Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 2 Day 120
“Public safety was not merely the supreme law, as indeed it has remained, it was furthermore proclaimed as such; whereas today we should not dare to lay down the principle that it justifies injustice, even if we accept any particular consequence of that principle.” (God in Search of Man pg.373)
Rabbi Heschel, in 1955, was decrying the claim of people who made “public safety” the supreme law. He is reminding us of the blanket immunity it gave and gives to leaders, police, citizens who practice injustice in its name. It was/is a danger to people who go against the people who do injustice in the name of “public safety”. As we look at our situation today, we need to be horrified at what we have created, perpetrated and continue to do in the name of “public safety”.
Hitler and so many others throughout the ages used this claim against the Jewish People to validate their anti-Semitic laws, to validate dispossessing them from their homes and countries of origin. The Spanish Inquisition is another example of using “public safety” as a cover to practice hatred, violence, expulsion, etc against a group of people who are, seemingly, a threat to the establishment. The anti-Semitic actions today in America and across the globe are ‘warnings’ by ‘good Christian people’ against the danger, control, otherness of the Jew in the name of keeping their children, their image of their country safe from these interlopers who will enslave them if they get power. The life of anti-Semitic literature and actions is so long that many people are unaware of their bias against Jews. A recent survey showed 85% of Americans believed, repeated some anti-Semitic statement about Jews. The leaders, like Henry Ford, believed and promoted the idea that Jews go against the safety of the public!
Since the Emancipation Proclamation, while people have tried and succeeded in incarcerating Black people and Latino People as for the good of public safety. Whether they actually committed crimes or not, they were/are convicted and put in prisons for inordinate prison terms. It has gotten so ridiculous and scary that “driving while black” gets some people killed. Every Black parent, every Latino parent has to have the “conversation” with their children about how to act when they are stopped by police whether they have done something wrong or not. These actions are done by police in the name of “public safety”.
We have used “public safety” to enslave, “keep in their place” those people who we fear will take our place, whether Jew, Black, Latino, Asian. When this behavior is called out, when it is proven, there is an outcry and NOTHING gets done. We have never stopped these prejudices, we have never stopped using “public safety” as justifications because we are afraid. While it is easy to blame the police-who are guilty-and then paint all police with the same brush, it is easy to blame the legislators who have not changed laws, who have not stood up for justice, it is easy to blame the prosecutors who have, knowingly and unknowingly, promoted prison terms for these ‘threats’ to public safety; it is more important to look within and see our own prejudices and fears that go along with these injustices, go along with these excuses that give power to our inner fears. We, the People, are the root cause of these injustices and so many others because we are unwilling, unable to face our fears, incapable it seems to be happy with our portion and allow everyone else their portion.
Spiritually this is, I believe, one of the greatest crimes. Using our selfish desires and fears to practice injustice on another and assuaging our guilt by saying it is for “public safety” goes against every spiritual principle I know. Yet, a lot of people, unaware of their hidden bias’, believe they practice and live a spiritual life while also going along with and/or employing these injustices on another. A spiritual life is based on living one’s purpose, living from one’s soul, one’s higher consciousness, and rejoicing and wanting what one has. Along with one’s rejoicing, we celebrate what another has without envy, without jealousy, without wishing them bad is a foundational block of spiritual growth. Yet, we hear so-called Spiritual Leaders speak ill of a group not like them, make it okay to steal from anyone outside the group, lessen the value and dignity of human beings created by God, if they don’t conform to and belong to their group. How sad, how ridiculous, how disgusting!
In recovery, we are more interested in the inner life of our self and our people in recovery with us. We don’t use “public safety” to exclude anyone, even those who are inebriated at the meeting, just a desire to stop drinking is enough for us. We know what it is to be left out, to be excluded and have our foibles, our vulnerabilities used against us. We are well acquainted with being public pariahs by our own doing and how different would life be if society in general could welcome people who want to belong with open arms as people in recovery do.
In our years at Beit T’Shuvah, we never used “public safety” to unjustly exclude anyone. We welcomed so many people from prison, instead of prison whom others thought not worthy of help, incapable of rehabilitation. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark