Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 141
“The greatest heresy is despair, despair of men’s power for goodness, men’s power for love. It is not enough to exhort the Government. What we must do is set an example, not merely to acknowledge the Negro but to welcome him, not grudgingly but joyously, to take delight in enabling him to enjoy what is due him. We are all Pharaohs or slaves of Pharaoh. It is sad to be a slave of Pharaoh. It is horrible to be a Pharaoh.
These words which were the opening address at The National Conference on Race and Religion in Chicago in January 1963, marking 100 years since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, are more relevant and important for us to hear today than they were even then-and they were pretty important then!! “Despair” is the “greatest heresy” comes from deep within Judaism, from the 4th chapter of the Bible when God asks Cain; “why are you angry, why has your face fallen? If you do good, it is accepted, if you don’t, sin(negativity) couches at your door, it desires you much and you can master it.”(Gen. 4:6-7). These words confirm that negativity, “despair” are part of the human condition and they can be overcome. To give in to “despair” is to deny this basic truth, to deny one of the firsts teachings in the Bible, it is to “choose”(“heresy” comes from the Greek word “hairesis” which means choice) to deny this basic truth, to deny our ability to choose, to deny what makes us human, according to Rabbi Abraham Twerski, who says what makes us human is our ability to make “free-will moral choice”. “Despair” is a choice, chemical depression is not, “despair” as I am hearing Rabbi Heschel is a spiritual condition, a spiritual malady that we can recover from and “master it”. It takes a lot of spiritual work, it means we have to grow and mature our souls, it means we have to stop believing “what the mind can conceive, man can achieve” and “I think, therefore I am”. Rather, we need to learn/relearn that our “intuitive mind is a gift” and our “rational mind a servant”, using the servant to serve the gift rather than making the servant the arbiter of the gift and our actions. We need to learn/relearn that our higher consciousness, our soul’s knowing stands has a greater view of what is, they have the eyes looking forward, looking back and seeing what is in this moment and the wisdom and understanding to discern the next right action to take. Living in spiritual healthiness, spiritual maturing, is the best antidote to “despair” because anything else allows the Bastards to Win! The Bastards being the people who want to deny We the People the rights that our Flag represents, the rights that are enshrined in our Constitution, the rights that are the goals waiting to be fulfilled of the Declaration of Independence. Giving into the despair that comes in waves when we see the bastardization of religious values, of democratic norms, of freedom itself is the greatest sin because, these sinners want to ‘win’ and make us believe we cannot master them, even though the Bible they promote tells us so. We the People are being called as we were in January of 1963 to stand up, to rule our despair and take the energy to fight back against the sins of the people in power and the sins of their followers-the denial of freedom, the denial of the “unalienable rights” in the Declaration of Independence.
Tonight begins Shavuot and, in many homes, communities people will study all night In preparation for Receiving the Torah. The words “Na’Aseh V’Nishma, we will do, then we will understand” that the Israelite people said to Moses are the words we need to say tonight, tomorrow and everyday. Judaism is not a dogmatic way of living, it is not about the rituals as the Prophets remind us, it is about the heart, it is about our actions. Hence, giving into “despair” is a total surrender to mendacity and to some “Pharaoh” that we know well and have escaped from before (remember the Haggadah). Yet, too many people commit this “greatest heresy” by giving into the lies of Trumpism, the bullshit by Hegseth, the bastardization by Bondi, and the idolatry of Paula Cain-White! Rather than be angry at the people who “still want to believe” in the goodness and rightness of these autocrats, we should have Rachmones, compassionate pity for them because they are so pathetic they don’t even know how much despair they are in nor how to “master it”. Rather than seek responses from God, from the Bible (New Testament) they are being bamboozled by the misinterpretations of the fundamentalist Preachers, Priests, Rabbis and Imams who continue to insert and purposely hide the import of the words “Love the Stranger”, “Proclaim Freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”, “One law for the Citizen and Stranger alike”, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, etc.
When we said “Na’Aseh V’Nishma, we will do and then we will understand” at Mount Sinai, it was a commitment for all ages, for all of us the descendants of those who stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, with trembling awe to hear and accept the words ‘spoken’ there. Each of us had a different experience, a different understanding of what was being said, ergo: we will do it and then we will understand. This is not a ‘blind faith’ way of being, rather it is doing something with our eyes wide open so we can learn and improve, we can experience and understand, we can make the necessary changes that different moments call for and our prejudices and bias’ will not stop us from taking the next right action. “Despair” no longer lives at our address once we receive, accept, and live into the Torah from Mount Sinai-it is a visitor for many and it cannot live with us, it will not rule over us when we live into the ways of being human found in the Torah, found in the examples and teachings of Jesus. CAN’T HAPPEN!
“Despair” has never been a friend of mine, in fact when it has visited I have become even more over the top in fighting it. I have gone to war with “despair” in my work to help another overcome their desire to give in to and say “fuck it”, “what’s the point”. I have watched in horror and sadness the people I have not been able to help kill themselves literally and/or figuratively. “Despair” is antithetical to me because I wake up each morning grateful to be alive, even at my lowest, I believed change was coming. In my recovery, I know change is coming, I know the secret to living well is “this too shall pass” and to be aware and alert to the “sin” of “despair” so I can “master it”. I will be learning with a few friends tonight going over what Torah says about Ruth, about the experience at Sinai and how to live a little better from this moment to Shavuot 2026. God Bless and stay safe, Hag Sameach, Rabbi Mark