Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 202
There are two problems: the particular sins, the examples of breaking the law, and the general and radical problem of “the evil drive” in man. The law deals with the first problem; obedience to the law prevents evil deeds. Yet, the problem of the evil drive is not solved by observance. The prophets’ answer was eschatological. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel…not like the covenant I made with their fathers…I will put my law within them and I will write it upon their hearts.”(Jeremiah 31:31-34)
I keep wondering at Rabbi Heschel’s insight and prescience in awe and amazement. In the early 50’s, when it seemed like life was good, baby boomers were being born, WWII had ended in our victory, the UN was functioning, Israel was a new country, and here he is railing on and on about “the evil drive” and “the particular sins”. I say it seemed like ‘good times’ because he writes “the law deals with the first problem; obedience to the law prevents evil deeds”. We the People know that even then-if one was black or Jewish the law was different for ‘our kind’. We the People know that the law has been overtaken by Trump, his lies, his liars that stand with him, and now, the military is being used in cities across the nation because he wants to be dictator. Instead of the Courts standing up to this autocrat, John Roberts and his pussy-whipped friends on the Supreme Court are acting like slaves to Trump saying “yes massa, yes massa, whatever you want massa” instead of standing up for the Constitution, instead of standing up for truth, instead of being truly Good Christians and caring for the poor, the needy, the stranger as Christ did!
We the People are fucked! Rather than having any solution to “the first problem” or “the problem of the evil drive”, in today’s world, in Israel, in Russia, in America, there is no “problem of the evil drive” because it is celebrated, it is on full display and people are bowing down to Trump, Bibi, Vlad because they have given them permission to no longer sublimate their “evil drive”, instead they are being urged to “let it all hang out” and be as cruel as possible. Rather than live in the covenant made at Mount Sinai, Jew and non-Jew alike are worshiping at the altar of the modern day version of Baal. Rather than follow One God, the Ineffable One, the clergy of today and their flocks, their patrons are following the gods of money, power, cruelty, evil, hatred, injustice, etc. This is what ‘religious observance’ has become, this is the reason people young and old have rejected ‘religion’ and, along with this rejection, they are rejecting morality, humanity and holiness. People are not ‘happier’ living this way, they are just no longer struggling to do the next right thing because doing the next right thing leaves one open to ridicule and the cruelty of “the evil drive” that is running rampant in the world. We the People are being called to serve a higher calling than the “evil drive”, a higher standard of living than “the examples of breaking the law” which we and so many others are engaging in.
The question that the words above pose: Are We the People willing to act on the “new covenant”, to live the morality that has been written “upon our hearts”, to live up to and into “my law within them”? All of this has happened, the “new covenant” is no different than the old one, really, it is what Moses says in “The word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart that you will do it”(Deut. 30:14)! The issue is not if “the new covenant” has happened, the issue is not ‘it will come to pass when the Messiah arrives’, the issue is not ‘how will I know what to do’. The issue for We the People is are we willing to take the next right action based on what we know in our hearts, in our souls, in our bones to be true, right and moral? Are We the People going to act as if the Messiah has already arrived and is just awaiting some human kindness to reveal itself? Are We the People going to stop wring our hands, talking out of both sides of our mouths, stop worrying about optics, end our nauseating need to ‘look good’, ‘be right’, ‘follow the party line of the extremes on both ends of the spectrum’? Are We the People going to stand up, rise up and live into the words that God “writes on our hearts”, “puts in our mouth”, honor and cherish “the law within them”? This is what We the People are being called to do, this is how We the People avoid walking into a slaves existence as we did in Egypt, as they did in Russia, as they are doing in Hungary, as Netanyahu wants to happen in Israel, as happened in Nazi Germany? We the People have to use our prophetic voices, insight and wisdom to call out these “evil drive” experts who are using ‘the law’ like Hitler used the Nuremberg Laws. We the People have been given the Bible, have been gifted with “the new covenant” and now is the time to use them to live better and to make our world better.
I keep thinking about the Liberty Bell and Leviticus telling us to “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”(Lev.25”10). I keep wondering what has happened to “the land that I love”, what happened to “stand beside her and guide her”? What happened to being “the home of the brave”? I know the power of “the evil drive”, I know how to “break the law” and get away with it, I did this for over 20 years, I did it when it didn’t serve me because the urge was so strong. Once I let the “evil drive” dominate me, it was tough putting that Genie back in the bottle. Yet I did and I have-through living into “the new covenant”, through living the what is “written upon my heart” and speaking, doing “the law within me”. It ain’t easy, it doesn’t make me popular, the phone ringing much at all anymore and I will not change, I will not whore myself for any reason, not fame, fortune or being liked-I did this before and it almost cost me my soul. I pray that We the People will stop giving into the lies of today and ground themselves in the TRUTH of the Bible! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark