Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 105
“Judaism claims that the way to nobility of the soul is the art of sanctifying time. Moral dedications, acts of worship, intellectual pursuits are means in the art of sanctification of time. Personal concern for justice in the market place, for integrity in public affairs and in public relations is a prerequisite for our right to pray.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg.20)
Sanctify is defined as “set apart, holy, consecrate”, and with these definitions, which are all similar, I hear Rabbi Heschel and all spiritual paths calling us to remember and act in a manner which is compatible with there never being another moment like this one again. Treating our soul as royal, as noble, is the path to treating ourselves as children of the Sovereign, ie God, as the prayer Avinu Malkeynu reminds us. This prayer is said during the period prior to and on Yom Kippur. It is a prayer of reminding each of us that we are royalty, that we are born in nobility because we are all children of the Sovereign-not just Jews, all people. When we recite this prayer, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to “set ourselves apart” from the lower, baser instincts which allow us to forget this truth, gives us permission to see another human being as “unhuman” as the New Apostolic Reformation people deem/term anyone who isn’t part of them! These are the people who are proclaiming the trampling of our constitution, getting rid of “due process” is ordained by Christ! These are the people who, praying over Donald Trump, heralding him as “the anointed one”, are praying in the White House, rejoicing over the cruelty, and seeking power for themselves and their cronies so we become a ‘christian nation’ having nothing to do with the teachings of Christ.
We are in dangerous times, we are in worse times than we were in during the great depression years. Then, there was no Atomic Bomb, then we were not able to hear the lies spread by Hitler, Mussolini, Hirohito, as quickly as we hear the lies of Putin, Orban, Netanyahu, Trump, Musk, Miller, Vance, Rubio, etc. Then the idea of bots and other social media hackers was unheard of and today these social media liars are so prevalent we have no idea of what is true and what isn’t. The assault on the truth that Hitler and his thugs began is on steroids under Putin, Trump, Bibi and their gangs of thieves. As a Jew, I am most distressed by the desecration of the soul of the State of Israel that Netanyahu has led and is doubling down upon. His rejection of justice, his rejection of seeing people, especially one’s enemy, as created in the Image of God, his disregard for the holiness code denies the claim and truth of the first sentence above. Of course as an American, I am deeply ashamed of the attack on the soul of our country, the desecration of the underpinnings of our democracy by these supposed ‘religious’ people and the great ‘friend of the jew’, the guy who hangs out with anti-semites who claims to be fighting anti-semitism, and wants to have the U.S.A. be a ‘christian nation’ which historically has been bad for the Jews, Donald Trump!
Yet, in Synagogues across the world, these two mendacious charlatans, these two gross idolators are hailed as messiah-like, and in some cases as the messiah himself! Two men who lead so many others to relish cruelty, to engage in lies and deceptions, to “blame other for what they are guilty of” as Goebbels taught, to deny, deny, lie, lie, like Roy Cohn taught, to scapegoat the Jews like George Soros, Janet Yellen, etc, and then brag about hiring ‘those jew lawyers’. Rather than using our prayers to enhance “the nobility of the soul”, these ‘frum yidden’ (dogmatic Jews) of all stripes, bastardize these prayers, they commit the worst of sins: Hillul HaShem, desecration of God’s name. They trample on the second and third commandments by using pictures of their ‘rebbes’ as their focus in prayer, they take the name of God in vain by supporting cruelty, they shit on the Bible by leaving Shabbat Services to go to their “kiddish clubs” and then accuse everyone else of being ‘bad jews’! This is how far we have fallen as a religion, as a people, as “children of the sovereign”. How sad, how dangerous for the world and, as Rabbi Heschel said during the Vietnam War: “How can I pray when I have on my conscience the awareness that I am co-responsible for the death of innocent people in Vietnam. In a free society, some are guilty, all are responsible.”
We the People are doing something as evidenced by the 700 different protests yesterday, by the large crowds gathering to hear Bernie Sanders and AOC, by the amount of calls to elected officials, by the number of lawsuits being filed. We the People are learning how to talk to our neighbors who are still in the ether of Trump and MAGA, if they are able to hear. We the People have to continue to remember that even our ‘enemies’ are created in the Image of God, even those who are trying to kill us say “avinu malkeynu” in one form or another, so, while if they are coming for us literally-killing them first is self-defense, We the People have to demonstrate the respect and love that the holiness code commands of us. We the People have to rebuke them in ways that will help them restore “the nobility of their souls”. We the People have to love them in ways that will help them “set themselves apart” from the lies, self-deceptions and deceptions of another(s) that has led them to: reject Godliness; abhor what Christ says in the Gospels; embrace fascism and/or its methods. We the People are being called in this moment to be “sanctifying time” by making sure we use each and every moment to honor the teachings of God, to engage in the ways of treating one another as fellow travelers on the journey from Egypt to Mount Sinai to our proper place in this world. We the People have to engage in the idea of Easter as I understand it: that truth, kindness, justice, righteousness, love will be resurrected and the standard by which we all live. Take that Trump, Netanyahu, et al!
Of course I have failed in “sanctifying time” often and I regard each moment as different. I know, in my bones, that there is never going to be this moment again, I will never write these words in this way, with this passion nor intention again because each moment allows me to either grow in “the nobility of my soul” or retard “the nobility of my soul”. I am guilty of the latter, and relish the opportunities to engage in the former. I am constantly learning and moving, mostly forward, I am constantly seeking to understand myself better and better, to be less reactive, to be more proactive. I realize each moment is more precious as I grow older and as Harriet grows older. I miss my daughter and grandson being closer and I relish the moments of connection with them, my siblings, my family. Taking time to be with friends, to play bridge, to pray, to study with my teachers and friends are ways I am “sanctifying time” and growing “the nobility of my soul”. This is my way of being Jewish, this is my way of honoring you, me, God. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark