Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi Heschel
Year 5 Day 13
“We are endowed with the ability to conquer and to control the forces of nature. In exercising power, we submit to our will a world that we did not create, invading realms that do not belong to us. Are we the kings of the universe or mere pirates? (Thunder in the Soul pg. 83/83)
Some 3470 (approximately) years after the exodus from Sinai, some 2500+ years after the first “formal” reading of the Torah by Ezra, 2026 years after the birth of Christ and we the people do not even think about the questions these sentences engender! In this moment, in every moment, we the people have to decide whether we are going to stay small-minded, slow-thinking, shallow-spirited or if We the People are going to take our proper places as partners with God in making this world a little better for all its inhabitants therein! This is the great conundrum that we/We face each and every day expressly because “we are endowed with the ability to conquer” not just “the forces of nature” but another human(s) and another country.
In 16 days, Jews around the globe will celebrate the Exodus with a Passover Seder, a time to reflect on how “puffed up” we the people have gotten and how far from realizing the awesome responsibility that BEING HUMAN calls for, we are! While many people praise themselves on how long they can expound on different parts of the Haggadah, the book we use to tell the story, there are not many who take the time to immerse themselves in the mandate to “see ourselves as if we too had been liberated from Egypt”. The Seder is NOT a time for extolling the greatness of the different parts of the Haggadah, it is not even a time for extolling God, in my humble opinion. The Seder and every day after it and prior to it is to remember we are “invading realms that do not belong to us” and, to be good guests in the palace that is the earth, the place where God “dwells among, in, with We the People!
In today’s world, as in past times, being endowed brings privilege and privilege brings entitlement, and entitlement brings out the worst in human beings. Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, Iran’s current Ayatollah, and their cronies all believe their positions endow them with privilege, entitles them to do whatever the fuck they want to do. They are the quintessential examples of the words above, the response to the question: “do I have the right to exploit for my own gain my position, my power, my mendacity?” Unfortunately, in this moment, as in the past, the responses to these questions by the people in power is YES, HELL YES! Hence the call to stand up to these bullies, to stop making moral equivilance, end our need to defend the wars Bibi engages in to save his political power and not go to Jail! Hence the call to stand up to these bullies, to stop making the stock market, our 401k’s, our prejudices, our need to identify with the oppressor, revel in ‘the retribution’ for perceived slights, support Trump, Kushner, Vought, Vance, Thiel, Lutnick, Miller in their cruelty, their grift, their graft and their total disregard for what the Exodus from Egypt represents. That Jews like Kushner, Lutnick, who have been honored by the New York Jewish Community, who are praised by those ‘good orthodox jews’, are denying the essence of the Exodus experience, who, like Pharaoh, cannot hear the question, “until when will you refuse to heed the word of God”, and engaging in this disgusting behavior.
“Are we the kings of the universe or mere pirates” is the question we have to respond to each and every day. There is a 3rd choice, however, that of trusted servant, an adherent of God’s words and teachings and We the People are beng called to decide who we are going to be today and every day-false king, deceiving pirate, servant of the Ineffable One. Avinu, Malkeinu is a prayer we read on fast days, on the High Holy Days to remind us we are subjects to the Sovereign AND we are Children of the Sovereign. Being royalty forces us to choose, entitlement or service and the fate of our country, our family, our living depends on which we choose-ask the Prophets!
ACTION STEPS:
Take the next two weeks to examine your “puffed up” places
Do a Daily Inventory on how you are exercising your power
Write down your entitlement issues
Write your reasons for “invading realms that do not belong” to you
Each day write down how you acted like a King, a Pirate, a Servant
GOD BLESS and STAY SAFE, Rabbi Mark