Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 231
“Alone we have no capacity to liberate our soul from ulterior motives. This, however, is our hope: God will redeem where we fail; He will complete what we are trying to achieve. It is the grace of God that helps those who do everything that lies within their power to achieve that which is beyond their power.” (God in Search of Man pg. 407)
Reading this teaching after pondering the last sentence of yesterday’s quote: “Whatever we do is only a partial fulfillment; the rest is completed by God” gives us a lesson in humility, which humanity is in DESPERATE NEED OF right now especially. The “American Way” of self-reliance is in direct opposition to those who are claiming that they want a “Christian Nation”, which everyone knows is code for White Supremacy. Yet, if these PAGANS and LIARS were being loyal to the values of Christ, true to the ways of Christ, we would have very different world. This teaching above, as I hear Rabbi Heschel this morning, in this moment, is not about a “religion”, it is about a spirituality that overpowers our selfish needs to be #1, to be the religion, to be the best, to be the smartest, etc. This is the teaching for all of us to live into on this 22nd day of Elul, on this week prior to Rosh Hashanah.
On the High Holy Days, We the People go to rejoice and remember, to forgive and ask for forgiveness, to clean up our side of the street and to be heard and seen. Yet, how can we do this when We the People are still living in the fantasy world of either/or, the imaginary world of “I am a self-made human being”, “I am self-actualized” and other such bullshit. The same is true for all of the ‘religious people’ who claim to know God’s Will so well they should never be questioned. “It is written in the Bible” means nothing because it is also written in the Bible that human beings are to argue with God as Abraham and Moses did, we have a “duty to disobey” as Rabbi Harold Shulweis writes in his book: Conscience; the duty to obey and the duty to disobey. The idea that we do not need to be redeemed because ‘we have already been redeemed at the Red Sea’ is utter bullshit. Each year in the Haggadah we are told: “every one must see him/herself as if they too have been redeemed from Egypt”; we all need to be redeemed and because of our outlandish, outrageous, out of proper measure EGOS, we need to be redeemed often! Yet in a climate of “I am right”, “you need to heel to me”, etc; Trump’s perfecting of this pattern is the quintessential experience of “no capacity to liberate our soul from ulterior motives”. Miller, Wytkoff, Lutnick, the three Jews who may or may not go to Services on the High Holy Days will not hear a word of the prayers they recite, they will not allow anything to penetrate their shells, and this is what passes for being ‘a good Jew’ today; Judaism was never about choosing a political side, it was and is about choosing God’s side and We the People have failed once again to make the best choice in this moment and in every moment-choosing to follow our “ulterior motives” rather than God’s direction. And these three Jews, along with millions of others, here and in Israel, will beat their chests, will use the formula the Rabbis gave us, and believe in their own self-righteousness, the ‘rightness’ and ‘godliness’ of their service to Trump, to fascism, to autocracy while reading the exact opposite in their High Holy Day Prayer book!
We the People have to be fully engaged in the personal work of Elul, whether we think redemption for ourselves is possible or not, whether we believe that someone else can be redeemed or not. We always can have “hope: that God will redeem where we failed”, that upon reflection, we will understand and ‘see’ through our higher consciousness the proper way to be, the best way to make our amends, and the vision for moving forward. This is the essence of TShuvah, this is the path of partnership with God, this is the truth of being human: WE NEED HELP! None of We the People can do life alone, none of We the People can fix everything that ails us, much less all that is wrong/off with the world.
I have been thinking about what it is that stops human beings from doing TShuvah actively and with joy, I think I have stumbled upon an idea. Humanity does not like to admit their errors, it goes against “conventional norms and mental cliches”, it is an affront to our egos and most of We the People don’t know how to admit our errors, rise above our false selves and be truthfully repentant, truthfully needy, and truthfully ask for help with our internal lives. There is a reciprocity of generosity that comes with being in truth with another human being, with God, and there is a debt that we take on also. The debt is to be available for another person who needs to be in truth, to rebuke those who refuse to let go of their lies and falsehoods. The teaching above reminds me that the great lie is “I did it”! The truth is with God’s help, with the spiritual force of the universe, with the help of so many others, I have been able to achieve some great things, I have been of service to God, to another(s), to myself and I am guilty of many errors in judgment, in action, and in thinking. I continue to realize them, I make my amends and I speak truth to people-whether they want to hear it or not. If you don’t want to hear my truthful response, don’t ask me any questions. As I said, I am guilty and I return to my innocent self each time I clean my shit up, each Yom Kippur I get a new start and a clean slate, each day I engage in living well, in growing into God’s will a little more, each day I ensure that love, kindness, justice, truth, compassion are leading the way, it is a good day, I am allowing “God” to “redeem where I have failed” and experience the immense love the spirit of the universe has for me and everyone. I am unique and not special! As the prayer says: We are all children and God is parent to us all. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark