Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 173
“The ego is a powerful rival of the good. When coupled with gain, when virtue pays, the good has a chance to prevail. When the good is to be realized at a loss, with no reward, it is easily defeated. Now, since the good it is of the essence of virtue that the good is not to be done for the sake of a reward, what is the change of the good ever to prevail over the interests of the ego?” (God in Search of Man pg. 374)
Once again, Rabbi Heschel touches on what is happening in our time as it has in every time. While I maintain the ego is a gift from God, that it has an important function within human beings, I also maintain it has caused the greatest problems throughout history and within individual communities, families and within ourselves. Thomas Edison had an ego which kept him trying to invent the light bulb over 6000+ attempts, every great scientific discovery comes from people with egos who will not give up, maybe it is stubbornness, maybe it is a calling, it does, in the end, have to do with ego. Ego also has produced the great tragedies of human history: Genghis Khan, Pharaoh, Roman Empire, Babylonia, The various wars throughout Europe over the centuries, Spanish Inquisition, Anti-Semitism, racism, slavery, Nazi Germany, Newt Gingrich, MAGA, Stalin, Netanyahu, Trump, Putin, etc.
My question is: how did “the good” and “ego” become such rivals? As I read the Bible, I am struck by the warnings against allowing these two important and powerful forces to become enemies. “Choose Life”, here is “a pathway to a richer and more meaningful life”, “love your neighbor”, help your enemy if they are thirsty or hungry, “love the stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt”, etc. Within the Bible are all the ways these two forces become rivals and how to make them friends, yet we seem to have lost the wisdom of the Bible and we are intent on having our “ego” serve our rational minds and our ‘heart’s desires’. Hence the warning in our daily prayers, in the third paragraph of the Shema, from Numbers 15:39; “do not explore/scout after your heart and your eyes because you will whore after them.” This warning, which is not recited out loud in most congregations and is overlooked by most people, is so explicit and so condemning of our willful and unwitting blindness as well as our willful acts of an egotistical nature, goes unnoticed by the likes of both MAGA and the “progressives”, as well as many in the ‘middle’. Human beings have ignored the warnings, the stories, the consequences of an “ego” out of proper measure and we all suffer from the actions of a few, of the many. It is so important for We the People to be on guard and watch ourselves so we do not let the “ego” get out of proper measure that we are told “do not run after the majority to do evil”!
What happened in Ancient Israel if not the consequences from “the ego is a powerful rival of the good”. King Solomon got too full of himself, ignored the warnings to not go back to Egypt, to not have too many wives, to not have too many… and the people rebelled once he died. He held Israel together by fear, not by love, by might, not by shared vision and mission, so once he was dead there was no one who had his charisma, his power and the nation fell apart. Be it Torquemada, Titus, King George, Hitler, Stalin, Putin, Trump, Netanyahu, they all allowed/are allowing their “egos” to “be a powerful rival of the good” and we are the collateral damage in their march of narcissistic sociopathy, in their search for more and more ‘bad guys’, in their incessant need for having their asses kissed, being glorified, winning at any and all costs.
What will it take for We the People to both realize and demand our elected officials obligate themselves as we are obligating ourselves that “the good” is always “coupled with gain” and has “to prevail” over our oversized, out of proportion “egos”? When we live into the Bible, not the BULLSHIT Trump/Cain-White, Kushner, Osteen, Hagee “American Bible”, the REAL BIBLE, we see prior to not “scouting after our heart and our eyes”, we are told “one law for the you and the stranger as well”, “one Torah and one justice for you and the stranger as well”(Numbers 15:15-16). The “good” always has a reward, in Rabbinic lore the reward is the opportunity to another “good”/right action, in the spiritual realm, the reward for doing “good”, doing the next right thing, is being able to live within one’s skin more comfortably. It is being able to sleep without as much anxiety and worry, it is doing one’s inventory each day, doing one’s T’Shuvah each day and cleaning up messes sooner and learning how to do one grain of sand better tomorrow. Rather than “scout out after one’s heart and eyes”, when we have our “egos” in proper measure, we are in acceptance of what is, we live in radical amazement, every day is a new adventure and we seek more knowledge of how to live well in this moment, in this time and we refuse to lower ourselves to the baser level of “scouting after our heart and eyes”. We the People need to reject the principles of Bibi and Donny, of Vought and Bondi that the “good” has “no reward” and is “easily defeated” by appealing to people’s fears and greed. We the People are being called to re-establish democratic principles in our government, throw out the autocrats, and demand “the good” from our elected officials. For far too long, they have allowed their “egos” to rule both them and, by extension, us. We the People have to say NO and stop this destructive pattern and path that leads to ruin, exile, wandering.
Having lived in both realms, I know “the good” pays more dividends than the “ego” that is out of proper measure. My recovery is all about staying “right-sized” and serving you, God, family, and then self. My spiritual awakening taught me this truth and the dividends of “the good” last a lot longer than the short-term gains of the out of measure “ego”! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark