Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 74
This sensitivity to the novel and the unprecedented is the foundation of God-awareness and of the awareness of the preciousness of all beings. It leads from reflexive concern and the moral and spiritual isolation which is the result of egocentricity to a mode of responding to each new and unique experience in terms of broader considerations, wider interests, deeper appreciation and new, as yet unrealized values.”(Insecurity of Freedom pg. 15)
Today is Purim, tonight is Shabbat and tomorrow we read the story of the Golden Calf in Temples and Synagogues across the world. We also begin the countdown of 4 weeks until Passover, the “season of our liberation”. In order for all of us to be human, in order for all of us to be free, I am hearing Rabbi Heschel call us to have “sensitivity to the novel and unprecedented” rather than see the world as “same shit, different day”. We are being made aware, once again, what it takes to live into the world as it is meant to be, what it takes for us to live into our soul’s purpose and fulfill the meaning of our unique existence: “God-awareness and the awareness of the preciousness of all beings.” This is the path to freedom, worthiness, wholeness and joy and without the “sensitivity”, we are lost, we become slaves to our wants and desires as well as the wants and desires of another(s).
We are in the throes of a cycle that has been in the world for millennia, progress and then pull back, awareness and then willful blindness, “reflexive concern” and then ‘responding to each new and unique experience”. In this moment, we are being held by our throats and a gun is being put to our head to ignore “God-awareness and the awareness of the preciousness of all beings” for the sake of the few, the rich, the ones in power, the ‘god-fearing christian nationalists’ who know nothing of what Christ said, lived, taught! Rather than being sensitive to these awareness’, rather than being sensitive to the “preciousness of all beings” almost half of this country is only sensitive to their own ‘preciousness’ , their own needs and desires, jettisoning “God-awareness” for the worship of idols, of the ‘great leader’, etc. Rather than understand there is always a Haman(boo) who wants to destroy a certain group that she/he believes will thwart his/her quest for power or wants to use them as scapegoats, blaming them for the ills of the country and getting their loyal followers to hate them also-i.e. George Soros, most people buy into the bullshit these ‘leaders’ are slinging and we find ourselves in the situation we have today-people losing jobs for no good reason, the stock market and the economy are in chaos for no good reason, Democratic leaders are called dictators and dictators are hailed as ‘freedom fighters’, etc. Yet, no matter what this ‘leader’ does, his minions will clap like trained seals and his soldiers will fight his battles for him. Donald Trump is a brilliant marketer, throughout his lifetime, he has sold ice to Eskimos, and he has sold his people the idea that “reflexive concern” is more important that “a mode of responding to each new and unique experience…” We’re in a state of “moral and spiritual isolation” that is so disguised by Mike Johnson, et al that they believe they are ‘god-fearing christians’ of the highest order and Trump is their messiah!! He is their ‘anointed by God’ savior-this is the height of insensitivity to me.
Living into the words above takes We the People to leave the “moral and spiritual isolation” we have been living in. This is such a subtle state that we easily deceive ourselves that we are not in it by attending services, by saying our daily prayers, by spouting the rhetoric of the church, temple, mosque, spiritual discipline. Yet, we are seeing the effects of this “moral and spiritual isolation” the effects of the “reflexive concern” and the “egocentricity” of people in the ways we are treating one another. We forget whom we owe debts to; people who have helped us along our journey, God, parents, siblings, customers, employers, employees, etc. We are watching the “I” of our egos on full display in our homes as well as in the streets and in the halls of Congress as well as the White House-all of which belong to “all the people” of this country. When parents are authoritarians instead of guides and teachers, when children are unappreciative of the sacrifices parents make and their entitlement for what they believe should be done to and for them, when people want to force their beliefs onto everyone else, when morality and civility are considered ‘woke’, when cruelty is said to be the exercise of freedom, We the People have to stand up and say NO, NO, NO!
It is time for We the People to live into the teaching above that moment brings about a “new and unique experience in terms of broader considerations, riders interests, deeper appreciation and new, as yet unrealized values”. Rather than sit on the sidelines, rather than be depressed and in despair, Rabbi Heschel is calling We the People to action. We the People need to look inside ourselves and hear the still, small voice of wisdom and knowing, of action and goodness, of truth and justice. Following this inner voice is a path to the freedom we all seek and only some of us find. When we have “sensitivity” we are able to see far beyond the horizon, we are able to hear with clarity what the next right action is, and we are emboldened with a strength that is beyond anything we ever imagined to stand up, to take our inheritance from the prophets and speak truth to power, block the path of the usurpers and live our “God-awareness” out loud as well as extolling the “preciousness of all beings.” We the People are the messengers God has sent to the world, We the People get to do this work, We the People need to do it now!
I have been sensitive to these concerns of God for a long time, for a period of time they were not deemed worthy concerns by people around me. I fought for justice as a kid/teenager and lost the will to fight along the way. I stood with Civil Rights activists and anti-war activists, I cheated people and saw them as ‘my ticket out of poverty’ rather than as “precious beings”. I have lived the entire gamut of this continuum and it is better on the side that Rabbi Heschel is describing! I like seeing the “preciousness of all beings” because this gives me empathy and I can see the pathetic nature of these charlatans, idolators in charge, these spiritually and morally bankrupt people in all arenas of our living and our world. They are responsible and I can go to war with them with a heart of peace when I remember they are also precious children of God, when I remember they are lost sheep who can do a lot of damage, have to be corralled and it has to be NOW before the damage they cause is irreparable. I have had my interests widened, my considerations broadened, and my ability to see this moment as unique and respond accordingly because of my sensitivity to truth, justice, the moment, and God. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark