citizen will accept their “sacred duty to safeguard all those political, social, and intellectual conditions…” We are witnessing the exact opposite of fulfilling “our sacred duty” right now, Trump and his people, under the direction of Putin and ‘christian nationalists like Russell Vought, are doing everything they can to undo these “safeguards” and to tear down the “concrete actualization of freedom” for all people and limit this “concrete actualization of freedom” to only the select few of their choosing, not even all who bend their knees and kiss their asses will experience this “actualization” and they are too spiritually immature to realize it. Rather than have “creative achievement” that come about because of this “actualization of freedom” people like those in power in the US and across the globe believe they can force people to be “creative” even though they are enslaving them. It hasn’t worked so well in Russia under Putin, it has never worked that well for any autocrat, any despot Monarch for any long period of time. Greece fell, Rome fell, Babylonia, Assyria, England, Spain, France, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, why not the US? We thought we were immune because we were founded on religious freedom, we enshrined freedoms in the first amendment to our Constitution and we became oblivious to the warnings of Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha all of whom, in their own way, called to us to not think we are so high and mighty, not believe our own press and treat every person with dignity and respect-we are all equal in the eyes of God, in our Higher Consciousness, whether we believe it or not; this is just a spiritual and moral truth.
We, the People are being called by the words above, by the current situation, by Rev. King’s words, by all of the holy texts of every spiritual discipline to our “sacred duty to safeguard all those political, social, and intellectual conditions which will enable every man to achieve the concrete actualization of freedom..”! We the People have abdicated this “sacred duty” for far too long and the current situation of bullying, of disloyalty to the Constitution, to our allies and friends, of racism, of hatred, of disdain for the principles found in the Bible all while wrapping themselves in the ‘flag’ and ‘christian values’ is the result! We the People have to get off our asses and demand change, demand that our elected officials do their “sacred duty” and ensure freedom for all so we can have more “creative achievement” and be a better nation today than we were yesterday, just as we have to be better human beings today than we were yesterday if we are to continue to “grow along spiritual lines”. We the People are being called to show up and stand up for our brothers and sisters as Deuteronomy teaches “Love the stranger because you were a stranger in the land of Egypt”; Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that without our doing our “sacred duty” freedom will be lost for all people and then the words on the Liberty Bell and in Leviticus 25:10 will ring hollow as they did for almost 2000 years and there will not be anyone to: “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”. Is this really what We the People want to leave as our legacy to our children and grandchildren? Is this really what We the People want our final will and testament to say?
I am sending postcards to the White House for the Ides of Trump and while I do not to see anyone do to him what was done to Caesar, I do think it is time for our Congress to tell him “You’re Fired”! In reflecting on my life, I believe that I accepted the “sacred duty to safeguard…” and enabled many people “bring about the concrete actualization of freedom” and they then use this “freedom” to bring about “creative achievements”. It is a joy and an honor, to be a witness to the throwing off the inner shackles which have kept people (including myself) slaves to societal bullshit and lies, slaves to their own self-deceptions, and watch in awe and wonder at their “creative achievements” in their newfound “freedom”. This is the fight we all have to fight, both in our own lives and help another(s) with their inner wars to be free with all the rights and responsibilities that freedom carries according to the Bible. I have not always been “nice” in my manners and I have seen helping people see the handcuffs and prison cells that keep them locked up and help them find their road to freedom as my “sacred duty”. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark