Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 216
“For the good, even if it is not done for its own sake, will teach us eventually how to act for the sake of God. We must continue to perform the sacred deeds even though we may be compelled to bribe the self with human incentives.” (God in Search of Man pg.404)
On this 4th day of Elul, in this moment/day/month of self-reflection, the words above are, I believe, imperative if We the People are to “be fearless and searching” in our process of TShuvah. We the People are being reminded to jettison the “purity” standard and see through clear eyes, whether what we have done is good or not good, no matter our intentions. Rabbi Heschel’s words come to remind us all of the experience in the desert, the experience in Ancient Israel, “take the next right action and the thinking/motivation/desire will follow”. This is the path of living Jewishly as I understand it-not some dogmatic lapdog, not some mitsvah checklist bullshit, trying to live in 15th Century Poland instead of being here now-as Stephen Levine teaches. We the People do not have to wait until we are ‘motivated’ to do the next right thing, We the People just have to take the action, do the deed and realize the inner reward, at some point. Of course the goal is to have the motivation to do the next right thing, to learn to desire to do what is right and good in ‘the sight of God’. More importantly, however, is that we get into the habit of doing the next right thing, that we get into the habit of loving the stranger, of loving our neighbors as ourselves, of caring for the poor and the needy, of proclaiming freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein, etc.
Society, especially the autocrats, the fascists, the dictators and their wannabe imposters, do not want this way of being to take hold! They are totally invested in keeping We the People in the dark as to how they are acting only for the sake of themselves while purporting to “act for the sake of God”. Their lies about the “sacred deeds” they perform are abominable! They are the desecrators of God’s Name, they are the bastardizers of the Bible and the path of Jewish, Christian, Muslim goodness. And the PAGAN PRIESTS, CLERGY who go along with these false witness’ are even worse than the power-hungry, unholy dictators they are serving! The Rabbis, the Priest, the Ministers who support a Trump, a Netanyahu are the same Rabbis, Priests, Ministers who the prophets proclaim as not legitimate servants of the Ineffable One. Just as Levi and Simeon were not really serving their sister when they killed the men of Shechem, they were serving their egos and pride-‘who do you think you are to take my sister’- so too the current and former Rabbis, Priests, Ministers who serve Bibi, Donny, Vlad, et al are doing this to line their pockets, not “for the sake of God”. Do you really believe that God has wanted all of the wars that have been fought ‘in the name of god’?
What We the People are being called to do on this 4th day of Elul, is to let go of the need to be deceived by the reality show called 47, ie Trump Presidency. We the People have to stop watching this Fascist call for these outlandish things and get into action. We the People do not have the luxury of sitting around thinking about what strategy to follow. WE HAVE THE STRATEGY! It is all to be found in the Bible. When King Saul was no longer of his right mind, David was anointed, when Moses was no longer the right person for the job, Joshua was appointed, when David was dying Solomon was appointed, when the Kingdom of Israel was split in 2, the tribe of Judah was appointed. The lines of succession do not have to be familial, and they are supposed to be based on capability, on the desire to “act for the sake of God” or at least follow the dictates of the Bible, having NOTHING to do with dogma- only having to do with how we treat one another, the stranger, the poor, the animals and the earth that are in our care.
We the People have to demand of ourselves and of the current bullshitters, grifters, liars and fascists in power here, in Israel, that they cease and desist their actions, they have to be removed from office along with their sycophants for the sake of the Republic, for the sake of the State of Israel, “for the sake of God”. We the People are being called to resist and reject the actions of these Idolators who attempt every day “to bribe” us “with human incentives” and, unfortunately, too many of We the People are not resisting nor rejecting, rather they are buying, supporting, and kissing the rings, the asses, the d*&(k’s of these “other gods” and are whoring themselves after what their hearts and eyes desire and see. Each day we are told NOT to do this, yet these ‘good jews’, these ‘fine christian folk’ continue to lie to We the People and We the People continue to buy the lies!! WTF? Just as Moses asks Pharaoh: “How long” will you continue to defy God, just as the Egyptians say to Pharaoh: “Howl long will you let this one be a snare to you.. don’t you realize Egypt is lost?” We the People have to ask ourselves these same questions-How long will we demand and accept false piety and purity from leaders? How long will we continue to be deceived and give in to our own self-deception? How long will we continue to bribe ourselves with ‘getting ahead’, with ‘taking care of selfish desires we now call needs’? HOW LONG until we see what the next right action to take is and do it, whether we want to or not?
This has been a major theme of mine since 1987. I was late to the party, I know, and I have been an active member of this party, the Party of living Jewishly, the Party of Living the Bible’s Path of how to be decent and live together since then. I know that each of the Commandments call for actions and every Mitsvah serves at least one of them. I have continue to grow along spiritual lines because I continue to take the next right action, continued to learn from my errors, continue to be stubborn and dedicated when rooting out the lies I tell myself, continue to shout out what is wrong and unjust, unkind and not loving. Fuck intention do the good anyway! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark