Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 270
“A white preacher declared: “The job of a minister is to lead the souls of men to God, not bring about confusion by getting tangled up in transitory social problems.” In contrast to this definition, the prophets passionately proclaim that God himself is concerned with “the transitory social problems”, with the blights of society, with the affairs of the marketplace.”(Thunder in the Soul pg. 53)
The quote above was during the Civil Rights protests because of being denied constitutional rights because of racism and it is eerily appropriate in this moment!With the ICE Raids on people of color, especially Hispanic people, with the anti-semitism being spewed and welcomed by the Far Right and Far Left-which may not be so ‘far’ anymore, and the silence of so many of those “good christian folk and clergy’ who keep proclaiming their cruelty is “in the Name of Jesus”, our country is at a crossroads, our freedoms are being attacked and decimated and We the People can no longer depend on anyone but We the People to save us, to save our democracy, to save the freedoms that our ancestors, parents, fought for and died for.
Who are these “white preachers” to tell We the People that God doesn’t care about the marketplace when we are commanded to do business ethically and morally, when we are commanded to use true weights and measures, when, rather than the “buyer beware”, the Jewish tradition teaches: “the seller must disclose”! There are over 100 laws regarding “kosher” (fitting and proper) ways to do business. The prophets railed against the priests who, like the “white preachers” mentioned above and those of today, bastardized the words of God, the teachings of the Bible. Aren’t these “transitory social problems” exactly what Jesus was speaking about, preaching about and working to change?
This is the calamity of our moment, of our generation: we have forgotten the words and deeds of the prophets, we have not immersed ourselves in their stories and the stories of the times they lived in-seeing it only as myth and not relevant to our lives, to helping us make more money to buy more stuff, to be more distracted, etc. The prophets are our hope and our “pathway to a richer and more meaningful life”, they are the messengers from God that keep speaking to us, that keep calling us to account and keep shouting from the rooftops that We the People Can Be Better; that We the People Can Make Changes and, in turn, change the trajectory of our individual and our communal living. This may be the greatest message of all from the prophets: We the People are not stuck in the quicksand of needs and desires, We the People are not stuck in the self-obsessive, narcissism of the Kings of Israel after King David, We the People are not stuck in the cruelty of Cain, the need to hate and kill our brothers/neighbors.
The question for We the People, of course is: What will it take for us to heed the call of the prophets, to hear the Voice on Sinai that is calling us back, that is begging for us to return to the Covenant of love, justice, truth, kindness, compassion? Every one of the Prophets, while being pissed off mightily, all remind We the People that God wants us back, God will “heal our backsliding and take us back in love” (Jeremiah 3:22). The Prophet Hosea speaks about Israel (We the People) being adulterers and whores AND, God will still take us back, love us, heal us, and support us. Yet, We the People continue to ignore these words, ignore the call, blind ourselves to the natural consequences of our behaviors, of our lack of returning, of our need to blame, of our need to be cruel to ‘those people’ and We the People will pay the price that our inattention to the prophets brought about 2500+ years ago, 2000 years ago and many times since-the destruction of freedom, of democracy, the initiation of slavery, the takeover by autocrats, grifters, liars. Sound familiar anyone???!!
We the People have the solution to the issue facing us right here, right now: The Mitzvot; taking the next right action, immersing ourselves in the ideas, ideals, ways of the Bible, following the examples of Jesus, living the life the prophets give us the blueprint for. Living by the laws of Kosher Business, living by the laws of decency towards one another, living by the laws of holiness, of caring for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the needy and the poor, living a life of meaning and purpose, living as the Japanese say: your ikigai. When We the People are immersed in the Bible, when we are dedicated to the Mitzvot, when we follow the steps of Jesus behaviors, not just the steps he walked, We the People are connected to the source of freedom, justice, mercy, kindness and truth which propels us forward even more. We the People have a conviction like the people of the Civil Rights Era had and We the People will not be stopped, We the People will not give up our freedoms, We the People will vanquish the autocrat at our door, at least for this moment. Then, We the People must commit to study the prophets, immerse ourselves in the Bible and find the similarities and the needs we have for those who ‘are not like us’ and love them because they are like ourselves.
This is a passion I have dealt with for a long time. My father was a firebrand when it came to justice, to racial equality, to the “affairs of the marketplace”. He did not live to see his beliefs come to fruition, he did instill in his sons and daughter a passion for ethical behavior, a demand to do the next right thing, a need to look inside of ourselves. While I was later to the party than my siblings, these ways have been and continue to be my guiding light, my north star, my home base. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark