Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 131
“How embarrassing for man to live in the shadow of greatness and to ignore it, to be a contemporary of God and not sense it. Religion depends upon what man does with his ultimate embarrassment.” (Who is Man pg. 112)
In the aftermath of the Super Bowl and the football playoffs there is so much talk about GOAT, the greatest of all time. Tom Brady, Muhammed Ali, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and so many more are mentioned in their respective fields and the people who were/are around them tell the stories of what it was like to be in their shadows. People revel in being able to be around them, learn from them, be beneficiaries of their greatness, even if they were ‘just’ hanger-ons. Watching Dr. Dre perform with his friends and proteges was amazing given he had a near death experience a year ago and the whole world saw the joy, the greatness and the long shadow he has as well as the joy of the people performing with him.
Rabbi Heschel is teaching us to bask “in the shadow of greatness” of God, of our self and of one another. He is imploring us to stop ignoring it through self-deprecation, through put downs and one-ups of another person/group and to rejoice in the greatness we are surrounded by. We cannot do this in our current climate, however. We are stuck in our own ignorance and this is very troubling and scary. As long as our politicians, our citizens are willing to tear down the very institutions that reflect the foundations of our greatness, as long as our clergy are willing to ignore the “shadow of greatness” of our Biblical and Holy texts and bastardize them for their own personal power and gain, as long as we are willing to live in a zero-sum world where our relationships are transactional, we will continue to ignore the “shadow of greatness” we live in.
It seems so simple to follow Rabbi Heschel’s teaching and warning and yet, it is so difficult for us to live. So many people are so engaged in living in a prejudicial manner towards themselves as well as towards another(s), it seems impossible for them/us to not ignore the “shadow of greatness” that surrounds us. The Latin origin of prejudice is “judgement in advance”. People today have made these “judgements in advance” of seeking and finding truth and growth so they are putting themselves down for their foibles, imperfections and vulnerabilities and they are engaged in self-aggrandizement so they can hide from these same foibles, imperfections and vulnerabilities. Many people today are using these prejudices against themselves and then against another(s) so they can be subservient and/or in power-ignoring the greatness that is within them and the “shadow of greatness” of God that surrounds all of us.
In the current climate of Cancel Culture and MAGA, we can see how the ignoring the “shadow of greatness” we live in leads to bastardization of holy principles and the enslavement of people. This belief that “only I have the Truth on my side” and/or as Bob Dylan sings “With God on my side” has led us to become so polarized that it could be as bad as it was in the 1850’s and 1860’s prior to and during the Civil War. We venerate the Civil War by studying it in our schools and the MAGA crowd consider the traitors of the Confederacy to be heroes! Rather than living in the “shadow of greatness” that teaches us slavery must end, every human being has dignity and equal right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, these ‘god-fearing’ treasonous idolators are selling their lies to a great number of people so they can have power, they can be the GOAT’s! The Cancel Culture people want to “throw the baby out with the bath water”, not see the “shadow of greatness” that are the foundations of what has been built and bring more of the greatness out. They would rather keep blaming, pointing fingers and holding everyone responsible for their feelings of less than, etc. While it is true that we have been guilty of many injustices in the past, life is evolutionary as we see in the Bible-God learned that humanity takes time to adapt and adjust, to grow into their own greatness. We do this by being present and aware, learning and using the “shadow of greatness” we are living in!
In recovery we read the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, we study it, we keep interpreting it and re-interpreting it because we know it is a path to being present and aware of “the shadow of greatness” that it gives off to us. We know that we have to live in our own way, we do not need to be Bill Wilson or Dr. Bob Smith, we just need to live our lives according to the principles of recovery, decency and connection-in our own manner. In recovery, we take actions each and every day-prayer, meditation, service-so we can continue to engage in the lessons from living in God’s “shadow of greatness”.
I get more embarrassed the more I read this phrase and the more I write on it! I have lived a life of judging myself in advance of doing something, I have engaged in ignoring the “shadow of greatness” that surrounds me, I have engaged in not hearing the Voice inside of me that tells me about the danger lurking nearby and the beauty that is in the other direction. I am embarrassed by this ignorance! I also am heartened by my appreciation for the success and the greatness of another person, my joy for the well-being of people, the covenantal relationships I have. I have learned to enjoy and relish the “shadow of greatness” that I have fall on my from my teachers, friends and loved ones. God Bless and Stay safe, Rabbi Mark