Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Day 286
“Entertainment is a diversion, a distraction of the attention of the mind from the preoccupations of daily living. Celebration is a confrontation, giving attention to the transcendent meaning of one’s actions.” (Who is Man pg. 117)
Confrontation comes from the Latin meaning “with face” and we have come to put a very negative connotation and denotation on this important word. Using this meaning in the last sentence above I hear Rabbi Heschel calling to us to face the truth that all of our actions have transcendent meanings. All of our actions have meanings that “climb above” what they may appear to be. In this way, celebration is not just about being happy, it is truly living in joy because we are able to “face” our self, we are able to “face” the truth of the ways our actions “climb above” the self deceptions we engage in to ‘make them okay’. We are able to pay attention to the larger context of the impact of our actions long term. When it is something positive, we are able to celebrate the long term effects of our actions, when it is not positive, we are able to be ‘honor’ the effect of our actions and change them through T’Shuvah, rather than continually denying our part in the negativity.
Herein lies the challenge, how do we confront the meaning of our actions that climb above the seemingly good intentions we think we are bringing? When we are in self-deception, when we live in a mendacious way of being because we truly are unaware, how can we realize the “transcendent meaning of one’s actions”? Rabbi Doctor Abraham Twerski, in his interpretation of Luzzatto’s Path of the Just, calls this being oblivious. Luzzatto in his preface reminds us of how “common for people to be oblivious to those ideas whose truth is unchallenged”. We cannot be in any meaningful, truthful celebration while in denial, obliviousness, deception, mendacity and we want to believe we are, we are desperate to make excuses for and defenses of our actions without looking at or for the long-term effects of our actions. By not delving deeply into how our actions impact the immediate moment, the immediate surroundings, the moments to follow and the universe in general, we are able to stay in denial, we are able to keep deceiving our self, we are able to confuse entertainment for celebration. This is the state of being we find ourselves in more and more in today’s world.
We entertain ourselves with out prejudices, with our lies, with the lies of another. We entertain ourselves with the obliviousness and denial of our actions and both their intent and impact. We are constantly being called to wake up by the universe and we have the uncanny ability to fool ourselves into believing we are woke, we are aware, we are concerned, we are respectful, we are celebrating, we are honoring God, flag, principles, etc. This is the danger of mendacity, this is the danger of indifference, this is the danger of self-deception, this is the danger of ‘needing to be right’, this is the danger of obliviousness. The only antidote to these dangers, to these terrible paths that lead to prejudice, hatred, enslavement, “eye disease” and a “cancer of the soul”, as Rabbi Heschel defines prejudice, is having a passion for truth, having a practice of T’Shuvah daily, having a practice of introspection, compassion for both self and another, confrontation with oneself, forgiveness for one’s self and another, etc. Engaging in these practices daily allows us the opportunity to see the “transcendent meaning of one’s actions” and celebrate our ability to confront our self, another human being, the universe with truth, with our whole being no matter when the actions occurred, today or years ago, the call of today’s learning is to continue to confront oneself, continue to make oneself aware of the far-reaching effects of one’s actions and to leave indifference, deception, etc for awareness, awakening and truth!
In recovery, we are so aware of our default of mendacity and self-deception that we constantly do “fearless and searching” inventories. We do this once a year in a long form and we do it each day, much like the Jewish practice of t’shuvah. This is how we “keep our side of the street clean” and continue to mine our past and present for the lessons and actions that will ensure a future with more love, compassion and less deception and indifference.
I realize the long-term effects of my actions in retrospect usually. I am sorry for the harm I have brought upon people from my actions, I am sorry for the self-centeredness I have practiced knowingly and unknowingly. I am sorry for the obliviousness I have been in that has impacted family, friends, co-workers negatively. I celebrate the ability to “climb above” the intentions I may have had and confront the reality of what is, what was. I am grateful for T’Shuvah with allows me to constantly see my actions, my being in new lights based on new awarenesses, leaving another state of obliviousness, and finding more truth inside of me. Today’s writing overwhelms me with joy at the realization of how much celebrating I have done, how much I have to celebrate for awareness, leaving obliviousness and self-deception and for the “transcendent meaning” of my actions that posit