Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 39
“The ancient Rabbis knew that excessive piety may endanger the fulfillment of the essence of the law. “There is nothing more important, according to the Torah, than to preserve human life … . Even when there is the slightest possibility that a life may be at stake one may disregard every prohibition of the law.” One must sacrifice mitsvot for the sake of man, rather than sacrifice man for the sake of mitsvot”. (God in Search of Man)
As we are one week away from the MidTerms and we are witness’ to the language of violence, hatred and the savage beating of the husband of the Speaker of The House of Representatives, Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom from 67 years ago is, hopefully, ringing in our ears and disturbing our daily living. We are facing a scenario much like Germany in the 1930’s, Italy of the same time period, the Holy Roman Empire of 1492 and before, 1948 Israel, the times of Noah and the flood, and other times throughout history where people believed that violence against their fellow person was the right thing to do to show how powerful they are, how fervent they are in their loyalty to falsehood and mendacity, how they can command their ‘foolish followers’ to do anything for them.
How can these so-called ‘good christ followers’ condone the lies they have been telling about the 2020 election, the democrats, the Jews, people of color? How can they adore Kyle Rittenhouse who crossed State Lines to kill human beings in cold blood and then get a free pass because, he who brought the gun and was brandishing it, felt like his life was in danger! The jury bought this lie and the Republicans have extolled him. How can these people who swore an oath to defend the Constitution have solidarity with people who are trying to destroy the tenets found in it? How can Mitch McConnell say that Jan.6th did not happen as an insurrection and defend Donald Trump’s use of violent rhetoric even against him! How can Mike Pence claim to be deeply religious and use hate speech, condone violent rhetoric, and put into place policies that deny the very dignity that Christ preaches about in the Gospels to the very people Christ was ministering to? How can these ‘god-fearing’ people extol Mother Theresa and seek to blame, shame and deny services to the very people she ministered to her entire career?
How can Jews of any denomination continue to vote for these fear mongers, these hate spewers? How can they claim to love God and hate God’s creations-human beings unlike them? How can they claim to serve God and go along with people who decry the stranger, the poor and the orphan? How can they recite the prayer, Shema Yisrael, and deny that we are all part of the Oneness that is God? How can they study the Torah and believe that only some of us are created in “the Image of God”, only some of us have the “spirit of God” breathed into us? How can they believe it is okay to cheat, abuse, another as long as they are not Jewish? How can they use ‘Shabbos Goys’ knowing everyone is supposed to rest on the Sabbath?
How is all of this possible? Because we pay lip service to the tenets we proclaim, we are not willing to, as Rabbi Heschel did, live these tenets no matter what someone else may say. We are not willing to “pray with our feet” as Rabbi Heschel described marching in Selma with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are not willing to go against the popular grain for fear of missing out. We are not willing to stand for our principles if the powers that be won’t like it. We are not willing to cancel a class to join a march for freedom as Rabbi Heschel did, we are not willing to be unpopular for standing up for God, for the stranger, the poor, the needy as Rabbi Heschel did, we are not willing to risk the wrath of people to stand for the stranger, the poor, the needy, for what is right and good about humanity, to stand for being human, as Rabbi Heschel demands us to be.
In recovery, being of service is paramount to having a good life. It doesn’t matter if it means cleaning coffee cups after a meeting, writing postcards for voting rights, marching for women to have the right to choose, calling for everyone to be vaccinated so no one risks the life of another on some insane theory, realizing that God has endowed each of us with a talent that can help another human being/humanity at large and we are all called to be of service to the stranger, the poor and the needy which, in turn, enhances our humanity and is a living amends for the myriad of times we ignored the needs of humanity and individual human beings for our selfish desires.
Today is my birthday, today is 34 years to the day since I walked out of prison to go to a re-entry facility and begin life anew. I made a vow 36 years ago to change my ways, to hear what God is trying to tell me and to follow God’s demands not the demands of my desires. I also committed to giving truth, love, kindness and spirit back into the world and rather than taking advantage of another human being, I would be of service to who ever I could help. I have followed through on this commitment and I continue to honor it. I am acutely aware of the times I haven’t. I am acutely aware of the pious people who have stood idly by the bloods of their brother and, overwhelmingly, I have not. I am still responding to God’s Demand, God’s Call and through Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom and tutelage, I continue to find new ways to serve, new ways to save a soul and new strength to overcome the disdain, the muck and mud that are slung at me and stand with God and with like-minded human beings to protect and serve the voiceless, the powerless, the needy and the stranger. God Bless and Stay safe, Rabbi Mark.