Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 359
“There is no dichotomy between the happiness of man and the designs of God. To discover the absence of that dichotomy, to live that identity, is the true reward of religious living. God shares man’s joy, if man is open to God’s concern. The satisfaction of a human need is a dedication to a divine end.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 79-80)
“The happiness of man and the designs of God” are not separate, according to Rabbi Heschel. What a statement, what a denial of Greek Mythology, what a wonderful way to see humanity and the divine. Yet, there are many who would say that man’s happiness is irrelevant to God, that only by complete surrender to God’s will can mankind survive, only by forgoing the pleasures of the flesh, the arguments of the mind, the knowing of one’s inner life, by subduing my happiness for the sake of heaven can I be a ‘religious person’. Poppycock, Rabbi Heschel is saying and, surprise, surprise, I happen to agree with Rabbi Heschel.
Discovering “the absence of that dichotomy” is the challenge and the path of “religious living”. It is the goal, it is the way, it is the truth that seems to elude so many of us, especially the ‘most holy of holy rollers’. Rather than fire and brimstone, rather than abject fear of God’s punishing ways, rather than call God of ‘the old testament’ a vengeful God, Rabbi Heschel is pointing us to understand that what seems like vengeance is human based-not God based. God tells us to love the stranger, care for the poor and needy, love our neighbor, rebuke people who are going astray because they follow their hearts and their eyes, honor our parents, don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, proclaim freedom, redeem your kinsmen, erase the margins, BE HOLY!
We the People have bought into the societal bullshit and mendacity of “where’s mine”, of “the one with the gold rules”, of “money talks bullshit walks”, of “do to another before they do it to you”, and other such ridiculous aphorisms. Listening to some of the loudest clergy, the ones people swear by is dangerous because they are spouting a doctrine of “dichotomy”, they are telling their people that believing the lies of ‘their candidate’, their false image of God, of Jesus, is the only way to happiness and this takes the complete surrender of a human beings’ sense of rational thinking, of spiritual knowing, of believing what they hear instead of what they see. And, what is worse, too many of we the people have made ourselves so small as to buy the bullshit and follow their direction to HELL on Earth. Listening to that ‘fine christian, Donald Trump, sent here by god to save the United States, is about as holy as hating the stranger, as the actions of the Pharaoh, the sins of King David and too many of we the people buy this lie as well.
There is a partnership between God and man, human beings have to adopt Godly concerns and God rejoices in humanity’s joy, humanity’s satisfying of their authentic needs, including those of the flesh. There is no sin in sex, according to Jewish belief, there is sin in sexual assault, in forcing even one’s wife to have sex when she isn’t up to having it! There is no sin in making a living, in making a good living, there is sin in cheating to get ahead, to extorting money, to taking advantage of someone’s ignorance, innocence. There are over 100 laws re: money in Judaism and one of them is: The Seller has to disclose! Also, when one is fortunate enough to make a living, one is obligated to help the community chest, to give Tzedakah and the more one makes, the more Tzedakah one is blessed to give, not how little can I give, rather-how blessed am I to be able to give more because I have been blessed with such wealth. It is not for tax purposes, it is because the plight of the poor, the widow, the stranger, the needy is a MAJOR CONCERN OF GOD’s! Hence, when there is fulfillment of God’s designs as laid out in the Bible, as Jesus taught, the happiness of human beings is a DUH!
This is the challenge for We the People, to realize the our needs and God’s concerns coincide, they mirror one another and only when We the People live from scarcity, from egotistic lies, from willful blindness do We the People go astray, forget this truth, become self-centered, boorish, cruel, etc. Where the world is today is a prime example of the truth of Rabbi Heschel’s words, because Trump, Bibi, et al bastardize what God’s concerns are, turning them into what they want/need, we the people are left out in the cold if/when We the People disagree with them. Putin puts his naysayers in prison and kills them, Trump sends his ICE storm troopers into cities to terrorize them, Bibi winks when the settlers raid Palestinian homes in the West Bank. It is WAY PAST TIME for We the People to Stand Up and take these
ACTION STEPS:
Immerse ourselves in the Bible and find the true concerns of God, those that are beyond our human selfishness
Make a list of the false needs we continue to fulfill because of societal norms
Find a path to live in Radical Amazement, the maladjustment to conventional notions and mental cliches
Shout down the LIARS and IDOLATORS who proclaim that God wants people to suffer, that God only wants White Christian Men to be in charge of everything
Make and live into your unique plan to be a Partner with God, joining needs and concerns, joy and satisfaction.
GOD BLESS and STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark