Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 245
“Its motivations are remorse for the past and responsibility for the future. Only in this manner is it possible and valid…Repentance is a decision made in truthfulness, remorse and responsibility.” (Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity pg. 69)
Since it is almost Sukkot, it begins Monday evening, I wanted to end our time writing about “repentance” with these sentences. While we are called to do TShuvah every day and I believe it is crucial for our spiritual, emotional and physical well-being to do so, I know that most people only think of this process during this time-which is a tragedy in my opinion. Think of the world we could have, think of the the world God imagined when he put TShuvah into the world before it was created because God knew/knows we will screw up and need a way back-even though humanity has adopted perfection as not only the goal but also the only way one can feel okay with oneself-HOW RIDICULOUS!!
Hence my choosing these sentences above. The only “motivations are remorse for the past and responsibility for the future” tell us to embrace our imperfections, cherish our errors as learning lessons and be committed to being one grain of sand better today than we were yesterday. What is Rabbi Heschel saying, what is Judaism saying about the importance of “repentance”? WE NEED IT! We need to experience remorse for our errant actions, otherwise we are a narcissistic sociopath, we have to admit our errors in judgment that lead to our taking actions in error otherwise we are a psychopath, remorse says we are responsible for our past actions and this leads us to being more responsible for the actions we take from then on. In other words, one cannot say everything one does is right and beautiful, one cannot say their lies are the truth, one cannot say they are ‘god-fearing christians’ and hate the stranger, one cannot say they are ‘good jews’ and hate their enemies in their hearts, lie about what they are doing and deny responsibility for their actions. The elected officials and their advisors, cabinet members who take these abhorrent actions are representing We the People because We the People elected them!! It is way past time for We the People to ask ourselves if we feel remorse for the ways the U.S is attacking boats in the Caribbean, raiding businesses, schools, farms, courthouses, etc and arresting, manhandling people who have committed no crimes, who are hating the stranger in our midst-here legally or not, who have declared war on cities and people who don’t agree with their fascist, autocratic ways, who lie constantly and believe cruelty is the goal? We the People have to ask ourselves if we feel remorse for the way Israel has prosecuted the war with Hamas, if killing innocent Arab babies is any different than Hamas killing innocent Jewish babies, if leveling cities and areas with 2000lb bombs is so different from a suicide bomber leveling a bus full of people, whether the payments to Hamas for years was an act of betrayal to the people who live in Israel and to Jews across the globe, whether the denial of the government to conduct an inquiry into what happened on Oct. 7th, 2023 was preventable and who is responsible is another way of avoiding responsibility for their actions-these ‘orthodox’ Jews like Ben G’Vir, et al. Are We the People going to learn from our errors, have remorse for the mistakes and horrific ways we have treated our neighbors, the strangers and our enemies and be responsible going forward?
This is the question that these sentences bring up in me, as an individual, as a citizen of the United State, and as a Jew who has been and is a Zionist and supporter of the State of Israel. I pray they bring up the same question for you. That “repentance is a decision made in truthfulness, remorse, and responsibility” calls all of us to account, asks all of us the question I ask above. I believe it is way past time for all of us to be accountable for our lack of “truthfulness, remorse, and responsibility”. I believe We the People have to face ourselves prior to Sukkot this year, see where we are still hiding and lacking these three ingredients that make us human and repair our inner life, reject the lies of our rational mind, stop whoring ourselves after what our heart and eyes desire and, as it intimates in the 3rd paragraph of the Shema: be a citizen, not a tourist!
I have been living as a citizen these past 38 years precisely because I lived as a tourist for the 20 years prior, because instead of being in truth, I lied to you and to me and when I couldn’t lie to myself-I drank. I have been living as a citizen for these past 38 years because once I read these words of Rabbi Heschel, once I learned what TShuvah means and its centrality in Judaism, I couldn’t live in my skin until I began this process and it is a process that never ends-hence the call to do TShuvah one day before you die, ie-every day. It is hard for me to sleep a full 7-8 hours most days because I am constantly bombarded with the knowing that I am co-responsible for the actions that Stephen Miller, Howard Lutnick, and the rest of the gang of grifters and thieves like Jared Kushner, are taking in the ‘name of freedom, of ridding us of weaponization of government’, etc. It was difficult to not hear a call from the Rabbi to mobilize against the evil of these people, to fight against the extremists on both ends of the spectrum, to stand up for the principles of “truthfulness, remorse, responsibility” in our daily prayers, actions, etc. It is difficult to look at what is going on, know my limitations and still hear, follow and echo the ways and words of the prophets of old and not ‘take to the streets’ like I did as a child of the 60’s. I live as a citizen because my soul demands it of me, because I have done TShuvah long enough and seriously enough to never take life for granted, to never accept the wrong, to never allow the majority to corrupt me in their drive for evil. This is the challenge I and we face each day-how are you responding to it? God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark