Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 308
“Nothing is more useful than power, nothing more frightful. We have often suffered from degradation by poverty; now we are threatened with degradation through power.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 57)
Reading these words, some 50+ years after they were written, reading the Prophets, reading books that are works of ‘fiction’ that turn out to be prescient, I am left wondering what the issue is with humanity that we just don’t listen?! Society is constantly searching for an either/or solution, a right/wrong scenario, a good/bad conclusion and this is just not how the world works, not the spiritual world nor the material world. We see this in our courts, in our laws, in our governance, in our learning. When we learn more, when we re-learn what was thought to be known, when we are in “radical amazement”, we see the both/and that the Hebrew Bible speaks to, we experience the learning that the truth is wider and more complex, made up of more parts that any one human being can comprehend; hence our need to be in community, to be a community of learners rather than experts, a community of seekers rather than know it alls, a community of caring and compassion, mercy, justice, love and kindness.
Of course “nothing is more useful than power”, without it nothing gets done. However, what power are we speaking of when We the People use this word? Are we speaking of the power of the self to regulate our emotions, to manage our passions, to control, transform, and use wisely our “evil inclination”? Are we speaking of the power to dominate another human being, to degrade another person, group of people, to end learning more about self and the ways to be a better self? These are not the only choices, of course, yet they are two major rivers/oceans in which power resides and the rest are tributaries of these two, I believe. What we have seen throughout our history, in the 2 World Wars and all the other ones as well, is the use of power to dominate, to dehumanize a group, a country, a faith, a people and it is revolting, disgusting, and not based in the spirit of the Bible. Yet, so many ‘preachers, rabbis, imams’ spew this bullshit, these tired phrases cleaning up what is clearly the same language and actions of the Pharaoh in Egypt, it is the height of mendacity, similar to the priests in the Temple of old who sold out to the wealthy, the rulers, their own needs and greeds.
What are we to do? ACTION! We the People are being called to the carpet, we are being asked to stand up for what is right and good. There is a demand emanating from Mount Sinai to SHEMA, to hear, listen and understand the way power is being used is degrading to both the ones being degraded and to those of us who are watching the current horror show. To SHEMA implies a very close hearing, a hearing which includes listening for the ping or the thud in the words being spoken and written. It includes staying sharp and aware, awake and on guard for the slightest indication that all is not as is being spoken. It includes a commitment to understand the implications and ramifications of what the speaker is proposing on both we and the rest of we. Power is consolidated to ‘improve’ the life of those who wield it, those who are close to the ones who wield power and to screw over anyone and everyone else-not even intentionally at times, just that’s the way it works when the people in power are small, are spiritually stunted, are morally challenged. In other words when there are people like Trump, Putin, Netanyahu in power, We the People are all in trouble-even the ones who ‘think’ they are safe because either or all of these three (and the myriad like them in power today) are ‘my people’. Whenever power is misused, whenever power becomes “frightful”, there are no ‘my people’ because the one in power becomes fixated on keeping the power, on punishing anyone who could hold them accountable, on ensuring their line continues to flourish and enslaving the people he/she needs to serve her/him.
Hearing, listening, and understanding the call from Sinai, the lies of the power-hungry misogynists, the idolatry of any type of ‘religious nationalism’, the picking and choosing of biblical phrases to validate your evilness, is the challenge for We the People, today as it has been in every age. On Hanukkah we sing “in every age a hero or sage” has come to our rescue. Well People, we have them today, we had them 50+ years ago, we had them 100 years ago and the question being asked today of all of us, The People is “when will we ever learn”?! Haven’t we seen enough degradation by ICE, haven’t we witnessed enough hardship because of Trump’s obsession with Putin, with MBS, with Qatar? What is the goal of the Christian Nationalists if not absolute power by their degradation of women’s capabilities and rights, by their winks and outright slogans of anti-semitism, by their disgust towards people of color? WAKE THE FUCK UP PEOPLE!
I am angry and scared, I know the power of words, the power of speech. I have misused both in the past, even in the now. There is no perfection AND it is time for all of us to stop pointing our fingers, it is time to SHEMA the words of Christ: “whoever is without sin, cast the first stone”. I have to get my own house in order, which I do everyday and because I am aware of my own “missing the mark” I can point out the errors of another, of all of We the People. It is way past time for me to stop hiding, to stop worrying about what vulnerabilities from my past will be used against me. I am flawed! I have made my amends, done my T’Shuvah and the need by some people to degrade me and my accomplishments because of a mistake-albeit a big one- is exactly the type of behavior being used by the people in power today. I no longer care what ‘they’ say; I am me and will continue to speak out. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark