Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 255
“The preoccupation with justice, the passion with which the prophets condemn injustice is rooted in their sympathy with divine pathos…They are moved by a responsibility for society, a sensitivity to what the moment demands.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 48)
Reading these words, immersing oneself in them begs the question for most people: where are the prophets today? This is a valid question if one is ignorant and asleep! It is a valid question if one is lazy and entitled! It is the wrong question to ask because as human beings, we are not to give into to ignorance, nor willful blindness, we are not to be lazy and entitled, we are to be engaged in this world, we are to SHEMA! Hear O Israel is not a prayer, it is a declaration, it is not just for Jews, it is for all people, it is not a one time saying, it is constantly being broadcast from the Universe, and We the People have to take the cotton out of our ears and Hear, Listen, and Understand the meaning, the purpose, the joy, the gift that being alive brings upon us. If I sound angry, well I am, if I sound passionate, well, I am, if I sound like a lunatic, well I am in regards to injustice, I am crazy about justice and divine pathos as well as human pathos. Pathos comes from the Greek meaning “suffering” and in the English language we have turned it into “pity, sympathy”. When We the People learn of the group chats of the Young Republicans and are not OUTRAGED, when We the People buy the bullshit of J.D. Vance that this is just “boys being boys” and he is talking about grown-ass men, when the Republican establishment says NOTHING about the racism, homophobia, misogyny, and anti-semitism along with the worship of a murderous dictator(Hitler), how can We the People not be outraged? How can we entrust the future of our country to these HATERS, these Wanna-Be dictators?
How can We the People ignore the suffering of God, the suffering of Jesus, the suffering of Moses when people in power, people next to those in power, believe and ‘joke’ about these horrific ways of treating the stranger terribly instead of loving the stranger? How can We the People stay silent when people in power decide to send troops to the cities and states they don’t like? How can We the People not be passionate in our condemnation of the terrible treatment of the stranger among us that is happening on our streets daily? How can We the People, especially Jews, not be apoplectic about the rampant injustice going on from the Department of INJUSTICE headed by Pam I LOVE POWER Bondi? When RFK Jr. is condemning circumcision as a cause of Autism, and the Jewish Communal leaders stay silent? WTF???
This is the importance of study, be it the Bible, the New Testament, Buddhism, the Talmud, the later scholars of Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam. Without study, too many of us keep the blinders on. Without learning we will stay ignorant of what is expected of us. Yes, there are expectations of human beings and they are laid out in the Bible and the other books mentioned above. We the People are divine needs, created in the “image of the divine” and everyone matters! Yet, without study, without wrestling with contradictory texts, without wrestling with the war within between rational mind, selfish concerns and the intuitive mind, our soul’s knowing, we will be sheep led to the slaughter by the idolators of today.
I am including Clergy who say nothing out of fear of losing their jobs and/or losing donations for taking a STAND FOR JUSTICE. These spiritual leaders are cowards, they buy into the lie of “Am Yisrael Chai”, the Jewish People Live, to mean we have to go along with whatever Israel does, we have to agree with the worst traits of people because they are ‘members of the tribe’ and this is BULLSHIT! We the Jewish People are direct descendants of the prophets, as are everyone else. We the Jewish People are direct descendants of Abraham, as are everyone else in the Western Religions. Ergo: We the People have to be preoccupied with justice, passionate about injustice and at one with the suffering of the universe and those directly affected by the injustice, racism, hatred, anti-semitism, homophobia being carried out yesterday, today, tomorrow by the ANTI-CHRIST people running the Government today, by the Desecrators of God’s Name running the Government in Israel today.
I am so outraged in this moment, I almost cannot type. I am in concert with the divine pathos that is overwhelming the spiritual world. I hear the prophets muttering WTF, we already told them how this story ends, we gave them the history, the disease, and the cure; what is wrong with these ignoramus’? I have no answer for them, my only response is to cry, to get angry for the sake of heaven, for the sake of all human beings, no matter their skin color, the religion, their creed. I am off the charts bewildered how anyone with the ability to think, with a soul, can spout the lies about ‘christian nationalism’ being the fulfillment of Christ’s way much less buy into it. I am beyond the beyond that anyone would buy the bullshit that Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza are ‘not human’, that God wants the destruction of children! I know the power of lies, I know the powerless of those of us who come up against the hardened hearts of those who wrap themselves in these lies and I know that We the People and especially the Clergy are called to speak truth to power, called to warn the people, called to help everyone grow their spiritual core and heal the spiritual sickness that, like the plague, keeps coming back! I pray my colleagues get busy with their flock as I am busy with mine. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark