The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 74

“They have put their trust in abundance of chariots, in vast numbers of riders, and they have not turned to the Holy One of Israel, they have not sought God. God has not cancelled God’s word, God will rise against the evildoers and the allies of the workers of iniquity. Return to God whom you have deeply revolted, for on that day, everyone will reject his idols of silver and gold which your hands have made in error.”(Isaiah 31:1,2,6)

Isaiah is continuing his rant against going to Egypt and making an alliance. He is trying to remind the people that Egypt made them slaves after they opened their doors to Jacob and the family. He is reminding the people, in the first verse, to turn to God. In every age, they have tried to kill us and God has saved us. Yes, God uses human power to do this, yes, it seems as if God is absent, yet Isaiah is telling us that this isn’t true. We need to seek God and not Egypt, not power. Our power will come from God and living God’s principles. 

We think that we can just appease God and other people after we have betrayed them with false words and half-assed actions. Isaiah is telling us NO, that will not work this time. Mercy and grace have been shown and have their place, yet so does experiencing the natural consequences of one’s behavior. In a time where everyone wants to sue anyone when their “feelings” get hurt, accuse anyone of assaulting their dignity, ignore their responsibility in any and all matters, just be a victim, etc-these words are stark reminders that justice will prevail.

In spite of all of this, on that day that we return to God, on that day that we do T’Shuvah, God will accept us, welcome us and heal us. On that day we return in truth, in humility, with deep remorse and responsibility, God will grant us grace and mercy. We have made so many idols, we have made so many alliances with power, we have turned to the people with “chariots and riders” for so long, we are almost immune to the destruction we are/have caused. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us regarding Hezekiah: “ My enemy’s enemy is my friend, was his belief.”(The Prophets, pg.70).  ”Isaiah could not accept politics as a solution since politics itself, with its arrogance and disregard of justice, was a problem.”(ibid. pg.73) How apropos for us today. How often are we willing to make the false alliances that Isaiah is constantly speaking of. How often do we deceive ourselves to put faith and trust in Hezekiah’s thinking about “friends” and how often do we turn our backs on and rebel against God? These teachings of Rabbi Heschel are making me cringe in remembering how often this happens in personal and global history. 

Our politicians are the problem, they are arrogant and disregard justice when it is convenient for them. They make these false alliances with the people they would not have a meal with if it wasn’t mandated by form. They have forgotten that they are servants of We, the People and of God. They have made alliances with Egypt, with hate groups, with groups who want to sue over everything rather than having a conversation. They have made alliances with power, not with God, not with faith. They continue to squeeze goodness and kindness out of their lives and way of being, they continue to crush the mercy and grace that God shows to the poor, the needy, the stranger. We, the people, have to turn back to God, we have to follow God’s will and force our political leaders to also. 

In recovery, we know that we cannot make deals/alliances with Egypt. We can’t turn our backs on God who has saved us from the very Egypt that we are thinking of making a deal with! We are ever vigilant to continue to return to God. We have experienced the pain of God’s rising up against our evildoing and are grateful for God’s grace and mercy to finally hear God’s call to return. We know the idols we created, we remember them with reverence for their power over us and we stay a safe distance away, knowing that any alliance with them will bring ruin upon us. In recovery, we focus on our return, we focus on doing a little more each day to be a little more worthy of the grace, mercy, kindness and love that God gives daily. 

In my life, in recovery and before, I made the errors that Isaiah is railing about. I see the dangers of false alliances, I feel the pain of these alliances gone bad (which they always do), I understand my errors in judgement triggering God’s rising up against my “evildoing”. I realize the people who have to vilify me (especially the ones who used to be ‘my friends’) are God’s reminder about trusting in the “workers of iniquity”. I am so aware of all of this thanks to Isaiah. I know and recommit to seeking God’s strength and power to face life and live life on God’s Terms. I know and recommit to seek alliances that are true, that are based on win/win inputs and outcomes. I know and recommit to being more aware when I am seeking to rely on human power for spiritual sustenance and moral responses. I know and recommit to rejecting the idolatry of seeing people for who I want them to be, not who they are. I know and recommit to standing for God and God’s principles in my own passionate manner. I know and recommit to standing with God in all of my affairs. What do you know and how are you recommitting to God today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 73

“For it is a rebellious people, faithless children, children who refused to heed the instruction of God. Therefore, God says: because you have rejected this word, and have put your trust and reliance in that which is fraudulent and tortuous, this iniquity will work on you… Truly God is waiting to show you grace, Therefore God will pardon you. For God is God of justice; happy are all who wait for God.(Isaiah 30:9,12,13,18).

Isaiah is speaking to Judah about making a pact with Egypt. God tells us in the Torah to not go back to Egypt, it is a dangerous place for us. On this 2nd day of Passover, I believe that God knew/knows our propensity to trap ourselves through our self-deception. Why else would the Jews of that time be faithless, rebellious, stubborn? 

As we continue to celebrate Passover, are we aware of all the fraudulent and tortuous things we rely on instead of God? Isaiah is pointing out the issue, the problem, and the solution. We, each of us as individuals and we, as a community, have to search out the paths we take that lead us away from God, thinking that we are really going towards God. This way of thinking and living is a powerful example of how self-deception ruins our lives and the lives of people around us.

Yet, Isaiah reminds us that God is waiting for us, God wants to bestow Grace upon us, God wants to pardon us, all we have to do is turn to God, renew our covenant with God, begin to hear, listen and understand God’s call to us, and live in Truth rather than the self-deception we have come to embrace, love and wrap ourselves in. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “How abysmal stubbornness can be. Man rears his own despots-idols, lies, perversions; he labors to prepare his own disaster. Is he insane?”(The Prophets pg. 190). He goes on to say: “The king put his trust in the art of politics, carrying out his plan, disregarding God’s plan; entering an alliance, but not in God’s spirit…(ibid. pg 70).“There are very few thoughts as deeply ingrained in the mind of biblical man as the thought of God’s justice and righteousness.”(ibid. pg 199/200). “The grandeur and majesty of God do not come to expression in the display of ultimate sovereignty and power, but rather in rendering righteousness and mercy.”(ibid pg 214). These teachings are crucial for our understanding how to live in God’s Will and World instead of carrying out our own plan. Our stubbornness and demons that we create our killing us and we don’t even see nor understand this truth. Many people continue to miss the truth of Rabbi Heschel’s last teaching above, we/they believe practicing righteousness and mercy is a weakness instead of a strength and a show of solidarity and connection to God. 

If only our political leaders would study The Prophets. They are living in the self-deception of their own power and ‘rightness’, on both ends of the continuum. There is a middle ground the Rambam teaches us to seek and go to the extremes only to right-size ourselves when we are out of proper measure. I am thinking of how much these ‘people of faith’ refuse to heed God’s call to care for the stranger, the poor, the needy, etc. Rather, they look for ways/paths to cater to the constituents that give them money and help them get reelected. The purpose of power is to render righteousness and mercy, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, to our political leaders it is to display ultimate power and sovereignty. We, the People, must hold them accountable to serve God, to serve democracy and to serve us all. This is our right, our responsibility and our gift.

In recovery, we are aware of where our faithless behaviors, our refusal to heed God’s call, our trusting in fraudulent and torturous paths has led us, to the destruction of our souls, to the perpetration of evil upon others, to our bottoms. Yet, we have experienced the “grandeur and majesty of God” through the mercy we have been shown and the grace we have received. In recovery, we see how we were enslaved to our lies, deceptions, perversions, etc. as Rabbi Heschel teaches, and we know that God has redeemed us and, once again, taken us out of the burdens of slavery and the bonds of slavery. In recovery we invite all who are hungry and all who are needy to our seders,  and to our meetings, our table, into our lives everyday. 

I struggle with both of these parts.  Putting trust into fraudulent alliances is one of my greatest weaknesses and has brought spiritual ruin to me often. I have always wanted to believe in the people I believe in, believing that we can rise above our own agenda-most of the time-to aid another(s)/community. I have been disappointed so many times and, I think, this last time has shown me a new light that God has been shining on me, yet I refused to heed. I also see how I have missed the mark in making alliances that I knew were fraudulent and yet, expedient!. These also have no place in God’s plan and desire for me. It is important for me to stop these behaviors/paths so I can truly be free of the pain, hurt, and sadness this way of being causes me. I don’t need these false alliances, I don’t need to show power to/over another, I don’t need to reject God’s Torah ever again. I am committed to truth, to real connections and to mine the Torah/Tanach for new teachings and new ways to carry them out-letting go of self-deception and idols. This is the slavery I am leaving this year. What slavery are you leaving and how are you recommitting to God’s plan? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 72

“My God says: because this people has approached with it’s mouth and honored Me with its lips, but has kept its heart far from Me and its worship of Me has been a commandment of me, learned by rote. Therefore I will add to their bafflement, the wisdom of their wise shall fail and the understanding of their prudent shall be hid.”(Isaiah 29:13,14).

These words of Isaiah go to the heart of every human being’s choice. Will I give lip service to God or will I give God my heart and my presence? Isaiah is calling the people out for giving just lip service and not, as Rambam teaches, making sure that “what is on your lips is in your heart”. The people believe that they can get away with lip service to God and they find out, albeit the hard way, that their actions do not help them.

When we do things by rote, we are practicing idol worship as I understand Isaiah today. God calls for us to “walk in God’s paths”, “serve God with our whole heart”, not just go through the motions. There are many Rabbis who do this, there are many leaders of other faiths who do this, there are many of us celebrating Passover last night and tonight who are doing this,  and Isaiah is telling us that this will lead to our ruin. 

The result of our lip service will not be that we are smarter or more understanding, on the contrary, we will be less wise and less understanding. We will continue to think that we know how to “get over” and “win” all while we are losing everything. Moses asks Pharaoh: Ad Matai, until when will you listen to God? I hear the echo of this question in these words of Isaiah. I ask you to speak at your Seders tonight, until when will you surrender to God, stop giving lip service to justice, kindness, etc, and put your whole heart into the action of service God by being just, being kind, being loving…? 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us that verse 29:13 is about the prophets cry to the people to stop just saying things and remember that God is calling out “the fault is in their hearts, not alone in their deeds.”(The Prophets pg. 208). What a statement Isaiah is making and Rabbi Heschel is teaching. Stop putting on a face, stop trying to “look good”, without God’s words and demands going into our hearts, there is no way we can fulfill them. How many times have any of us ‘phoned it in’ and not cared? Rabbi Heschel reminds us “Human wisdom and understanding have failed to save man form pride, presumption and arrogance” when speaking about verse 29:14 above. So, I ask us all, why are we still engaging in this folly?

Our political leaders across the country are working hard to suppress voter turnout, take choice out of the realm of women in re: abortion and make the man in charge, stop any outward signs of decency and kindness on election day; all in the name of democracy and following God’s words! These fine, upstanding God-fearing men and women are exactly who Isaiah’s words are aimed at. They are aimed at all of our leaders who think they can phone in lies and conceal the truth and their gains from these actions to remind them and us that this path just leads to ruin, to destruction and to the end of the great experiment called America. We, the People, have to call out their lies, hold people responsible for their actions and take back our government so it is “of the people, by the people and for the people” once more.

In recovery, we know that faith without works is dead! The very essence of recovery is to be present and stop with the lies and deceits we used to engage in. In the Bible, we are told the Israelites said: “Na’aseh V’Nishmah” “we will do and then we will understand”, aka ‘fake it till you make it’ ‘act as if’. We know that we “came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” so we have to take the actions that can make the belief possible. The stories of AA, The Hebrew Bible, The Koran, The New Testament, etc all speak of our need to immerse ourselves in God’s World and no longer be ‘stuck on me’ as one AA speaker said and remember that the interests of others have to be our concern. In recovery, we are constantly turning our “will and lives” over to God . The second and third steps of the 12-Step program are the results of learning the verses of Isaiah for us in recovery. 

I used to think that I could “get over” on anyone and everyone. I found out that this wasn’t true long before I began my journey of T’Shuvah/recovery, yet I kept trying. I could not believe that I couldn’t talk my way out of things, even going so far to think that upon arrival at State Prison in 1984, the system would realize they made a mistake and set me free! Today, I know that I can’t talk my way out of anything, I can only take the actions that God has shown me and my heart/soul instruct me to. Yes, there are times when I act out inappropriately, yet, I don’t act from bullshit and trying to look good. I let go of trying to be slick and am staying with being real, even when it doesn’t get me what I want because others are being slick and saving face instead of doing the real that God is calling for. How are you still giving lip service to God, when are you doing the real that God calls for? Stay safe, Hag Sameach, and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

Pesach 5781- a few thoughts for the Seder

Pesach 5781

As I get ready for Pesach tomorrow evening, I have been studying and speaking with some really smart people! I am focused on two parts of the Seder this year, B’Chol Dor V’Dor and Maror. 

We are told in the Haggadah: “In every generation each person is obligated to see her/himself as if she/he went out of Egypt. As I was studying this with Rabbi Brandon Bernstein this week, he pointed out that the Rambam translates this verse as: “In every generation, each person is obligated to show him/herself as if he/she went out of Egypt. 

In the first reading, we have to see ourselves as if we left Egypt, a very personal introspective experience. A necessary experience if we are to be able to be a little more liberated and eventually freer this year. In the second reading, we have to show ourselves as if we left Egypt, a very public and naked experience. This is also a necessary experience if we are going to be able to be a little more liberated and eventually freer this year. 

In the first, we have to see how we have become stuck in old ideas, old pathways and following a script that is no longer ours. We have to come to grips with the changes that have happened and not hang on to a way of living that just doesn’t fit us anymore. Slavery is, in this iteration, the desire to hold on too tightly to a way of living that just doesn’t work anymore. 

We also have to see how we have become stuck serving people, things, ideas that trap us, keep us in tunnel vision and squeeze the life out of us. Serving a society that doesn’t see and appreciate who we are, serving an organization that just doesn’t want you anymore, living in a relationship/family that seeks to crush your spirit and make you in their image, rather than the Image of God you are, are all examples of this. 

In the second, we have to show others the ways we have become enslaved. We have to stop hiding and conning people into believing that we are “fine”. We have to come to grips with the fear of living life authentically and out loud. No More Hiding, is what the Rambam is obligating us to. No More Mental Make-Up, Rabbi Heschel would teach us.

We also have to show ourselves to another(s) so that they can help us leave Egypt. We don’t get liberated on our own, we need the help of others and God. We get to ask for help and to give help to another(s), we get to be part of a new adventure that brings us closer to God and our own humanity. Showing our slavery to another(s) allows us to be welcomed in to community for who we are and who we are not-not needing to hide and feel like a phony. 

The Maror, according to Sefaria Haggadah, is supposed to be dipped in Charoset before eaten. I disagree with this, the bitterness of Maror is so important for us to taste. It is the bitterness of slavery, the bitterness of hiding, the bitterness of ‘fauxthenticity’(a term Harriet coined), the bitterness of living a narrow life. 

It is also to remind and ask ourselves if we are also enslavers and to taste the bitterness others experience from our enslaving them. We all have the capacity and the power to enslave others. I did when I was ‘doing my thing’ and putting my family through hell, fear, uncertainty and then wanting them to clean up my messes. I see how I have been both Pharaoh and Moses to self, family and another(s). We all have both of these forces inside of us and Maror reminds us to not get too uppity in our false pride of our sh*# doesn’t stink. 

To anyone who has experienced me in my Pharaoh role, I am truly sorry if my Pharaoh overpowered your Moses (and my Moses). I commit to being there less this year and, I pray that my Moses was experienced more in the past and will be in the future.

Hag Sameyach, A Zissen Pesach, A Z’man(time) of True Freedom, A Year of Living Authentically and Joyously, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 71

“Ah, the proud crowns of drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is but wilted flowers… In that Day, God will be a crown of beauty…for the remnant of God’s people and a spirit of judgement for one who sits in judgement and of valor for those who repel attacks at the gate. For you have said, We made a covenant with death…when the scourge passes through, it shall not reach us, for we have made lies our refuge, taken shelter in falsehood.”(Isaiah 28:1,5,15)

How could any of this happen to Ephraim, Judah? This is the question that Isaiah is answering here in these verses. He tells us that Ephraim was made up of drunkards who kept believing that they were sober and beautiful, as when they were created. This lie is one that happens so often in history, yet we seem to never learn its lesson. 

“In that day” comes up again here. Isaiah is begging the people to create a world, land, space where “in that day” becomes TODAY! He is screaming at the people to make this happen by describing the joy, the connection and the love that God gives to this remnant of the people who follow God, who reconnect with God and who are interested in carrying out God’s Will to “bend the Moral Arc of the Universe towards Justice.” This remnant will repel all attacks on its sovereignty, on its dignity, on its values because of their connection to God. 

What does Ephraim answer? “We made a covenant with death…”, they believe that the deals they made with Egypt, with others, with the false gods that they worship now will save them and Isaiah is telling them that this a covenant with death. The lies and falsehoods they have told themselves for years are coming to kill them and they don’t even know. This is, to me, the ultimate enslavement-believing our lies and falsehoods so strongly that we can’t see the death sentence they bestow upon us. 

Rabbi Heschel, in teaching about the first verse, says:”The Northern Kingdom was doomed…, Isaiah had no role to play in its destiny. With few exceptions, his message was directed to Judah.”(The Prophets pg 63). Rabbi Heschel is reminding us to use the experience of another(s) and learn from it. We don’t need to keep repeating the errors of our ancestors or the people around us. He goes on to teach us:”The threat of scourge and doom doesn’t frighten the scoffers, nor does the prophets condemnation of their cherished beliefs as lies and falsehoods.”(ibid, pg 91). Rabbi Heschel labeled this section:”Uncanny Indifference”. He is pointing out the indifference people showed to God, to decency, to truth, to principle and the destruction that this indifference brought. In other contexts, Rabbi Heschel was calling out this indifference that he saw still being practice by the people in charge of the United States and all of us. He called indifference-evil. 

Our politicians remind me of the people of Ephraim right now. They are so drunk with their own fears and power that they are trampling on the very Constitution, Declaration of Independence that they claim to love so much. Everything that made it possible for their ancestors to come here to America, everything that made America appealing to people the world ‘round, they are indifferent to now. They have made a covenant with death and are making toasts to each other at how clever they are. Unbelievable, yet true. Brian Kemp, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, and others, have you no shame? Your falsehoods and lies will catch up to you, they always do and “In that day” God will exact punishment and banishment upon you-as the Prophet Isaiah is teaching us today. 

In recovery, we lived the lies and the falsehoods, we made the covenant with death and almost died. We found no refuge in this way of being, eventually, and God brought us back as part of the remnant that would return to the Promised Land. We have returned to life and we are always returning to our proper place. God has given us sight to see what is just and correct, ears to hear God’s call to carry the message and courage to separate falsehoods and lies from the truth. In recovery, we have the valor, the strength to repel the attacks of lies we tell ourselves and the lies others tell us. We have the valor to stand strong with God, with our recovering community to speak truth to power and love to all. 

I have, of course, been the drunkard. I also am blessed with the discernment and judgment that Isaiah is speaking of by God. I have, even in my recovery, made temporary covenants with death, falsehoods and lies-much to my own dismay and almost ruin. Because of one of the moments I made this temporary covenant, I have been banished from a place I love(d) and, while it saddens me, I am heartened by Isaiah’s words, my sobriety and my recovery will make me one of the remnants that God saves, in fact, God has saved me, given me more discernment and sight and love and acceptance. Are you going to liberate yourself from the Covenant with Death you have made this year? I pray we all allow God to restore us to freedom, health and love this Pesach. Stay Safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 70

“In that day, a precious vineyard, sing to it! I am God it’s keeper; every moment I water it…I have no anger…If he is strong in my refuge, he makes Me his friend. In that day, a shofar will sounded and the slaves from Assyria and the expelled from Egypt shall come and worship God on the Holy Mount, in Jerusalem.”(Isaiah 27:2,3.5.13).

Here is the promise that the prophet is giving to us in God’s name. The vineyard represents humanity and the promise is reconciliation, renewal and peace/wholeness with God. The song we need to sing, I believe, is the song of return, the song of faithfulness, the song of love for our fellow human beings. This song is crucial to our returning to our proper place in God’s world. Composing and singing this new song can happen ‘In this day’, not some far off time. The choice is ours. 

God keeps the vineyard and waters it so we know that we always can return to God and to the ways of God. Isaiah is beseeching us to see that we are alive because of God’s Grace and even though we have strayed and our ancestors strayed and broke the covenant, God is still watering us, nourishing us and calling to us. 

God’s anger is nil, what we consider God’s anger is, in my opinion, just the logical consequences of our straying from God and God’s ways. We project anger onto God because we can’t imagine the Divine Love God has for us. The verse after this tells us what to do: accept God’s refuge, accept God’s friendship. 

The last verse is the promise and the dream of God, the prophet and the people. In this verse, we all get what we want-reconnection and redemption. God is calling us home, God is calling us to our proper places in life, God is welcoming us back, with love, peace and friendship.

Rabbi Heschel teaches that the first 3 verses above speak to God’s dream of “preservation of the vineyard, and His joy at the thought of continuing to care for it”(The Prophets pg. 85). God’s sorrow at having to afflict the people are overshadowed by God’s dream that God’s people will return to worship God. God would rather be at peace, in friendship with God’s People than at war with them. God wants us desperately, as I read Rabbi Heschel and we can respond with Hineni, Here I am, anytime we choose. 

Our political system is not broken. Our politicians are. They are entrusted by us and by God to water the vineyard that the United States represents. They are entrusted to call all the slaves and all the expelled to come here to worship God and swear loyalty to the democratic principles this country was founded on. They are entrusted to make peace with each other and with our citizens and strangers alike. Yet, obstruction, hatred, scorched earth, walls are what many of them are building and creating. The same people who howled with joy at name calling, subterfuge, lying and stealing are accusing others of what they do. We, the People, have to call them to account before God and country. We, the People have to stop them from destroying this beautiful land and stop destroying the democratic principles our ancestors, our family members died and risked death to protect. 

In recovery, we celebrate the preciousness of living in the vineyard of God. We wake up every day and rejoice in the watering and nourishment that God gives to the vineyard and to us. We are the recipients of God’s Grace and we know that God guards us and God loves us. We recognize and rejoice in the myriad of ways God shows us love and not anger. We experience dizziness and elation knowing that God wants us to be friends with each other and with God. In recovery, we are the slaves and the expelled who have come back to the Holy Mountain to worship God. We know the toil of slavery and the toll that being expelled because of our actions take on our souls and our beings. We are ecstatic that we have heard the sound of the Shofar of God and we respond with enthusiasm, commitment and continuing growth. 

I, too, have experienced living in God’s vineyard. I, too, have experienced God’s care, nurturing and love. I, too, have overcome my fear of God’s disappointment to be enveloped in God’s love. I, too, have been surprised that, rather than anger, God has given me Grace, Hope, Kindness and Love. I, too, have learned how to be at peace with God, how to ask God to help me be more whole and to be counted as one of God’s friends. None of this is say that I have been or experienced being perfect in any area of living. In fact, it is my imperfections that allow me to have these amazing experiences with and of God. Because I have been enslaved by human powers and my own immature emotional and spiritual natures, I know the joy of hearing God’s Shofar so much more. Because I have been expelled, I long for and need to hear God’s call to come back, because some humans can never see their part and call for reconciliation. I am grateful to experience this reconciliation with God. Are you hearing the call to return and reconcile or are you staying willfully deaf? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 69

“At night I yearn for you with all my being, with all my spirit I seek You. When You judge the earth all the inhabitants will learn righteousness. But when the scoundrel is spared, he doesn’t learn righteousness; in the land of integrity he deals perversely and ignores the majesty of God.”(Isaiah 26:9,10). 

Isaiah is portraying the contrast between one who learns and one who doesn’t. The contrast here is crystal clear and we all have to make this choice. Each evening before we fall asleep, many people recite the bedtime Sh’ma, ending with Adon Olam prayer where we say we entrust our spirit to God and are not afraid. We wake in the morning and thank God for returning our soul to us, the Modeh Ani prayer.

I yearn for God to clean my soul, have me dream/nightmare what I have to get out of my system so I can better serve God and then return my soul to me so I can get on with God’s business today. Without the spiritual connection to God, I would only get on with my business. We need to yearn for God so that we strive to connect to God and learn from God.

Learning righteousness is only half the goal. The prophet had enough faith in humanity to believe that if we learn righteousness, have gone through affliction, told the stories of our ancestors’ errors and the afflictions they caused, we would automatically practice righteousness. We need to both learn and practice this righteousness, otherwise we will be the scoundrel, the wicked, that Isaiah speaks about and to in verse 10. 

The people Isaiah was speaking to had become so comfortable with deceit and mendacity that they didn’t think they were scoundrels or wicked, they were just doing what everyone else, especially their leaders and power brokers were doing. They had bought the lies they told themselves and others told them. I would say they depict the inner war of the “Rasha” at our Passover Seders. 

Rabbi Heschel, in teaching about Verse 26:10, says: “it was a major enigma that confronted the prophet: How is it possible to not see the majesty of the Lord…? What we call the irrational nature of man, they called hardness of heart.”(The Prophets pg. 189). He goes on to teach: “Obstinacy in the hour of imminent disaster is uncanny, irrational.”(ibid pg.91). These two teachings remind us of our nature to be irrational and obstinate in the face of God’s call, God’s plea and God’s outreach. Even before we were so “sophisticated” as we are now, humanity was obstinate and irrational in the face of disaster and doom. They were, as Rabbi Heschel teaches elsewhere, willfully blind.

Speaking of obstinate, irrational and willfully blind… Our Senators have to take off their blinders, end their mendacity, stop being irrational and obstinate and see what is happening in our country and the world. We can no longer wring our hands at mass shootings like Boulder and Atlanta, Newtown and Parkman. We, the people, have to demand righteousness or ouster to the people who keep lying, taking the bribes of lobbyists from NRA, engage in obstruction of just and kind ways of being, deny the rights of the victims to “certain unalienable rights” as our Declaration of Independence declares. These Senators, like Joe Manchin, are FOS, full of sh*%, in their care and concern-if they actually cared, they would do something. All of these “good people of faith” are actually scoundrels who do not see the majesty of God nor the majesty of God’s creatures, human beings. 

In recovery, we have been afflicted, we have experienced our irrationality and obstinacy in the face of God’s calls and the disaster that we caused and experienced because of our irrationality and obstinacy. We know that we can no longer be the scoundrels we were, we are acutely aware of the ways we stray into negativity, to being wicked, when we are practicing mendacity and when we make mistakes. We know that we tried everything else but connection to God, to spirit, in order to get over; to no avail. We realize that we suffered from a spiritual malady and without reconnecting to the source of life, we would die with and from this spiritual malady. Each and every day, we surrender to God, join with God and walk the world doing God’s Will to the best of our ability. 

Having been a scoundrel, I know that difference between being a scoundrel and an error in judgement of what the next right thing to do is. In the last 33 years since God opened my soul up to yearn out loud and with all of my being for God’s teachings, I have made errors in judgement and never been a scoundrel. I am still learning how to do and live righteousness and I will till the day I die. I have also seen the scoundrels in our midst and I have called them out, as Isaiah teaches us to do in today’s verses. It has helped most of the time to change outcomes and it has hurt me many times because people did not believe me. Rather than going with substance and truth, people buy lies and mendacity so they don’t have to see their own lies and mendacity. Learn righteousness or be a scoundrel-what is your choice? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 68

“In that day, this song shall be sung…Trust in God for ever and ever, for in Yah, God, you have an everlasting Rock. For God has brought low those who dwelt high up, has humbled the secure city… To be trampled underfoot by the feet of the needy, by the soles of the poor. The path is level for the righteous person.”(Isaiah 26:1, 4-6).

Isaiah is reminding us of the day(s) to come, not some far away time I believe, rather the day that we can sing the song of “Trust in God for ever and ever”. He is reminding us of the true nature of God; concerned with the human condition, involved in human affairs, afflicting us so we can wake up and turn back to God and God’s ways. 

God has to afflict “those who dwelt high up” not out of spite, vengeance, or even justice, in my opinion and experience. God has to afflict us/them because they/we haven’t heard nor responded to God’s numerous calls to them/us to change, to return, to care for the poor, the needy, the stranger, etc. We/they have been deaf to God’s call and the cry of those in need, materially and spiritually. They/We have been so sure of themselves/ourselves that there was no need to hear anything except what they/we wanted to. It became all about them/us and this is why they/we had to be afflicted. 

Rather than seeing this as punishment, I see this as the only way God could get our/their attention. The prophets have been calling to the people in God’s Name to no avail. So, Isaiah is telling them there will be affliction and the city will be destroyed, the people will suffer and then, the remnant who turn back to God will be restored. 

The very thing “those who dwelt high up” were afraid of will happen, according to Isaiah in these verses. The needy and the poor will pave the new roads of and for righteousness and decent people. There will be smoothness where there had been bumps, detours, pot holes. Those that were the lowest will be leading them/us in a new way of living. A life based in caring for another(s).  A life which is free of deceit, guile, comparison, etc.  

While Rabbi Heschel doesn’t have any commentary on these verses directly, I see these verses as proof of a teaching of his. “The prophet is a man who is able to hold God and man in one thought, at one time, at all times…The kind of men who combine a very deep love, a very powerful dissent, a painful rebuke, with unwavering hope”(Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity pg 399). Rabbi Heschel is teaching me/us not only about the prophets, he is telling us how we should live as well.

Take heed, you political leaders in Washington DC and in State Capitals across this land. Isaiah’s words should be ringing loudly in your ears so that your soul hears them, begins to weep and forces your return to caring for the poor, the needy, the righteous. You who don’t want people to earn $31,400/year because you are concerned what it will do to business of the rich and powerful, you need to listen to the words of Isaiah, the words of God. The song you sing to the idol you worship is the opposite of the song that Isaiah is teaching us to sing. From Jesus, Mohamed, Moses, Buddha, etc the message is the same: love, justice, truth, compassion, kindness and caring are the foundational components of every faith/spiritual discipline. Sing to God before it is too late for all of us. 

In recovery, this is the song we sing every day. We are the recipients of God’s love, care, kindness, justice and compassion. By owning the truth of our actions, by repenting and returning to God and a way of living that is moral, we are welcomed back by God. We know that the old ways have to be humbled to the ground. We know that our old ideas have brought us to defeat and near destruction and with this knowledge we rebuild our lives with these “new” ideas of righteousness and love, kindness and truth. We are the ones who are smoothing the path for other people in recovery, we are the ones who are leveling out the path to God for the newcomer and helping them navigate their own path. We sing this song through our actions, our prayers, our belonging to community and our love for our fellow people.

I have sung this song loudly for my entire recovery. Sometimes too loudly and off-key as Harriet reminds/scolds me. I know also, that I have been humbled by God and been blessed by God’s humbling actions towards me. I am struck by a new truth; God’s humbling of me has never been humiliating-only learning, loving and speaking to me in a way I can hear. When others humiliate me, it is never from a place of love, never from a place of learning, it is from a place of superiority, of needing to ‘win’, to ‘put me in my place’. I have fallen into this trap instead of singing this song to God and myself. I have forgotten “in that day” can be today, if I make it so. God’s humbling is never punishment, only a call-human humiliation is always punishing, never a call. I am committed to continuing to trample the road for the righteous to be able to walk on a level and smooth path. I am committed to continuing speaking out for the poor, the needy. I am committed to singing this song to God, are you committed to returning and joining this Choir? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 67

“For You have been a refuge for the poor, a shelter for the needy in distress… In the day they shall say: This is our God; we waited for God and God delivered us. This is God whom we waited for; let us rejoice and exult in God’s deliverance.”(Isaiah 25:4,9)

Isaiah is reminding us of God’s care and concern for humanity in this first verse above. In this verse Isaiah is reminding us that there is no hierarchy in God’s World. No one is more important or less important as our Sages teach us in tractate Sanhedrin 37a. This verse reminds us that God is always caring for, has compassion and mercy for, and is the redeemer for the poor and the needy, the downtrodden and the oppressed. 

After the prophet tells of God’s interference in the injustice of the rulers/tyrants he goes on to remind us about “In the day”. While the phrase points to a day in the future, it is not the far off future of the Messiah coming, to me. “In the day” is the day of our choosing. We can choose to send the tyrants packing, we can choose to banish the obstructionists from our midst, we can choose to cure the cancer of prejudice, we can choose to do these and more “In this day” also. 

We do this by remembering, saying and living the principles of “our God”. We can make “in the day” today by rejoicing and exulting in God’s deliverance. We have to be aware of the deliverance, however. Gratitude for being alive is the beginning of this realization. Gratitude for what we have and what we don’t have, being able to rejoice in our portion in life, reaching out and helping the poor and needy, etc. are paths to this awareness. “In the day” we appreciate, acknowledge and rejoice in the knowledge that without God, none of this happens, makes “in the day” today.

Rabbi Heschel speaks about verse 4 above as signifying: “The grandeur and majesty of God do not come to expression in the display ultimate sovereignty and power, but rather in rendering righteousness and mercy. Isaiah speaks about God, and his true intention is to say that the Lord…finds His true exaltation in justice.”(The Prophets pg.214). What is important to God? As I read Rabbi Heschel’s words:justice, mercy and righteousness. This is the theme of the Prophets and is said in a myriad of ways and yet, we still don’t heed. Rabbi Heschel also says, referring to verse 9 above: “God’s anger must not obscure His redeeming love.”(ibid pg 194). We have to continue to remember this wisdom and act in ways that are loving in return and that honor God’s love for us. 

Our political system needs to begin each day with a passage from the Prophets! Maybe then they would hear God’s call for the poor and the needy. Do these supposed ‘god-fearing men and women’ really believe that God will not be a “refuge for the poor and a shelter for the needy”? Do they believe that they can continue to worship at the altars of false gods and not be held accountable? Do they not understand that God will deliver us and God will save us from these disastrous times they have foisted upon us? We are not stooping to the level of hatred, prejudice and bigotry that they live at. No We, the People, are honoring the deliverance, mercy, righteousness and goodness that God has shown us and we are making “in the day” today!

In recovery, we rejoice in our growth and our gratitude to God for everything we have. We know we have been delivered, we know that God is our refuge and our shelter. We know that without a Power greater than ourselves, we would be lost, desolate, exposed and dying. We know that gratitude is a key element to our continued growth and our recovery. We know that each day is different from the one before it and/or the one after it. We know that living in today and accepting what is are essential elements of our recovery. We also know that being of service to those that suffer is crucial in our ability to carry out God’s Will which is our goal and our lifeline. 

I have lived these verses many times in my life. I was poor and needy in material and spirit, yet going to Temple for daily services to say Kaddish for my father, gave me refuge and shelter. I heard God calling me in a jail cell and I didn’t blowout off that time and my life changed. I realize that God was a shelter and refuge for me long before I became aware of this Truth. Every day I rejoice and exult in God’s deliverance of me. Every day I am aware of God’s love, mercy, righteousness and goodness towards me. Yet, I don’t always keep up my end of the deal, there are moments in a day where I forget to be the refuge for the poor and, instead, get so angry about a situation that I lose my cool for a few minutes, speak out in a way that is harmful to the ones I am trying to help and make a mess of things. Yet, God’s mercy and goodness is so great that God provides T’Shuvah as a path back. Exulting and rejoicing in God’s deliverance is not about perfection, it is about returning and always belonging to and being welcomed back by God. I commit to being open to waiting for and welcoming back those who have hurt me and left me. I commit to continue to live the T’Shuvahs(amends) I make. I commit to make “in the day” TODAY and every day. How are you honoring your deliverance by God today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 66

“For the earth was polluted under its inhabitants, because they transgressed the teachings(Torah), violated the statures and broke the everlasting covenant. That is why a curse consumes the earth, the inhabitants suffer for their guilt, the earth’s dwellers have dwindled and few men are left.”(Isaiah 24:6-7)

These words are a description of what the consequences of our actions are for the entire world. We transgress God’s teachings, we bastardize the ways that God has laid out for us to live and we pollute the earth. This is the same language as what was used at the time of the Flood, in Genesis. We pollute the world and everything in it, Isaiah is teaching us. Yet, we still don’t hear and heed these words. We, humans, are so full of ourselves that we forget we are to be responsible to and for the lessons that God has given us. The lessons of decency, kindness, compassion, care, truth, justice and love. 

When we break the statutes and laws as well as the teachings, we have hit the trifecta of negativity. Yet, our hubris doesn’t  allow us to see the damage we bring to ourselves, another(s), and even the world itself.

Each time we break the covenant we made with God, a curse comes upon the earth. The curse takes many forms, natural disasters, man-made disasters, health crisis’, spiritual crisis’, mental health crisis’, etc. What so many of us don’t realize is that we all suffer from these curses, especially those who think that they are right, they are not suffering, they are not responsible for their neighbor, they can secure themselves from any harm coming to them. 

This is a lie so many of us tell ourselves so that we don’t have to be responsible and we can blame another(s) for their own troubles and suffering. We do this so can hide from ourselves and God, yet there is no hiding. Suffering guilt allows us to take responsibility, do T’Shuvah(amends), and change our paths and patterns. Then we will/can stop the flow of the curse, reinstate living by the teachings(Torah) of God and renewing our covenant with God. 

Rabbi Heschel says that these words of Isaiah demonstrate “the sickness and liability of man. Israel is under judgement; the covenant with God must not be taken as immunity from judgement.”(The Prophets pigs 172-3). These words are resonating inside of me and crashing into the false pride and false ego that also lives in me. We all have this sickness, and without proper spiritual care and discipline, it will grow and destroy us and all around us. 

Our political leaders, many of them, seem to think that their attachment to “the family” and to Jesus “as the lion” gives them carte blanche to violate the teachings, statutes and laws of God. Their covenant is not with God, rather it is with their false image of God. They are suffering the sickness that Rabbi Heschel is speaking about and think that they are the healthy ones. They are polluting our soil, the soul of our country, they are breaking the spirit and covenant(Declaration of Independence) that our country was founded on. Yet, they continue to deny voting rights, promote lynchings, spew hate and obstruct any positive legislation. They continue practices which enhanced white supremacy after the Civil War and call themselves “good christians”. We, the People, have to say NO to these polluters of our soil and our soul. 

In recovery, we are so aware of our covenant and how we have transgressed God’s teachings, laws and statutes. We know that we not only impact and affect ourselves, we touch so many lives that we are not aware of. We learn this when we do our first inventory and we see, read and write down the ways we have wronged another(s), God and ourselves. We see the reach of our actions and become humble, make amends(Tshuvah), and change our behaviors, thinking and feeling. We take responsibility not only for the destruction, we take responsibility for the rebuilding of trust, love, justice, kindness, decency, compassion and truth with God and with another(s) human beings. We repair the damage so the world we inhabit doesn’t suffer anymore from the curses we have put on it. 

I have been living, learning and teaching God’s Torah(teachings) for the past 34+ years. I have continued and do continue to make mistakes, transgress the teachings(Torah) at times, etc. This is not a flaw, it is my humanity. We are not asked to be perfect by Isaiah, we are called upon to continue learning and doing the teachings, laws and statutes. While there have been times that I have been sick as Rabbi Heschel describes above, I have also been healed through God’s teachings and the help of another(s). We all need to realize when and how we are sick so we can seek the proper healing. This is my one of my greatest achievements, I have been able to help people find the healing they need through the teachings(Torah) of God, even when I have fallen short. How are you breaking the Covenant with God and how are you keeping it? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 65

“The Lord of Hosts decided it to humble the pride of all glory and to shame all the honored of the world. After a time of 70 years, God will take note of Tyre and she shall resume her trading… But her profits and trade shall be consecrated to God… rather shall her profits go to those who follow God…”(Isaiah 23:9, 18).

Isaiah is telling the people of Tarshish, Tyre, Sidon, etc; all of Mesopotamia that the end of their current way of living is coming to an end. He is giving the reason for this experience that is about to happen: False Pride. Isaiah’s words are reminders that all of us have help to achieve what we do and God is a partner in all that we build. The choice that the people of these countries, including Judah and Israel, is to use God’s power and energy to serve themselves and their cronies rather than all the people.

The False Pride is the belief that: ‘I created this and no one can take it away nor stop me’ and other such foolish thoughts. Isaiah is telling us and warning the cities that God has decided to “humble the pride and shame all the honored” in order to get the people’s attention and to ensure that the people get back to being right-sized. 

In this chapter, Isaiah calls Tyre a harlot and their whoredom is what leads to their destruction. She is described as “crown-wearing”, her “merchants were noble” etc, and yet, the city and the people got so full of themselves that they could not hear Isaiah and the words of God nor think that they had to change anything, that they were indestructible! How sad and foolish, yet many of us still think the same way even today. 

The good news is that after her destruction, Tyre will come back as a trade center, as a city and as a place for people to gather and consecrate themselves to God. No longer will Tyre be a city that is only concerned with itself, no longer will the rich and powerful take advantage of the poor and needy, no longer will selfishness, harshness, idolatry rule the land; people of faith will be in charge. 

Rabbi Heschel says: “The root of all evil is, according to Isaiah, man’s false sense of sovereignty and, stemming from it, man’s pride, arrogant and presumption.”(The Prophets, pg. 165). Yet, we haven’t listened to nor heeded either Isaiah’s words nor Rabbi Heschel’s words. Rabbi Heschel also said: “Such presumption will not last forever.”(ibid). We see this in the destruction of the countries in antiquity and we see this in the destruction of countries today. Yet, we still continue to act in prideful, arrogant and presumptuous ways. 

Speaking of pride, arrogance and presumptive, how about Congressman Roy from Texas speaking about a rope and a tall oak tree in a Congressional Hearing about Anti-Asian hate crimes! How about the Republicans saying they will obstruct any and all bills that the Democrats propose? How about people still believing the lies that the people who spoke them in the Trump administration knew were lies and told them anyway. How about the ways some people are so in love with and drunk with their sense of themselves that, like Tyre, Tarshish, Sidon, etc, they believe that they can do anything they want with impunity! They certainly haven’t read the same Bible the rest of us do and they certainly don’t immerse themselves in the text as Rabbi Heschel teaches us to do. As Pete Seeger wrote in 1955: “When will they ever learn?”. 

In recovery, our false pride, arrogance and haughtiness have been broken. Unlike in earlier times, when we made false amends and false attempts to look broken, in recovery, we are aware of the danger of pride, arrogance, etc being out of proper measure and we becoming wrong-sized instead of right-sized. We still can be proud of our accomplishments and we can have a sense of arrogance that motivates us beyond our negative thinking and the put-downs of another(s), they just stay right-sized, most of the time anyway. In recovery, we are so aware of our need to serve God, to consecrate our lives to God. We live the first three steps each and every day-We are powerless, we believe in God and we turn our lives over to the care of God. In this way, we avoid the continued haughtiness of the people that Isaiah is speaking of and the haughtiness of our past, we stay in God’s space and serve God and God’s creations. These ways of being are a hallmark of recovery. 

In my life, arrogance and pride have been right-sized and out of proper measure. I have been presumptive and sometimes that has served God and other times it was only serving me. This is the great challenge for me, when do these traits serve God and when are they just serving me, selfishly and indulgently. I know that when I have gotten out of proper measure, God has brought me low and I have learned a hard lesson, usually not for the first time. This is, of course, the power of T’Shuvah-we can and must keep coming back. Being humbled by God is joyous and painful, enlightening and dark, caring and humbling,  a true Both/And. I know the promise of return is real and I am participating in it today and everyday. Are you right-sized in all your affairs and serving God instead of self today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 64

“In that day, the Lord, God of Hosts called for weeping and lamentation, and baldness and finding with sackcloth; and behold, joy and. Gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die! The Lord of Hosts has revealed in my ears: this iniquity shall not be pardoned until you die, says my Lord of Hosts”(Isaiah 22:12-14). 

Isaiah is calling out and crying out to the people, the leaders, to the king: Stop believing someone else is going to save you-only Adonai, God can do this. You are doing things that go against the creations of God, the ways of God and then you are surprised that you will die and Judah will be ruined? 

What is God asking in these verses? God is telling us that we have to take an inventory of our ways, see how and where we have strayed from God’s path, be overcome with the enormity of our errors, experience the sadness of our betrayal of the Covenant with God and have a day of sadness, Tshuvah, fasting and correction. 

Yet, the people respond with “eat and drink for tomorrow we shall die”. How ignorant, how cruel to themselves and their families, friends, how ridiculous after seeing what happened to Israel for the same way of being! Yet, the people seemed to have forgotten God, forgotten the path of return that their ancestors used, forgotten that change is necessary and arrogance is death. 

God’s proclamation in the last verse above is not a “mean and vengeful God” rather it is God telling us that when we stray so far off the path as to cause our own destruction and death, we will still be forgiven in our death. Death is the choice we make when we ignore God and “eat and drink” today “for tomorrow we shall die”. Yet, God’s compassion is so great and love so encompassing we will be forgiven when we die. 

Rabbi Heschel calls this “Uncanny Indifference” in his book The Prophets on page 90. He goes on to say on page 90: “ Callousness is sovereign and smug; it clings to the soul and will not give in. The crack of doom is in the air, but the people, unperturbed, are carried away by a rage to be merry.” This teaching is so true and historic, yet we continue to ignore it in every generation. We give in to the callousness and are deceived by ourselves and another(s) to believe we are just ‘defending our values’. We see the soul sickness that callousness has caused throughout the millennia and still believe we don’t have it. We are going to be willfully blind to the doom that we are courting and, instead, revel in our greatness and eat and drink at the altar of power and indifference.

Our political system is a prime example of these words. God has called out to We, The People, to care for another(s) as friends, family, etc. God is telling us to stop drinking and eating at the banquet of cruelty and callousness. Stop being indifferent to the suffering of another(s) human being and calling it good. Stop disenfranchising people based on color, creed, religion, party affiliation, zip code, etc. Return to the path and principles that people first came here-religious freedom, communal living and under God. God doesn’t want the callousness and cruelty, God doesn’t want senseless hatred and deceptions. McConnell and his cronies believe that they can avoid the doom they are creating so they continue to “eat and be merry”. They need to read these verses in their church more often. 

In recovery, we are well aware of our own callousness and cruelty. We take our inventory once and then continue to see how we are straying from God’s path each and every day. We also see how we are honoring God’s gift of life each and every day as well. We make amends as soon as we realize our errors and we lament our callousness and cruelty. In recovery, we are eager to reconnect with God/Higher Power and know that straying is certain death, spiritually if not physically at the moment of straying. We realized the errors of our “eat and drink” as many of us have seen the death, cruelty and destruction that comes from this way of being. In recovery, we “turn our lives over to the care of God” so that we continue to minimize the damage we do, continually ‘come home to God’ and join together to rebuild our lives and help others rebuild/build good lives. 

I have worn the sackcloth and wept and lamented my errors in order to repent for my errors. I know the power of deep introspection that leads to change of behavior and I know the power of T’Shuvah that heals the wounds I have caused. I also know that God, unlike humans, doesn’t hold a grudge. God, unlike humans, doesn’t find ways to not be appeased and to not accept T’Shuvah. God, unlike humans, doesn’t extract a pound of flesh just because God can. God, unlike humans, respects, honors and loves, the dignity of all humans, even when they err-as is the case with our biblical heroes. I have continued to hone my hearing of God’s call and I know that God keeps opening new horizons for me, for all of us. I know that God joins me in mourning what has died and lifts me up to see what we, God, you and me, can build anew. Callousness or Connection, which do you choose today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets 

Day 63

“A harsh prophecy has been told to me: the betrayer is betraying, the ravager is ravaging. Advance Elam, Lay siege Media. I have put an end to all her sighing. My loins are filled with anguish; My mind is confused, I shudder in panic. What I have heard from God of Hosts, the God of Israel, I have told to you.”(Isaiah 21:2-4,10). 

Isaiah is telling us that those that have betrayed before will betray again. This is an important lesson for all of us, many of us believe that what one does to another person they will not do to us. After all, the betrayers spoken about here, probably betrayed someone else to the people in power so we can trust them, right? Wrong! God is telling us, through Isaiah, that harshness is coming, the ones you trust to do right and good for you will not. They have betrayed God, they have ravaged you and your possessions, do not trust them nor follow them. 

Yet, of course Isaiah knows that they people will continue to do what they have always done, whatever is expedient and easy; even if it leads to ruin. Knowing this, Isaiah is gripped by anguish, trembling, confusion and panic. He is so upset for the people and for God. Here again is an example of the prophet holding God and human in the same thought, in the same moment, as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel teaches. 

Verse 10 here reminds us that this is not something Isaiah wants to do, necessarily, rather it is something he has to do. He has received the word from God and has to tell the people, he is incapable of staying silent, God has chosen him for this task and he will faithfully carry out God’s Will. 

Rabbi Heschel speaks of the depth of Isaiah’s agony in verses 2-4, I hear his empathy for Isaiah and for the people who could not/would not hear the prophet and heed his words. He goes on to say: “there is no doubt that the prophets were conscious of their own sincerity; that their tongues were not confuted by their consciences.”(The Prophets, pg 427). Rabbi Heschel is teaching us that the Prophets could discern between what their hearts wanted and what God wanted. They accepted the mission to minister to the people by repeating God’s words, hopes, anger, fear to the people and identifying with both God and the people as we see in these verses. This is the model that was set for us by the Prophets and we have discarded it and tried to turn the prophets into studies in psychosis rather than studies in inspiration, faithfulness and love to and for God and humanity. 

If only our political leaders could be so loyal. I want to shout from the rooftops to the people who continue to go along with the betrayers and the ravagers, believing that it would never happen to them. We have see the siege of Russia on our election system and, instead of making the system more secure, some states are trying to restrict who votes through a series of machinations that were stopped in the 60’s. What is so scary is that the elected leaders don’t shudder, don’t feel the panic, have stopped being anguished by these events; their minds are confused and seem to be staying that way! We, The People, must speak the words of God to them, as our founding fathers did: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” All men, all women, all people have these rights that some of our political leaders are helping to take away-on the right and the left. “If not now, when? as Rabbi Hillel asks!

In recovery, we know the life of the ravager and the betrayer because prior to our recovery, we were them. For many of us, when we did our first writings and our first inventory, we shuddered, we were panicked and we were able to see the confusion of our minds. Recovery has given us the gift of clearer vision, minds that are less confused and the ability to hear God’s voice. We live in ways that invite God in and God does become both our co-pilot and navigator. We are constantly checking in with God/Higher Power, to make sure we are on the correct course and make whatever course corrections are necessary in the moment. We also, like Isaiah, are called to spread the message and reach out to, speak to, and give hope to other people who are suffering. This is the gift that our recovery and God give to us. I know this is the cause of our gratitude and joy. 

I have betrayed and ravaged in my days of drinking and stealing. I have betrayed in my recovery as well. I know this. The biggest betrayal has been the betrayal of my knowing and the betrayal of trust that Harriet and Heather have in me. When I betray what I know in order to get along, get something for me and/or for another; disaster always follows.. When I betray what I know to be true, good and right I betray the faith of Harriet and Heather to always protect them by protecting me. Most of all, I betray the faith God has in me to do the next right thing, no matter what. I realize my lack of hearing God and speaking God’s words at times. I realize my inappropriate timing of speaking God’s words at times. I also know that more often than not, I reached out to people with the words God wanted them to hear. My errors are some, my faithfulness to God and humans, more. When do you betray and when do you stay faithful? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 62

“And God said, just as my servant Isaiah walked naked and barefoot three years, it is a sign and potent for Egypt and Kush. And said the dwellers of this coastland, In that day if those we looked to for rescue and help from the king of Assyria, how can we escape ourselves?”(Isaiah 20:3, 6). 

Isaiah is walking around barefoot and naked to get the people’s attention and, in three years, they stayed blind to him and his message. They must have written him off as a kook, a nut, a homeless person who can be ignored. It takes God’s direct intervention for the people to make the correlation between Isaiah’s appearance, prophecy and what will happen to Egypt and Kush, the ones Judah things will save it. 

Once God gets through to the people of Judah, they finally get the hint of Isaiah. They realize, once again, that they have put their faith and trust in mere mortals and not God. They have believed that some human power could save them and realize that just isn’t true. 

The last fragment of verse 6 says “how we can ourselves escape or how can we escape ourselves” and this is the question that Judah faced then and we face now. How do we “get over ourselves” how do escape our narcissistic wounds, needs, our egocentric ways of being to serve God, to worship at the Altar of the Ineffable One rather than at the power of greed, power, prestige, ego, etc? We are so full of ourselves the we can’t see nor hear the prophet sent by God, we cannot comprehend nor understand that these words are for us, today and God keeps sending prophets, if we would only listen to the true prophets instead of the false ones.

Rabbi Heschel is/was a true prophet and more people are reading him now, hopefully. My concern is that these same people are not living his teachings and his wisdom so we can all avoid the disaster our actions will cause. Regarding this entire chapter he says: “Not only would they (Egypt and Ethiopia) fail to send effective aid to the rebel states of Palestine; they themselves would fall victims to the might of Assyria. It seems that Isaiah’s advice was heeded.”(The Prophets pg 68). Look what it took for them to listen, Isaiah walking barefoot and naked, look what it has taken for us to truly heed the words of Rabbi Heschel, Dr. King, et al; we still haven’t fully taken them to heart and made them part of our daily living, just as we haven’t made the words of the prophets part of our daily living. 

Our politicians believe that they can make “deals with the devil” and come out just fine. Ron Johnson’s comments were abhorrent, what is worse is that his Republican colleagues have said nothing!! In essence, agreeing with his words by their silence. People have been walking around naked and barefoot for years in this country, calling out a message from and of God; “Help Me”, “See Me”, “Don’t Shoot”, “I can’t breathe” and our politicians and many of our citizens have ignored God’s words, God’s messengers and prophets for the comfort of “prosperity gospel”, “Jesus was a lion and strength makes up for sin”, and other words from these false prophets claiming to be servants of God, yet serving themselves and the wealthy. Have you no shame, Senators, Congresspeople, Statehouse elected officials?

In recovery, we know that no human power; especially ourselves, our willpower, could save us from our self-destructive behaviors and thoughts. We are so aware that every time we count on someone to save us, we end up being disappointed and our situations become worse. It is only when we realize: “no human power could relieve our alcoholism. That God could and would if He were sought” from Chapter 5 in the Big Book of AA. We also realize, welcome and seek out the wisdom, advice and experience strength and hope of people who are further down the road of recovery, our sponsors and “wise elders” in recovery. We are constantly “getting over ourselves”, it is a daily struggle and, in recovery, we hit this mark each and every day-otherwise we would not be in recovery any more. 

In my life, getting over myself has been, is and will be a constant struggle. I can confuse being/heeding Isaiah with being narcissistic and egocentric. I work diligently to keep the latter at a minimum and the former at a maximum and some days I fall short. I have watched Harriet Rossetto be like Isaiah, being transparent, speaking about Recovery and being laughed at and scorned because she stands for a spiritual solution. I have seen Recovery become a big business and people who are not drinking or using believing it is okay to game the system, lie, cheat, body-broker, etc without realizing the incongruence of their actions. I have seen myself be hurt and reactive from the actions of people I trusted who have betrayed principles we have agreed to live by. I have seen me betray these same principles as well. I am looking to God for safety and redemption, I have experienced waiting for people to give me this and found myself more isolated and alone. It is true, God helps me escape myself, saves me and redeems me each and every day. How are you ‘getting over yourself’ and asking God to save and Redeem you? God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 61

“In that day, there will be several towns in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing loyalty to God;…For God will make Godself known to the Egyptians and the Egyptians will acknowledge God in that day…the Lord will afflict and then heal the Egyptians and they will return to God and God will respond to them and heal them.”(Isaiah 19:18, 21,22)

These verses all have in common a vision of Isaiah that all is not lost forever. No matter what is happening right now, there is hope and a promise of better things to come. While it is seen as a messianic vision/prophecy, I am not so sure. I am reading “in that day” as a pointer for all of us. I don’t believe we need another Moses, King David, Jesus, etc. to move us to “in that day”. 

Rather, the verses above point the way for us. We have the opportunity In This Day to swear loyalty to God. We can do this by caring for the stranger, the widow, the orphan and the poor. We can do this by no longer perverting justice for our sake or the sake of our cronies. We can do this by not cheating the people who work for us. We can do this by lifting up our enemies ass when it falls down. We can do this!

God uses affliction not as punishment, as I am reading verse 22, rather as a way of opening our eyes to see how far we have strayed. The affection is what allows the Egyptians, in these verses, to know God, to experience God and to swear loyalty to God instead of believing in idols, false gods and themselves as gods. Affliction is a path to God, not to suffering and misery, when we realize that all we have to do is turn to God to be healed. 

“In that day” is any and every day that we return to God, renew our covenant with God and stay faithful to God’s ways. Walk in God’s ways, we are told by Moses and other prophets, do justly, don’t make false images of self and/or God. Love your neighbor as yourself is one of the most important paths to follow in our return to God. When we see the Divine Image in our neighbor, our friends, our family, our enemy, we are able to relate to them in a Godly way, returning to God and our basic goodness of being. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “What saved the prophets from despair was their messianic vision and the idea of man’s capacity for repentance. There is always a way that leads out of guilt: repentance or turning to God. The prophet is a person, who living in dismay, has the power to transcend his dismay.”(The Prophets pg 185). What an important teaching for us all! It is so easy to fall into despair and the prophets have shown us a way out-turn to God, reach out to another human being and find connection through transparency and truthfulness. Our challenge is to not fall in love with our dismay and our suffering, rather use them to turn to God, repent where appropriate and make “in that day” today. 

Our Political leaders need think about what Egypt did to warrant their afflictions; they took advantage of the poor, the needy, the downtrodden. They treated most people as second-class citizens, they lived lives of “ruling privilege”, they did what they wanted to just because they could, they obstructed any and all things that were good for the people. My issue with these politicians is, like in Egypt, the people were afflicted also. We all pay for the mistakes of those we follow/allow to rule. It is time for We, The People, to stop wringing our hands and join the movements to get things done according to God’s will, not as a label, rather because it is the next right thing to do. 

In recovery, we know all about affliction and healing. We are recipients of both. We are blessed for our afflictions and, many of us, are grateful for them. We continue to renew our covenant with God each day through prayer, meditation, the steps of AA, living a life based on Spiritual Principles and gratitude. We know that there is no one who can keep us in recovery except ourselves and we commit to our recovery through community and action each day. We know that we will never be perfect, nor are we expected to be by God and we seek spiritual progress each and every day. We are blessed because that progress can, and many times does, come from the errors we make everyday. Our nightly review shows us the progress and where we need to improve. Thank you God!

I have been afflicted and healed by God so many times in my recovery and before that I cannot even count them. I get afflicted because of the errors I make and the errors that others make. My healing, however, is all on me. When I am stuck in dismay and hurt, anger and sadness, I am not turning to God. In fact, for me, the only way out of these experiences is to turn to God. I see others wrap themselves in self-righteousness and I want to do the same, yet…turning to God, I see my part, repent for my part and turn to God for healing.  I find that it is an inside job, my dismay comes from wanting something from another that I will never receive and not being willing to do my work and allow God’s healing. “In that day” is every day I return to God’s loving embrace, let go of my self-righteousness, walk in God’s ways and love my neighbor. How are you living “in that day” today? God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 60

“All you who live in the world and inhabit the earth, when a flag is raised in the hills, take note! When the shofar is blown, Listen! In that time an offering shall be brought to God, Lord of Hosts, a people far and remote, from a a people thrust forth and away…At the place where the name of the God, Lord of Hosts, abides, at Mount Zion.”(Isaiah 18:3, 7).

Isaiah is speaking to the entire world here instead of a single country. He is not singling out only Judah or Israel, Moab or Assyria; rather he is speaking to all of us. “Kol Yoshvei Tevel All the dwellers of the world,” is very exact and specific.

The flag has been, is, and will be raised in the hills, we see the beauty of the hills and mountains each and every day. We see the sun hit the mountains and the wondrous sight of colors could be one of the flags Isaiah is speaking about. Yet, do we see the flag, the call of God in our hills and mountains? 

We hear a lot of noise in our daily living, yet are we attuning our ears to the sound of the shofar that is blaring all the time? The word for “Listen” could also mean hear and understand. Isaiah is calling us to unclog our ears, and Shema-hear, listen and understand the call of the shofar, stop listening to the noise in our heads and hear with our soul/higher conscience. 

The “offering” that will be brought, I believe is ourselves. When we realize that we have to be the offering that God is desiring and the prophet is calling for, then we are “in that time”. When we make this decision to heed the call and notice the flag, we will be able to experience God as the Israelites did at Sinai. Mount Zion will be seen from wherever we are at and we will fulfill the words of Isaiah. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches us that Isaiah, as well as all prophets “may be regarded as the first universal man in history; he is concerned with, and addresses himself, to all men.”(The Prophets, pg. 169). He is teaching us that no one religion can claim the prophets as theirs, rather all of us need to heed and claim the prophets. Just as God is God of “all the dwellers of the world”; so too, as I understand Rabbi Heschel today, are the prophets for all of us. Yet, as he stated many times, we don’t study the prophets, we don’t learn the prophets, which I now understand makes all of us keep repeating the errors that the prophets speak to us about.

Our politicians definitely don’t hear the call nor see the flag. Hearing Senator Ron Johnson’s racist, hateful comments about the Jan. 6 Insurrection was disgusting. Not hearing any of his Republican colleagues denounce his comments is revolting. How can any of these people who are trying to stop people from voting, supporting white supremacists, denying the rights of people of color, supporting people who are Anti-Semitic, Anti-Muslim, etc call themselves “people of God and people of faith”? It is time for people of faith to stop having these charlatans co-opt faith, God and Holiness. We, the People, need to make God’s call and signs heard in Statehouses and Washington DC loudly and clearly. This is our best offering to God and to God’s creations. 

In recovery, we know that we have been blessed to hear the Call of the Shofar, the call of God. While we missed both the calls and the signs for many years, when we finally heard it and saw it, we acknowledged our powerlessness and our need to surrender to God. We do this each and everyday, at our meetings, in our prayers and in our actions. It is not that we are perfect, far from perfection, it is that we are constantly evaluating our actions and when wrong, we are responsible and we correct the error and repair the damage. We are constantly bringing an offering to God by being of service to others, by staying out of judgmental thinking and by improving our conscious contact with God each day. We have been “a people far and remote, a people of gibber and chatter” as Isaiah says in verse 18:7, we know what it is like to be so separate from God that we destroy everything in our path and almost destroy ourselves and those we love. In recovery, the call and the sign are what we search for and see every day so we can improve our spiritual condition and grow closer to God and another(s). 

I have not always heard the call and seen the signs in my recovery. I am seeing the places I have misread the signs, processed the call erroneously and I am saddened by these mistakes. I realize that God’s call never involves failure or abuse, rather the topic is always how I can improve and God knows that I can be one grain of sand better each day. God’s call has come through others as well as through me and I am sorry to the people who have delivered the message as Isaiah delivers the message and I was too thick-headed to hear. I am sorry to God for not hearing and listening and causing pain and anguish to God’s creations and those that love me. Today’s reading reminds me that I can clean out my ears and hear anew. Clear the shmutz from my glasses and eyes and see clearer. This is my commitment and my goal. What calls and signs are you responding to today? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

Weekly Parsha - VaYahel/Pekudei

Weekly Parsha

VaYahel/Pekudei

“So the whole community of the Israelites left Moses’ presence. Everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit moved him came, bringing his offering…”(Exodus 35:21,22).

This verse from our Parsha stands out to me this year because it speaks of the work that all of us have to do in our living well. It speaks to the acceptance of our T’Shuvah by God in that we were able to build the Mishkan, the portable sancutary/tent of meeting. God’s actions tell us that we were not banished from God’s presence because of our actions with the Golden Calf. 

This is an important lesson for all of us. We are so used to either being banished/thrown out of families, communities, society for our worst actions and God doesn’t do this to us. The Golden Calf was/is one of the worst actions the Israelites had taken up till now and God accepted our T’Shuvah through Moses. We, humans, forget this way of being. Yes, people have to be asked to leave a space, community, family because of our worst actions sometimes and we also have to be open to the T’Shuvah of the person as well. Forgiveness is a difficult action for many of us. We would rather hold on to the resentment and anger because it feels good and we don’t have to look at our part in the interaction. If I can make you bad, I can make myself good and living as the injured party gives me solace rather than being responsible. Whenever I forgive someone, I have to look at my part and the myriad of ways I have done the same thing to others. 

We also learn that we all have something to bring to build a sanctuary for ourselves, another(s) and our community. This speaks to those of us (all of us at some time) who feel less than, not important, etc. In the context of this Parsha, it tells us that all of us are important. We all have a skill to bring, a word of Torah to give and things that will help create a sacred space for ourselves and our community. It is crucial that we remember this for our inner well-being and the well-being of another(s). In today’s world we live in so much comparison and competition that many of us believe that what we have to offer isn’t enough. This week’s Parsha says NO, that is a lie we tell ourselves and we need to stop doing this. 

Living the life our spirit moves us to live is the path that these verses are telling us to do. We leave the presence of Moses in order to go inside ourselves and see what we have to bring and be willing to bring the best we have in the moment. Moses can’t do it for us nor do we have to be dependent on Moses to bring out our best. We are capable and commanded to be the best person we can be in the moment. When we take ourselves seriously enough to appreciate this truth and not so serious that we are narcissistic, we can live well and add our unique gifts to the world around us.

It is hard to live this way, I know. It is hard to be banished and not have our T’Shuvah accepted enough to be a part of a group, community, etc. It is even harder to forgive those who we have harmed and to forgive the people who don’t want us around anymore. Some of us, like me, have been blessed to be accepted back into our families and communities even after making grave errors. Some of us, like me, feel the pain of being banished from places we love and people we care about even after being responsible for the harm we did and made T’Shuvah for the harm.

Yet, this week’s Parsha tells me and us that we still have gifts to bring and bring them we must. When our old communities and/or families don’t want us, we have to find new places to bring our gifts to create new sacred spaces. The pain is real and the joy of new discoveries is also real. No matter where we are, we get to bring our gifts, our spirits and our matured inner life to the place we are, in this way we create and carry a Mishkan with us at all times. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 59

“In that day men shall turn to their Maker, their eyes look to the Holy One of Israel; they shall not turn to the altars that their own hands made, or look to the sacred posts and incense stands that their own fingers wrought. Truly you have forgotten God who saves you and have not remembered the Rock who shelters you.”(Isaiah 17:7,8, 10).

Unfortunately, “in that day” is the day that Israel, the northern kingdom, will be destroyed, according to Isaiah. “In that day” is a key phrase in Jewish and, I believe, Christian prayer and thought because it points to a messianic experience as I understand it. I just think that is not what the prophet is talking about.

I understand “in that day” as the day we all wake up and see the Truth of our existence.  “In that day” is the day we stop building our own altars and worshiping ourselves. It is the day that we accept the realness of God and the debt we owe God for our lives, our families, friends, community, etc. In Isaiah’s time, and unfortunately still today, we believe that our handiwork is greater than God’s creations, we believe that our worship of false gods are greater than worshipping God. Even worse, we believe the idolatry we practice is actually worshiping the One, True, Ineffable, God. Oh no!

“In that day”, to me is the day when we accept God’s Will for us and renew the covenant we made at Sinai, the covenant we make when we marry, the covenant we make when we have children. These covenants all share commitment to something greater than our own selves, acknowledgment of our need to be connected, and our statements of love, compassion, caring and kindness. 

Isaiah is speaking to Judah about what is happening in the Northern Kingdom as a warning, I believe. He is trying to tell us that we don’t have to wait to suffer the same fate. He is reminding them of their debt to God, I believe in the last two sentences above. God saved us from the Egyptians, God shelters us and brings us to our proper places and we forget. How sad and self-destructive! 

Rabbi Heschel says the prophets: “insists upon redemption. The way man acts is a disgrace… together with condemnation, the prophets offer a promise.”(The Prophets pg.181). The promise here being “in that day” the people will return to God and leave their idols and their idolatrous ways forever. Rabbi Heschel also teaches us:”To Isaiah, God is “a rock of refuge”. What a beautiful description of how God has been, is and will continue to be for us, a place of refuge, an experience of salvation, redemption and hope.

Our politicians, once again, missed an opportunity to unify behind what is good for We, The People. I will not get the stimulus check, I will not get any direct benefit from the legislation passed along party lines, yet I am rejoicing that the poor, the needy and the strangers in our midst will see some relief. I am in abject sorrow that the Republicans could not find it within themselves to turn to God and not turn to the altars that they made/make. It pains me that they would rather bring down destruction and ruin for all of us than reach out to the poor and the needy in order to serve themselves and the wealthy among them. Tax cuts-YES, healthcare, help for the needy and poor-NO. They are recreating the times of Israel and Judah and believe they will not suffer the same fate. We have to tell them to stop their evil ways and return to God’s Will. 

In recovery, we all have had this “in that day” experience. Being in recovery is directly linked to an experience of knowing the folly and the futility of worshiping at the altars of our own hands and believing that the sacred posts we built in our addiction/altered state are real and good. Being in recovery is remembering that God is our Rock and our shelter, God is our director and our redeemer. We turn to our “Maker” each and every day, through prayer, service and community. We are a diverse group of people from all ethnicities, colors, politics, economic levels AND we all bond together and see each other for who we all are: holy souls struggling with a disease that lies to us, that tries to kill us and our only solution is connection to another(s), God and our authentic self. 

I have had and continue to have many “in that day”. I forget at times that God is my shelter and my Rock. I am blessed that I come back to remembering this and return to God. Each and every day is “in that day” for me as I wake up a little more and become aware of the way I worship idols and the ways I worship God. Each and every day I am blessed to see the errors of my way and how I “buy my own press” and live as a caricature of myself. When I see the destruction I have brought through worshipping at the altars I have built, I am in pain and I am grateful that God shows me the errors of my ways so I can be redeemed by God. It is a blessing because I get to continue to refine my living, my soul and grow closer to God, to another(s), to Harriet, Heather, family and friends. “In that day” is every day that I am able to see life a little clearer and be a little cleaner in all my affairs. How are you worshiping your own altars? Have you made the decision that God is your shelter and your Rock yet? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- daily wisdom to enhance our living

Daily Prophets

Day 58

“Let My outcasts, the outcasts of Moab live with you; be a refuge to them from the face of the plunderer; for the extortioner is at an end, the plunderer ceases… And in mercy a throne was established; he sat upon it in truthfulness in the tent of David, judging, seeking judgement and quick to be righteous. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is very proud, of his arrogance, and his pride and his anger; but his boasts are false.”(Isaiah 16:4-6).

Isaiah is, as Rabbi Heschel teaches, holding God and human in one moment, in one thought, I believe in these verses. He is calling out for Judah to be a safe harbor for refugees. Caring for the stranger is an integral part of Torah and being Jewish. It is God who is owning the outcast and I shudder to realize how often we forget this. I read the first verse above as a call for us/me to do God’s work, care for the outcast and the refugee.  These people need safe harbor and the evil that was heaped upon them will end and they need to know they belong in the world and haven’t been forgotten or shunned. 

The second verse is teaching me/us that a throne/government is established as an act of mercy by God. Not only is government a merciful action, the formula for real governance is truth, justice, continual learning, and righteousness. This was the formula that God gave us through King David and everyone who followed/follows is supposed to live this formula, alas it hasn’t happened, which is why the prophet has to instruct us to take in the outcasts and refuges>

The last verse above is reminding us where our arrogance, pride and anger will lead us, to destruction. Boasts are false because people of true accomplishment let their work speak for themselves. We live in a world that has always had braggarts and angry people who try to bully, extort, plunder, etc. Isaiah is telling us that this way only leads to destruction and 2000+ years later, we still haven’t learned. 

Rabbi Heschel uses these verses to demonstrate God being at One with God’s people. Rabbi Heschel’s experience of the prophets speaking for God and reminding us that we are never alone, God is calling demanding, cajoling and delivering justice, which at times means destruction. Here, God is saying to Judah, (all of us today) that justice, truth, righteousness, continually seeking all of these are the foundation of our living. This is how we are One with God, I am understanding Rabbi Heschel’s writing in The Prophets on pages 108-110 to remind us that our relationship is reciprocal, God calls to us, we listen and respond in kind.

We, the People, have to immerse ourselves in these verses and thoughts in order to choose our representative government wisely. Our politicians have forgotten that all of us “Real Americans” come from people seeking refuge here. Instead of welcoming the stranger, being a refuge for outcasts as the poem on the Statue of Liberty promises, we have become one of those places that is creating refugees and making outcasts of another(s) human beings. Instead of justice, righteousness, truth and seeking to learn more ways to help, our politicians and courts have promoted the interests of the wealthy, being intolerant of justice, laughing at righteousness and promoting the Big Lie as truth. They boast about their arrogance and pride.

In recovery, we know all about the hell we create through arrogance and pride. We know what promoting the Big Lie does to our soul and the souls and lives of the people around us. We are well aware of where our anger and false boasting got us, drunker, higher, gambling more, etc. In recovery, truth, justice and righteousness are foundational elements of life for us. We seek out and welcome the refugees from addictive behaviors and substances, as the 3rd tradition of AA says: “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.” This, I believe, is Isaiah’s words above in action. In recovery, we know that we were given a safe harbor, people were righteous and kind, loving and forgiving towards us, so we must pay it forward to others and use our stories not as personal trophies, rather as proof that with God, loving people and willingness to engage in letting go of the Big Lies we have told ourselves, recovery is possible and joyous. 

I have, as usual, lived both sides of these verses. I have been boastful, arrogant and proud to a fault as well as in proper measure in my addictive years and in my recovery at times. I have spent much more of my years in recovery welcoming the outcast, helping the refugee and judging in truth, righteousness and kindness. I do this by welcoming the outcast and refugee in me. I know that I have worked very hard to let people know that I love them, they belong to our community and they belong in and are needed in the world. I am responsible for my errors and I have stood up and said so, changed at least one grain of sand and continue to learn, to live more justly, and to deepen my connection to God, family, my soul to soul relationships, community, world. How are you living justly and righteously today? How do you let the refugee and outcast know you are safe harbor for them? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 57

“In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth; on the tops of their houses and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. My heart cries out for Moab…”(Isaiah 15:3,5)

I chose these verses for today as they depict the choices the Moabites made, the consequences of their choices and the compassion of Isaiah. The Moabites were enemies of Israel they attacked them, etc. and, like with Nineveh in the Book of Jonah, they knew to “gird themselves with sackcloth” in order to stave off their destruction. Yet, did they really mean it? 

Here, one could make a case that the Moabites were merely trying to appease God and did not really mean the repentance that wearing sackcloth indicated in those times. I am thinking of how often, even today, we put on clothes that merely give the appearance of something, a facade if you will, without any real meaning behind our actions. The Moabites may have been trying to put up a facade to avoid being destroyed.

The crying and howling also seem a little disingenuous. I am sure that they were scared and upon seeing the destruction coming, their fear turned into the crying, howling, weeping. Yet, again for me, it is not the howling, weeping and crying of one who has seen what their actions wrought and is repentant for them. It is someone doing what it takes to look a certain way. 

And yet, through all of this, Isaiah still finds compassion for Moab. Not that he is arguing for them being saved, just the compassion and sadness that it has come to this. I hear God’s compassion, sadness and love in Isaiah’s words. This compassion and love is what the prophet is teaching all of us to practice, I believe. 

Rabbi Heschel’s teachings about mental make-up in his book Man is Not Alone, are stuck in my being after reading this chapter of Isaiah. He speaks about masks and how we hide behind our different facades throughout his writings and I hear the voice of our Prophets and God calling us out to be real, especially in the subchapter, Faith is a Blush, from Man is Not Alone, page 91.He speaks about Isaiah’s compassion not as mocking as some commentators do, rather as real and shows his oneness with the people and his oneness with God. After all, isn’t this what we all need to aspire to do, be one with ourselves, another(s) and God? This is the essence of the Shema, I believe. 

OY, if our leaders in statehouses and Washington DC would only Shema to the words of their faiths! If they would hear, listen and understand that we are all part of the Oneness of God, they would not work so hard to exclude so many people, they would stop seeing another as The Other. They could stop being so afraid of their own shadows and embrace the uniqueness of another(s). If they would only stop wearing the mental make-up and the masks that prevent them from serving We, The People, and stop them from serving White Power. They will wear sackcloth one day and they will look like they were repentant and on the side of the people come election season and it is our duty to point out their lies and their masks so we put people of principle into office, people who want to serve others rather than themselves. I pray that the Senate will pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Bill, the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Bill and ensure the right to liberty and justice for all!

In recovery, we drop our masks and remove our mental make-up. When we put on our sackcloth and weep, it is true remorse, otherwise we can’t be in recovery! Recovery is about truth, justice, taking responsibility, having compassion and giving love. We reject our past falseness and our past falsehoods, we have a 4th step to rid ourselves of the lies and resentments, we follow this up with a 10th step every day to continue to root out the lies, errors and resentments that we accumulate each day. In recovery, we have compassion for those who still suffer and we understand that the consequences they experience are not “punishments” rather they are wake-up calls to return to God, to decency, to recovery.

In my life, I have been both Moab and Isaiah. I have made false claims of repentance and sorrow when I was drinking and doing crime. In fact, I lied to my daughter when she was only 5 saying I was done with that life and I would never leave her again. I have been living my repentance for that lie and so many others for the past 32+years of my recovery. I have not made any amends/T’Shuvah that I haven’t meant. Even if I had to be shown my part by someone else, I could own it-eventually. I have a lot of compassion and, like Isaiah, my heart aches for those who “cannot or will not follow this simple program” to follow God’s Will and path. I keep searching for the ways I am still hiding and I pray that everyone will. I keep searching for ways to serve another(s) and am grateful that God continues to show me the way.  What mental make-up and facades are you still wearing? When will you return to your essence and connect with God and life as your authentic self? Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark