Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 307
“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)
Isn’t this the issue for We the People in this moment, in every moment? We are created in “the likeness” of God, we are called upon to “imitate God”, “walk in God’s ways”, “love mercy, do justly” “and yet” We the People have “defiled, distorted and forfeited” the very attributes that make us human, that make us more than the homo-sapiens, more than a species among species! AND I am MAD AS HELL and do not understand how everyone, regardless of political, religious, spiritual persuasion is NOT MAD AS HELL!
While I point to, as many people do, to Trump, Lutnick, Kushner, Vance, Vought, Miller, et al as focal points; the truth of our situation lies with ALL of We the People because We allowed these idolators in, We welcomed these defilers of their and our “likeness of God” that is within everyone. We begged them to lie to us, to feed our own self-deception so as to distort the image of God We all are endowed with upon birth. We have clapped like trained seals as these idolators, their clergy and ours have conned us to forfeit our imitation of God by doing good, by doing what is right, by living according to a set of principles that override our “heart and our eyes” so we don’t “whore after them” as the 3rd paragraph of the Shema teaches. Yet, We the People are continuing to allow, welcome, invite the current administration to grift, to lie, to engage in senseless hatred, to welcome anti-semites, Muslim haters, Christ haters into their little tent! WTF??
The issue today is not ‘them’, it is us. We the People have become so spiritually bankrupt, we have spent entire bank accounts of decency, morality, fighting for the needy, the poor, the stranger, the widow, the orphan that our grandparents, parents willed to us and we have not put enough back in to ride out the storming of the Capital by Jan. 6 rioters, the Reichstag Fire of ‘those vermin poisoning the blood of our people’, ie anyone who isn’t White, Christian Nationalist or a useful ally for right now. It is boring and tiring to listen to ‘those good people’ complain about the Epstein debacle while still supporting the idiotic tariffs, the cruelty of ICE, etc. We the People seem to have forgotten that “Male and Female God created them both”, so the mistreatment of women, the misogyny that is rampant is against the Biblical teaching in the first chapter of Genesis! We the People are giving short shrift to “love your neighbor as yourself” every time we support and/or engage in any prejudices, any type, form of racism, and support of autocrats, fascists, etc. Whenever We the People go along with, elect, support, cheer the people who deny “Proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein” by lying, by name calling, by obfuscation, by sleight of hand, by grift, etc, We the People are the problem-not the ones taking these reprehensible actions!
We the People have to return to living a Spiritual Life, We the People have to seek out physicians of the soul, people to help us recover our spiritual health, someone to help us replenish our spiritual and moral bank accounts. Is Clergy the answer? MAYBE, unfortunately most clergy are not taught how to be Spiritual Counselors, they are taught to “refer them out” after a few visits. How ridiculous, when people come to their Rabbi, Priest, Minister, Imam they are not coming for Mental Health help-they are coming to find their souls, to find their way forward in a world that has baffled them, they are seeking a deeper connection with “their own likeness”. This is the path “to recognize and preserve our likeness” and this is the job of We the People first and foremost. Yet, society laughs at people who seek our spiritual health, spiritual help because it ‘isn’t scientific’, you can’t have ‘measurable objects’ so it isn’t valid. BULLSHIT! It is exactly this kind of stupidity that prevents us from the “distortion” of “our likeness”. It is WAY PAST TIME for We the People to recover our “likeness”, WAY PAST TIME for We the People to recover and preserve our “likeness”, WAY PAST TIME to throw the BUMS OUT and make a decision to turn towards the “likeness of God” we are created in, see the image of God of everyone around us, engage with one another from our shared humanity, shared “likeness”, “to imitate God, to act in mercy, and love”. WILL YOU?
I have been thinking a lot about these words, they permeate my soul, I have had a “spiritual counselor” since I began my recovery some 38 years ago in Prison with Rabbi Mel Silverman, z”l. I have been a spiritual counselor to many over these years and it is humbling, joyful, heartbreaking, and I have so much gratitude for being able to serve another human being in their journey to their soul. I have fucked up, I have gotten angry, I have confused at times righteous anger for ego anger and I am clearer on this now, more than ever. I am spiritually fit enough to be hurt by people and not need to be resentful nor get even. I am so concerned not to engage in “distortion” because I refuse to willfully distort, defile my “likeness” and I know how easy it is to this. It takes constant awareness, a continued reflection of what is going on within me, what my outer actions are, and a rolodex of phone numbers for people who can speak to my soul, people who can hear me and I can hear. These are the ways I ensure that my “likeness” isn’t “forfeited, defiled, distorted”. These are also the ways I defy the liars, the cheats, the fascists, the autocrats seeking to grift, keep power and defile another human being, be they Trumpers, MAGA, Bibi-lovers, Ben G’vir/Smotrich allies. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark