Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 169
“The source of insight is an awareness of being called upon to answer. Over and above personal problems, there is an objective challenge to overcome inequity, injustice, helplessness, suffering, carelessness, oppression.” (Who is Man pg. 107)
Immersing oneself in this sentence brings a great deal of angst to some, denial to many and indifference to most. We have become a society that abhors helplessness and suffering. We have come to see these two experiences as weak and unbecoming. Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that helplessness and suffering are part of our society, they have been around since time immemorial and our challenge, today as has always been the case, is to find strategies to overcome those ‘conventional norms and mental cliches’ that allow us to ignore the helplessness of another, the suffering of so many. While to many people, this sentence seems logical and/or ‘liberal’, to me it is a call to action and an acknowledgement that there is so much more to be done!
The most heinous response to the helplessness and suffering in the world is indifference. I believe Rabbi Heschel’s use of the phrase “objective challenge to overcome” shows that there is an action to be taken by one and all, in fact, our humanity, our being human depends on the action of responding to this challenge. Yet, there are so many people who have become indifferent, unmoved by the helplessness and suffering of another human being and this is the reason we find ourselves in the situation we are in:senseless hatred and bitterness toward one another, use of mendacity and deception to gain power for self, not to serve, etc. The fact that our governing body, the US Congress cannot find ways to compromise and help every citizen vote easily and fairly, that they can figure out how to tax the middle-class and not the rich or the corporations and not be able to relieve the suffering of so many here at home is unbelievable to me. That the people who have sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States blatantly and proudly lie about January 6, extol people who committed treason and then ask and accuse a Black Woman during a Supreme Court Nomination hearing through racist language and berate her for working to “overcome the objective challenge of helplessness and suffering” as a Federal Public Defender is mind boggling. Yet, I understand the reasoning of Ted Cruz, et al, they have to attack anyone and everyone who wants to serve, who wants to take up the challenge Rabbi Heschel is reminding us of because they are indifferent to the suffering and helplessness of another human being! They are so tied up in themselves, their careers, their lies they don’t even see the helplessness and suffering, just their political gain. The great problem is that people who are indifferent have a lot of support. They take the vaccines and then work to get everyone else not to take it? They see the suffering and death caused by Covid-19, put a target on Dr. Fauci, withhold Federal funding for people who are suffering and helpless in the face of this pandemic and wrap themselves in God and the flag?!?!
The next group is the group that just denies that the helplessness and suffering is happening to the extent it is, they admit some but “surely you exaggerate, Rabbi”. They also deny that there is anything they can or should do about it, when they finally admit it exists. The unhoused have been living on the streets of LA and every city for years, yet it isn’t a problem to deal with until they come into the ‘upscale’ neighborhoods and the response of people is: NOT IN MY BACKYARD, NOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD! People who are trying to restrict people are denying their challenge and I would say obligation to overcome the helplessness and suffering of the unhoused. It is high time we all meet this challenge and stop denying the humanity of the unhoused, stop denying the needs of the unhoused, stop segregating them from us and remembering we are all “kin under the skin” as my friend Rev Mark Whitlock says.
In recovery, we gather together to meet and overcome the helplessness and suffering of people who still drink, use, gamble, work, are anxious and/or depressed, stressed beyond to the extent they no longer can function well. We know our purpose has become reaching out to one another to help another person in spiritual and emotional distress find respite, recovery and discover their passion and purpose. In recovery, we meet this challenge daily. We are not indifferent nor in denial anymore.
I read this teaching from Rabbi Heschel and I feel angst. I am in angst over the enormity of the challenge of overcoming the helplessness and suffering I see daily. I am in angst over the experience of people who have lost hope and feel abandoned. I am in angst over our inability to meet the challenge of being more humane and human towards people who are helpless and suffering, instead we treat them as lepers, blame them, etc. I also have hope because I know that I, along with Harriet and the staff at Beit T’Shuvah, over 33 years helped to relieve the helplessness and suffering of 1000’s of people. I am hopeful because of the many people who left BTS and now have recovery centers, sober living, business’ and careers in fields that help the helpless and relieve the sufferings of another. I am looking for the next area to bring relief and believe this blog is a path forward. Harriet and I are available for speaking and consulting as a way of meeting the challenge Rabbi Heschel gives us. I am humbled to be able to help another person overcome the suffering and helplessness they are experiencing. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark