Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 233
“Out of the depth we cry for help. We believe that we are able to overcome ulterior motives, since otherwise no good would be done, and no love would be possible.” (God in Search of Man pg. 407)
What is the help We the People need? The first sentence above comes from Psalm 130 which is read every day in the morning service in Synagogues across the globe during the month of Elul. It is a supplication Psalm that also recognizes: “With You God, there is forgiveness and it is awesome”. We the People need to remember that “there is forgiveness” and we are not meant to be perfect, we are not bound by the conventional notions, the mental cliches, the social media mendacities that abound in our society. We the People need the help of one another, we need the help of the Ineffable One, we need the help of our inner life and we need to help another human being, we need to help ourselves, we need to help the Ineffable One. Rabbi Heschel states in his interview with Carl Stern, human beings are divine needs and reminders of God, and Jewish tradition calls us partners with God in completing creation, then we need to take our proper place in making the world a little better each day, just one grain of sand is enough. To do this, we need “help”. “Out of the depth we cry for help” reminds us that the help has to come from within as well. We the People have to let go of our need for being right, We have to let go of our perfection bullshit, we have to embrace our inner strength and live into our inner knowing rather than allowing our ego, our rational minds to overrule what our intuitive minds direct us to.
Of course “we believe that we are able to overcome ulterior motives”. And, belief is not enough! We the People are being called upon to show up and stand up, to speak truth to Trump and his thugs, Netanyahu and his gang, Putin, Xi and their kleptocrats. The moment is calling for the prophetic voice that has reverberated throughout the centuries, that has informed every major push from slavery to freedom, from the inner chains that have bound us to being healed from our inner slaveries. The only motive we have is to be free, and not just for ourselves, for everyone. Just as Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” so too is slavery anywhere a threat to freedom everywhere! We the People need to get our heads out of our asses, we have to take the blinders off and stand for the principles that our ancestors fought, suffered, overcame their fears for: Freedom, Truth, Love, Kindness, Compassion.
It is not enough to just “overcome ulterior motives”, in my opinion and as I understand Rabbi Heschel. We the People have to take the actions necessary to “blot out the memory of Amalek” from our minds so when the pendulum swings back our way, we do not do to another what is hateful to us-which is the way things seem to go. When there is repression on one side, the other side responds with “free speech” that is hateful, “tough on crime” that is criminal, etc. Then ‘the good people’ respond with “free speech” is what I tell you is acceptable language, “criminals” need to be coddled and allowed to roam the streets. Unfortunately, We the People seem to jettison the middle path, we are so caught up in ideologies that we miss the forest for the trees. Yet, the middle path is exactly what the Bible portrays, it is the foundation of the mitzvah system, and it has been bastardized as well. In this moment, it is so very important for We the People to stand together and recognize the dignity of every human being, friend and foe alike. It is crucial that We the People find ways to speak to one another from a place of learning, arguing for the sake of heaven, arguing to find the middle path rather than arguing to be right, to be certain, to make money, to have power.
It is a hard shift for most of We the People. Shifting from our need for certainty, our need to be right, our need to have power over another, our need to blame, etc. AND, this month of Elul is the time the Jewish tradition has gifted to us to make this shift. Looking at the connections we have made as well as those we have lost and seeing our part in making and losing them, looking at how our competitive nature has harmed our competitive edge, being responsible for the good and not good we have done, is all part of our growth. It is the fodder upon which We the People can chew and grow from, making a “more perfect union” of our inner and outer lives, our values and our actions, our love of justice, mercy, the stranger, and one another. We the People are more than capable, the world is more than ready, are We the People willing? Please God, these last two weeks till Yom Kippur will bring the readiness and the path to our beings and We the People will light the way for everyone.
My new book: You Matter Too is now available. The book tells the stories of a composite of people, how they had ‘hit bottom’ even though they were not all addicts, and the teachings we learned together to help them live well. Not all the stories have ‘happy endings’ and I hope the teachings help all who read it. This is one of the ways I am doing what I can to make the world a little better, it is how I keep shifting more and more into responsibility, justice, wisdom, love, truth, compassion. This year during this month of Elul, I have found I don’t need to be noticed, I don’t need to be right, I don’t need to blame, I see what is and I am responsible for my part only-be it good or not good. I am finding a new freedom and a sense of purpose and mission that is the same as it has been and in a different arena. I have been able to truly overcome my “ulterior motives” with the help of Harriet, Heather, my siblings and family, and my dear friends. It doesn’t get better than this! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark