Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 306
“To imitate God, to act as He acts in mercy and love, is the way of enhancing our likeness. Man becomes what he worships… And yet that likeness may be defiled, distorted, and forfeited… The goal of man is to recognize and preserve his likeness or at least to prevent its distortion.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 43)
At a Chanukah Party last night, there were 8 Hanukiahs and the light was bright and watching the flames soar into the sky was breathtaking. Looking at the fellow celebrants and the hosts through this fire revealed their likeness shining from their souls, some of the people knew/know of their likeness and others not so much. Harriet and I have been having a discussion about her experience speaking at the Unitarian Church here in the desert and being in a synagogue community here. Harriet remarked the difference is the Unitarians know the principles of Unitarianism and live into them the best they can and in the synagogue, not so sure. The words above in the first two sentences are so crucial to living Jewishly-which most Jews don’t know nor realize- and I am concerned We the Jewish Clergy have failed in our mission, our calling, the demand to “teach our children”, “to walk humbly in the ways of God”.
This is NOT to say the Jews in the Pews at any Temple/Synagogue are not good people or they do NOT act “in mercy and love”. Rather, as I immerse myself in the words above, think about my experiences, know that money still is more important, or at least as important, as service, as “acts in mercy and love” within most institutions, I understand Rabbi Heschel’s concern, his clear-eyed sight of what is, what could be, what must be, and the dangers of not “enhancing our likeness.” Rather, what I am saying is We the Jews, We the People are in danger of forgetting “our likeness”, as our engagement with cruelty, with anti-semitism, with hatred of people of color, LGBTQ+ human beings increases. As Christian Nationalism rises, so does the KKK ideas and ideals, as Christian Nationalism gets stronger, the teachings and ways of Christ diminishes because they are portrayed falsely, they are bastardized and the preachers of this path do NOT care about the souls of the people, they are not concerned with “the way of enhancing our likeness” because they want the power. The irony here, of course, is that these Christian Nationalists are the exact people Christ was railing against.
Closer to home, for me, is how Jews can support these behaviors and this way of thinking/being. As the promoters of being created in “the likeness” and image of God, as the people who brought decency, morality, caring for the sick and the needy, the poor and the stranger, being commanded to be merciful and to love the stranger, our neighbor, to stand for what is holy and good, how can any Jew go along with MAGA, with Trump, Putin, Bibi, Lutnick, Kushner?? This baffles me because they are worshipping Mamon- money, power, prestige-not God, not truth, not kindness, not justice. WTF, my fellow Jews, how can any of us not differentiate between saving Israel from Hamas and saving Israel from a right-wing takeover, a religious takeover by the so-called Ultra Orthodox who don’t worship God, they worship Halacha, they worship the Talmud, they don’t treat the stranger with love, they do not care about the poor except the poor in their community that they want everyone else to take care of. Instead of living the principles of Torah, they claim studying it is enough and we see where that has gotten us. I call BULLSHIT on these liars, these idolators-Jew, Christian, Muslim.
What are We the People doing so we are “enhancing our likeness”? Are we imitating God by seeking out one another to see how our neighbor is doing? Are we saying hello to people on the street-recognizing their divine image, letting them know we know they matter? Are we engaging in ways that educate, mature our spiritual health? Are we showing mercy and kindness to the people around us, to the people who need it in our community? Are we, even in war, knowing the person who is our enemy is still created “in the likeness of God”? Are we worshipping God or an idol of our own making? Are we worshipping money more than spirit, prestige more than what is right, self-deception more than truth?
What is the state of our “likeness”? What are the ways We the People check in our divine image each day? What are we doing to make our corner of the world a little better?
These questions, these looks at my “likeness” is a daily routine for me and I hope for you, after today’s writing. I know that I have not been perfect, that money has had a lure that drove me away from my path to “imitate God, to act as He acts in mercy and love”. I also know those times have been at a minimum since my recovery began, since I started to hear the call of God, to learn what God is telling me at any given moment. I know what it is like to not be merciful and loving both as the one who isn’t and the one who sought it and was rejected. I know what it is like to be at the ‘mercy’ of those who believe optics is more important than truth, that ‘being on the right side’ is more important than “enhancing our likeness”. I know what it is like to worship anything other than God and where that took me-to the depths of jail, prison, spiritual bankruptcy. I know what it is like to watch, in horror, as people ‘in charge’ worship at the altars of ‘progressive’, at the altars of ‘fascism’, at the altars of ‘what will the neighbors think’, at the altars of ‘success=money’, etc. I know the joy of living into the “divine image” we are created in, growing in spirit to becoming the soul we are created to be, celebrating our uniqueness and no longer bowing down to the idols of self-deception, money, power, cruelty, needing to be right, etc. This is how I continue to grow my “likeness” and engage in “acts of mercy and love”. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark