Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 316
“Dazzled by the brilliant achievements of the intellect in science and technique, we have not only become convinced that we are masters of the earth; we have become convinced that our needs and interests are the ultimate standard of what is right and wrong.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 59)
In his article in the January edition of The Atlantic, David Brooks writes about the NeoCons, the originals, not the ones that came later. They were a group who saw that moral and spiritual tenors were paramount for a free society, as I understand his article. They were thinkers and politicians, people of all faiths and their question of “how can we create a civilization to be proud of” should be ringing in our ears and shaking our souls! Yet, it doesn’t seem to be and this is the tragedy of our moment in time. How is it possible that this question, being spoken from Mt. Sinai to Jerusalem, from New York to the California Coast, not be heard? Because “we have..become convinced we are masters of the earth”! This idea, this belief is so ingrained in human beings that only a spiritual solution will help, which the original NeoCons knew and promoted. Granted, many of their ideas and policies wound up not working, not because they were bad rather because of implementation, because the spiritual immaturity of both government and the people did not rise to the level of going beyond one’s own interests and needs, as I am understanding Mr. Brooks’ article.
The challenge of living into the Biblical demand/command to “subdue the earth” and be the “master of it” while knowing that we are NOT “masters of the earth” is great and, unfortunately, human beings constantly fail to meet the challenge, we take the easy way out and live into being “masters of the earth”, creating wars, environmental damages, senseless hatred, mistreatment of the widow, the orphan, the poor and the needy, being fearful towards the stranger and unwelcoming them, finding ‘those’ people whom we can blame for our woes, etc. What is Project 2025, MAGA, Trumpism if not the acting out of the false beliefs: “we are masters of the earth” and “our needs and interests are the ultimate standard of what is right and wrong”. These ‘good christian folk’, these ‘real jews’, are going against what Christ taught and did and much of what the Hebrew Bible tells us to do. When treating the stranger well because you were strangers in the Land of Egypt is mentioned 36 times in the first 5 Books of the Bible, it must be an important concept! Duh!! Yet, both here and in Israel, both the MAGA’s and the Far Right here and in Israel turn away from the demands of how to live well and treat each person with dignity and value because, like themselves, another human being is created in the Image of God also!!
Instead, we have a society that is being led by the most outrageous, despicable human being ever to hold the office of the Presidency. Trump is making the Tea Pot Dome scandal seem like it was legal! Trump, his allies like Lutnick, Vought, Noem, Patel, Netanyahu and his thugs in Israel are only looking to get whatever they can steal from the American/Israeli Public, they truly believe that “our needs and interests are the ultimate standard of what is right and wrong”. The clergy who are sucking up to them, who are kissing their asses, who are promoting their cruelty as Godly, who are calling for their followers to ‘rejoice’ in the screwing over they are getting from these ‘fine christian and jewish men’!
I say BULLSHIT! We the People have to continue the protests that began in Israel and in America in the past few years. We the People have to stand up to Trump, to Vance, to Vought, to Johnson, to Thune, to Jeffries, to Schumer and demand their doing T’Shuvah! We the People are being called upon by the words above to stand up for God, to stand up for what is right according to the Bible, to stand against the mendacity and spiritual immaturity being preached in the churches and synagogues, the mosques and the temples. The rot and the ugliness, the cruelty and the narcissism is on display daily in our government and when a young woman, Tatiana Schlossberg, JFK’s granddaughter dies and all Trump can do is repost negative comments about the Kennedys, about the Kennedy Center which ‘he is saving’ in a despicable, arrogant, cruel and inhumane response to a tragic death of a 35 year old mother of 2.
It is so crucial for all of us to stand up-this is not a political issue, this is an issue of freedom, of decency, of morality, of spirituality. The world we live in is in great disrepair and, as David Brooks writes: “if you want to improve the character of a nation, you have to change its culture so that it nurtures basic decency”. This is the challenge for us a community, as a country, in Israel, as families, as individuals.
This is how I lost my way, I convinced myself that because I did some good things, I could do bad things and have the best of both worlds-WRONG! The rot always takes over, the negativity overwhelms the good and “the still small voice” gets more still and smaller. Only upon the gift of imprisonment could I regain my hearing, recapture my sense of “basic dignity” and begin to grow and mature my spiritual health. I hear the call of the prophets so loudly right now, I hear them in the words of Rabbi Heschel and the words of David Brooks, I hear them in the street and in the Synagogues, Churches, etc-the issue is the Clergy, the “jew in the pew”, the people attending are NOT hearing them, so Trump gets elected with people knowing he is going to screw them and steal from them! I believe the Spiritual Revolution has begun, I pray people like Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg attract more people to join this revolution and restore decency and LET FREEDOM RING once more! God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark