Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 124
“God had to bury truth in order to create man. How does one ever encounter the truth? The truth is underground, hidden from the eye. Its nature and man’s condition are such that he can neither produce nor invent it. However, there is a way. If you bury the lies, truth will spring up.”(Insecurity of Freedom pg. 22)
Living in Trump’s “alternative facts” universe is the proof that “he can neither produce nor invent” truth. We are incapable of doing this, yet people throughout the millennia have tried and failed, leading to the wreck and ruin of civilizations, human beings, and progress. Think of the myriad of peoples, ideas and progressive ways of being that were shut down by being conquered by the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, etc. All of these conquerers believed that ‘might makes right’ and denied the truth of Zechariah’s prophecy: “not by might, not by power, but by My spirit”. Of course they also denied the “truth” of monotheism with their pantheon of gods and the stories about them.
It is a problem that has dogged humanity through today-“how can I make my lies into someone else’s truth” is a question that was most prevalent for Josef Goebbels so he set out to do exactly this. He was not the first nor the last and he was, however, one of the best and his example has been followed and honed ever since. “Accuse another of that which you are guilty of” was his phrase and, as we can see with Trump, Vance, Hegseth, Vought, and especially Miller, this way of being is the modus operandi for the current administration and the chaos this brings is celebrated and enjoyed by these wannabe despots. While it is easy and important to point out the evil being perpetrated upon all of us by these grifters and deceivers, it is as important for all of us to look at how we try to “invent” the truth. Be it by denying things in our past, by refusing to make amends, by blaming another for that which we are guilty of, and so many other “truths” we attempt to “invent”. It is important, as we have only 19 days till Shavuot, 19 days until we receive “Truth” and commit to live in it, so it is a good idea to let go of the ‘truths we have invented’ and, like we did during Passover, get down to our basic truth of being human, of being a divine need and reminder. It is important to return to our position as being a partner with the universe, the Ineffable One, to finish creating a world where the practice of “freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein is lived into by everyone. It is crucial that we return to the “Truth” that the Torah brings to us, as I have said before, the Torah, the Bible, are books of eternal truth and wisdom, whether one wants to believe the stories actually happened or are told as examples.
My focus, however, is “there is a way. If you bury the lies, truth will spring up.” Since my recovery began, I have spent parts of each day looking at the lies I tell myself. I found it to be crucial to living well to jettison the lies I lived by for so long and to be careful about the ones I was making up, both wittingly and unwittingly. Human beings tell themselves lies all the time in order to cope with the realities of living. To overcome the dread and despair that we all will die, eventually, we deny that we are going to die today so we can carry on otherwise, we would either stay in bed or be so reckless we would take chances and risks that could kill us. This is a ‘good’ lie, one that motivates us to live today. What Rabbi Heschel is speaking of, of course, are the insidious lies that human beings tell themselves. The lies of Goebbels and Trump, Vought and Eichmann, the lies that one human being by the ‘luck’ of their race is better than another human being of another race, that skin color determines worth, that Jews are inferior to Christians, Jews killed Christ, that God only loves ___(fill in the blank), that the wealthy and powerful actually know better and should be worshipped, and so many other bullshit stories that have been told and believed. Isn’t it time for all of us to let go of these lies, to stop believing the MAGA bullshit, the Aryan bullshit, the Putin/Orban bullshit?
Isn’t it time for We the People to build on what the Church as done by investing Pope Leo XIV? Isn’t it time for We the People to build on Rabbi Heschel’s teachings above, on the teachings of Buber, Rav Kook, the Baal Shem, the Ramban, and so many other Jewish philosophers through the ages? Isn’t it time for We the People to embrace the power of the upcoming holiday of Shavuot and invest ourselves seriously in the Tikkun L’Eil Shavuot, the repairing/fixing/rectifying ourselves before the evening before Shavuot. While it is usually done on the evening of Shavuot(remember Jewish days begin in the evening), it is something that the teaching above reminds us is important to do everyday. We will never be able to hear, read, see, live into “TRUTH” without first rectifying the lies we tell ourselves. We will never be able to receive Torah, receive Truth without first letting go of the lies we are telling ourselves. It took 49 days and a lot of complaining and getting clean for the former slaves to be able to receive Torah and what was their response: “we will do and then we will understand”, realizing that trying to discern what the meaning of a mitzvah is prior to engaging in it is impossible. This may be the biggest lie we tell ourselves: we have to understand something before we can do it. How ridiculous, can you truly explain to me the experience of watching a sunset, of being on the Ocean, of climbing the top of the mountain, of running a marathon, of love prior to engaging in it? OF COURSE NOT! Yet, we are willing to believe the lies we tell ourselves, we are willing to give our power over to Trump, Vought, Miller because we are buying into their lies and we have been willing to discriminate against another so we can feel better about ourselves. We will never be able to receive Torah, to live into the Biblical Wisdom while clothed in these and so many other Lies We Tell Ourselves!
I don’t understand the workings of the internet nor the computer I am writing on, so I just engage with them and what I need happens-this is not magic, it is seeking truth, seeking wisdom, seeking the humility to know I can never “know” everything nor do I need to. I do understand love because I engage in it, I do understand lies because I lived so many for so long and they brought ruin to me and all around me. I do understand the power of truth, of T’Shuvah because I have engaged in them both for the past 38 years and found joy, passion and purpose. I know the power of the lies we tell about another in order to feel good about ourselves. I know the power of denying the opportunity for T’Shuvah while wrapping oneself in the garments of God, of ‘righteousness’, of doing good. I know the bullshit of the lies and everyday work to rid myself of the ones that are harming me and you. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark