Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 362
“A Jew is asked to take a leap of action, rather than a leap of thought. He is asked to surpass his needs, to do more than he understands in order to understand more. In carrying out the word of Torah he is ushered into the presence of spiritual meaning.” (Thunder in the Soul pg.80)
Well, this about says it all! We, the modern day Hellenists, the people the Maccabees fought against, have forgotten the commitment we made at Sinai, or was made for us by our ancestors; N’Aseh V’Nishmah, We will do and understand. The doing comes first in the Torah, not the understanding. How arrogant are We the People to believe we can discern through thought, God’s reasoning, the question our current experience is the answer for? Yet, we continue to do this, we continue to take “a leap of thought” before we “take a leap of action” and, as we see from the current times, this way of being that the Democrats engaged with in 2024, led to the current crisis we are in right now.
Trump and his thugs are, and have been taking “a leap of action”, not the ones Rabbi Heschel is speaking about, not the ones found in the Torah, yet, his actions have worked, they paralyzed the Congress, they used the slowness of the Federal Judiciary, the lies of Bondi, Hegseth, Lutnick (that fine outstanding Jew who was honored by a few Jewish Organizations for being a liar, a cheat, etc), Stephen Miller and Scott Bessent (two more Jews who betray the oath we took at Sinai, Russell Vought (the implementer of his vision of Christ’s hatred of the poor, the stranger-huh), to implement some of the greatest cruelty, deconstruction of the Bill of Rights, the world has ever seen-not as bad as Nazi Germany-YET-and it is certainly reminiscent of those early times, just waiting for Trump’s version of the Reichstag Fire before the Mid-Term elections because he can’t allow them to go forward, cause he will lose his majorities.
Because of the incessant need of some on the left to have to “know” everything there is to no before taking actions, because of the insane way of repeating the same mistakes they did in the 80’s, we the people have made it more and more difficult to change on a dime, to respond to the current situation in the moment until Indivisible began the protests against Kings, against ICE and DHS, against the cruel and inhumane treatment of both American Citizens-resulting in death for a few- and people here legally and illegally-especially those here illegally who have NO CRIMINAL RECORD, who have paid taxes, helped the economy, etc. Trump doesn’t mind the people here illegally who take care of Mar-a-Lago, his golf courses-don’t forget.
The revolution that is needed in this moment is the Return to being We the People of ACTION! Taking a “leap of action” is the only path to understanding so much more than our minds can ever comprehend, it is the way to apprehend truth, wisdom, mystery, and have the mystical, spiritual experience all of us crave and are ‘waiting for’. Well, as my father, z”l, used to tell me: “Get off your ass and DO something”! We the People have spent WAY TOO MUCH TIME and ENERGY on ‘figuring it out’ before we even truly know the situation, before we experience what is, before we take the “leap of action” so we can “lift up our eyes and see” what the picture truly is, what the obstacles are that are giving us the opportunity to succeed, to “leap” forward farther than our rational minds can take us. This is the way we respond to the “leap of action” that the charlatans are taking!
Rather than just see and think about: how does this situation fulfill my needs, how can I make it serve me- Rabbi Heschel is reminding us to, in my words, GET THE FUCK OVER OURSELVES! Surpassing our needs is a prerequisite of a spiritual experience, it is a prerequisite of “knowing” the truth, of having a connection that is soul to soul rather than role to role, as my wife, Harriet Rossetto, teaches, preaches and writes about in her book Lost Founder finds Herself”. What we the people call “a thirst for knowledge” is, in actuality, a thirst of things to think about, to ponder, to figure out how to use to our advantage, how to engage in the deception of another(s) and, of course, our own self-deception. One of the reasons Rabbi Heschel was/is considered such a radical, was not appreciated for his “knowing”, for his wisdom, his visions, in Academia and in many Pulpits around the nation in his time is because he demanded We Jews “surpass our needs”, he kept telling us that our understanding was lacking because we the people were too busy studying, amassing facts and figures, meeting the needs of our lower, in some cases lowest self; rather than seeking to find the “understanding” that comes with surpassing our needs and taking a “leap of action”.
Over the years, these are the ACTION STEPS that have led me to grow, learn, understand and be gifted with love, connection, wisdom, knowing:
Find a Rabbi, a Spiritual guide who you will take direction from, who “knows” you and helps you grow
As Pirke Avot says: Find for yourself a Spiritual Friend, a person to whom you reveal your soul and he/she reveals theirs back-who will help you realize the lies you tell yourself, the deceptions you spread, and when you’re DOING IT
Say NO to those who want to tell you why something won’t work-everything works because, when we are in a “leap of action”, our understanding grows and this is the best “working” we can receive.
Each day, write down what you understand a little better because of the actions you took , this day.
GOD BLESS and STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark