Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 234
“It requires a great effort to realize before Whom we stand, for such realization is more than having a thought in one’s mind. It is a knowledge in which the whole person is involved; the mind, the heart, body, and soul. To know it is to forget everything else, including the self.” (God in Search of Man pg. 407)
On the walls of many sanctuaries in Synagogues, over the Ark and in other places, the phrase: “Know before Whom you stand” is on them. As We the People enter the home stretch of this season of High Holy Day Preparation, this phrase, this way of being, this overwhelming idea of the presence of “before Whom we stand” is most appropriate, I believe. I believe the job of a human being is to look at our experiences, our texts, and ask ourselves: “what is the question that this experience, text, etc is the answer for” as Rabbi Jonathan Omer-man taught me some 35 years ago. I have been seeking to find the right questions ever since!
I am asking myself and you all: what is the question that “realize before Whom we stand” is the answer for. I believe one of the questions is; are we seeing the Divine Image in the people in front of us, next to us, behind us? Are we able to see this divine image no matter their politics, their ways of being? Are we willing to seek out this divine image and speak to it, even though the person in front of us has no idea “before Whom they stand”? It is difficult to do this and this is some of the work of this month of preparation prior to Rosh Hashanah; cleaning out the schmutz that hardens our hearts, having cataract surgery for the blurring vision we have had during parts of this past year and beyond, letting go of what was, our past errors, not worrying about “what will the neighbors think”, societal norms and mental cliches that only hold us captive. To “realize before Whom we stand”, it is important, if not imperative, to let go needing our rational mind to make sense of this phrase, to make sense of the process of TShuvah, to make sense of being right-sized.
Only then is this phrase “more than having a thought in one’s mind”. It becomes an integrated experience that transforms “our swords into plowshares”, it causes us to “make war no more”, it gives We the People the ability to rise above our desires and our pettiness and envy, our enmity and jealousy, to take our rightful place knowing before Whom we stand” and not feeling inadequate, a fraud, etc. We the People, when we “know before Whom we stand” no longer take a backseat to anyone, we are not expendable, we don’t have to prove we are right, we don’t have to deny our guilt, our culpability, our responsibility and, we don’t have to beat our chests either as Tarzan or as poor supplicant. Living into “know before Whom we stand” gives We the People a new sense of freedom, a new experience of joy, a life without the bounds of another human being, without needing to hold onto the past, no longer needing to have things our way, etc. “Know before Whom we stand” is the gateway to a richer and more meaningful life and the beginning of our recovery from our addiction to perfection, our search for certainty, and our “scouting out after our heart and our eyes to whore after them”.
When We the People “realize before Whom we stand”, with “the mind, the heart, body, and soul”, there is no more maudlin regret, no more mea culpa’s for the errors we have already done TShuvah for, no more puffed up ego and no more mealy-mouthed subservience. When We the People “realize before Whom we stand” our awareness of the gift of serving something greater than ourselves is huge, our joy at being able to see the divine image in another human being fills us with love and rebuke, kindness and truth, compassion and justice, mercy and responsibility. These ‘opposites’ are not opposites at all, they are complimentary to one another, and one without the other is a half-truth, ie a lie.
While I know that many of We the People only give lip-service to “know before Whom you stand”, many of We the People only see it, let it in and out in a nanosecond while we are at services 3 times a year, I also know that there is always hope for a spiritual awakening, there is always more I/we can learn and do from our ability to “realize before Whom we stand”! I have spent the past 38 years engaging in this “knowing” and it is a tug of war between my spiritual knowing and my ego/rational logic. Both are necessary for me to live, for me to be engaged and for me to move forward. What “know before Whom I stand” gives me, however, is the momentary pleasure to “forget everything else, including the self”, because at this moment, I see and relate to the divine image in you, in another human being and their politics, their mendacities, their obliviousness is the beginning of a conversation that informs me and another human being.
Are people like those who spout hatred and vitriol deserving of me/you seeing their divine image? Of course they are: “Come to Pharaoh” is God’s directive to Moses, I ache to be able to “come to” Stephen Miller, Howard Lutnick and search for their divine image and speak to it, not because I believe they will agree with me, rather to let them know their authentic self is seen, their soul is worth saving and help them “realize before Whom we stand”. I ache to do the same with many people and I am doing the best I can to practice this way of being in my everyday interactions with another(s) and with myself. When I “forget everything else” I am free to see truth, to see beauty, to hear the music of my soul, the niggun of your soul, to join together as human beings and work hard to not deny nor damage your dignity, your value and your uniqueness. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark