Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 364
“Our way of living must be compatible with our essence as created in the likeness of God. We must beware lest our likeness be distorted and even forfeited. In our way of living we must remain true not only to our sense of power and beauty but also to our sense of the grandeur and mystery of existence.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 80-81)
Greek mythology is, to me, a story of the gods fucking with humans, the Bible is, to me, a story of how God uplifts the human being, giving us Good Orderly Direction. The human being comes into existence as being made “in the Image of God”, “male and female God created them both”. Unlike animals and angels, only humans have free will, the power to choose and the Bible is the story of good choices, not good choices, horrible choices and the consequences of each. It is also the guide book as to how to make good choices that we, spiritually immature human beings, would not necessarily see and how to avoid making bad choices that might seem good in our eyes! Accepting our “essence as created in the likeness of God” makes We the People responsible for acting in the ways of the divine, doing the next right action, serving something greater than our false ego, our immature pride, the servant our rational mind is created to be. Yet, We the People have eschewed this obligation, only to pay for the consequences the Bible lays out, not exactly the same words and, We the People have found ways to not honor our parents, not teach our children, not welcome the stranger, not feed the hungry, clothe the naked, help the needy and the poor, love our neighbors, proclaim freedom throughout the land and to ALL its inhabitants therein, etc.
In fact, We the People have become experts in the ways of making our “likeness be distorted and even forfeited”. I believe the reason being told and taught that “God created humanity in God’s image…” is to make us aware of the tremendous gift, awesome responsibility, immense obligation that We the People are given and possess. It also makes us aware of the fact that We the People are a gift to ourselves and to those around us. Yet, very little time, very little teaching is done on this verse, I believe, because most people are very uncomfortable with this truth, most people do not want to be this obligated to something greater than themselves, to God who calls for us to “circumcise the foreskin of our heart” and “be holy, because I, God, am holy”. Many people are uncomfortable, even angry when “God doesn’t punish ‘those people’, ‘him’, because they want their ‘enemies’ vanquished AND don’t want to be held responsible to the same standards when they fuck up! Every year we read this verse and instead of leaning into this TRUTH, instead of seeing the equality of both men and women, of girls and boys, society has relegated women to being 2nd class (or lower) citizens and girls do not have to be educated, they just have to be barefoot and pregnant, they are toys for the powerful men as Chapter 6 of Genesis tells us!
Jeffrey Epstein is not a new phenomenon nor is he alone in his sexual predator role. Besides the fact that so many people “attended his parties, his Island but never saw anything”, so many people kept doing business with him after he was first convicted and girls first started to report the white slavery he was engaging in, the fact that the government is still UNWILLING to tell the truth about his escapades, about the people who went along with him, like Melania and Donny, is atrocious and points to misogyny and corruption that is indigenous to the power structure. The “elohim/men of renown” took whatever women they wanted because they could! Just like the Greek gods would come to earth to fuck the women they wanted to, the men they wanted to, the Bible tells us that this behavior made God “regret that human beings were created”. We the People have been at war with our “likeness” being “distorted and even forfeited” since the beginning of time and the Bible gives us the antidote to this distortion, this forfeiture: Mitzvot! What are the 10 Commandments if not the antidote to what we are witnessing happening here in America, in Israel, across the globe.
In 1986, after being awakened again by God and staying loyal to the experience this time, I began to read, immerse, engage with the Bible and the prayers on a personal level, I became teachable and Rabbi Silverman introduced me to Rabbi Heschel’s books and Rabbi Heschel has improved my life and the lives of so many immeasurably. It is hard to fight the societal norms, it is hard to fight the “evil inclination” within me, and living in a way that my life is “compatible with our essence as created in the likeness of God” is the way to overcome, to rise above these baser instincts when they are going to cause us to “distort and even forfeit” our likeness. Using the 10 Commandments, here are a few ACTION STEPS:
Remember God is God and I, no human being, IS NOT!
Do NOT create idols out of stone, out of human beings, out of oneself!
Do NOT use your own name in vain; mean what you say, say what you mean
Do NOT create walls and prisons for your soul, your spirit
Honor the wisdom of parents, ancestors, the Bible using the wisdom to enhance your living
Do NOT MURDER Your SOUL nor the soul of another(s)
Do NOT Prostitute your self, your morals, values for the sake of ‘getting along’
Do NOT steal from your self, your neighbor, the people you are responsible for
Do NOT LIE, create subterfuges, mendacities so you can ‘get ahead’
10) Want what you have rather than needing to “covet” what another has.
GOD BLESS and STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark