Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 343
“Not being a hibernating animal, man cannot live by what he stores away. He may have a full memory and an empty soul. Unfree men are horrified by the suggestion of accepting a spiritual regimen. Associating inner control with external tyranny, they would rather suffer than be subjected to spiritual authority.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 76)
While I am not a fan of Ecclesiastes, reading the first sentence, thinking about the times we are in and have been in almost from the beginning of time, it really is all “mist”, there is nothing substantial that “he stores away” and We the People keep attempting to defy this truth, to prove it wrong, to ‘be the ONE who has it all and takes it with us’? Even having “a full memory” is an exercise in mendacity for the “unfree men” because what they remember is every slight, every resentment, every euphoric recall moment and not the helping hands, the truth of the moments they remember, and turning their inner need to be perfect on another to blame someone else for their predicaments, their errors, their imperfections.
Over the years, when speaking to people about a “spiritual solution”, I cannot count the number of times people recoiled from this suggestion, denied needing a spiritual solution, believed a spiritual solution was not “evidenced-based”, “not scientific”, and not for them. Instead, they would rather wallow in their “quiet desperation” as Thoreau calls the predicament of most people and blame the doctors, their family, especially their mothers, and everyone else they can find. Taking personal responsibility for “unfree men” is tantamount to suicide! In my years as the Rabbi of Beit T’Shuvah and then when I was one of the Rabbis there, the number of “unfree men” and women I met is astounding. Not just the “addicts” coming for treatment, their parents, their siblings, their friends, people in the community, our board members, some of the rich and famous, etc-in other words, “unfree men” in the context we find in the quote above, can pertain, can describe any and all of us!
The emptiness of the soul of our governmental leadership is saddening, infuriating, it leads to the cruelty, harshness, mendacity that pours out of the mouth of ‘these fine christian, catholic, jewish folk’. What is even worse, however, is the “empty soul” of enough of We the People still is turning our power, our morality, our decency, our freedoms over to these assholes, these “unfree men” who then exercise an “external tyranny” upon all of us. Because both leaders and their followers “are horrified by the suggestion of accepting a spiritual regimen” that is true, that follows, lives into the teachings of Christ, of Moses, of the prophets, of the Bible, they have made up a FALSE SPIRITUALITY and too many of We the People are falling for it, believing that cruelty, that being a slave, that maintaining the lie that ‘I can have it all’ and ‘the one with the most wins’, even people who don’t need the help of the government to survive bow down to the Pharaoh in charge, believe they can control the autocrat, they can manipulate the narcissist. HA HA, this has never been the case and never will be.
Knowing what it is like to live with an empty soul, I am at wits end to understand how and why we the people would willingly go back to Egypt, happily march to the tune of the fuhrer in charge, continue to “whistle a happy tune” rather than seek spiritual growth, engage in our purpose with passion and fervor, and maintain a hold on, a learning of, a leaning into the truth of this moment, of every moment. I see this in so many people, most of whom believe their imperfections make them defective, who believe ‘if you really know my faults, my imperfections you won’t want anything to do with me’, who are in the psychic pain of inner loneliness, inner turmoil, and it is saddening to me. Knowing that there’s a solution, knowing that this solution is time-tested, evidenced-based, valid and true, and watching the “unfree men” and women walk through life in a daze, in a drunken stupor of seeking fame, fortune, ‘a name for themselves’, is frustrating, infuriating, and leaves me bewildered.
At issue, of course, is not only “they would rather suffer than be subject to spiritual authority”, at issue is the suffering “unfree” people inflict on the people around them, on the world writ large. We see this with Trump’s idiotic tariffs, we see this with the addict who is stealing money, trust, love, from their families, from strangers-like I did- and we see this with the destructive ruination of the lies and self-deceptions we the people engage in. This is also true for the ‘normal people’ who are “unfree”-remember Rabbi Heschel wasn’t writing for addicts, he wrote for all of We the People. I am calling out the ‘good folk’ who are “unfree” and either unaware of being a slave or a Pharaoh, who believe they are the only ones with a hold on the ‘truth’, who have harmed the people who helped them, who don’t give a damn for anyone but themselves. Accept a Spiritual Solution, so no one else has to die from spiritual malnutrition!
Action Steps:
Do a spiritual inventory and see where you are empty or low on spiritual fuel
2) Comprise a spiritual regimen that helps you be freer today than yesterday
3) Wean yourself off of your dependence on the Pharaoh you still worship
4) Make your amends to the people you have harmed because of your suffering
These are some steps to help all of us be FREE-
God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark