Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 222
“Serving sacred goals may change mean motives. For sure deeds are exacting. Whatever our motive may have been prior to the act, the act itself demands undivided attention. Thus the desire for reward is not the driving force of the port in his creative moments, and the pursuit of pleasure or profit are not the essence of a religious or moral act.” (God in Search of Man pg.404/405)
The first sentence above is crucial in our understanding of how to transform our inner negativity to serve something greater than just our selfish desires and petty concerns. While Rabbi Heschel is not giving us a guarantee, he is reminding us that doing the next right thing can become a habit and can transform our thinking and feeling. “Serving sacred goals” is the pathway to a “richer and more meaningful life” as I am reading, hearing Rabbi Heschel this morning. What is a “sacred goal”? In the dictionary, we learn that “sacred” comes from the Latin meaning “holy” or Kodosh in Hebrew. Holy, as we have learned previously, means to elevate, separate, and connect. Ergo: any action which elevates We the People, any action which separates us from falling into the abyss of selfishness, meanness, cruelty, and any act which connects We the People one to another is a “sacred goal/act”.
At issue in this first sentence is of course what is passing for ‘religious’ behavior and thought in this era of mendacity and the assault on truth, kindness, love, being human! What we have today in these right-wing ‘religious’ leaders of Christianity, Judaism, Islam are the descendants of the priests of Israel and Judea who offered rituals with no meaning, who wore the garb of ‘holiness’ and acted for their own sake and the sake of the rich and powerful, who were constantly called out by the prophets and who were at the center of the causes for the destruction of not only both Temples, the destruction of two nations, the wandering of the Jews for 1900 years! Is this really the way America and Israel want to be remembered? Do We the People really want to be known as descendants of Judea and Israel who, created in freedom, whose ancestors risked everything to give us an opportunity to be free, who adhere to the Biblical demand: “proclaim freedom throughout the land and to all its inhabitants therein”(Lev. 25:10) fucked it all off because we, like Germany in 1932, wanted to have a ‘supreme leader’, a ‘fifth reich’, and become slaves to this autocrat like the Israelites did in Egypt? REALLY??
Yet, Bibi and Donny are prevailing, their thugs and sycophants are dominating the air waves and the social media. They have no “sacred goals”! The only thing they serve is themselves! Yet, We the People are either too stupid, too asleep, or too blind to realize this truth. Bibi wearing a yarmulke, Trump selling a Bible is the same as Putin praying at a Russian Orthodox Church-it means nothing, it is all for show. The sycophants like Wytkoff, Lutnick, Miller, Noem, Rubio all people of ‘deep faith’ are nothing but PAGANS, they are charlatans and deceivers and many of We the People are still applauding them-WtF??
The question that this first sentence is posing for We the People is simple-are we going to engage in actions which elevate us from the depths of self-serving, egotistical desires to serving something greater than ourselves-like the planet, the climate crisis, the welfare of the person in my home, my neighborhood, my city, state, country, world? Are We the People going to separate ourselves from the cruelty being done in our name in America, in Israel, in Gaza, in Saudi Arabia, in Qatar, in Russia, in Ukraine? Are We the People going to connect with our own higher consciousness so we can rise above the desires of our hearts and eyes, are we going to connect with people who believe in FREEDOM, who believe in the dignity of each and every human being, who believe “all people are created with certain unalienable rights among them are life, liberty(freedom) and the pursuit of happiness”? This month of Elul gives us the opportunity to examine ourselves, to see where we need to enhance the good we have done and repair/raise up the not good we have created. It is giving us a “do-over” if you will, because “The most unnoticed of all miracles is the miracle of repentance. It is not the same thing as rebirth; it is transformation, creation…Repentance is an absolute, spiritual decision made in truthfulness. Its motivations are remorse for the past and responsibility for the future. Only in this manner is it possible and valid.”(Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity) We the People are being called to do the work necessary to protect our freedom and the freedom of another, we are being called to take the next right action, to serve “sacred goals” and not selfish ones. We the People can do this! As Moses tells us, it is not too far away, it is in our hearts, in our mouths, in our being! Will you hear the call, will you answer the call, will you do the T’Shuvah you need to so you can, once again, be human in all your affairs?
As most people know, T’Shuvah is the center of my life, my Rabbinate, my purpose. I engage in “serving sacred goals” each and every day, I get aggravated when I see people engage in the cruelty that is so in your face and accepted. Yet, this cruelty is not new, I engaged in it for years as a criminal and a drunk so my “living amends” is to not be cruel and to be truthful. Truth can seem harsh and it is a gift of love and belief, when people call me out they are telling me they believe in me and I can be better than I currently am. While many did it to put me down, to sideline me-that is their motives- I took/take it as a gift that keeps on giving. To those who cannot see their own cruelty because they are ‘on the right side of the cause’, I offer my sympathy and pray you will do this work to see truth and get right with yourself, serve “sacred goals” with the same fervor you serve your self. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark