Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 196
“Jewish tradition, though conscious of the perils and pitfalls of existence, is a constant reminder of the grand and everlasting opportunities to do the good. We are taught to love life in this world because of the possibilities of charity and sanctity, because of many ways open to us in which to serve the Lord.” (God in Search of Man pg. 377/8)
Immersing myself in these words and thoughts, I realize that the exodus from Egypt was so much more than slavery will end, so much more than surrender to God takes a strong heart and will, so much more than just receiving the 10 Sayings, it was the gift of “grand and everlasting opportunities to do the good”. Hence, we are taught to “love the stranger because you were strangers in the land of Egypt”, to “not hate the Egyptians”(because they took us in when we were desperate), to help our enemies, to “be holy”, etc. Yet, we are witnessing, once again, the destruction of “the good”. We are witnessing the deconstruction of what is good, charitable, sanctified and what is evil, miserly and unholy while our freedom burns up and our country is quickly becoming a fascist nation. Isn't it time for every person of true faith, of good faith, to rise up and say NO to these PAGANS? Isn’t it time for every person who believes in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, to stand up and shout NO to these Idolators, these Fascists, these Autocrats? In the words of Rabbi Hillel, “if not now, when?”
We the People have sat on our asses for far too long. We the People want to bemoan what is happening and we did nothing to stop it, when we could have. Mitch McConnell you are a despicable human being-I know there is a soul in your, I know you have Ruach Elohim, the spirit of God within you and you continue to act like Pharaoh did in Egypt, with a false ego and arrogance. To the Republican Senate, your inaction is atrocious and your ceding responsibility to Trump and his THUGS is CRIMINAL! While all of this is true, the ultimate responsibility lies with We the People!
Rather than see the myriad of reminders “of the grand and everlasting opportunities to do the good”, We the People have allowed liars, cheats, grifters, fascists, to take over our land. We the People have been deceived by the lies we have been telling ourselves and the mendacity spewing out of the mouths of Trump/MAGA world. We the People became so ‘woke’ that we stopped seeing another human being, just ‘ideals’, only ‘cause of the month’, strictly, ‘what are the optics’. In our institutions, in our governing, in our families, “what’s in it for me” became the way of world a long time ago and We the People stopped seeing “the possibilities of charity and sanctity…of the many ways to serve the Lord.” Instead, as we see with the Charlatan Prosperity Gospel liars, many of We the People have decided it is time for ‘the lord’ to serve us! The Orthodox Jews who take verses from the Bible that they know were added at the time of Ezra or later as ‘the holy grail’ which allows them to not be charitable, to not sanctify the tenets of the Bible, to not see the “many ways open to serve the Lord”, rather they, like their good friends the ‘prosperity gospel christians’ are treacherous, unholy, and continue to commit Hillul HaShem- desecration of God’s name.
Damn it! We the People are being called by the thoughts and teachings above to get our shit together, to remember the words of Hosea: “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge”(Hosea 4:6) and Hosea 14;2,5: “Israel, return to the Lord for you have stumbled in your iniquity…I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely”. The “charity” spoken about above is the ways in which God has dealt with our harlotry, our whoring ourselves to the ‘better deal’. We the People are given the opportunity to “return” so we don’t have to wander about anymore, so we don’t have to keep harming our souls and the myriad of souls around us who suffer from the “iniquity” in which we not only stumble, We the People seem to revel in and roll around in like a pig in shit! I use the term “pig in shit” for all the Fundamentalist Idolators because it is not kosher, in keeping with the un-kosher way they live. Kosher means fitting and proper and the ways in which We the People have handed power over to the mendacious ones, the ways in which We the People have once again whored ourselves for a few pieces of silver, Mr. Lutnick, Mr. Zuckerberg, and the rest of the Jews and true Christians in the government and Congress, are examples of Hillul HaShem-desecration of God’s Name. We the People are better than this!
I am thinking about how I also rolled around in shit for so many years and knew better! This is the tragedy of our times, most of us know better and sink into the quicksand of uncharitable behaviors, false piety, and put blinders on so we don’t see the “grand and everlasting opportunities to do the good.” This is the most profound ‘switch’ I had in the jail cell in December of 1986. While ending my drinking did not happen until December of 1988, my recovery began in that jail cell in Van Nuys, Ca. As Amazing Grace says” I once was lost, but now am found, was blind and now I see”. Ever since that fateful day, I have kept following a path to freedom, a way of being that continues to open my eyes to “the grand and everlasting opportunities to do the good”. I live with charity and holiness in my heart and my actions to the best of my ability each and every day-I fall short, I am human, and my passion to see “the many ways open to us in which to serve the Lord” has never wavered, in fact, it has grown stronger and I have less patience with the Jewish Institutional world that wants to keep dampening the passion and truth of the Bible by their harlotry, their refusal to admit their stumbling. This is the only way I can move forward-knowing my stumbles, correcting them and moving on. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark