Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 77
“Freedom is a challenge and a burden against which man often rebels. He is ready to abandon it, since it is full of contradiction and continually under attack. Freedom can only endure as a vision, and loyalty to it is an act of faith.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 15-16)
Pondering these words, realizing they were written and spoken in 1958 and mostly unheard and unheeded to this day, saddens me, enrages me and emboldens me. I am sad that I did not hear these words when I was younger, I am enraged that “freedom” has been taken for granted so much that we could lose it at any moment, thank you Donald Trump, Russell Vought, Project 2025, and, of course, Elon Musk. I believe it is crucial for us to imbue, immerse and understand the words and sentiments expressed above. Remembering that these words come from a man who watched the most erudite country, the country that was considered brilliant, modern, strong, etc reject “freedom” because it was too hard, the people decided, to go against the fascists in their governments-sound familiar Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, et al?
The Declaration of Independence is not just a severing of our relationship with King George and England, it is a document full of challenges and burdens. Jefferson, a slave owner, knew what he was doing was wrong and he couldn’t bring himself to free his slaves, probably afraid of backlash and losing money, stature, etc. Yet, he believed in the equality of all people and sold the entire Continental Congress on this truth and way of being. We, America, have never lived this truth and challenge completely and it is the burden that our democracy is under and the challenge from a man of faith and decency, a man who knew right from wrong and, even when he couldn’t do the next right thing, he wanted the country to. Today, our “freedoms” are under attack from someone who thinks the real challenge is to see how powerful he can become, under attack from a group that hails Hitler (listen to Tucker Carlson, Trump, his podcasters, etc), loves Putin, Orban, Xi, Erdogan, and extols might over right. This is a prime example of “a challenge and burden against which man often rebels”.
Of course, the fascists in the White House, Congress, the ones who are lobbyists, who are the ‘religious people’, the ‘god-fearing christian nationalists’, are not the problem. The problem is We the People! Just as justice denied to anyone is justice denied to everyone, any of the challenges and burdens of freedom that are unmet means freedom falls and we become slaves to our desires, to our self-deception, to the mendacity of the ‘leader’ and find ourselves performing harsh labor as our ancestors did in Egypt, once again. As Jews, we know how this story plays out, as Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, we are experienced in how allowing these “challenges and burdens” be unmet, by our rebelling against them leads to tyranny, torture, gas chambers, being fed to the lions, etc. While the outrageous behaviors and speech of the mendacious ones currently in power are getting worse and worse, what is really troubling is how We, the People are buying into their bullshit and defending them! We, the People are not only “ready to abandon it”, we already have in many cases. Rather than deal with the contradictions and attacks, many of We, the People have gone along to get along, believing it won’t be as bad as you think, he has Jewish grandchildren, he is a ‘strong man’, he is a ‘warrior’, he ‘resonates’ with people, etc. For this, we are willing to “abandon” our “freedom” and throw off the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are willing to go against the Biblical commandments to “love your neighbor as yourself” and “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all the inhabitants therein”. It doesn’t say only the people the ‘cult leadership’ deem to be worthy of freedom (only them and their cronies fit this description) nor does it say only the citizens(again this designation is up to the ‘cult leadership’) nor does it define “your neighbor” as only white people! Just as the Declaration of Independence is America’s challenge and burden, so too is the Bible the challenge and burden of Jews, Christians, Muslims. We, the People are not expected to finish the job, fulfill the commandments completely once and for all, rather We, the People have to respond to the demands of these holy documents, respond to the “contradictions” of “freedom” and defend it against the numerous attacks against it. Over the first 248 years of our democracy, our systems held, one or another branch of government stood up against the bully and the autocrat, today We the People must demand our elected officials, our Courts stand up unless we are cool with the abandonment of “freedom”, unless we are cool with making Germany of the 1930’s look like child’s play.
We, the People are being called by Rabbi Heschel’s words above, by our own intuitive mind, by the inner voice of higher consciousness to STAND UP, to DEFEND and PROTECT the “unalienable rights” enumerated in the Declaration of Independence. There is a demand going forth from Sinai, to people of every faith tradition and spiritual discipline to “GO TO YOURSELF/FOR YOURSELF to the “land I will show you” which is the land of democracy, the land of “freedom”. It is up to We the People to respond to this call in this moment with the same loyalty as we have to our faith tradition, our spiritual disciplines. We the People are the ones who have inherited the vision of the prophets, the vision of the Bible, the vision of the Declaration of Independence. In a marriage ceremony we sometimes hear the words, “let no man put asunder” referring to the covenantal experience of marriage. We have this same covenantal relationship with freedom as it was given to us at Mt. Sinai, because we were brought out of Egypt before and we recall and see the Egypts we are in every year at our Seders and it is high time that We the People answer the call, stay loyal to the vision of freedom and the actions that ensure We the People will always “Let Freedom Ring”.
I have fallen short of the way of being the words above teach me. I have also hit the mark and I continue to believe that “freedom” is making a “free-will moral choice” as Rabbi Abraham Twerski teaches. I have this ability, I have to do the work to clean out the shit that gets in the way of living like this-mostly my insecurities, my false desires, my inauthentic needs-which I have been lessening over these past 36 years. I am not rebelling against “freedom” anymore, I live into the burdens and challenges as well as the contradictions of being free and I am always at the ready to fight against the attackers of “freedom”, following the examples of my familial ancestors as well as the prophets, the early masters of Hassidism, and all of the people who fought for and envisioned a way of living happy, joyous and free. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark