Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 190
“Life is human as well as divine. Man is a child of God, not only a value to society. We may explore things without God; we cannot decide about values without Him.” (God in Search of Man pg. 377)
The more I re-read this chapter, the more I immerse myself in these thoughts and teachings, the more I understand the depth of Rabbi Heschel’s compassion, care, kindness, and faith. Along with this understanding comes a ‘hearing’ of his demands, prophetic vision and speech, and his unyielding belief in the potential of human beings to be human. This is not some ‘airy-fairy’ thought Rabbi Heschel had, rather it is based in his loyalty, his commitment to the ideas and ideals found in the Bible.
Realizing that we are both “human as well as divine” is an important first step in our returning to the ways of the Bible, to the victories of humanity found there as well as the numerous times we ‘missed the mark’ which are also found there. Rather than give into the societal norms, which don’t deal with the “divine” nature of every human being, Rabbi Heschel is calling us to face the truth about We the People, that we are both. This is a difficult proposition for many of us, we don’t want to acknowledge the “divine” we have within us, we are loath to grow deeper into our authentic self through realizing the “acorn”, the raison d’être of our creation and living into it. We the People know we don’t get ‘points’ from society for living into goodness, justice, kindness, truth, love if we don’t make a ‘killing’ from it, if it doesn’t give us power over the people what good is it, most people in power are asking today. Public Service is looked upon as either a great grift or, if you are not grifting, you are just stupid and an ‘idealist’. We have left the days of the Peace Corps being a national treasure and entered the time of being looked upon by our elected officials as scum and with scorn.
In our society today, truthfully forever, many more people see life as “human” and do not regard the “divine” nature of human beings. Hence without attention, without nurturing, without nourishment, our “divine” nature begins to shrivel and wither, becomes almost undetectable and no longer a factor in our decision-making because all that is important is our “value to society”. Our entire ego system is dependent upon being ‘liked’ on Facebook and other Social Media sites, our egos are in constant need of outside attribution with Trump being the best example of this need and far from the only one! Rather than live into the teachings of Christ, those ‘good christian nationalist, prosperity gospel folk’ keep fleecing the pockets, the minds, and the souls of their flock for their greed and to serve ‘der fuhrer’, Donald Trump and this is what is passing as religion!! OY, VA VOY!! Judaism is not doing much better when Chabad and other Ultra-Orthodox groups claim that Oct 7th was God’s punishment to the Jews for not taking Gaza and the West Bank from the Palestinians and throwing them out of their land, again! When these same people along with the far-right Likud members led by that paragon of virtue, Benjamin Netanyahu, believe that Arabs are ‘not really human’ we see the same rejection of our “divine” nature as with ‘those good christian folk’ above.
We the People are being called from Mount Sinai to stand up for God, to stand with God, to deny the lies and mendacity of society that all that is important for someone to be human is their worth, their “value to society”. We the People have a unique opportunity to set things right again, maybe for the first time, and recognize one another as “divine” reminders, as Images of God hence reflections of our divinity and we a reflection of theirs. We the People have to fight like Hell to institute: “Freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein” as a norm not just a slogan. We the People are being asked to rise above the bullshit we have been fed since infancy by ‘societal norms’ and live into the “radical amazement” of being led by God, live into the core of our authenticity, our souls. Taking this journey down, rather than trying to ‘reach the heavens’ is crucial if We the People are to regain control of our destinies, recapture the hallowed halls of government, and clean the Temples, Churches, Mosques of the “money-changers, the idolators, the PAGANS that are currently defiling some of our most sacred spaces. When these assholes defile our sacred houses of worship, our hallowed halls of freedom and democracy, the defilement of the human soul is beginning and most of us don’t even notice it. Listening to the people who are most at risk from the PAGANS in charge and their blind loyalty is scary, is unbelievable, is dangerous, and is the real walking to our deaths because these people have lost their connection to their “divine” nature, to God and only believe what they are told, not what they see, hear, smell, touch. We the People have to do something and do it NOW otherwise we are guilty of “standing idly by the blood of our brothers and sisters”. Isn’t it time for We the People to stop wringing our hands and Get Into ACTION?
My action today is to support the people who support We the People and to stand up to those who support “the 1%” only. Is it any wonder, given society’s obsession with success that the “1%” want to stay on top? They worked hard to get where they are, they unwittingly buried their “divine” nature so deep they can’t even hear its call. I know this experience, I had it without being in the “1%”, I had it because I thought that is what would make me okay. Only through shoveling through the shit I placed upon my soul, only by going deeper into my inner being could I find my authentic self and this is what I am writing about, this is what I speak about and this is the way I work to negate the Trump/Bibi/Orban/Putin way of being. Standing up for and with We the People is what God wants and what we need. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark