Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 170
“If an artist were to find a word describing how the universe looked to God at the dawn of its existence, the word be sublime or beautiful. But the word the Bible has is good. Indeed, when looking through a telescope into the stellar space, the word that comes to our mind is grandeur, mystery, splendor. But the God of Israel is not impressed with splendor; He is impressed with goodness.” (God in Search of Man pg. 372)
The artist would not be wrong in describing the universe as “sublime or beautiful”, nor are we in error when we marvel at the “grandeur, mystery, splendor” of the universe and its vast expanse. The error, the act of wrongdoing is, as I am understanding Rabbi Heschel this morning, is to stop at these descriptions, to think that all we have to do is: marvel at existence, contemplate the splendor, solve the mystery, enjoy the beauty. All of these activities are great, they are fine, and they are not enough. I know many of us have been told we are not good enough forever and hearing ‘not enough’ can trigger some bad memories, and the truth is just admiring, enjoying, marveling, contemplating, seeking answers is not enough for the world to continue as a place of freedom, a place of spiritual growth and health, a place where loving the stranger becomes commonplace. To co-create with God, to honor our Higher Consciousness, we have to nurture the world and teach our children to “love your neighbor as yourself”, to “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants there in”, to “if your enemy is hungry, feed them, if your enemy is thirsty, give them drink”, then we have to engage in what God “is impressed with goodness”!
“Goodness” is not the same as being nice! Nice doesn’t have to have truth, justice, mercy as components and “goodness” must have these three. “Goodness” is not just about doing something good, it is also about not doing something evil. “Goodness” is not about perfection nor about denial, it is also about admitting one’s mistakes, making T’Shuvah for them and growing in wisdom, kindness, mercy, justice, love, and truth each time/day. “Goodness” is standing up like Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Adams boys, Ben Franklin, Daniel Webster, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Clara Barton, John Lewis, et al, the soldiers who have received the Congressional Medal of Honor, people who have stood up when there was something on the line, their lives, their livelihood, their standing, and did the next right thing, no matter what. “Good” is the response of God to each day of creation, except the 2nd when God had to wrestle with evil, maybe with the Angels who did not want humans created, so we have “it was good” twice on the 3rd day! We also have “good” twice on the 6th day, once with the animals and “very good” when human beings are created, “male and female God created them both”. This is the first challenge given to human beings as I am understanding anew the first Chapter of Genesis in light of the words above: be good, do good! Isn’t it time We the People live into this challenge and end our love affair with bullying, with cruelty, with evil, with grifting, with self-deception, with lying and with bastardizing the “Good” that the Bible, that God, that our higher consciousness demands of us?
Having a UFC fight to celebrate 250 years since the Declaration of Independence doesn’t seem “good” to me! Spewing his hatred of people who don’t bend the knee in front of him by saying “I hate Democrats” is not “good” in the view of the Bible, Donald Drumpf, JD(Vance. It is not “the Christian way” as Christ lived life in the Gospels, it is certainly not the Jewish way, Misters Lutnick, Wytkoff, Miller! Running the con, shoveling the bullshit, bearing false witness is not Holy, FOX UNNEWS! No matter how many cars and planes you have, Mr. Osteen, you can’t hide your evil from all of the people all of the time and certainly not from God, maybe from the idols you worship you can hide-just not from people, entities that are engaging in speaking truth, which is the first step, prerequisite for being “good”. Ignoring the person on the street, not saying hello to people when you are at the Cash Register, believing Facebook friends are real (the ones you don’t actually know in real life), thinking that “likes” on Instagram, X, etc are what is important, are all subtle reminders of how not good we have become. Fearing the stranger, instead of loving them is a direct repudiation of not just the Bible, it is a direct slap in the face to the experience of our ancestors who came here as an escape from terrible conditions, from prejudice, hatred, fear of being conscripted to die, fear of or experience of rape, beatings, etc. Why was America ‘supposed to be open and welcoming” for our ancestors and not for people suffering today? How many of our ancestors were considered criminals in their country of origin? How many began life in America doing some type of criminal act-like owning a Whore House like Trumps Grandfather!!
Being “good” is the North Star for me and for the people in my circle, it is the only way to be in recovery, it is the only way to be able to look in the mirror without hiding, without being disgusted by one’s deeds. I know this because I spent almost 20 years being disgusted, hiding. Being “good” allows me to fall and pick myself up, it causes me to admit my errors, learn from them and blame others much less. It forces me to be responsible for my actions and to take action when I see wrong being committed. Hence this blog, these words are to get all of us riled up enough to recall the challenges I mentioned at the beginning: BE GOOD, welcome and love the stranger, don’t mistreat anyone, speak truth, be just, act with mercy, care for the poor, the needy, the spiritually ill as well as the medically ill, don’t take bribes, etc. When I fall short, which I do often, I make my amends and grow a little each time-progress not perfection. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark.