Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 201
“Judaism would reject the Kantian axiom, “I ought, therefore I can”; it would claim instead, “Thou art commanded, therefore thou canst.” Judaism, as we have said, claims that man has the resources to fulfill what God commands, at least to some degree. On the other hand, we are continually warned lest we rely on man’s own power and the belief that man, by his power alone, is capable of redeeming the world. Good deeds alone will not redeem history; it is the obedience to God that will make us worthy of being redeemed by God.”
“God helps those who help themselves” is an old saying and in light of the teaching above, I believe has some relevance to how we live. While Kant’s theory is wonderful and better than Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am”, Judaism’s claim as said above by Rabbi Heschel, is better for society. “I ought” is too easily bastardized into narcissistic desires and inauthentic needs, I believe. Being “commanded” is more difficult to bastardize and there are too many ways to point out the lies and subterfuge of those who twist being “commanded”. It is an unbelievable idea, in many ways, that We the People have “the resources to fulfill what God commands”! It is even more unbelievable how often and with how much might we twist these commandments into our own pretzels so we can do what we want, when we want, how we want, and to whom we want.
When the Clergy, when the ‘religious’ do everything in their power to cover up their evil, their cruelty by saying ‘this is what the Bible tells me’ we are in danger of using “the resources to fulfill what God commands” to satisfy only our false ego, our surge for power, and our desire to sublimate many groups and aspects of We the People so it no longer is God whom we are serving, rather it is only our false selves, our inauthentic egos, our puffed up Pharaoh within. This is the reason “we are continually warned lest we rely on man’s own power and the belief that man, by his power alone, is capable of redeeming the world.” We see this over and over again, our desire ‘to be saved’ has stretched from baptism and Mikvah, from circumcision and the Eucharist, to believing the lies of ‘der Fuhrer, of the autocrat, of the despot, of the Pharaoh. When history and the Bible, the New Testament and the Korah warn us all of the pitfalls of following the leader blindly, when we read the prophet Nathan telling King David how he has sinned, when we immerse ourselves in the words of the prophets who are constantly telling the people and the leadership TRUTH, how is it possible for We the People to continue to buy this same old bullshit that has led to ruin for thousands of years?
It is possible because we are suffering from an epidemic called: Spiritual Bankruptcy. Worse than the Great Depression, worse than the financial collapse of 2008, the Spiritual Bankruptcy that has overtaken We the People threatens our very freedoms, our way of life, the seat of democracy. And too many of us, like Nero, seem to be fiddling while the Republic burns! We are so spiritually sick that at least one-third of We the People still believe the lies of Trump and welcome Project 2025, cheer at ICE raids and believe they have the ‘right’ to own, shoot, and, if they want to, kill people with AK-47’s! We the People are so spiritually bankrupt that 1/3rd of us still cheer at the cruelty, applaud the Grifter in Chief and his cronies who are raping and robbing all of us! We the People are so spiritually off-kilter that 1/3rd of us believe that Trump, Miller, Lutnick, Vought, Vance, et al, are the messengers of Christ, with Trump being the Messiah! While I don’t think many Jews think he is the Messiah, there are many Jews who believe his lies, his arrogance, his lust for power is ‘good for the Jews’ while he surrounds himself with anti-semites who love Israel and hate Jews! We the People are so spiritually bankrupt that we have replaced the will of God with the will of self. We the People buy the lies and deceive ourselves daily that what we are doing is good, even if the poor, the needy, the stranger, the widow, the orphan suffer-they are doing this for the greater good! Christ did not believe this, Moses did not believe this, God doesn’t believe this, the Bible tells us to do the opposite and too many of We the People are buying the lies and deceiving ourselves because, of course, it is only happening to ‘those people’ and ‘they deserve it’!
Our Spiritual Bankruptcy, our Spiritual illness’ can only be healed by us with the help of God, with the help of spiritual healers, not shrinks. This is not a ‘thinking’ problem, it is not an ‘emotional’ problem, it is not because of some ‘trauma’ that has happened to us. This spiritual bankruptcy, our spiritual illness’ are the result of not being in TRUTH with ourselves and one another. They are the result of our unwillingness to “fulfill what God commands” and instead fulfill what our false self commands. We the People have become addicted to our own power, our own lies and we give power to our Pharaoh within. Rather than find ways to reach one another, we decide what is and we do the best we can to ram it down the throats of those around us so we have the power instead of joining with God, doing the next right thing, replenishing our spiritual bank accounts and using God’s power to redeem ourselves and another(s). Rather than give rise and power to the Moses within us, we have bought the lies and notions of societal norms, which has, in turn, bankrupted us so completely that we cheer Netanyahu’s and Trump’s cruelty, we abandon the Ukrainians who fight for their freedom against a more powerful enemy, which, as Jews dishonors the memory of the Warsaw Ghetto fighters. It is way past time for We the People to repent, to return, to have new responses to these PAGANS-to respond with the Redeeming Power of God.
I have made many deposits and, with all my withdrawals I still have a positive balance in my spiritual bank account. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark.