Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 62
“Creation in the language of the Bible is an act of expression. God said: “Let there be”; and it was. Creation is not an act that happened once, but a continuous process. The work Yehi, “Let there be,” stands forever in the universe.”(Man is Not Alone pg. 144/5).
God spoke and creation happened! While I am not here to validate the actual experience at the time of Creation, no one can, I can attest to the truth of the relationship between speech and creation, between words and actions, between someone far away saying something and it affecting people on the other side of the world, as we all can.
Speech is such an amorphous thing, having no real shape nor form because it can take any and all forms. One person’s speech can be interpreted as harsh, assaultive, harassing by some and comforting, connecting and kind by another(s). One can use a word that has one meaning to the speaker and another, sometimes completely opposite meaning to the listener. What we create with our truthful speech is important to recognize and to recognize that we are powerless over what someone else does with our words both in understanding us, translating us and acting on what we say, either in agreement or disagreement. “God said: “Let there be”; and it was” the world came into being and God has been powerless to move us to care for the world and perpetuate the health of the planet. No matter when you think the climate change began and/or will end, it is a noticeable fact that climate change is real and was not part of God’s plan when the world was created.
Yet, we are also not powerless in the way we use speech to convey lies, deceptions, to start revolts, to engage in prejudice, anti-semitism, Islamaphobia, sexual discrimination, etc. When we watch an ad on TV for drugs and people are smiling and happy while the announcer is telling us how fatal the drug can be and reminds us if we are allergic to the drug, don’t take it-all the while showing nirvana for the ‘sufferers’ of the disease (not knowing it the people are real patients or not). This mendacity is subtle and deadly to the trust we should be able to have in our healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies. As Purdue Pharma showed us, profits over health, bottom line over other people’s lives, personal responsibility only applies to the people suffering, the people being conned, caveat emptor is the law of the land. Pharmaceutical companies exercising their ‘free speech’ have killed over 100,000 people last year due to opiate overdoses, yet no one is responsible according to our system.
I am hearing Rabbi Heschel call us to account in this sentence, God is accountable as we learn throughout the Bible, God is accountable to Noah, to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, to the Israelites, etc. God gave to humanity the responsibility to care for the world, care for each other. Yet, we have throughout the millennia, used speech to create lies, subterfuge, revolutions that hurt the people revolting, etc. We have used the power of speech to harm each other through intended and unintended words, ways of promoting our words/ideas and by using the vulnerabilities of a person, group, country to do our ‘dirty work’ for us and tear down good ideas, good systems and punish anyone we see as our ‘enemy’-those doing the right thing! We are in the midst of such a time right now and it is tearing our country apart, our world apart. Still, we persist in promoting the lies, the mendacity of a few because we are afraid, some white Anglo-Saxon people are afraid of losing control and not being the majority rather than embrace the diversity that created this country, honor the words, deeds and brilliance of people who are different than they.
Speech is a topic that has been important in the Jewish tradition for a long time. Yet, we still misuse it, we still abuse our freedom of speech. We have all seen how one misspoken word can cause an uproar in politics and in personal relationships. We have all experienced our words being used against us because of a need by another person to have power over us and/or feel less than and need a club to “win”. It is sad and we can change this way of being, we can ask for clarification, we can stop judging with prejudice what someone else is saying, we can seek and speak truthfully instead of in ways that get us what we want, etc.
In recovery, we are constantly seeking deeper meanings and lessons from the words spoken in our meetings, our learnings, our texts, our books. We are constantly looking at our part and not blaming another, not needing to bastardize the spirit, words, intent of another person for our own gain. We are more careful each day, week, year, to notice what our words are creating and work hard to ensure that they create truth and goodness.
I am guilty of using words poorly. I know what I mean, I am passionate and, to some, seem angry when I am speaking and I don’t always speak in ways that another(s) can understand and/or I put bullets in the guns of people who want to use my words against me, for whatever they can gain. I am responsible and have experienced the consequences of these encounters. I also know that my words, my ways of conveying ideas and thoughts have saved lives and for that, I know I am fulfilling God’s call to all of us to care for each other and the world. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark