Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 208
“There is great merit in knowing our subtle hypocrisies, in our having no absolute faith in our faith, in our sense of shame and contrition. The sting of shame is the only pain the ego cannot bear and the only blow that may cause its forces to shrink and to retreat, and contrition is the saving heart of our soul. Remorse stands higher than sacrifice.” (God in Search of Man pg.400)
I am finishing off this quote with the last sentence because of how important it is for We the People to remember and take action on this teaching.
From Amos (5:22-24) we learn: “Though you offer Me burnt offerings and meal offerings, I will not accept them; nor will I regard the peace offerings. Take away from me the noise of your songs; for I will not listen to the melody of your lutes. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Who cares about sacrifices that have no meaning for the one bringing them? Who cares about attendance at High Holiday Services for those who come late and leave early, for those who are adamant in their refusal to be moved not to tears, but to ACTION? Justice and Righteousness are not feelings, they are not thoughts, they are actions that need human beings to fulfill. So, Paula White-Cain, John Hagee, Joel Osteen, if you want to know what a true Pastor in Christ looks like, look at Bishop William Barber. So, Ben G’Vir, Smotrich, all you ‘good jewish orthodox folk’ if you want to know what a real Rabbi does, look at Harold Shulweis, z”l, look at Sharon Brous, look at Shai Held, and leaders in both ‘religions’ need to stop lying to themselves about what is important to God, to humanity.
From Hosea (6:6) we learn: “I desire love and kindness and not sacrifices, the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” Love and kindness are more important than anything except justice and righteousness-they are on a par with one another. Yet, rather than show that to one another we are, once again, in a time of senseless hatred towards one another. Sure, they pass the plate, they give their money, they get buildings named after themselves, or do it themselves as in Trump’s case, yet they do not have a spiritual practice of “love and kindness” towards another human being who is different from their crowd. In today’s world, Trump doesn’t show kindness and love towards anyone because everything is a transaction-nothing more, nothing less. One cannot fulfill God’s desire for “love and kindness” through transactional living.
Isaiah teaches us (1:13, 16): “Bring no more vain offerings… I cannot bear iniquity along with solemn meeting. Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean stop your evil actions from before my eyes, cease to do evil.” The question for We the People from Isaiah is: when will we “cease to do evil”? When will We the People wash away the shmutz and the lies, the mendacity and the self-deceptions from our living and return to the Sinai moment, when we did have a knowing of God, a moment and experience of higher consciousness? When will We the People end our belief in idols, our willingness to buy the bullshit of another and listen to the truth that resides in our hearts, in our souls? Finally Micah comes to remind us (6:6,8): With what shall I come to before God and bow myself before God on High? Shall I come before God with burnt offerings, with one year old calves?… God has told you, what is good and what God requires of you, human; do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.”
The solution is simple, really; “remorse stands higher than sacrifice.” “Remorse”, unlike “sacrifice” cannot be mailed in, there is no way to fake it or go through the motions of “remorse”. Yes one can say “I’m sorry” a million times and not mean it, however, “remorse” entails making things right, repairing the damage, having a plan not to repeat the action, etc, ie TShuvah! It isn’t easy as we say in AA, and it is simple. Justice is one of the greatest actions a human being can take and when we don’t do justly, we have to have “remorse.” To “love kindness” one has to be in truth with themselves and with another human being, again, one cannot fake it which is why just ‘giving money to clean me up’ is the worst sin any institution can do. In the Talmud, we are cautioned to not accept “money that is not kosher”, money that was gotten through any type of meanness, subterfuge, theft, etc. Yet, unfortunately, religious and non-profit institutions the world over accept and clean the reputation of scoundrels through accepting their donations as free-will offerings and rationalizing it by saying “it will allow/enable us to do the good work we do in the world” not understanding the taint they have put upon themselves and their institutions. Like the sycophants who follow Trump along, when we buy into the lie that “sacrifice is good” we are on the precipice of becoming the whores that Isaiah, Micah, Amos and Hosea are speaking to.
I know the pull of this type of idolatry, I made many ‘I’m sorry’s” throughout my early years. Only upon learning what TShuvah is, when I was in prison at 35, did I begin to be able to live into the actions the prophets charge all of us with. I am saddened that still today, most religious education is focused on ritual, on ‘sacrifices’, on dogma, on Israel, rather than on the inner life of the individual student, parent, congregant. I am proud that during my tenure at Beit T’Shuvah I was able to provide people with the tools to “love kindness”, “to do justly”, “to walk humbly with God”, to “let justice roll down like the waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”. I am honored to have been a shepherd for many and show them “the doorway to a richer and more meaningful life” and so grateful they all help me to live the same way. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark