Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 115
“Mankind will not perish for lack of information; it may collapse for want of appreciation.” (Insecurity of Freedom pg 21)
Today is Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day. It is also the 18th day of the Counting of the Omer. While there will be celebrations of Israel’s independence in Israel and across the Jewish world today, there will be people deep into the different meanings of the Omer for today, there will be great sadness and hatred that Israel exists in many quarters, will there be “appreciation” of the facts that we count the Omer to this day, that we take seriously our march from liberation (Passover) to freedom which happens as a sudden event on Shavuot?
We are so caught up in our ‘fact-finding’ missions that many of us fail to “smell the roses” and are unaware of what is truly going on around us! We have lost our sense of “appreciation” because we keep trying to explain everything, we keep wanting to conquer everything in front of us, we keep trying to have dominion and rule over people and do not show no “appreciation” for the divine image planted within each and every human being. We are so fearless in our march for power and control or fearful of the power and control by another, we fail to appreciate the power within us to do the next right thing, to have “appreciation” that one mitzvah leads to another and the reward is in the doing, not the getting! Today, on this day that should be a celebration, many Jews are lamenting the loss of spirit of the pioneers who fought against all odds to keep Israel a nation, a democracy on its first day of existence when the Arab Nations attacked from all sides! Today, as we are in the 2nd third of the counting of the Omer, many of us are lamenting the loss of the spirit of the Torah that the Ultra-Orthodox are trying to eradicate, that some of the Jews in America believe should be eradicated with their undying support for the policies of hatred towards the stranger, criminalizing the poor, and kicking the needy into the streets instead of into places of care-physical, emotional, spiritual.
How does this happen? All faiths have within them a practice of gratitude, all spiritual disciplines promote and foster an attitude of gratitude. It happens when there is a “want of appreciation”, a lack of gratitude for what we have and gratitude for what we don’t have. Each morning a Jew is to thank God for “returning my soul to me with compassion” and acknowledge God’s “great faithfulness” in each one of us. I believe every faith tradition has such a prayer. Most of us repeat these words by rote, if at all, and fail to truly appreciate the enormous miracle of our waking up! We have become inured to the miracles around us, to the sun rising, the sun setting and, because they are ‘commonplace’, we have forgotten how miraculous these happenings are. We take for granted some relationships, especially familial, and then POOF there is an argument and everyone is so interested in being right, they forget to show “appreciation” for the numerous times this family member has supported, uplifted, helped them. Because we take so much for granted because of our intellectual prowess, our need and capability to ‘explain’ everything we lost our ability to show “appreciation” for what is, for the miracles, for the ‘everyday’ occurrences that we have explained away because if we show “appreciation”, we will have to accept our limitations, we will have to make ourselves right-sized, we can no longer believe it is our ‘right’ to have dominion and rule over another human being(s), we can no longer treat people unkindly, we can no longer seek to deceive and worship idols. We can no longer deny the foundational aspects of democracy, the foundational tenets of the Bible, the New Testament, etc. In other words, we have to give up the bullshit we tell ourselves and spread like wildfire throughout the world. How many likes for our cruelty will no longer matter, what will matter is how many likes we get for telling the truth, for showing kindness, for being just. All of these ‘boring’ paths of life will be raised back to being the “standard of care” for each and every human being.
We the People can make this happen and today, Israel Independence Day, is a perfect time to begin! It takes a reorientation of priorities, a return to what truly matters in life, a new response to everyday affairs, to showing “appreciation” for the holiness and connectivity of this moment with the person in front, on the side, and behind us. We the People are being called upon to sacrifice our false egos, to let go of our need to be right, jettison away our misbelief that we “control the world”, end our fascination with Pharaoh, Genghis Khan, Hitler, Stalin, Putin, Orban, et al. We the People are counting the Omer to remind ourselves that to “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”(Lev. 25:10) takes more than a phrase or a campaign slogan, it takes action that enhances our ability to show “appreciation” for who we are, for what we are, for what we have. To show “appreciation” is to be grateful and to understand that life is not perfect nor are we humans. To be fallible and accountable, to be committed to growth spiritually and emotionally, to not let our fears run us and to make kindness, justice, mercy, love, truth a daily practice is to show “appreciation” for being alive, “appreciation for being free”. Using the gift of free-will, the gift of our intuitive mind, is another exquisite way of showing “appreciation” for being alive, for being human. The question in front of all of us, on this 18th day of the Omer, on this commemoration of the fight and the spirit of the Israeli pioneers, is: Will we continue to abuse our fellow human beings just because we can or will we show “appreciation” for what we have and give our “intuitive mind” control of our rational desires and make the phrase from Leviticus above into a reality!
I am guilty of not showing “appreciation” all the time. While I am truly grateful for my life and all of my experiences, I forget to show “appreciation” to the ones I love at times, especially when I am scared and too focused on what I am doing. When I make “winning” more important than enjoying the ride, I lack “appreciation” for what is and for the people in my life as well as the stranger, the poor, and the needy. I do this most with my wife, Harriet, and I am sorry for these outbursts and commit to control myself, remember how blessed I am and show my thanks to God by being grateful to the people in my orbit! I am good about not trying to control all my surroundings and staying “in my lane” for the most part. I am aghast at the lack of “appreciation” shown by those ‘good christian folk’ in the current administration who are descendants of the pagans of old, the KKK of the 20th Century. My appreciation will show by my dedication to not allowing evil to win! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark