Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 4 Day 345
“Only free men, those who are not prone to canonize every caprice, do not equate self-restraint with self-surrender, knowing that no man is free who is not a master of himself, that the more liberties we enjoy, the more discipline we need.” (Thunder in the Soul pg. 76)
“Do not equate self-restraint with self-surrender” is an interesting thought and can easily be misconstrued, I believe. Knowing Rabbi Heschel’s reverence for God, the ineffable One, some degree of surrender is necessary on the part of each of us. Be it the surrender of “Make His will as your will, so that He will make your will as His will” or the surrender of our rational minds to the truth that pours from our souls, or the surrender of his own ‘name’ for the sake of standing for and with another who is being persecuted, wronged, etc as Rabbi Heschel did by going to Rome to convince the Pope to take Jews killed Christ and mission to the Jews out of the Catechism, standing with Rev. King, joining with the Berrigan Brothers against the Vietnam War-all of these were a surrender to the call of his soul that could not be ignored by Rabbi Heschel no matter the consequences to his ‘reputation’- like, Jew and non-Jew alike, not liking that a Jew was so in the forefront of these demonstrations. Immersing ourselves in this phrase, we can see what Rabbi Heschel is speaking about is the indulgence in the actions our feelings, our whims convince us to engage in he saw when his book Man is Not Alone was published in 1951!!
“Self-surrender” is the worst possible crime one can do towards oneself, God and humanity as I am hearing Rabbi Heschel this morning. To surrender our SELF, is to surrender our souls, to surrender our connection to the ineffable One, to the Ehad-Oneness that all humanity is a part of, to the knowing that is only contained in our soul, to the connection to one another. Surrendering the SELF is what we see happen in all autocratic states, in all autocratic business, all throughout history. Reinhold Niebuhr, a mentor/friend of Rabbi Heschel’s was aghast when, in the early 1900’s he witnessed the dehumanization of men working at the Ford Motor Company and spoke about it, demonstrated against it, etc. The trade unions were established because the autocrats of industry worked so hard to get the workers to surrender their souls, their bodies, their minds for pennies while they sat back, ate steak, drank fine liquor and laughed at the plight of ‘those people’. Be it the Tsar of Russia or Henry Ford, eventually people regain their sense of SELF and revolt.
What we are living in today in America and in many parts of the world is a call from “der Fuhrer” to surrendering our SELF, body, mind, and spirit. Trumpism, like Stalinism, Putinism, like all the other dictators, autocrats, cannot exist without the willingness of We the People to make this total surrender which is not the same as “self-restraint”. We the People are being called upon to end our surrender of SELF in order to curry favor with, kiss the ring (and other parts of the anatomy) of Trump, et al. We are being reminded of the difference between “self-restraint” and “self-surrender”. The former being using deliberate and righteous judgment as to when to speak up, when to indulge our ‘feelings’, when to stand for what is true, right, good, necessary. It is bering able to ‘pick our fights’ and not give into every slight, putdown, etc nor to every flattery, gift, etc. In other words, have enough self-restraint to discern what is true and what is smoke, what is mendacity and what is holy. This is the challenge I hear Rabbi Heschel presenting to us today!
Many years ago, Rabbi Harold Shulweis, Rabbi Ed Feinstein, and me had a rather heated discussion about surrender. I tried to explain surrender in the modality of AA, of accepting truth and Rabbi Shulweis, z”l, could not even hear the word without being violently opposed to it. I realize now, Rabbi Shulweis, like Rabbi Heschel was afraid people would surrender their SELF, not make wise discernments, judgements, fall into the trap of Germany in the 1930’s, etc. Hence the worry about America today, Israel today under the ‘rule’ of the cowardly Republicans in the Congress, the maniacal unrestrained people in the White House, the mendacity and non-responsibility taking of Bibi, Ben G’Vir, et al. Using “self-restraint” in proper ways/measure is crucial to our being able to honor the SELF we are. We the People are being called to BE THE SOUL WE ARE CREATED TO BE and stand for what is right and good, what is holy and reverent, not what is expedient and easy. I have done this, in not-so-pretty ways at times, and this is the defining characteristic of my recovery and my return to a Jewish Way of living. I have no regrets, I could not abide by the mendacity, the surrender of SELF that others were doing to ‘be a member of the club’-FULL STOP
Action Steps:
Write down where you use “self-restraint” properly and improperly
Write down the areas of your life where surrender of SELF happens most often
Look at the excuses you use to validate your “self-surrender” and not use “self-restraint” properly.
Make a plan for how to enhance your SELF a little more each day and use your “knowing” to override the actions your ‘feelings’ want you to take.
God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark