Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 75
“The meaning of freedom is not exhausted by deliberation, decision, and responsibility, although it must include all this. The meaning of freedom presupposes an openness to transcendence, and man has to be responsive before he can become responsible.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 15)
I am eager to arise each morning, way too early, so I can read Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom for this day, I can hear his call and I can improve my ability to “be responsive”. We are living, once again, in a time where people of ‘no-faith’ are not the “NONES” who respond to the various surveys/polls done. The people of ‘no-faith’ are the people who have so twisted and bastardized the words of the Bible, the message of Jesus, the tao of Buddha, they are really worshiping the idols of their own making, either in the form of a person or an idea/rationalization they have conjured up for their own power and prestige. Unfortunately, these ‘no-faith’ people are in charge and desperate to take away our “freedom” as well as our money, safety, security, etc. Like Pharaoh in the Bible, like the Romans in Jerusalem, like Torquemada in Spain, like King George, like so many others throughout history, people who are the loudest about their loyalty to god, who claim this is what god wants are actually descendants of the people of Haran who bought the idols that Abraham’s father was making!
The cruelty, the mendacity, the “not knowing the difference between Blessed be Mordechai and Cursed be Haman” that is ‘celebrated on Purim, has put us into a situation where truth is so hard to find, it has been so bastardized and raped by the ‘good god-fearing christian nationalists’ like Vance, Vought, etc, most people are unable to discern fact from fiction, truth from lies, and good from evil. All of our “deliberation, decision, and responsibility” today seems to be geared towards screwing one another, not helping one another live free. During this period of Lent, Ramadan, preparation for Passover, isn’t it time for us to engage in the spiritual work that the universe is calling us to? Isn’t it time for us to do what it takes to be liberated from the internal prison of rationalizations, “deliberations”, and choosing the “responsibility” to the shareholders, to our benefactors over our “responsibility” to freedom for all?
We cannot do this unless we immerse ourselves in the wisdom above, the words of the Bible, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and all of their authentic disciples. Immersing ourselves is to experience the words and thoughts, the meanings and vision as if we are hearing them, reading them and seeing them in real time and in the moment. “What is the question that this piece of wisdom is the answer for today”, my Rabbi, Jonathan Omer-man used to ask me and I still ask myself and every one I study with. How do we engage in “an openness to transcendence”? “Transcendence” comes from the word transcend and the Latin is “to climb across”, hence “transcendence” is to “climb across” the norm, letting go of our adjustments to societal norms, and go to the realm of our souls, of living into the gifts of our intuitive minds. The issue for We the People is whether we are willing to be open to anything that we cannot see, touch, feel. Are we capable of climbing across our thoughts, feelings, our self-deceptions and the deceptions of another(s) to engage in the “radical amazement” and “wonder” that comes with allowing ourselves to have “an openness to transcendence”? In this moment, this is the most pressing question We the People are facing and it seems as if too many are not engaging in this openness, they are too stuck in their inner slavery, they are too invested in their self-deception and they are following the teaching of Raba in the Talmud: get so drunk we don’t know the difference between Haman and Mordechai! The people who refuse to be open to “transcendence” are also the people who are not following the teachings of Hillel in Pirke Avot, don’t get too friendly with the authorities because they are not your friends” and, in a place where there is no humanity, be human!(Pirke Avot, 2:3, 5)
We the People, as we engage in the spiritual discipline of our choice, as we let go of something for Lent, purify ourselves during Ramadan, search out and let go of the Chometz that has made us fat and lazy, insolent, deaf, and blind since last Passover, desperately need to “climb across” the abyss of lies, grifts, bastardizations and the deceptions of self and by another. We are being called to each and every day, demands are placed upon us by the cry of the needy and the poor, the desperation of the stranger seeking refuge and a better way of living, the elderly who are lonely, the veterans who answered the call to safeguard us, the prophets who follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, the prophets. 4 weeks from last night is the first Seder, the reading of the Haggadah and the meal celebrating liberation. We are not free until we reach Sinai and accept the “yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven”, until we agree “to do and then understand”. “Transcendence” is such a part of the story of Passover, the counting of the Omer and then receiving the Torah at Sinai, we read about the Rabbis who were gathered at B’Nai Brak, and told by their students that they were going to miss the time to say the Shema because of their discussions. What they were planning, according to our lore, is the Bar Kochba revolt, the last effort to be free of Roman rule, the rule of another country/despot. Isn’t this what Passover is all about-planning our freedom from our inner slaveries, ridding ourselves of the fat and lard, the treif, leavening that has clogged our spiritual arteries and caused plaque to constrict our intuitive minds giving too much power to our servant, the rational mind? This is the demand, the call: be “responsive” to the build up of shmutz that has poisoned our minds, narrowed our thinking like when we were in Egypt, helped us believe the lies we tell ourselves and the ones we have been imbued with. There is a difference between what is truth and goodness and what is a lie and evil-we cannot confuse these ways of being anymore!
I do everything I can to be “responsive” and “have an openness to transcendence” because living at the level of lies, of evil, of negativity led me to being a drunk and a thief. It allowed me to lie to myself, blame another(s) for my bad actions, deny and defend myself all the while shirking my duties and obligations as a son, brother, husband and father. Recovery through Torah and 12-steps has given me the wherewithal to “hear the call”, “respond to the demand” and take the next right action. I am engaged in my Passover preparation, I am deliberate and diligent about “being human” and not buying my bullshit nor the bullshit and lies of another, no matter who is spouting them. “Freedom” is the not only the greatest gift, as described above, it is the greatest way to thank the universe for this gift. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark