Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 298
“No single attribute can convey the nature of God’s relationship to man. Since justice is His nature, love, which would disregard the evil deeds of man, our contradict His nature. Because of His concern for man, His justice is tempered with mercy. Divine anger is not the antithesis of love, but its counterpart, a help to justice as demanded by true love.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 40)
In these words above, Rabbi Heschel is explaining the ‘dual’ nature of God, the ‘dual’ nature of human beings. Yet, as I hear him saying, these are not ‘dual’ natures, these seemingly opposite attributes are “counterparts” and when we are not having one balance the other, one be the argued of the other, We the People are out of proper measure and, by being in this state, doing evil, doing wrong, and harming our souls, harming the people around us, and, of course harming God.
Accepting that our natures are not contradictory is a sign of spiritual and psychological maturity. It is an acceptance of truth at it’s most basic and deepest level. To know that our attributes have to work together so we can a) do our work; b) realize and learn more about our soul’s call; c) accept our imperfections as opportunities for growing; d) being part of a community that is engaged in spiritual, psychological growth in order to be more aware of and live into our higher consciousness more and more.
This is what I am hearing from Rabbi Heschel’s words today. It is one of the most important lessons for parenting, for teaching, for counseling, for living a whole life, a holy life. Unfortunately, our religious education doesn’t do this, it is more focused on believing, on rituals, on technical skills-all of which are also important and have their place- and not on the what these practices do for the soul, the mind of the individual. We the People have lost a generation or two/three because the Clergy preach and don’t relate the preaching and the Bible to what we are going through today for the majority of people. They dictate, they teach about the ugly parts of the Bible, they just don’t focus on the 10 Sayings, on the Mitzvot that teach about “God’s love” for the widow and the orphan, “God’s”commitment to obtain “justice” for the stranger, the poor, the needy. We the People have ignored the truth that the Bible gives us, the divine gift of how to be in any and all situations, the key to understanding “God’s attributes” not as arbitrary and based on whims, rather as a deep concern for humankind and an attempt(s) to bring We the People home to our spiritual nature, home to the love we receive when we are surrounded by people who KNOW us, home to the strength of belonging. This is the true “nature of God” as it is the true nature of human beings.
Yet, once again because of our arrogance, because of the narcissistic nature We the People seem to embrace more and more, because of the need for power and control that some of We the People can never satisfy-we are living in another time where INJUSTICE is being spoken of as if it is “Justice” according to Jesus, according to ‘god’ of the power-hungry’s making. We are in the throes of retribution that is anything but divine, it is a seeking by the few to have power over the many, it is a power-play to ensure White Christian Nationalists keep the power they have now and expand it even more. The Jews who join them, like the Young Republicans, the Kushner, Lutnick, Miller, Bessent, are in for a rude awakening when the KKK rises up from the ashes and kicks the kikes out once and for all. While these Jews ignore the Goebbels’ messaging, the Kristalnacht pattern of ICE’s attacks, the ‘good Christian folk’ in the bowels of government, in the heights of K Street, are planning for the 4th Reich or something akin to it.
That any of We the People would believe that these clergy spouting bullshit supporting Trump, Bibi, Putin, an Israel that is unrecognizable to many of us, an America that many of us, stupidly, believed had grown, is good, is holy is UNIMAGINABLE! It is the height of stupidity and, here we are. We the People are living in the “worst of times” because we are living in the stupidest of times. We the People are being called by the words above, by the moment we are in to stand up, to call on our own inner “divine anger”, to realize the practice of “divine love” also means saying NO to lies, NO to cruelty, NO to injustice, NO to bullies, NO to greed, NO to destroying the soul of America, the soul of Israel. We the People are being called to say YES to JUSTICE, YES to LOVE, YES to MERCY, YES to CREATING SOULS as Abraham and Sarah taught us in the Bible. THE QUESTION IS: IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
Once again, I am animated beyond the beyond by Rabbi Heschel’s words and my understanding of them. I know that I am over the top about this and I still am because I know the danger of not recognizing danger quickly enough, not knowing the soul needs of ourselves and finding the ‘filling station’ for them. Because of not heeding these dangers, because of my inability to hear and listen, I went down to the depths of hell and took no prisoners. Only through hearing God’s “anger”, only by experiencing God’s “concern” for me, only by experiencing “His justice tempered with mercy” have I been able to grow my spiritual life, be in the process of maturing my soul and live with the dignity and worth that I was endowed with at birth. There are no words to describe the blessing and gift that divine justice, divine mercy, divine anger and divine love have combined to help my life flourish. Living in the counterparts of our nature, of our attributes, has given me a life way beyond my deserving and I experience joy all the time. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark