Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 103
“Some of us blush, others wear a mask which veils spontaneous sensitivity to the holy ineffable dimension of reality. We all wear so much mental make-up, we have almost forfeited our face. But faith only comes when we stand face to face-the ineffable in us with the ineffable beyond us-suffer ourselves to be seen, to commune, to receive a ray and reflect it. But to do that the soul must be alive in the mind.” (Man is Not Alone pg 91)
Rabbi Heschel is calling us to hear, understand and acknowledge our need to “suffer ourselves to be seen, to commune, to receive a ray and reflect it.” It is, after all, what makes us human! Yet we spend so much time dehumanizing ourselves and so many people around us, people we have never met and people we want to control. We dehumanize them and ourselves by not being believing we can ‘bear’ to be seen. Many people believe that they are being seen when another person appeals to their basest instincts, then they become fanatics for this person and ‘drink the kool-aid’ and lose their own humanity because they are not being seen, they are being manipulated. They are not seeing their ‘leader’ they are seeing the facade he/she is putting up. If we are hiding from the Ineffable One, who is constantly calling for us and loves us unconditionally; warts and all, we have to hide from our true self and the self of another person.
Commune comes from the Old French meaning: “to share”; receive in Latin means: “take back” and reflect comes from the Latin meaning: “bend back”. Rabbi Heschel is speaking to us not only about faith, but about life itself. He is teaching us that we have to share what we are given, not hoard everything. The 1 percenters in our country have to share their wealth through paying their fair share of taxes, supporting the charities that are engaged in helping people through the stress and strain of life, creating economic opportunities for more people to grow their ‘nest egg’. The rest of us, I hear Rabbi Heschel saying, must give our fair share as well to the charities, taxes and give each other a leg up in living instead of seeing the success of another as an assault on our security, our opportunities, etc. Sharing is what is called for in the Torah when we are commanded to bring tithes to the Priests for their welfare, to give to the poor and the needy and to share in the Passover Meal if there is too much food for one family to eat. Sharing includes helping people who are stuck in their self-deception, mesmerized by the phony facade of a charlatan, grifter, con person, who only wants power for their own selfish needs/desires. Sharing means to engage in truthful conversations and have what is best for another person’s interests the forefront of our minds, souls, hearts. We all have been guilty of hoarding, looking out for number 1, believing the lies of another because they make us feel good, validate our worst fears and give us an enemy to hate and blame. This way of being is the exact opposite of Rabbi Heschel’s teaching and the opposite of what God is calling us to be.
We saw great examples of sharing during the beginning of this Pandemic. States were sharing information, doctors and nurses, equipment with each other, when their outbreak was over, they sent their expertise to another place. Our Federal government, on the other hand, hoarded supplies, information and put out disinformation. Donald J. Trump suggested that swallowing bleach would cure/protect against getting Covid-19, he forgot to tell the people he got the vaccines as did his family, he kept hosting events that spread the virus and denied the science of masks, social distancing, etc. Instead of behaving as South Korea, Donald J. Trump convinced a large minority to keep the spread of Covid-19 going, thinking it would help him and/or the drug companies whose cure/medicine he was pushing. We are seeing the effects of our lack of sharing and seeing the truth of our situation, both with Covid-19 and the state of our democracy. What was set up as a system of checks and balances has become a grab for power, control and authoritarianism! We, the people, need to share our fears with each other, we need to share our hopes with each other, and most of all we need to share our humanity with each other. We need to not only ‘bear’ ourselves to be seen, we have to actually see and share our strengths and weaknesses with one another so we can build stronger bridges to help everyone live well. Without our seeing one another, we cannot call ourselves people of faith, we cannot swear allegiance to the Ineffable One with any truth. Without seeing and sharing our self, our beingness with another human being and all humanity, we are just like Trump when he held a Bible upside down and didn’t know it nor did he care.
In recovery, we go to meetings, we share with one another our “experience, strength and hope” in order to be seen and to see another person. We are constantly seeking to be seen and, when we are unable to discern truth, we seek out another person to help us uncover the truth. Sharing our being is our way to connection with people and with the Ineffable One, our path to wholeness and being a loving, kind, caring human being.
I have shared my story so many times in order to help another person. I have sought to share and engage with another person/group of people in truth, in the discovery of truth and, on occasion, to decompress by gossip and foolishness. I know that sharing me will give another person ammunition against me and I know it is the only way to connect, love, be loved, experience joy, truly care and be cared about, and the greatest kindness I can show to me and to you. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark