Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 339
“The quest for right living, the question of what is to be done right now, right here, is the authentic core of Jewish religion. It has been the main theme of Jewish literature, from the time of the prophets till the times of the Hasidim, and it has been explored with a sense of urgency, as if life were a continuous state of emergency.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 75)
When the government is constantly lying to the people, when the people are consistently buying the bullshit of the liars, when the people are being gassed, shot at, killed, arrested, vilified for exercising their Right to Freedom of Speech, when the people are standing idly by the bloods of their neighbors, We the People are in a “continuous state of emergency” whether we are aware of it or not! And not being aware of this “continuous state of emergency” is what leads us to fall into the trap of the authoritarian, of the liar, of the false prophet, and gives even more power to our self-deceptive ways of being. Sitting here this morning, reading these words again, Rabbi Heschel’s core “sense of urgency” comes through loud and clear. I am embarrassed at how many of us, Jews and non-Jews, miss this “sense of urgency” because we seek comfort, we seek certainty, we seek love and will compromise our ways of being our knowing what “right living” consists of, of responding to “the question of what is to be done right now”.
Experiencing Rabbi Heschel’s many words, teachings, books, actions through the lens of “a sense of urgency”, through “the quest for right living”, we the people are able to share in his belief that “life” is “a continuous state of emergency”, that it is not Hitler we should be hate, it is the sense of non-urgency, the belief that we are not in a “continuous state of emergency” that We the People should beware of. By not realizing this truth, by ignoring the inner “quest for right living”, by providing comforting answers to “the question of what is to be done right now”, We the People ask for a Hitler, a Trump, a Netanyahu to deceive us, to lie to us, to “be our retribution”, to point to someone to blame/hate like Adam does in the Garden of Eden story so he could keep hiding from his own irresponsible behavior of HIDING!
The authoritarian playbook was/is used by both extremes-be it the progressives telling us to put up with everything they believe in and nothing that the conservatives do, them expelling from their midst anyone who doesn’t conform to their way of thinking, talking, acting while proclaiming the deep belief in freedom or be it the conservatives who use also deny freedom of beliefs, speech, etc and find the ‘sweet spot’ of whom to hate/blame in this moment. Neither group cares one whit about the “continuous state of emergency” we the people live in, nor do they believe there is “a sense of urgency” except for their fears, desires! This is the state society finds itself and, finally as we see in Minnesota and the rest of the country, the “sense of urgency” has reached a “tipping point”. Which way the Thugs and Storm Troopers of Trump, Miller, Noem, Holman will tip is unknown right now, we do know the assault is coming on all sides, in the streets, in the halls of Congress, in the courts with the attempted seizure of voting roles from 2020, and other actions that prove this “continuous state of emergency”.
At issue for me, in this moment, is to deepen our understanding of our inner lives, of our souls, of Rabbi Heschel, of the prophets, of Torah means to appreciate and live at a “sense of urgency”, to seriously SHEMA, hear, listen, understand the words of Rabbi Tarfon when he says “we don’t have to finish the work AND we are NOT FREE to desist from doing the work”(Pirke Avot 2:16). It speaks to the “sense of urgency” of this moment and of every moment! Each moment of our lives has within it the opportunity to make a difference, to help another human being, to NOT MURDER, NOT WHORE OURSELVES, NOT STEAL, NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS(LIE), NOT COVET OUR NEIGHBORS’ HOUSE, WIFE, ETC. If this isn’t an urgent matter, why would we still believe in putting up the 10 Sayings in our Houses of Worship, try and put them up in schools, government buildings, etc? The joke, of course, is the far right which lies, steals, whores themselves, supports and elected the greatest coveter and cares nothing about murdering the person and the soul of anyone they blame and shame for their benefit are the ones most apt to want to display the 10 Sayings!! Isn’t this proof of “a continuous state of emergency”? Doesn’t this speak to a “sense of urgency” We the People should be in? Rabbi Tarfon, in Avot 2:15 speaks to us about the “sense of urgency” to engage in the work God gives to us, the responsibility We the People get to fulfill and reminds us of our indolence, our laziness to fulfill our part of the task. Indolent comes from the Latin meaning “not suffer pain”.
I am in a “continuous state of emergency” and I have a deep “sense of urgency” and, upon reflection, I understand my life through this perspective and how I perverted my “quest for right living” by hiding from the “sense of urgency I felt, by my experience of powerlessness in the face of societal norms and prejudices by hiding from the “s My recovery began with a re-igniting of the “sense of urgency” I was born with and my father cultivated, it has continued to grow because I KNOW, in my Kishkas, in my SOUL, that I/We are in a “continuous state of emergency” and my impatience with the willful blindness of people is legendary and it is rooted in this “sense of urgency”. I believe with my entire being that the “Continuous State of Emergency” is a life or death matter, it is exactly what Moses was talking about when he said CHOOSE LIFE! I do this every day, Rabbi Heschel helps me, you help me and I pray I help you to CHOOSE LIFE, meet the “emergency” of the moment head on and keep living into the “sense of urgency” that fills the world. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark