Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 355
“Religion is not made for extraordinary occasions, such as birth, marriage, and death. Religion is trying to teach us that no act is trite, every moment is an extraordinary occasion.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 78)
OY VEY! What is Rabbi Heschel talking about? How can “every moment is an occasion” be true, it would be too hard otherwise not complain, to not bitch and moan, to not see how ‘the man is screwing us’, etc. Taking seriously what he is saying, teaching, means We the People have to stop compartmentalizing our “religious actions” from our “normal everyday actions”. As I wrote about yesterday, Judaism is a personal experience rather than an institutional brand and Rabbi Heschel’s words ring true, or “ping” as my wife Harriet Rossetto says, in our souls, no matter how much our minds, our egos, our ‘hearts’ desires’ want to deny this truth. In fact, in Judaism the Mohel who circumcises the newborn baby doesn’t have to be a Clergy person, the officiant for a marriage doesn’t have to be a Rabbi and the person who leads the funeral also is not required to have any kind of S’micha(ordination). The rituals surrounding these “extraordinary occasions” are helpful, spiritually uplifting and allowing for grief as well as joy, all need and welcome communal support and love; hence Judaism being “the grammar of living” as I wrote about yesterday. AND relegating these “occasions” to the “extraordinary” and not seeing the wonder and awe of this moment is a powerful blow, a tremendous wound to the spirit that lives within us and the spirit that surrounds us!
Od Matai, Until When will We the People refuse to honor our spiritual well-being, our spiritual knowledge, our soul’s knowing? It is the greatest desecration of God’s name, in my opinion, to NOT grab ahold of what “religion is trying to teach us”, to NOT “circumcise the foreskin of our hearts” so we can be open to immense gift this moment, this occasion is. Not only is “religion trying to teach us that no act is trite”, it reminds us that We the People are gifted each day with life and that We the People, as individuals, are a GIFT that has to be given to another human being. This is not a narcissistic attitude, this is a TRUTH that We the People have ignored for far too long. Because Judaism is a personal experience, each one of us has to take what God gives us and use it to better the moment we are currently in. Each of us is called upon to “reach out and touch somebody’s hand” to help them up, to lift them up, to care for one another as another way to serve the spiritual calling within us. Being the Unique GIFT that each one of us is makes us obligated to live it, to give it away as AA says: “you can’t keep it if you don’t give it away” and to RECEIVE THE GIFT THAT ANOTHER HAS FOR YOU! This receiving is not about lacking, it is not about weakness, no matter what the politicians, the false prophets tell us, receiving the GIFT that another has for we the people is our act of humility, our recognizing how INTERDEPENDENT we the people are on one another. No one can do it alone, as the Bible says: “It is not good for humanity to be alone”. Only in community can We the People become right-sized, only in community can We the People find our soulmates, our spiritual friends, our proper place, live our purpose with the passion that religion, that spirituality bestows upon us.
None of this can happen, however, without recognizing, without knowing, without accepting that THIS MOMENT IS AN OCCASION! It is an occasion for growth, for service, for love, for TShuvah, for forgiveness, for joy, for sadness, for holiness, for wholeness, etc. I first learned this in Prison in 1987 from Rabbi Mel Silverman, z”l. He and I studied every day he was at the Prison where I was his clerk and I studied on my own when he wasn’t there. I learned how to stop the negative behaviors I had been engaging in for 20+years and begin each day with the Modeh Ani prayer, in which I thank God for “returning my soul to me with compassion, great is Your faithfulness” which obligates me to be compassionate with myself and with another(s), it obligates me to be faithful to my spiritual knowing, my soul’s intuition, to God, and to the people in my life. Being faithful means to celebrate this moment with you, to see your GIFT and accept it, to give you my GIFT without any quid pro quo, knowing there is a reciprocity of generosity in the universe. Be it at the bridge table or the dining table, be it on the golf course or the Ceramics studio, be it in the den or the bed with Harriet, each moment is cause for celebration, each moment is important and, We the People, including me, forgets this often. The challenge of “religion” is to not allow our devices, our negativity, our false egos to overpower what is true and right, good and holy: “no act is trite, every moment is an extraordinary occasion”. Living into this, knowing you are THE GIFT that keeps on giving, and “religion” is a personal experience is the GIFT we give ourselves!
ACTION STEPS:
Make a list of all the things you believe are “trite” and find the uplift in them
Find ways to acknowledge the “little things” you do each day which helps you, another, the community
See the ways you treat each moment as battleground, trying to make yourself good by spreading LaShon HaRa about another, by putting another down.
Do an inventory of your GIFT, and how often you “freely offer” it to another and how often the GIFT of another has been “freely offered to you
Live your religion as a personal experience, seeing where you have fucked off your GIFT, where you have abused the GIFT and generosity of another, etc.
GOD BLESS AND STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark