Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 221
“Deeds set upon ideal goals, deeds performed not with careless ease and routine but in exertion and submission to their ends are stronger than the surprise and attack of caprice. Serving sacred goals may change mean motives. For such deeds are exacting. (God in Search of Man pg.404)
Currently, as has always been the case, we are in a war within ourselves and between societal ‘norms’ and spiritual goals/needs. Therefore, the deeds being spoken about here are not deeds to fulfill the needs of ‘der fuhrer’, they are the deeds that are the ideals of the Bible, they are the deeds which make it possible for “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore”(Isaiah 2:4). In this moment, unfortunately, We the People are once again engaged in the battle to make this prophecy a reality or succumb to the “deeds” of the autocrat and his minions. It is a battle for the soul of the country and, more importantly, it is a battle for the soul of each and every one of us. The “deeds” spoken about here by Rabbi Heschel, I believe are the mitzvot which bring about change within the individual and the world which, like the butterfly flapping its wings, changes the rest of the world as well.
It is no accident that so many people from different areas of the country, of the world, discover the simple truths and, eventually find one another through their writings, their speakings. It is not accident that great discoveries which change the longevity, the quality of human life are done in cooperation now that we have advanced communications. The cooperation of people to make important discoveries has added to the quality of life. The men and women who fought for democracy in 1776 and ever since, fight for the “ideal goals” of freedom for all, the “ideal goal” that everyone can leave Egypt and live in their own “promised land”. We the People are once again being called to account, called to look within ourselves and, in this month of Elul: when the forces of compassion, forgiveness, and return are overwhelmingly powerful, We the People are being given the opportunity to look at our “deeds”, seeing which ones served us, which ones served ‘der fuhrer’, aka the Pharaoh, and which served the Ineffable One. Doing this gives us the vision of when we are lying to ourselves, when we are self-serving and when we are serving more than ourselves which leads to the greatest self-service possible-connection to one another and to the Source.
Listening to the Taskmaster in the White House, knowing Trump is there in response to Obama, “what is a black man doing in my White House”, knowing his “deeds” have nothing to do with “ideal goals” as laid out in the Bible, knowing he lives with “careless ease and routine”, knowing he never does anything in “exertion and submission to their ends” if it doesn’t serve him personally, We the People have to ask ourselves WTF?! How have we fallen so far down the rabbit hole that We the People are allowing the very thing that led to the Boston Tea Party, the “shot heard ‘round the world” at Lexington and Concord, the very ‘deeds’ that led to the birth of this nation? It is bewildering to me, especially since so many ‘people of faith’, ‘good christian folk’, ‘fine, ‘torah jews’, ‘devout ‘muslims’ are leading the charge to imprison, to deny free and fair elections, to tax the poor, the middle class(tax laws, tariffs, etc), and to put the army on the streets of our cities how We the People are standing for this! Yet we are and it is happening right before our eyes; when the same people are asking how could this have happened in Germany 90 years ago-We the People know the answer-because WE THE PEOPLE ALLOWED IT!!
It is hard to do the next right thing all the time, it is difficult to not fall into a “careless ease and routine” when praying, when studying, when working, when living and the first two sentences above come to remind us of this and exhort us to face the hardships of rising above our petty needs, to overcome the difficulties that push us into becoming willfully blind to what is and what is needed. We the People are capable of the “exertion and submission to their ends” because within us is the desire to connect, the desire to serve something greater than ourselves, the knowing of our imperfections and hating the need to hide. ALL YE, ALL YE, Come In Free, the words from the child’s game hide and seek are being spoken from the top of Mount Sinai every day this month and, truthfull,y every month. We the People in this month of Elul are being given the opportunity to come out of hiding, to show our true self warts and all and be accepted, loved and healed as the prophets Hosea and Jeremiah tell us, as the Torah prophecies to us. We the People, however, have to take the first step, We the People have to look at our “deeds” and see which ones served “ideal goals” and which didn’t, which harmed human beings(including ourselves) and which ones didn’t. Then we get to make our amends, both to the people and God as well as amend our thinking and our actions so we don’t repeat the same mistakes; we will find new ones and those are for next year’s Elul.
I have been serving “ideal goals” with “exertion and submission” for the past 38 years, before that I tried and failed often because of fear and immaturity of my soul. I hear the CALL from Sinai each and every day and I continue to uncover the subtle hiding places within my inner life. The wonder of not hiding is the vision I obtain in seeing life and the world, the compassion I experience for the people who harmed me and never made their amends, the people who are stuck in believing assholes like Trump and Bibi. I don’t need to prove my mettle anymore, I know who I am, I know “organized life” can barely tolerate me and I am at peace with me, with you and with the world. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark