Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 23
“Man reaches a new vertical dimension, the dimension of the holy, when he grows beyond his self-interests, when that which is of interest to others becomes vital to him, and it is only in this dimension, in the understanding of its perennial validity, that the concern for other human beings and the devotion to ideals may reach the degree of self-denial.”(Man is Not Alone pg.139).
This sentence haunts me and I wanted to explore the 2nd half of it today. Only in the dimension of the holy, of our rising in our spiritual, moral and active living where the interests of another(s) becomes vital to us, or as I like to say, they become our concerns can we reach self-denial. Only in understanding that the truth of this seemingly outrageous statement is infinitely true and valid, can we attain the status of human, as I am reading Rabbi Heschel today. Without reaching this dimension or at least reaching for this dimension of “concern for other human beings and the devotion to ideals” we live at the lowest common denominator, our animal instinct. Animals, to the best of my knowledge, do not make free-will moral choices. Our fight or flight instinct is a very important one and left unchecked, left at its infant stage, we see danger all around, we are unable to discern true friendship and true danger. We either run away too soon and too often and/or we fight too much, too hard, and too long. Both of these ways of being wear us out physically, emotionally and spiritually. Both of these paths make authentic human connection impossible. When we have to “make a killing”, “beat our competitors”, etc so much so that we are unable to see the human being we are competing with, the cost of ‘making a killing’ to ourselves and another(s), especially family members, we are being animals instead of being human.
When we are judgmental about people, when we categorize people, when we self-identify in opposition to another group/person, we are not showing nor practicing devotion to the ideals of God, of being human, of faith traditions, of concern for another(s). We are living in another time where we separate according to ‘identity group’, where cancel culture, religious and racial hatred are reaching their old and maybe surpassing their old highs, which are really lows. We are in times where people talk at each other instead to and with each other. We are in times where truth has become irrelevant to a large minority of our country and a majority of people in the world. We are living in times where the concern for another human being is based on “what can I get from them/use them for” not for the soul, the dignity, the love of another human being. We are living in times where suspicion abounds and real concern is waning.
We need to revolt against these false separations, we need to stop with ‘identity politics’ ‘competitive traumas’ ‘holding onto the hurts of the past’ etc and see ourselves new today. We have to acknowledge the pain and the hurt, we can, however, stop identifying through it and have the concerns of another become vital to us. We can and, I believe, must see ‘our enemies’ as human beings. According to a Midrash, as the Egyptians were dying in the Red Sea, God told the angels to stop rejoicing because God’s children were dying. We all come from the same lineage, so the charlatans who believe they are better because of their race, their religion, their history are liars, cheats, indecent and unable to reach the degree of self-denial necessary to reach this new vertical dimension. We have to shout NO to the lies we tell ourselves, NO to the lies another tells us, NO to the senseless hatred and false divisions we have created to be better than/less than another human being. We have to shout YES to the call of another who is in distress, YES to the call of God to care for God’s world, YES to the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people regardless of race, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, etc!
In recovery, we seek to rise to this dimension each and every day. We are constantly seeking to repair our past ways of treating the concerns of another with disdain and unimportance, when we did care about them it was only for our own gain/get the heat off. Our amends/T’Shuvah is based on restoring the dignity and humanity that we robbed another of when we used them, ignored their concerns, harmed them in any and every way. In recovery, we know that getting “stuck on me” is dangerous, therefore we grow in our self-denial because reaching the dimension of the holy, being devoted to ideals and growing beyond our self-interests are the only ways to staying in recovery, being more human each day and serving God; all the ingredients to living well.
A purported friend told me: “see people for who they are, not how you want them to be nor how they can be.” While on the surface this makes sense, he was speaking from a transactional perspective, not a covenantal one. This is why he is/was a purported friend. I realize I put too much on another, their interests in being human was of more concern to me than to them. I know that when I am reaching for the holy, I live well. Every time I have been in fight/flight mode, I have screwed up royally. I know that my concern for the interests of another has been based on what their spirits needed, not necessarily their minds wanted. This also has gotten me into trouble. Immersing myself in this text has validated my reaching for the holy dimension, even when another thinks it is foolish, even when I fall short, I fail while daring greatly as Teddy Roosevelt said. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark