Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 312
“Our age is one in which usefulness is thought to be the chief merit of nature; in which the attainment of power, the utilization of its resources is taken to be the chief purpose of man in God’s creation. Man has indeed become primarily a tool-making animal and the world is not a gigantic toolbox for the satisfaction of his needs.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 58)
These words have so much to do with who we, as human beings, are that I am going to spend a few days taking my time with these thoughts. In the words bolded above, we find the truth of what is happening in our world today. It is not, as we can see, a new story and it is one that seems to be on steroids right now. “The attainment of power” being “the chief purpose of man in God’s creation” is on full display in the United States, in Russia, in Israel, in China and in other parts of the globe. Interestingly, Europe, which has been the scene of some of the greatest examples of this truth, is trying to bring us all back from the brink and, alas, Trump and his cronies in other countries just don’t want to hear it.
The smaller the person, the more immature the spiritual health of a person, the weaker the morality, the more fragile the ego of a human being seems to make “the attainment of power” necessary for one’s survival. As Lyndon Johnson said: “If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.” Whether it is racism, xenophobia, religious dominance, just plain old greed, the need for a human being to be so caught up in “net worth = self worth” is devastating our country, our independence, our interdependence, our freedom.
This is not an issue that is a right-wing issue, this is a human condition that must be addressed before it completely destroys us. Yet, we are reluctant to address the evil of this “chief purpose of man in God’s creation” as we saw with Merritt Garland not taking on the Trump crimes sooner, as we see with the Supreme Court not curbing the power grab of Trump, Vought, Miller, et al, as we see with the American People who are getting screwed by Trump’s grift and his getting into bed with anyone who says nice things to him and does business with him/his sons/Jared Kushner. It is an issue in Israel with the people who are protecting the fascist Prime Minister from any inquiry on QatarGate, on October 7, 2023 failure, on the devastation in Gaza, on the horrific ways of the settlers in the West Bank. AND We the People are standing idly by the blood of our neighbors, we are silent as the hatred of the stranger grows unabated and we call ourselves ‘religious people’ , ‘good christians, good jews’ who go against basic tenets found in the Bible, foundational principles found in the 10 Sayings at Sinai, not responding to the daily call of “where are you” by God.
It is so past time for WE THE PEOPLE to stand up and take back our freedoms, to sit down with the people we don’t know, ie the stranger, the poor, the rich, the person of color, the white person, the Jew, the Christian, the Muslim, the practitioners of Eastern philosophies, and find our commonality in being human. We are being called to end our assault on truth, on our environment, on our healthcare, on vaccines, on our children by their devices and ‘big brother’ listening to everything we are saying. It is way past time for us to say NO to the onslaught of technology that is killing our humanity, robbing us of our freedom to think, do, to be free rather than worry about what will be taken out of context and used against us. Now is the time for WE THE PEOPLE to stand up against the bullying of Trump and his thugs, the hatred of people towards Hispanics, Blacks, Jews, etc-you notice that no white people who are undocumented are being rounded up- and call this facade what it is-fascist racism. Hitler used the Jews, the ‘christian’ nationalists today use Hispanics, Blacks and Jews because they don’t want to be seen as prejudiced!!
America deserting our allies in favor of Putin, in favor of MBS, Qatar, etc is despicable and depressing. What is more despicable and depressing is that we are allowing it to happen. What is more depressing is that the ‘progressive’ left has their own prejudices and hatreds. All because of a spiritual immaturity, a denial of the Oneness of the Ineffable One, the idiotic bullshit that ‘god only loves my kind’, the lying and rabble-rousing of Clergy from all faiths. PEOPLE it is way past time for us to demand a spiritual renewal, a study of the prophets and a return to a path of being human and holy!
I am well aware of the ways of power-seekers, of making power “the chief purpose” of my life because I always felt so powerless. I was hellbent on proving my power, proving my worth, proving, proving and never realized that what I was trying to prove and to whom I was trying to prove it was bullshit and wrong. I came to this realization in prison the 2nd time. I have nurtured this truth and grown my joy at being powerless to do God’s job, to be God, to prove to someone who needs to be right at all costs, to make someone bend to my will. Instead, I have learned and keep learning how to speak to people in ways that God would have me speak, to use my voice to stand up for the widow, the orphan, the stranger and the needy. I have learned and keep learning how to make changes within me, to stand for truth, to stand for what is right, to stand against cruelty, to stand for decency, being one grain of sand more holy each day, to admit my errors, and to no longer be dictated to nor accept the judgmental nature of another. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark