Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 19
“At first other selves are considered as means to attain the fulfillment of his own needs. The shift from animal to the human dimension takes place when, as a result of various events, such as observing other people’s suffering, falling in love, or by being morally educated, he begins to acknowledge the other selves as ends, to respond to their needs even regardless of person expediency.”(Man is Not Alone pg.138).
Rabbi Heschel is giving us the problem and the solution to the ills of today’s world in the sentences above, and, truth be told, in all of his writings. Today’s first sentence is at the crux of our current state of affairs, in my opinion. We continue to see other selves as a means to our ends, a way to fulfill our “needs” and to not really see them as anything but objects. We see this everyday in the ways the Homeless Population is treated, as some issue to be solved rather than as human beings in deep and abject suffering. Rather than look homeless people in the eyes, we avert our eyes from them, we shield our children from looking at them. Some people use them as weapons, to get elected by promising to help them and promising to “rid our streets of them”. As I am using the pronoun ‘them’ I know it can be used to objectify an entire group of people, like “those Jews” “those Blacks”, “them people”, etc are used. We condemn people who commit crimes without seeing them as human beings who have lost their humanity and are in need of moral, spiritual and emotional education and healing. We are so concentrated on revenge, on punishment that we fail to see the suffering of another human being, the lack of moral, spiritual and emotional education of another human being. Just as the person who commits crime no longer sees another human being as anything as a means to their ends, so too is a society so intent on punishment, so intent on blaming and demeaning another doing the same thing they are condemning the ‘criminal’ for. It is time for us to find ways to rehabilitate the criminal and the victim, the criminal and the “state”, the judge, jury, prosecutor, defense attorney to see the humanity, the suffering, the needs of the other self in reaching decisions, rather than running the criminal justice system as a ‘Monty Hall-let’s make a deal’ revolving door.
Business’ only see money when a customer walks in, goes online to shop, etc. Very few business’ know a customer’s name or remembers us when we walk back in. We are a means to them making a living, making a killing, making their lives better, not human beings. Back in the day-stores had regular customers that they treated with a smile, knowing their sizes, their likes, etc-today everything is a transaction, not a relationship. Our politicians could care less about the individuals, they make it look good and then they go back to business as usual-catering to the crowds they want to instead of looking for compromises that can help everyone, respect everyone and see everyone, especially those with whom they disagree, as human beings. They are still seeing other selves as “a means to attain fulfillment of his own needs”.
Rabbi Heschel is teaching us that they shift from animal to human can only come when we “begin to acknowledge the other selves as ends, to respond to their needs even regardless of personal expediency.” What an order! Yet, this is the only way we can move from our animalistic behaviors, tendencies, reptile brain, to be human, to be in a relationship with the Ineffable One. Rabbi Heschel is telling us to allow “various events” to penetrate our shell of indifference, to pierce our armor of selfishness, to shatter our illusions of power, scarcity, needing more and more, etc. To see another self as a human, to respond to the needs of another human being regardless of personal expediency is to live a life compatible with being a partner of God, compatible and fulfilling the Divine Need we were created to fulfill. As we approach this way of being, we are approaching God, holiness. Living in the “human dimension” is the purpose and pathway of religion as it was created to be, not the lies, the power grab, the loss of seeing another self as anything but a means to their end that it has become to many. Rabbis, Imams, Priests, Ministers, Gurus, Leaders of many spiritual disciplines have forgotten to rise above their animalistic dimension and shift to the human dimension by responding to the needs of another regardless of personal expediency. We see this in so many of the movements that were started to do exactly this, help another people see the humanity of the ‘other’, and they have turned into a movement that is concerned with their own self-perpetuation, how sad.
In recovery, seeing another person as human, caring for their needs regardless of our personal expediency is another foundational block of life for us. We do not turn down an opportunity to be of service, we answer the call of another person no matter the time of day or night. We find ways to be in the solution rather than in the problem and/or the result. In recovery, our amends/T’Shuvah process is all about restoring the dignity and humanity that we robbed from another human being back to them and restoring our own dignity and humanity. We live a life dedicated to seeing the humanity and God-Image of every human being we encounter.
I will write my personal experience with this teaching more on Sunday. I know that in the past 33 years I have responded to the needs of another(s) self/soul almost every time I heard their call. I have become more human, more humane and more connected to God and my authentic self by responding. I hope you have also. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark