Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 156
“Said Rabbi Isaac: Abraham may be “compared to a man who was traveling from place to place when he saw a palace in flames. Is it possible that there is no one who cares for the palace he wondered. Until the owner of the palace looks at him and said, ‘I am the owner of the palace’… The world is in flames, consumed by evil. Is it possible that there is no one who cares?” (God in Search of Man pg.367)
These words, especially the last two sentences, published in 1955-some 70 years ago-describe where we are in our world right now. This is not to say that we should know that evil ruling is cyclical and will end on its own, it doesn’t-just think about the 50+million civilian deaths in World War II! What is key for all of us, I believe, is the description of the “owner of the palace” and what is happening right now.
The “owner of the palace” doesn’t seem to notice that “the palace is in flames”, he just responds “‘I am the owner of the palace’”, doesn’t ask for help to put out the “flames “because he is willfully blind and/or so unaware of what is that the “palace is in flames” that he doesn’t even know to ask for help. This is where many of We the People are at right now, here, in Israel, across the globe are unaware of how much in “flames” “the palace” is. Not just the Israel-Iran war, not just the Military on the streets of American Cities, not just the devastation by Russia of the Ukrainian sovereignty, cities and people. NO, what is really “in flames” is the moral fiber of human beings. What is really “in flames” is the fundamental teachings of the Bible, the spiritual corpus callosum of humanity. What is “in flames” is our connection to something greater than ourselves and to doing good for no reason other than it is the next right action to take.
The Ayatollah is a BAD GUY-Full Stop. And, we cannot focus our attention solely on him, on his repressive regime, on his religious fanaticism, lest we lose sight of where we are, who we are becoming and our own foibles, repressions, fanaticism. Ben G’Vir and Smotrich are no less fanatical than the Ayatollah, Bibi is no less ruthless than Trump, Cain-White is no less an idolator and charlatan than either the Ayatollah or Ben G’VIr. And, We the People are no less responsible for the destruction of compassion; kindness; loving our neighbor; loving, caring for, and welcoming the stranger; being holy as the Bible teaches us, commands us and demands of us than the Iranian people are for the actions of the Ayatollah. The issue for me today is how We the People continue to look outside of ourselves for both the problem and the solution-as we say in AA; “it is an inside job”. As soon as I make someone “the other”, I am separating myself from him/them and giving me a scapegoat for my issues, for my anger, for my foibles, and rather than grow my spiritual life, rather than work to put together the disparate parts of myself, I can blame “the other” for all my problems. Rather than look at my greed, my insatiable thirst for power and control, prestige and wealth, it is easier to accuse “the other” of that which I am guilty of-just ask Goebbels, Miller, Trump, Bibi, the Ayatollah, Vladimir, etc. This is an old song, it began with Adam in the Garden of Eden and We the People keep believing, erroneously, that this is a good strategy because it does work for a while, and it gets tiresome and ‘der fuhrer’ must be replaced, killed, etc. Theodore Parker, an abolitionist Minister, said in 1853, “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe. The arc is a long one….and from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice”. These words were adopted by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and have been quoted many times and used to encourage, salve and give respite to the “freedom fighters” of this generation.
We the People need to respond to the question Moses poses in Chapter 10 of Exodus, “how long will you refuse to humble yourself before God”,(Ex.10:3) and hear the advice of Pharaoh’s courtiers and ministers: “how long will this one be a snare for us, are you not aware that Egypt is lost”(Ex.10:7). We the People are being called to “humble ourselves before God” not before another human being-no one is better nor worse than anyone else, we all have equally infinite worth and are unique. We the People do not bow down to Trump, nor Bibi, to Vlad nor Ayatollah because We the People are holy! And, We the People have to “humble” ourselves to God’s Will. This means, as we learn in Pirke Avot and in AA, that we “turn our will over to the care of God” and/or we “nullify our will before God’s Will so God’s will becomes our will”. We the People are being called to see how our lives-which are our “palaces are in flames” and put out the fire by connecting to one another, connecting to something greater than ourselves, end our incessant desire for fame and fortune, grow our ability to “love your neighbor”, “love the stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt”, seek justice, be righteous, don’t steal, murder, covet, lie, whore yourself. While these seem like simple tasks, human beings have proved over the millennia that they are not.
We see the myriad of ‘good christian folk’ in the Trump orbit who violate all 10 commandments-beginning with believing Trump is Christ or Moses, aka ‘the redeemer’. We witness on a daily basis the lies, the murdering of spirits, the coveting, the whoring that goes on with people like Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, Bill Cassidy, Tom Tillis, etc. Yet, We the People keep electing them, supporting them and not demanding that they DO THEIR FUCKING JOBS! We the People are the “owners of the palace” and we keep watching the “flames” get larger and stay unaware because we are wearing blinders, we are people who would rather believe the lies we are told, the self-deceptions that make us ‘feel good’ than face the truth, see how “the palace is in flames” and heed the words of Rabbi Heschel, Rev Barber, Pope Leo to grow our decency, enlarge our spiritual paths, and no matter what we think or feel - BE HUMAN!
I have always seen the “palace is in flames”, I just didn’t do anything to put out the fire, rather I made a decision to add fuel to the fire which brought me to prison, again, and to recovering my core decency, my humanity and has allowed me to be redeeming my life and helping others redeem theirs. It is not a one and done, at least for me. I have to work everyday to stay alert and aware of the myriad of places within me that could burst into “flames” at any moment because of my being inattentive to them. I have to grow spiritually and morally each day and I have to keep my eyesight 20/20 when it comes to seeing truth, acknowledging my responsibility, and not just blaming “the other”. I do have the obligation to call out the wrongs of another so they can repair them and fix the flaw within them that allows them to continue to harm. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark