Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 194
“The mitsvah, the humble single act of serving God, of helping man, of cleansing the self, is our way of dealing with the problem. We do not know how to solve the problem of evil, but we are not exempt from dealing with evils. (God in Search of Man pg.377)
Today is Tisha B’Av-the ninth day of Av when we commemorate all of the “evils” that have befallen the Jewish people. Many say this day is the day of remembrance of the “evils” within us as individuals and as a people that we did not deal with and, instead, allowed to percolate and become a way of interacting with the world> Hence going directly against everything we are told in the Bible not to do! The sentence in bold above is so vitally important to the mental and spiritual health of both each of us as individuals and citizens and strangers in the various countries and as global citizens. What many of us call “evil” are nothing more than personal bias’ and prejudices, what we perpetrate unto families, loved ones, people around us and the world from these bias’ and prejudices are the “evils” that Rabbi Heschel is speaking about, as I am hearing him today and in the context of both the time he wrote these words and in the context of today. One of the wonders and awesomeness of prophets, sages, shamans, spiritual giants is their words are eternal because they are speaking of the human condition-be it Ticht Nacht Han, the Dalai Lama, Jesus, Moses, the Psalms, Proverbs, Martin Buber, the Baal Shem Tov, etc- and they all teach us how to deal “with evils”.
“Evils” are, to me, any actions that go against the dignity of a human being, anything that seeks to lessen one group over another, any action that goes against the dictate to “choose life”, the command to “be holy”, the seeing of even our enemies as human beings who need us to remind them of their inherent holiness and connection to something greater than themselves. “Evils” are what are perpetrated upon humanity by soul-suckers seeking power and fame, wealth and spewing hatred. It is not enough, however, to blame the Hitler, the autocrat, the head of the snake, We the People have to see our culpability in putting these “evil” people in power, We the People have to look at our own complicity in perpetrating the “evils” that are happening before our eyes. When we look to the Bible, we can see that it was not just the priests, the royalty, the wealthy who were being pagans, it was We the People as well-read the words of the prophets. One of the “evils” that many people are not speaking of is going along with the insertions that Ezra and his gang of returning exiles put into the Bible so they could engage in their xenophobic and racist behaviors, as my friend and teacher, Rabbi Hazan Danny Maseng is teaching me. It was another missed opportunity to deal “with evils”. Throughout the millennia the times We the People decided believe we are “exempt from dealing with evils” and this has brought us to the edge of destruction, to the brink of being locked in Egypt forever, and it has taken a war to free us from the prison of “evils” that we seem to constantly want to visit!
We the People, today, have to end our wishing and hoping, our ignoring and hiding from the “evils” that surround us. We the People, right here, right now, have to renew the covenant we made at Sinai, we have to live the gratitude for being alive and having the strength to resist these “evils” that Trump, Netanyahu, their thugs, their grifters, their Pagans are perpetrating upon all of us. We the People have to, like the daughters of Zelophehad in the Bible, speak truth to power no matter how fearful we are, no matter how impotent we think we are! Like those brave women, We the People have to deny the misogyny that the Rabbis have perpetrated upon us. We the People have to deal with the “evils” of racism, xenophobia, grifting, treating people like 2nd class human beings, etc. We the People have to stop believing we are “exempt from dealing with evils” and get off our asses and DO SOMETHING! We the People are being called today, by the words above, by the remembrance of all the harms that befell us because we were not “dealing with evils” when we could have and when we should have-at the first sight of them, when they began to raise their beautiful head and it is imperative that We the People stop seeing beauty and see what is behind the ‘beauty’, stop seeing ways to ‘get ahead’ and see what lies ahead on that road. It is time for We the People to live into the words of the third paragraph of the Shema: “don’t scout out after your heart and your eyes because you will whore (yourself) after them”!!(Numbers 15:39). Scouting out “after our heart and our eyes” is the main road to our being part of We the People, who like our ancestors before us, turn a blind eye to corruption and senseless hatred, who see another as ‘a mark’ for us to take advantage of, who curse the deaf and put stumbling blocks before the blind and call it ‘freedom’. As Pete Seeger asks: “When we ever learn?”
As one who has both perpetrated “evils” and had them perpetrated upon me, I know the power of Rabbi Heschel’s words viscerally. I am living my T’Shuvah for the evils I engaged in and will for the rest of my life. I am aware, usually, when I get close to these terrible old behaviors and I am constantly seeking to use the energy from what “my heart and my eyes” are scouting to DO GOOD. It is difficult some moments because the “evil” disguises itself as good so often. I deal with the “evils” within me each day as well. I remember that this day, the present, is a gift and I am responsible to not squander it, to use it to connect, to learn, to be an example, and, on some days, to veg and recharge my own batteries. I know that “dealing with evils” takes a great deal of inner work and being able to say NO to myself and to another human being. I practice this daily and I don’t pay attention to the desires that will allow me to “whore” after them, diminishing my humanity and dignity. This is my daily challenge. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark