Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 279
“THE PROPHET IS A WATCHMAN (Hos. 9:8), a servant (Amos 3”37. Jer. 25:4. 26:5), a messenger of God (Hag. 1:13), an assayer and tester of the people’s ways (Jer. 6:27)…The prophet’s eye is directed to the contemporary scene; the society and its conduct are the main theme of his speeches.” (Thunder in the Soul pg.31-32)
I admit that I am a little (?) obsessed with the prophets! The words above, this description of their ways, their vision, their courage, their insights, their ability to converse(?) with God in such intimate ways is the goal that We the People strive for, whether we believe in God or not! One of the beautiful things about the prophets is their words, their calls, their demands are for the benefit of society, for the benefit of the individual, for all of We the People being able to live with ourselves and with one another in a healthier, more productive, kinder fashion.
The challenge/demand of the prophets for us, their inheritors, is for all of We the People be watchers; all of us look at the world we live in and see if it is living up to the standards of kindness, justice, truth, love, compassion. We the People are being called to account for the ways in which we “treat the stranger”, “care for the poor, the needy”, do business and live life in a “kosher” manner, ie in a way that is fitting and proper, “do justly, love mercy” and walk in the ways of the Ineffable One, in the ways our souls tell us is the right path.
What we are seeing right now is that We the People have FAILED in our jobs as watch people. We have allowed the fox in the hen house and we are at a loss as to how to stop the killing, the abusing, the stealing, the cruelty, be it here in America or in Israel, or anywhere in the world where the autocrats, conservative and/or progressive, are in charge. YET, IT IS NOT TOO LATE! We the People, like the prophets before us, both in Biblical times and throughout history, can stand up and say NO to tyranny, NO to cruelty, NO to xenophobia, NO to the bastardization of Moses’ teachings, of Christ’s teachings and ways, to the Voice on Sinai that keeps broadcasting truth and love which has been turned into hate and falsehoods by the Idolators at our gates, just like the priests did for the ruling class in the times of the prophets. We the People, can and, I would add, must do differently than our ancestor; heed the words of the prophets of the Bible and their descendants here (aka all of us) and take the actions they provide for us, follow Justice, Love, Truth, Kindness and Mercy all the days of our lives and demand the same from our communities, from our elected officials and never give up our freedoms again, like we did in Egypt!
When We the People truly come to grips with the Spiritual Malady that has infected society, our daily living, and our treatment of both one another AND the ways we treat ourselves, our inner lives, then We will seek out the “physicians of the soul” as Maimonidies calls spiritual counselors. It is imperative for the Clergy of today to do their own TShuvah, their own Chesbon HaNefesh so they can quality for the task ahead-heal the spiritual bankruptcy of We the People. It is a big job, a huge task and the only one that truly matters to any and all clergy who know, like the prophets, that being a member of the Clergy is a privilege, a calling, a purpose and a passion. It is knowing that our employer is not the Board of Directors, not the Bishop, not the Pope, our employer is God, our job is to care for the souls and the conduct of God’s ‘children’-it is not to advance the political agenda of MAGA, it is not to promote a political agenda of hate, prejudice, etc. This is another of the challenges of this moment.
Thank God we have the “servants” who want to fulfill this role for the rest of We the People! Reading and listening to the amount of people who are declaring the current practices to be UnAmerican, to be autocratic, to be enslaving, to be unjust is heartening, it keeps growing. The issue facing We the People is how to grow our souls so that when these assholes are out of office/power, how do We the People not repeat the ways of autocracy that have been unique to the left? SPIRITUAL HEALING is the only response. For us to immerse ourselves in the inheritance the prophets gifted us, We the People have to heal our inner lives, We get to develop our hearing so our souls’ voice is louder, or at least overrides, the noise in our rational minds. We the People are being called by this moment to develop faith in what we “know in our guts/kishkas” and live into this knowing rather than the rationalizations of our mind, the whims of our false egos. Without this education, without this healing, then, how long will it be until We the People realize we have willingly walked into hell?
I have been engaged in spiritual counseling for myself and being a spiritual counselor for another for the past 38 years. I also was blessed to have my father speak to my soul as a youth. I know the importance of this work, I am angry that my colleagues are not doing more of this work, I am outraged that the Seminaries are not promoting this work as a basic function of the ‘job’. I am also in disbelief that Boards of Directors think they know what constitutes a ‘Jewish’ institution. Especially when they are all about the money and ‘the optics’. I truly believe in Spiritual Counseling, I truly believe we have more to learn from the prophets than is being taught precisely because their disgust at the ways We the People were/are acting is too much for the people in power to deal with-the reflection back from the mirror of the prophets is not one they want to see! YET, I still minister to people, I write each day hoping someone hears and a spark is lit. I am powerless over the results and powerful to do my part. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark