Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 185
“To the Jewish mind, evil is an instrument rather than an iron wall; a temptation, an occasion, rather than an ultimate power. The words of the Psalmist, Depart from evil and do good(34:15), contain the epitome of right living. Yet, it seems that Jewish tradition believes that the right way of departing from evil is to do good; putting the accent on the second half of the sentence.” (God in Search of Man pg. 376)
While this quote is particularly speaking of “the Jewish mind”, the thoughts, ideas and demand is not limited to Jews. Most people get overwhelmed in the face of evil, we are so susceptible to fear of evil, fear of the authoritarian that we are unable to face both our fears and the evil inside of us and outside of us. The authoritarian fear probably comes from childhood, “father know best” and “spare the rod, spoil the child”, along with “because I said so” experiences. The command to honor your mother and father does not mean to go along with them when they are wrong, “au contraire mon frere”, it means to not correct them in public, don’t sit in their place, don’t try and be their clone, rebuke them in private when they are screwing up, go to the Rabbi, priest, police if they are abusing you, etc. This commandment, according to “the Jewish mind” doesn’t give the parents the right to do anything and everything to their child including treating their kids as if they are their investment because each of us is accountable to and invested in by God - not humans!
Ergo, when one knows and understands that “evil is an instrument rather than an iron wall” it is much simpler to deal with evil. It isn’t easy nor is it quick, and it is simpler. Knowing that the “evil urge” within every human being is tamable, is transformable, gives us the “job” and the power to face and confront our rational minds which want to ‘be in charge’ and, instead, help the “intuitive mind” win the war, and it is an inner war between our rational minds and the evil they see as good and our intuitive minds and the evil they see and transform it so the energy and insight is used for good! This is the power of “the Jewish mind” whether one is Jewish or not, it is the power of seeing “evil” for what it is: powerful, overwhelming, cunning, baffling, and “an instrument…, a temptation, an occasion” and it is not “an ultimate power”. Knowing this, belonging to this type of community, be a faith community or an intellectual one is of no consequence, is crucial to our being able to live into the wisdom of “the Psalmist” quoted above.
The words before the quote above are:”keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile”(Psalms 34:14), the words that are at the end of the Amidah and we say/pray 3 times a day. The words after what is quoted above in the same verse are:”seek peace/wholeness and pursue it”. To “the Jewish mind” therefore, this bullshit of loving Trump, of following Bibi, of believing the lying Rabbis and the Idolatrous ministers who are catering to these two who believe cruelty, evil, grift, etc are good and We the People must help them see the light. We the People are being called upon by Rabbi Heschel’s wisdom, his spirit, his actions, to STAND UP, to BE COUNTED, to, as Isaiah says: “BE A LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS!
And, We the People can only do this if and when we are ready and willing to accept the challenge of Godliness, the challenge of pursuing wholeness/peace, the fulfillment of the covenant at Sinai. Mount Sinai was an earth shattering moment because in this moment, We the People had the experience of being free, of belonging to something so much greater than ourselves that we were overwhelmed and didn’t hear much, and, even though we had no idea what it all meant, We the People instinctively knew that we had to take action before understanding and the power of Sinai, the spiritual energy that was infused in us, that we discovered within us was so great, so powerful that in that moment, in that experience, We the People knew Truth. Because We the People are aware that we cannot think our way into right acting, that our intentions, while good for most of us, are not enough to overpower, to control the “evil” within us. For that we need help and that help is found in taking action, in doing good, because doing good is the training ground for transforming the “evil” urges within us to do the next right thing instead, to use it’s energy to “pursue peace” as the Psalmist says, to “keep your tongue from evil” because evil speech is the precursor to evil actions, be it said out loud or to oneself, the power of evil speech has caused much pain, sorrow, death, famine, hatred, oppression, wars, etc throughout history. Hence the need for We the People to listen up, to take action and to reach out to those less fortunate in spirit as well as material ways. Bibi, Trump, are spiritually sick bastards, the people around them as as sick if not sicker-the question We the People have to ask and answer:”are they as far gone as Pharaoh was?” If so, we have to see them destroyed and we have to take whatever action is necessary to restore freedoms, liberty and ‘the American Way’.
Having been a sick bastard, my gratitude to “the Jewish mind”, which I always had and ignored for far too long, is boundless. I know the power of “departing from evil”, it is the freest I ever was and it is what keeps me free today. Pursuing wholeness and Shalom, has given me an outlook on life that I never had during my ‘using’ years. I am able to see clearly what is good, what is right. I am able to wrestle with my negativity and help my better angels prevail. I am more willing to stand up for my principles and my lips no longer NEED to be “speaking guile”. This is the gift of Sinai and we all need to re-experience it so we can all be free! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark