Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 361
“The world is torn by conflicts, by folly, by hatred. Our task is to cleanse, to illumine, to repair. Every deed is either a clash or an aid in the effort of redemption. Man is not one with God, not even with his true self. Our task is to bring eternity into time, to clear in the wilderness a way to make plain in the desert a highway for God.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 80)
I ma taking my time with this thought, this teaching because it is, in my opinion, a crucial link in our progress or retardation of spiritual growth. Either everything matters or nothing matters, either “every deed is either a clash or an aid” or no deed is. While I usually disdain “either/or” comparisons, in this case, as our history and present day environments show, it is totally appropriate. We the People are being called in this moment, as Rabbi Heschel called us 70+ years ago, as the prophets called us 2500+ years ago, as God called to Abraham, as God called to Adam and Eve at the ‘beginning’ of human creation. The call is the same: “Ayecha, Where are YOU?” Given yesterday’s writing on the first two sentences above, this is the crucial question for us at this moment as it has been throughout the history of humanity.
Without asking ourselves this question, without asking one another this question, “every deed” will become, more often than not “a clash” “in the effort of redemption”. In fact, without having a response, a thoughtful response, redemption will not even be a factor in our decision making. All that will matter is: “where’s mine”. Nathan, the prophet to King David, had the strength of character and the devotion to God to confront David when he had sex with Bathsheba, had Uriah killed, and then moved her into the Palace. King David, unlike most powerful people, following in the example of his ancestor Judah, said “I have sinned”. This is the conundrum for we the people; will we begin the day by responding to this eternal question: Where am I?; will we follow it up with: Who am I?; and finish our morning wake-up routine with a prayer in gratitude for waking up, for the compassion of God returning, thereby cleaning our souls, and for God’s faith in each of us as individuals and as a human race or just ignore all of these pressing questions and live “same shit, different day”/“who can I screw over today to get mine”?
Be it Reinhold Niebuhr, Martin Luther King, Martin Buber, the Baal Shem Tov, Abraham Joshua Heschel, William Barber, John Pavlovitz, Shai Held, Sharon Brous, these modern day prophets and spiritual leaders all are conveying the importance of every one of We the People! They continue to give us strength, rebuke, pathways to serve, so that We the People do not retreat anymore, we stop buying the lie that we the people are too small to make a difference, We the People always remember our partnership with God, God’s dependence upon us to “aid in the effort of redemption”! We the People are able, capable, and never have to retreat, never have to surrender to being small, we the people again!
Beginning our day with the questions I outline above is the beginning. Engaging in the work of maturing our inner life, of hearing, listening, understanding (Shema) the call of our intuitive mind, our spiritual hunger, our deep knowing of the next right action to take, is the Number One ingredient in being able to answer the call of God, have a positive response to “Ayecha” with the phrase made famous by Abraham when called by God: Hineni-here I am. The exact opposite response of Adam who, when called by God responded with: “I’m hiding”. What is your response?; how do you still hide from the truth?; from the call?; from your soul’s purpose?; your inner passion? This is the power behind the second sentence that is in bold above. Without “every deed” being “an aid in the effort of redemption” there is no “one with God”, there is no “Ehad-oneness” in the world because we the people have split from our soul’s knowing , our spiritual craving, our deepest truth for fear of being ‘found out to be a fraud’. Rather than understand that “redemption” is always ongoing, that humanity was never intended to be perfect, we the people, in our smallest selves bought the Greek bullshit that we are supposed to be perfect; hence we continue to hide from our errors and point out yours so you won’t notice ours. No wonder, buying into the societal bullshit, We the People, created in the Image of God, have become we the people small, petty trained seals!
Each day, I become more and more “at one with God” and, most importantly, at one “with my true self”. More and more, because of the spiritual work I continue to engage in, I can be disappointed in people and not hate them, I can wonder at the responses of people to me and my way of being without feeling hurt, I can appreciate and see the “true self” of another and not need them to be perfect anymore, not need them to take care of me, feel divine pathos when another fails to live up to their higher self. The anger I experience is, almost 90% righteous indignation, the prophetic anger and not the personal one it used to be!
ACTION STEPS
Write down your response to Ayecha each morning upon rising, at lunchtime, at dinner time and then at bed time for at least one week
Make note of your growth or lack thereof in your responses
Do a daily inventory of when you “clash” with redemption and when you “aid in the effort of redemption”
Write a gratitude list and call one person a day to express gratitude for the gift they give you
Notice when you are one of we the people and when you We the People
GOD BLESS and STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark