Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 285
“The truth of being human is gratitude, the secret of existence is appreciation, its significance revealed in reciprocity. Mankind will not die for lack of information; it may perish for lack of appreciation.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg. 26)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
The words above reveal to us the ‘secret of a great life’-“gratitude, appreciation, reciprocity”. These three words hold the key to living well, to loving completely, to living authentically, to living in and with truth, to accepting all of life, the good, the not so good, the beautiful, the ugly. AND, these the authentic meaning and experience of these three words have been so bastardized by political and societal extremism, we have lost our ability to appreciate, reciprocate, and be grateful for what we have and for what we don’t have. Listening to the right wing nuts and the left wing crazies, not having what we want is a crime, it is a moral injury, it is a wrong that has to be righted by retribution and extremism. Look where it has gotten us, Trump, Netanyahu, and their opposites on the ‘left’. Neither ‘side’ is grateful for what they have, neither ‘side’ is seeking to exhibit and practice reciprocity, neither ‘side’ is overflowing with “appreciation” for being alive, for being able to serve, for being given the mantle of protecting freedom, the mantle of being an AM KADOSH, a Holy People. This is not just for Jews, it is for all people to “see ourselves as if holiness abides in our guts”. Yet, We the People are so busy looking to be slighted, seeking out the slightest hint of negativity, projecting onto another what we are thinking, We have lost our ability to see clearly, to love freely, to welcome the stranger within ourselves, to be grateful for what we have, to give back to another some of what we have been blessed with. THIS IS THE CRIME OF OUR CENTURY!
Today, as we celebrate this uniquely American Holy Day of Thanksgiving, with the false narrative of the pilgrims and the Indians, I believe we need to take the words above, written in 1958 to heart and into our souls. The false narrative about the pilgrims and the Indians is a narrative of hope, it is a narrative of what We the People want to see-a joining of peoples from all walks of life, from all religious backgrounds, from all ethnic heritages, devoted to the freedom and well-being of one another. While this has never happened in history, it doesn’t mean We the People should not strive to make this a reality-of course We will fall short-that is not the point! The point is to appreciate and be grateful for our efforts to move humanity forward by being MORE HUMAN each day. When We the People realize that “the truth of being human is gratitude”, We will be able to live into “being human”, We will lead our community, our family into the streets and give freely of time and effort to make those who have less a little more comfortable, a little more aware of people caring for them, about them, and being more and more aware of knowing the grace we experience for being who we are and having what we have-no matter how much nor how little.
“The secret of existence is appreciation”, reminds me of the Ben Zoma quote from Pirke Avot 4:1-“who is rich? One who is happy with his protion”, In other words, being rich is equated with wanting what one has, even our Tsuris, our troubles. This is such a rare experience in our time, and, truthfully, throughout time! Yet, We the People can STAND UP and implement this way of being into our culture, We the People can SPEAK UP and demand of our elected officials they DO THEIR JOB instead of grandstanding, taking so much vacation time, passing legislation that favors the rich and denigrates the poor, taking actions that revile the stranger rather than loving the stranger-forgetting they(their ancestors) were strangers in America at one time! WTF???
The fact that any lawmaker sits down at a Thanksgiving Table, goes to Homeless Shelters and serves a meal and wants to be recognized for this act is Despicable and Ugly. That Trump is celebrating Thanksgiving as a free person, not in jail, and instead is persecuting anyone and everyone who he has a resentment against is UN-AMERICAN, A DESECRATION OF GOD’S NAME! Yet, these fine ‘good christian nationalists, good orthodox jews’ salute him, going against everything important to Christ, to Moses, to the prophets to God.
Hence, “mankind will not die for lack of information; it may perish for lack of appreciation” I have lived the past 38+ years in appreciation and gratitude. I became grateful early on in my last incarceration which began in Dec 1986. It was around February, after meeting with Rabbi Mel Silverman, z”l, that the seeds of gratitude and appreciation took hold and I have been cultivating them ever since. I don’t like everything that I have experienced in these past 38+ years, I have been an asshole at times, AND I have and am grateful for every moment, every experience of being alive and engaged, every meeting of people who agree with me and who do not, every connection to people from all walks of life and every corner of the world. Each day I have a newfound appreciation for the love I am able to give out and, more importantly, the love I receive from people. Each day I am in awe of the beauty of the world, physically and spiritually, I receive from the Ineffable One a new sense of uplift, a new pair of glasses with which to see, a deeper dive into “being human”. I don’t know everything and I do appreciate what I have, what I don’t have, what I suffer with, and what I am blessed with - I am grateful to all of you who read my blogs, buy my books, buy Harriet Rossetto’s books, and engage with us. GOD BLESS and be safe, Rabbi Mark