The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

178

“Why when we fasted did You not see?…because on your fast day, you see to your business and oppress all your laborers. Because you fast in strife and contention, you strike with a wicked fist…Is this the fast I desire?…No, this is the fast I desire, to open the fetters of wickedness, unite the cords of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break off every yoke. To take the poor of your neighborhood into your home, when you see the naked, clothe them and to not ignore you own kin.”(Isaiah 58:3,4,5,6).

Second Isaiah is calling to the community to stop living in Mendacity! This is an age-old issue for God, for people of faith and for people of non-faith. Mendacity is what angers God according to my reading of this passage. We complain “but we did what you wanted, what the job description says, what the question was on the test, etc” and fail to see beyond the literal. We do this not because we can’t see, rather so we can look good while doing bad as stated in the first verse above. Sure, they fasted on the proper days and did the fast properly, however, they chose to ignore the reasons for the fast and the purpose of the fast! On Yom Kippur, we fast so we can go beyond physical needs to attend to our spiritual needs and ends. If we are doing business, oppressing our laborers, arguing with each other and other people, we are missing the point of the fast and the spirit of the law as well as the Spirit of God that is in search of us. 

Yet, many people continue to live this way. One ‘oh shit’ wipes our 1000 ‘atta boys”, people go to services to see and be seen, not to worship and look inside of themselves, we expect perfection from another and, sometimes ourselves, in order to blame someone when perfection doesn’t happen. All of these and so many more are insidious ways of performing rituals and not have the rituals go through us. Rabbi Heschel teaches us:”Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit;…when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with the voice of compassion-its message becomes meaningless.”(God in Search of Man pg.3). The fast days, the Holy days, Shabbat, the six days of creating, all are meant to bring us one grain of sand closer to God, to authenticity, to joy, to clarity, to serve another, to create stronger bonds of community, etc, yet this is all impossible when we go through the motions and stay in strife, contention, wickedness, oppression. We are the causes of the decline of religion, not science, not modernity, not the internet, us-the people who have shown the younger generation that religion is a ritual that we do without really meaning to fulfill the spirit of the actions, the spirit of the law, just lets look good, like we do in the rest of our living. Religion has become a transactional relationship rather than a covenantal one. What do I get out of it, is the question people ask and they do not stick around long enough to hear the response. What do we get from immersing ourselves in religion? Awareness, wholeness, ability to live in our skin, truth, transparency, help and service, love, kindness, connection, compassion, integrity, in our outer and inner lives. This is what Second Isaiah is calling us to engage in, I believe.

God wants us to immerse ourselves in the purpose of the fast day-to take truthful inventory of ourselves and our actions. God wants us to let go of our need to control and to oppress. God wants us to clothe the naked, take in the poor homeless people, and be connected to our kinfolk, stop the sibling rivalry, the compare and compete of families. Second Isaiah is calling to us all to be more congruent, live with integrity and leave our mendacious ways. T’shuvah was put into the world before the world was created, according to our sages, I add: because God knew we will screw up and wanted us to have a path back. When we do our daily truthful inventory and see what we have done well and where we have missed the mark, we are able to move forward and use the Mitzvot as stepping stones to ‘a richer and more meaningful life’. God is calling us out, God is confronting us with the truth of our actions and the consequences of these actions. 

In recovery, we are aware of how we bastardized many of the good things in life, how we used people’s vulnerabilities against them and how we took advantage of most situations and tried to bend them to our will. We realize how much terror we caused prior to our recovery. We are recovering from the human condition of hiding and shame. In recovery, we adopt and adapt rituals that help us see truth, be of service, practice kindness, compassion and hope and live a principled life. We use the holiness of each day as tools to connect to God, help another(s) and grow along spiritual lines.

In my recovery, I have been contentious and caused strife and I have lived the spirit of our tradition, imperfection and growing each day. I have witnessed the mendacity of myself and the mendacity of another(s), I have learned more truth about me from this witnessing and attempted to help another(s) see more truth about themselves. Being a witness to mendacity is a painful experience-whether it is one’s own or the mendacity of another(s). I am grateful for this pain as it has made me more aware of the ways to serve God and another(s), to clothe them, to house them and to be more present with them. This is the joy of prayer/looking inside for me. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets 

Day 177

“…Reviving the spirits of the lowly and reviving the hearts of the contrite……For their sinful greed I was angry; They went on backsliding in the way of their own heart…I will guide them…peace, wholeness to the far and to the near said God and I will heal them. There is no peace, says God, for the wicked.”(Isaiah 57:15 17-19,21)

Second Isaiah is reminding us of how we caused our own exile and how God is going to help us leave our exile. Nonbelievers use these words of the Prophets to make fun of people of faith saying:”Why didn’t your God save you from ___?”, missing the point of what the exile was about. Exile happens when we allow our spiritual life to fade away, when we engage in activities that may help our bottom line/net worth and kill our spirit/humanity. What was happening in Israel and in Judah was a slow death of spirit led by people in power through their lies, their deception, their grab for power, their false testimony, their false rituals, their abdication of God and disdain for God’s will/way. This is, I believe, the reason God is reaching out to the “contrite and lowly in spirit”, these are the people who want to return, who are aware of their part in their exile from their land and from God. I pray that some of the people in leadership throughout the country; in government, in business, in non-profit, read the Prophets and learn how to rectify the pain they cause and return to the mission of helping each other instead of trying to ruin one another. 

God will not always be angry because we will wake up and return! This is the call of the prophets, return and stop your backsliding. It is our hearts that take us out, the prophet is saying. They do this because we allow our desires, our false egos, our inauthentic needs to rule us. We see this all the time, companies protect their shareholders at the expense of the consumer, clergy preach that they alone know God’s ways and have even bastardized (again as in days of old) Christ’s words, the words of the Torah, the Koran, etc to serve their own selfish desires for power. Anointing Donald J Trump or anyone else as God’s messenger is arrogant, rude and an affront to God, yet many clergy did and many others called to their flock to follow and believe, to not get vaccinated for the Covid-19 virus, etc. This is not God’s will as God gives us the wisdom and the spirit to find cures and ways to put diseases into remission, yet these charlatans, in the clergy and in government and in the streets, want power so badly they are willing to watch their flock die. 

When we return, even a little, God is here to guide us, love us, greet us and heal us. As the title of Rabbi Heschel’s book states: God in Search of Man. This  is more than a philosophy to me, it is an accurate description of the relationship between humanity and God-God is searching always which is why God is near to us when we seek God. God is still hovering over the earth and our lives as God was in the first chapter of Genesis. It is us who have myopic vision and an inability to connect. Still, God is here to guide us, to love us, to heal us and to bring us to peace and wholeness. We have to decide to take God’s “outstretched arm” and we have to decide to let go of our wickedness, our hubris, our mendacity and our greed. 

There is no peace for the wicked seems like a pipe dream to some of us because we see wicked people ‘get ahead’ all the time, enjoy perks, get invited to all the ‘right’ affairs, revel in their ill-gotten gains, take advantage of the poor, the needy and the stranger. What they don’t have is any true peace, they are always needing more and more and they are always afraid someone will take their stuff away from them. They also fear being found out and shamed in public, having to experience the consequences of their behaviors, and, for some, the fear of meeting God and having to face themselves. These harsh words are not a final decree, as Rabbi Heschel teaches:”Indeed every prediction of disaster is in itself an exhortation to repentance”(The Prophets pg. 12). God doesn’t want our death, God wants our living well, living authentically and living together in truth, kindness, etc. 

In recovery, we seek and find the peace that we thought our backsliding and greed would bring. We are so aware of God’s saving power, God’s awesome love and guidance and how are spirits are revived each and every day. We respond to these gifts from God by serving God’s needs and desires, not our selfish ones. We, as the Rabbis taught, “nullify our will…so God’s will becomes our will”, “turn our will and our lives over to the care of God” as AA teaches us. We had no peace in our backsliding and in our greed, now, in many instances we have less material things, we have peace in our daily lives, not looking back over our shoulder-rather looking forward with hope and joy. 

I have been the wicked person, I have been the contrite and the lowly in spirit and I have experienced God reviving my soul, my spirit and lifting me up from my contriteness. I am grateful for repentance/tshuvah and I have experienced a new freedom because of my recent past error, I don’t need the forgiveness of another(who want to punish) because God has forgiven me, God is guiding me and God is reviving me. I don’t have to twist myself like a pretzel to please the one who believes I have harmed them beyond repair, nor do I have to seek out the ones who turned away-the power of God’s guidance and revival is freedom. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 176

“Thus says God: Guard justice and do righteousness; because My salvation is coming near and My righteousness will be revealed. Happy is the person who does this, the person who holds fast to it…and guards their hand from doing evil. And the foreigners who attach themselves God…for My House shall be called a house of prayer for all people.(Isaiah 56:1,2,6,7).

Can you imagine these words were spoken 2600+ years ago? God is calling to the people to “guard justice and do righteousness” then as God is calling to us now. The word tzedakah is commonly translated as justice, yet its meaning is righteousness. Even charity in Hebrew is established as being righteous. Righteousness here and in other places where it is mistranslated as justice is used, I believe, to go beyond the letter of the law, to go beyond what is just and to be engaged intimately in the action of justice and righteousness. Many people have stolen, killed, won races by following the letter of the law and not the spirit of it. Case in point is Billionaires who pay very little in taxes while the burden falls onto everyone else. I am not for socialism, I am for fairness and letter of the law is inherently unfair because most people don’t know the loopholes nor do they have time/energy/education to seek them out. Righteousness is an action that goes deep into the Mitzvah, deep into the law and the place/action where our actions meet God in the doing of righteousness. It is a place of no false ego, no boasting nor looking good, it is a place of humility, love, truth, kindness. 

God is telling us our time in exile is almost over and we will return to our proper places. It is interesting to me that return is the major theme throughout our texts, we are returning to the land God swore to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, we are returning from exile, God and the prophets keep calling for us to return, we are to see ourselves as if we are part of the people leaving Egypt to return to the Promised Land, we are told to do T’shuvah (return) each day and, as we approach the month of Elul, we are to do our yearly inventory, ask for forgiveness so we can return to community and God fresh and new in the new year. This is a piece of the righteousness of God that gets revealed when we live a life of justice and righteousness. We are called out to, begged to, return; God wants us to come home to God, to reconnect with our authentic self and God, to walk in God’s ways and return to our purpose to make God’s world a little better than when we found it. This, I believe is the righteousness that God reveals to us and we need to get out of self-centered, false ego-driven urges to see it and to live “Happy”. 

Without “holding fast” to justice and righteousness, we automatically move our “hand to do evil”. We cannot help but to do this because we have cut ourselves off from the path of God, justice and righteousness. As the Rabbis teach, we have to see the scales balanced between good and evil and our next action will tip the scale one way or the other; there is no middle ground here. 

In the last verses above is God’s “oath” as Rabbi Heschel calls it. “The Father of all men is committed to all men. Second Isaiah not only conveys the Lord’s invitation and commitment to every man on earth…”(The Prophets pg 154). Such is the greatness of God, of spirit, of humanity to me. God swears an oath to the people who attach themselves to God whether an Israelite or not. Just as MalkiTzedek, Bilaam, Jethro were all connected to God and not Israelites so too will all people be able to avail themselves to God through their own paths of righteousness and justice. Holding fast to the covenant of Noah brings them God’s salvation and kindness. Israel is here to be the “light unto the nations” not the sole arbiter of how to serve God. It is sad that some other faiths/paths think that there is only one way to serve God, one understanding of the Ineffable’s message, and use this to perpetrate evil acts onto anyone who they disagree with; even to the point of watching people die from their promotion of lies, deceptions and false faith. 

In recovery, we are the recipients of God’s saving Grace. We know that our recovery is dependent on how we grow more and deeper into living a just and righteous life. We are not fooled by our own self-deceptions of trying to ‘look good while doing bad’. We are committed to “holding fast” to the covenant we have made with ourselves, God, etc. We know that we have been saved, we have experienced the salvation of a life we believed could never be redeemed and we stand here today as examples of God’s love, the power of return, the power of transformation and the power of righteousness and justice together.

I have been redeemed more than once. God continues to save me and help me stay on God’s path for me. I realize my travails are always God’s way of getting my attention, not as punishments but as awareness’ and realignments. I am committed to justice and righteousness for another(s), I always have been and for my entire recovery I have lived it to the best of my ability and, when I realize I haven’t, I promptly admit it and repair it. I know that I belong in God’s world and I know I have earned the joy I experience. This is the power of righteousness, justice and salvation. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 175

“Incline your ears and walk with Me, listen and your soul will be revived. Seek the Lord and God will be found, Call to God because God is near. Forsake your evil path and your sinful plans, return back to God and God will have mercy for you. Our God forgives abundantly.”(Isaiah 55:3,6,7).

These words of Second Isaiah are so important for all of us to immerse ourselves in. Our ears take in so many words, noises, sounds all the time. Yet, far too many of us are so bombarded by these outer and inner noises, sounds, words that we cannot hear the voice of, the words of, and the direction of God. This is the reason the prophet is so forceful in the first verse above. He is trying to cut through the noise and the self-deception as well as the mendacity of so many to help us hear truth. I am amazed at how often we deceive ourselves and another(s) that we are the ONE TRUE ___(fill in the blank) in order to gain power, etc. Yet, Second Isaiah, is telling us to do whatever it takes to “incline our ears” so we can “walk with” God! There is no blind faith here, it is faith based on hearing, doing, walking with God as our partner and allowing our soul to be revived. When we “incline our ears and walk with” God, we are alive and well, our mission gets clearer, and we have the strength to overcome the obstacles the charlatans put in our way. 

“Where is God” is a popular refrain along with “where was God”. The prophet is explaining to us that God HAS NOT LEFT the building, we have! “Seek God” is the response to these questions. We ask these questions as a retort, a put down, a clean-up for our bad behavior, etc. The Kotzker Rebbe, possibly as a commentary on this verse, asks “Where do you find God?” After his students give all these beautiful and scholarly answers, the Kotzker answers himself saying: “Whenever/wherever you let God in”. God is near to us because the spirit of God is within us. We don’t find God in prayerbooks or even in the Torah, we find God in our souls, in another human beings, in our interactions, in our doing and being the Mitzvot (commandments/ways) God gives to us. God was in every person who perished in the Shoah, in everyone who died in wars, overdoses, 9/11, etc. We get to be the inheritors of their spirit and incline our ears, walk with God and continually seek and call to God for assistance and guidance.

We beg on Yom Kippur that God not forsake us, the prophet is calling bullshit on us. We are the ones who forsake God through our evil actions, our sinful ways, our deception of another(s) and our self-deception. With all of this, we are still called upon by the Prophet to forsake our evil path and sinful ways and return to God, decency, a spiritual life. As Rabbi Heschel teaches us: “Above reward and punishment is the mystery of His pathos. Sin does not inevitably bring about punishment. Between act and retribution stands the Lord God…Indeed the central message of the prophets was the call to return.”(The Prophets pg.237/8). Conventional wisdom is to try and convince ourselves and another(s) of how we are right and we really didn’t ‘sin’ or ‘miss the mark’. Never admit anything as this is seen as weakness. Because of this misguided approach to living, this evil path that is widely accepted, we are unable to return to God wholeheartedly, whole soulfully, with our entire intelligence, etc. We cannot do anything 100% except follow the wrong paths. Rabbi Heschel is giving us another experience, we cannot fathom God’s pathos, God’s compassion, God’s mercy and God’s forgiveness and this doesn’t mean God isn’t all of these attributes. Once we begin our return to God’s ways, to “walk with God”, a miraculous light shines upon us and within us. God’s call is always “ayecha”, where are you, Shema, hear/listen/understand, and Shuvah, return. How will we respond today? 

In recovery awareness of God’s nearness and walking in God’s path is a cornerstone for most of us. This is not to say Agnostics are not in recovery in fact, to paraphrase Rabbi Heschel, God is so great, God helps those who don’t believe also! Seeking God, walking with God is our path to return, to forgiveness and to connection. We cannot stay in recovery without a spiritual path, in my opinion. We may stay sober, we just are not in recovery (for more on this see harrietrossetto.com/blog). In recovery, we experience God’s compassion, forgiveness and pathos daily and we take strength from our errors and what we learn from them, “never shutting the door on them” as AA promises.Without seeking God, being forgiven, bending our ear to God and walking with God, we would not have the lives we do and celebrate the errors and the ‘wins’ with the joy we do. 

I am continually seeking God and inclining my ears so I can discern when I am walking with God and when I am walking with negativity. I don’t always hear correctly or well, according to Harriet(so I am going to get hearing aids as my ENT agrees with her:)). I find myself returning after going back to old places that I know don’t serve me, another nor God. I also know that my triggers are the same and some of them are for holy purposes and I do not use proper measure in my responses. Yet, while some humans can never forgive me for being me (even though they used me for their ends), God always does when I return in humility, faithfulness and truth. I will never be whole nor perfect, I do/will continue to err in many of the same ways, and they are/will not be as harmful or dangerous, and I will grow and learn each and every day. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 174

“Fear not, you will not be shamed; do not cringe, you shall not be disgraced. For you shall forget the reproach of your youth…the Holy One of Israel will redeem you. For a little while I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring you back. In slight anger, for a moment, I hid My face from you; but with everlasting kindness I will take you back in love. My kindness shall not move from you and My covenant of wholeness shall not be shaken…”(Isaiah 54:4,5,7,8).

The prophet is calling out to all of us to not get lost in fear, shame, disgrace, and pity. The Hebrew for “Fear not” is in the command form and I believe that this is intentional. The prophet and God are aware of humanity’s pension to either be the best or the worst, live in either/or and live in the arrogance of being the best and the brightest or the worst and the dumbest. When we are down, we beat ourselves up and/or blame another-in many cases God-rather than seeing our errors, repairing them and moving forward. “Fear not” is the command to get of our tuches’ and take some action. 

The first action is to allow God to redeem us. I say allow because God, as all the prophets tell us, always wants our return and to redeem us and it is we, the people who reject God’s call and the call of the prophets to be redeemed. We live in a fantasy that we are already redeemed and we are doing everything correctly! God is calling us back, to redeem us and to clean us of our past errors and transgressions. God is telling us that the past doesn’t matter and doesn’t weigh us down, if we are willing to be redeemed, if we are willing go let go of shame and disgrace as well as our past ways of being.

The third verse above is the saddest and the happiest as well as one of the most profound verses in the Bible to me. God acknowledges that God had to let us go because we would not listen, we would not heed and we would not return to God’s ways and God’s fold. That God had to forsake us, leave us to our own devices, speaks to the sorrow and sadness that God experienced because of our actions. How sad it is for us to experience the abject loneliness of being cut off from our source! 

Yet, God doesn’t hold a grudge like humans do, thank God. In compassion and love, God takes us back, God returns to being present and a presence in our living. Now, are we willing to be a presence in God’s world? We are shown extreme kindness and love, unconditional love and kindness because we can always return to God; are we committed to do the same for everyone else? Are we willing to surrender our hatred and our worship of power to be connected to another and to God? What do we have to do to surrender our lust for control and deception and accept our part of the covenant with God and the world?

Rabbi Heschel, in teaching about the last 2 verses above says: “Sins affect His attitude temporarily; they cannot alter His relationship radically…Is it conceivable that sin, the work of man, should destroy what is intimately divine and eternal? He stresses the contrast between the wisdom of God’s works and the limited worth of human deeds, the eternity of God’s love and temporariness of His wrath.”(The Prophets pg. 153/157). We forget that God is so far above our pettiness and pride, envy and enmity, so we attribute our attitudes and our spiritual illnesses/immaturity to God. Rabbi Heschel is reminding us that God’s relationship with us is eternal and, try as we might, we will be returning to God when we die. Yet, we also have the opportunity each and every day to hold fast to the covenant of peace/wholeness, the love and kindness, and the redemption and return that God provides for and to us. Holding fast to the covenant now, enlarges our living, lifts us up and provides a platform of joy, meaning and fulfillment. Will you join God today? 

In recovery, joining with God is our foundation. We are living examples of God’s grace, God’s power of redemption, God’s kindness and God’s love. We would not have been able to stay in recovery without acknowledging all of what the prophet is speaking about. We are redeemed by God because no human power could have helped us out of our deep hole, our deception and our indecency. While we were in it, it felt right and okay, it wasn’t until God woke us up, in many different ways, that we were able to see the truth and continue to uncover more and more truth and connection to God and to another(s). We hold fast to our new covenant of wholeness, friendship, and love with God each and every day. 

I have lived in fear many times in my life. What I have realized in my recovery is the fear I am in is fear of forsaking God. I know I will, I know how imperfect I am and I keep working at being more and more aware of when I am using God’s kindness for my rather than for service to another(s). I am aware of when God forsakes me because it is the only way to get my attention and I am aware of when I believe God is forsaking me and really God is showing me a new and different path. I am also eternally grateful that God continues to show me kindnesses and love, redeems me and forgives me. I am grateful for all of God’s messengers around me who bring me this message of love and redemption from God. I pray that I can be more temporary in my wrath and more eternal in my love each day. I pray that I surrender hurt and hatred more each day as well. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

THE PROPHETS - WISDOM TO ENHANCE OUR DAILY LIVING

Day 173

“To whom was God’s arm revealed? He was despised and rejected…Surely he has carried our sicknesses and sorrows…​But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was bruised because of our iniquities; his sufferings were that we might have peace; and by his injury we are healed. He shall see the labor of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge did my servant justify the righteous One to the many, and did bear their iniquities.”(Isaiah 53:1,3,4,5,11).

Isaiah is telling the people, again, that God is coming to redeem them. He is reminding us of God’s arm and power to redeem. Exiles, poor, needy, downtrodden, enslaved,etc have no place/no entity to appeal to except God. Second Isaiah is telling the people that the hatred and rejection by those in power, who do not know God nor God’s power will end. 

How often do we still hate and despise those who are trying to do the next right thing? We hate and despise individuals, and here a people (Israel), for reminding us of our duty to do the next right thing. We put upon the people the ills of society and project upon the individual all of the disowned parts of ourselves. We are always looking for a scapegoat and cause for our sufferings. Second Isaiah is telling the story of how society, including the people in charge in Judah and Israel, put the burden of their bad actions onto the people who were the most innocent and the ones who deserved it least. In the misguided belief that if they put their evils onto another person, they could be healed. They misguidedly believed they could have peace if they made someone else suffer for them. 

We are still perpetrators and victims of this type of thinking and action. Our leaders, including religious ones I am sad to say, continue to blame another for their intolerance, their pettiness, their breaking faith with God, their evilness, their crimes, their imperfections. We are still suffering the sickness and the sorrow of this type of behavior and, more and more, people in power, people with money and fame are rejecting those of us who are trying to live with our imperfections and our pettiness and embarrassment at living lives that are not compatible with our being a partner with God. Second Isaiah is telling us that we are suffering for a reason, our suffering is going to bring about redemption and deliverance for us and, eventually, for all people. Our suffering is the cause of God, once again, showing God’s strength, love, forgiveness and justice by delivering us to our proper land, proper place and renewing our spirit and our lives. While it is hard for many people to accept this prophecy, it has come true over and over again. Every people has had a turn in the barrel of hatred, blame, racism, anti-semitism, etc in America and we have been redeemed. Today we are standing up to the hatred of ‘white America’ towards everyone who isn’t white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant/Evangelical. We are saying NO to this type of rejection and we are no longer bearing the sorrows and indignities that accompany their attempts to ‘keep us down’. Second Isaiah is telling us that Black Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter, Jewish Lives Matter, Arab/Muslim Lives Matter, All Lives Matter and we will see the redemption by God because of our suffering for everyone. 

Rabbi Heschel in his book The Prophets on pg. 189/190 teaches us:”As a rule we reflect on the problem of suffering in relation to him who suffers. The prophet’s message insists that suffering is not to be understood exclusively in terms of the sufferers own situation. In Israel’s agony, all nations are involved… In answer to the prophet’s fervent invocation, the Lord is about to bare His arm or His might before the eyes of all nations.” In pondering these words by Rabbi Heschel, I see the power of context and not getting stuck on self and trapped by our own suffering and self-pity. While not denying the fact of our suffering, we can’t stay stuck in just seeing our own suffering. We have to see our suffering as a message of the suffering of our society and the need to heal our own wounds. To do this, we do need the power and the help of God, because we got here by not following God’s will! We have the opportunity to direct our suffering to good use, to change the societies we live in, to bring justice and equality to all. Let’s get off the pity pot and into action to make our suffering a redemptive power for God and for good. 

In recovery, we have been both the suffering and the ones causing the suffering. Prior to our recovery, we caused many people to suffer along with us. We were angry, afraid, lost and rejected and our self-harming actions caused people we love to worry and to be afraid, people we stole from to feel betrayed and mistrustful, etc. In recovery, we seek to heal old wounds through amends/tshuvah and to relieve the suffering of another through service, carrying a message of hope and acting in accordance with being partners with God to make our corner of the world a little better. 

I have been on the pity pot myself and I am disgusted by this way of being. I am not using my suffering as a battering ram, rather I am using it to see new and better ways to live, to love and to redeem myself and another(s). This is the call of the prophet to me today and everyday, this is the call of God to me everyday. No more pity parties, just jump into action and accept my suffering as a good thing that helps me grow. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

the Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

    Day 172

“Awake, awake; put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city…Break forth into joy, sing together, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the Lord has comforted his people, God has redeemed Jerusalem.”(Isaiah 52:1,9).

The prophet Second Isaiah is full of good news for the people! In the first verse he is telling us to wake up! It is an imperative, I believe, not just because of the verb form, rather because we have slept through so much of our living. The Jews of Judah, and maybe even today, slept through their duties to serve God, to aid the needy and the poor, to deal justly with everyone, and most of all, to keep Jerusalem holy. Their inability to do this resulted in the destruction of the Temple, the destruction of Jerusalem and the destruction of their old way of living. The prophet is calling upon the city, the people and us to put on “beautiful garments”. The garments are the garments of truth, kindness, love, compassion, care, justice, service and living God’s will for us. The call then is the same as the call today. We see the “beautiful garments” of democracy starting to pull apart because of the charlatans and practitioners of mendacity and, like Jerusalem of old, we saw the breaching of the walls of our Capital. Will we heed the lessons of Jerusalem? Will we learn from the words of the prophets to return to God and our mission that we inherited from our founding fathers? 

When we do, we can break into joy. What a great phrase; break into joy is the allowance of God’s promise to take root within us, and for us to live these promises daily. It is putting our hopes and dreams together with the actions necessary to make them realities, “If you will it, it isn’t a dream” Theodore Herzl said and we have the State of Israel! We are alive, we are dedicated to serving God, going beyond our own self interests and the fire of our souls are burning brighter each day, we are reconnecting with family and friends, we are moving one grain of sand, one step at a time forward each day and this is reason for joy. The greatest reason to break into joy is that God is comforting us, God has not forgotten nor forsaken us, as some people like to believe and spout. God afflicts us only as a last resort and is in pain when this happens. I woke up this morning realizing that the line from my father “this hurts me more than it hurts you” was so true. My father, z”l, was in great emotional and spiritual distress when I was so out of control that he had to discipline me. The same is true for God! God is much more the “Comforter in Chief” than the destroyer! Our connection to God is the major reason to “break into joy”. God’s redeeming is always happening, it was not just a one and done proposition. Each day when we wake up and say Modeh Ani prayer, when we get out of bed and make a plan for the day, when we love and serve and are grateful and sad, we are stating that we have been redeemed, that what we do matters, that God is within us and around us and we get to hang out with God and another(s) to break into joy and dance at our redemption. We are never so lost that we cannot return to God and be redeemed. Do we notice when we are lost and return?

“Deliverance, redemption is what the Lord has in store for Israel, and through Israel for all men. He suffering and agony are the birth pangs of salvation which the prophet proclaims, is about to unfold.”(The Prophets pg.190). As I ponder these words of Rabbi Heschel, I am struck at the wisdom and truth of them. The Rabbis in the Talmud speak of sufferings and afflictions of love and the deliverances and redemptions by God of Israel and all of us on multiple occasions, are proof of their thoughts. God doesn’t want to punish us anymore than my father wanted to punish me. Rather, the punishments were the logical consequences of my choosing a wrong path, just as it has been when Israel chose a path that led them away from God and towards idolatry. The same is true for every country that has engaged in idolatry through worshiping false gods and/or by worshipping their intellect.

In recovery, we break into joy each and every day, multiple times a day because we know and revere our redemption and deliverance. We do not take for granted this day nor our redemption; we experience both as a gift from God that is beyond our deserving and each day we repay God for the gifts of deliverance and redemption in our actions and service. In recovery we are awake and alive each and every day because we know what spiritual death looks and feels like, we know how we flirted with physical death and we are committed to life. We know that each day we have to actively CHOOSE LIFE and we rejoice in our ability to do so. 

I also have needed to awake in my recovery at different times. As I am writing this, I am awake to the gifts, the deliverances and the redemptions that God has given to me, I am aware of the Grace that is granted to me and I am committed to opening my eyes more and more each day to gain new clarity, aka serenity, so as to serve God more and better each day. I am also awaken to new possibilities, I am aware that the pain and exile I have been through, while carried out by humans, were God’s way of getting my attention. It is time to let go of the old and see what is my next action to help and serve God in new and different ways. I have been redeemed through letting go of the past and focusing on today and tomorrow. Living in radical amazement is allowing me to hear and see God’s deliverance and redemption in new and beautiful ways. I pray you are awake enough to rejoice in God’s deliverance and redemption of you as well. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets- wisdom to enhance our daily living

                                                             Daily Prophets

Day 171

For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her ruins; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found in there, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.  Listen to Me, My people; and give ear to me, O My nation; for Torah shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment for a light to the people. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My Torah; do not fear the taunts of men, nor be dismayed by their insults.(Isaiah 51:3,4,7)

It is so appropriate to speak of comfort this week as this is the first week of consolation after Tisha B’Av.  This is the challenge for the people of Zion, for all of us really. We keep being redeemed and being comforted, yet it seems like it is never enough. The people Israel went back to Jerusalem, rebuilt the Temple and began engaging in the same practices that brought their destruction in the first place. What has become apparent to me is that the destructions that we bring upon ourselves are not because some other person/state/nation is more powerful; it is because we have allowed ourselves to rot from the inside with jealousy, pride, power, lack of concern and care for another(s), etc. 

This is the reason, I believe, that God is calling for us to listen, to hear, to understand God’s Torah and make it our own. “Listen…give ear” is God’s call to us to pay attention and here God is calling on us to truly pay attention to Torah so that the judgement we have just gone through become a light for us rather than keep us stuck in darkness, in victim, in hopelessness. God’s words are reminding us that we are able to grow through each and every experience and we do not need to ‘poor me’ ourselves into more ruin. We get to use God’s Torah as a light and a path to live in. How are we using Torah today? How are we using the Bible today? Are we using them to forge a path of light and connection? Are we hearing and giving our ears and our beings over to God and living God’s will here and now? How are we giving lip-service to Torah and Bible while living the negativity, fear and mendacity in our hearts? 

We have Torah in us! God is asking us to remember this fact, remember that we are righteous in our nature and in our deeds. We have these traits and attributes inside of us and we have to bring them forth in all of our actions. We have to listen to what is inside of us, we have to mature our inner life and clean out the schmutz that continues to block God’s power, strength, love and teachings from reaching our consciousness. Once we do, we do not have to fear the taunts, the insults from another(s) and we can stand upright knowing we are following God’s will and God’s path for us. This is such a crucial experience in maturing, being able to stand apart from those who insult and taunt us to be less than we are out of their fear.  God is reminding us that we have within us Torah, Bible, God’s words and ways and we can lead with righteousness and we can know that we have nothing to fear by being righteous, kind, truthful, loving, compassionate, charitable, just and caring. In fact we have everything to gain by being this way. 

Rabbi Heschel says: “What Jeremiah proclaimed as God’s promise for the future… Second Isaiah seems to regard as fulfilled.” (The Prophets pg.194). I am struck by the difference in the times of the two prophets, Jeremiah was before, during, and directly after the destruction while Second Isaiah is, seemingly, at the end of the exile period in Babylon. As I am understanding Rabbi Heschel, the difference is the exile worked, it got the people of Judah, the remnants of Jerusalem to realize the Torah of God is their path and God is their salvation, not power nor prestige. Second Isaiah is giving the people credit for learning the lessons of their exile, doing their T’Shuvah and having a new plan, a plan where God and Torah are the centerpieces of their existence and of their country. They have heard the word of God, they have committed to living in God’s ways and treating each other well. While we know it did not last long, we know that God’s will was fulfilled even if for only a short time. Knowing this we know we are able to find this Torah within us again and live from righteousness rather than fear. 

In recovery, we get to listen to God’s call each and every day. Without these new ‘hearing aids’ and ‘glasses to see’, we would be stuck in our old paths and patterns. In recovery, we hear differently and we respond appropriately to what is, not what we think it should be. We get to be of service to another(s) and God throughout our days. 

Knowing I am redeemed and I have to keep honoring this redemption is my daily challenge and gift. I also keep hearing God and following the direction of God even when people want me to be different. I have found the comfort and the joy that the prophet is speaking about within the heartache and heartbreak of the insults and the taunts of those I believed knew me. I am grateful to experience this joy and comfort from God and feel blessed to be in the comforting arms of my bride of almost 31 years, Harriet Rossetto, the embrace of my daughter Heather and grandson Miles Stuart as well as my brother, Rabbi Neal, my sister, Sheri and the many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

the Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

    Day 170 

“The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.

I gave my back to those who beat me, and my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God has helped me; therefore I have not been confounded; therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He who justifies me is near; who will contend with me? let us stand together; who is my adversary?”(Isaiah 50:4-8). 

In this chapter, the prophet is speaking from his own experience and to remind the people of the power, strength and love that emanates from one who has a relationship with God. The opening verse above is so powerful and interesting; the prophet has an experience with God opening his ears and his first words to us are that he did not turn away nor was rebellious. I believe this is important for all of us to think about. His experience is the opposite of the generation that stood at Sinai! The prophet is giving us a new paradigm with which to relate to God; no longer be at arms length, no longer let someone else do the listening, stop rebelling against God and the experience of God, no longer turn away from the Lord, no longer turn away from your authentic self. We are in need of these words today with all the challenges we face, with all of the hatred that is being spewed on the right and the left, with all of the turmoil in our inner and outer lives. The prophet is reminding us that God is near, God allows us to hear and we need to stop our rebellion and turn towards God, not away. 

We gain the strength to endure the beatings and the torture when we join with God, when we allow God to be our strength and when we know we are connected. Not that the prophet is being a martyr, rather he is able to stay true to his soul, to God and that loyalty will allow him to endure the physical pain of the enemies of him and God. He is also able to stand up through the shame and the blame of these same people. He is feared, as are all people who stand with God, by the charlatans, the power seekers, the chameleons, the deceivers, the ones being deceived, etc. One who stands with God in truth and acts in the Name of God is always feared by those who act in their own self-interest, this is the bane of our existence; we hear the words and don’t watch the actions of these deceivers, these autocrats, etc, and we fall under their spell and work against our selves and God. 

“The Lord has helped me” is the phrase that stands out most to me. How often do we miss God’s help and attribute it to our own cleverness, smartness, etc? The prophet is reminding us to acknowledge God’s help and be grateful for it, use it wisely and then we do not fall into shame and embarrassment. This teaching is at the crux of our mental, spiritual and emotional strength and health. When I acknowledge God’s help, when I experience God and don’t rebel, don’t turn away-I am able to withstand the lies, the shaming, the physical, emotional and spiritual beatings of the liars who want to be in charge and who want to run the show themselves, without the aid and help of God. 

While these people are convincing, the prophet is speaking to our souls and we know it. God helps all of us, if we allow God into our being. With God’s help, we are neither ashamed nor broken, we realize that God justifies us and we do not have to seek outer validation-God’s inner validation becomes enough and we realize that no one can really contend with us, we are not afraid of anyone-because God gives us strength, resolve and love. The prophet’s call for all of us to stand together is the call of God to each of us. We get to let go of our need to ‘go it alone’ and to ‘suspect thy neighbor’ and allow those of us who know God, who hear God, who depend on God to join together and know that no one of these mendacious charlatans can defeat us. We are stronger together and even stronger together with God. 

In recovery, we have stopped rebelling against God and we have stopped turning away from God. We listen for God’s voice in ourselves and through another(s). We are able to withstand the shame of our past actions and the guilt of our current errors, we know that no one can stop us from our spiritual, emotional growth and connection except us and we continue to grow along spiritual lines each and every day. In recovery, we know that we need each other, we gain strength from and with each other and we show up for life with excitement, joy, courage, stamina, love and kindness. 

I have experienced everything the prophet is saying above. God has helped me overcome the shame of my actions and the shame that others put on me. By hearing God, turning towards God, I have been able to withstand the assault on my character and the hiding of my ‘friends’. I have been able to grow from the betrayals of those I have trusted and I have been able to face my own demons and errors in truth and without shame and defeat. God’s help is how I have been able to grow in my recovery, in my Rabbinate and in my life. I am not afraid of another(s) wrath, nor am I afraid of ‘what the neighbors will think’ as I am committed to standing with God, turning to God and remembering I am not God nor is any human being. I am able to withstand the beatings that my actions cause when I am in error and I am able to withstand the shame another(s) puts on my character because I am with God and God is with me. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 169

“And God said to me:”You are My servant, Israel in whom I glory.” I thought “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for empty breath” but my justice was with God and my reward was with God. Now, God has said…To bring back Jacob to God, that Israel may be restored to God, I have been honored and God is my strength….I will make you a light to the nations and My saving will go to the end of the earth.”(Isaiah 49:3,4,5,5).

While it could seem as if Second Isaiah is calling himself the servant of God, it is clear that Isaiah is repeating the words God has given him to say. Second Isaiah is bringing the news to Judah/Israel that it has been waiting to hear; redemption is nearing, homecoming is not far off. The belief by Israel, as stated by Second Isaiah above, is typical for most of us who have done the wrong thing, been held accountable, etc, we believe that our earlier labors and strength were for naught. Which is true, as long as we realize that the labors and strength we used to defy God are the ones we are speaking of. Most people will belabor the points that show them in a good light and say it was for naught instead of seeing the negativity, the defiance of God as our vain labors and empty breaths. 

That Second Isaiah can relay to the people and the people can see, hear and understand that their exile was for their own good, for their own purification, for their own understanding that being the chosen of God is not a privilege, it is a responsibility that we get to undertake and must honor is wondrous. It puts into context that this exile, this destruction was necessary for their being able to have their eyes opened, their hearts circumcised, and their souls appreciate their reward. The realization by the people, thru the prophet, that justice and reward come from God, that their actions have direct bearing on their ability to live free or be ruled by tyrants is crucial to the next choices Israel makes. This is also true for us as individuals; we have a tyrant within that wants to rule us, we have choices each and every day that move us closer to God or further away from God. We need to keep our eyes, hearts, souls open to see, hear and act on the call that God is making rather than the call of our inner/outer tyrant. 

What is the reward? To be restored to God and to be a light unto the nations! We get to  take our place with God and within God’s world again, the place we forfeited is always waiting for our return, our restoration. We get to be honored with God’s presence and God’s strength. The phrase above, “God is my strength” is similar to the phrase from the “song of the sea” that Moses and the Israelites sang after crossing the Red Sea. It is crucial that we remember our strength doesn’t come from us solely, it is a gift from God and we have to use it to light up the nations, bring the healing, strength, love and forgiveness of God to the entire world so we all work together to fulfill God’s Call and God’s plan. What an amazingly awesome trembling gift!

Rabbi Heschel teaches us:”It is not a prophet speaking in His name; it is predominately God addressing Himself to the people; it is I, not He. He said to Israel, “I appointed you a light to the nations”(Isaiah 49:6). The term “servant of the Lord”, used to designate the prophets…is now applied to Israel.”(The Prophets pg. 155). These words of Rabbi Heschel demand of us to fulfill our purpose, be that light to the nations, be the people who bring healing where there is strife, be the people who treat the stranger well, be Godly in our actions instead of selfish and self-seeking. It is so hard for most of us to rise above our self-interests and our self-centeredness to serve God, to overrule the inner tyrant and give light to our minds, to our selves and to another(s). Yet it is possible, as we are taught in Genesis,  “negativity couches at your door and it desires you much, you can control it”. These words to Cain still resonate in the universe and the prophet is letting Israel know it is time to do that and God will help. It is time for us to hear, listen, understand and do the same thing, isn’t it? 

In recovery we are so aware of being a servant of God. We know that our duty, our privilege, our blessing is to serve God, to serve another and to be a light to the people who suffer from the ‘poor me/aren’t I the greatest’ syndromes, to people who suffer from too much or not enough self-esteem, to the people who are lost, have served their sentences for their errors and need redeeming from their inner and outer tyrants. We are so grateful everyday to be a servant of God, to be a servant of another(s) and to live with purpose, strength and in freedom. 

My own experience of being a servant is one of joy. I have the honor and pleasure to have served in one place for 30+ years and, now that it has come to an end in many respects, I am grateful for the opportunity and see how this service has shaped me and formed me for my next chapters. As I see how God has meted out justice to me and saved me, how God has kept me and redeemed me, I am humbled beyond measure and joy. I realize how often I believed my labors were in vain when it was me who was in vain and I am grateful, joyous, proud and humbled to be part of God’s light to self, to another(s) and to serve as a lifesaver to many. I am also aware of the people I put off and I am sad for those times as well. And, I I know that I am still expected to and grateful to bring God’s light to a new corner of the world which I am searching for. God Bless and Stay Safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 168

“Because I know how stubborn you are. See, I refine you, but not as silver. I test you in the furnace of affliction. Thus said God, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, instructing you for your benefit. Guiding you in the paths you should go. If only you would heed my commands, then your prosperity would be like a river, your triumph like the waves of the sea.There is no peace for the wicked.”(Isaiah 48:4,10,17,18,22).

Isaiah continues to remind us about ourselves about our stubbornness and our recalcitrance towards God and God’s ways. We have been taught everything that is in the Torah and yet, we continue to defy what is good and right in God’s ‘eyes’ and what is good and right in our best interests. We continually make decisions that feed ego, feed the lies we tell ourselves, feed the false idols we follow, all the while believing that God is cool with what we are doing. Our stubbornness and our inability to acknowledge our errors continually come back to haunt us and keep us exiled from God, whether in the land or not. We have the power to end our exile, if only….

We accept the purification process that God gives to us. Yes, it is a fiery furnace and, like Daniel, we will come through it clean, better, less stubborn and with a new heart, a new commitment, a new vision for what can be and how to be. Second Isaiah seems to be reminding us that the exile and destruction is not retributive, rather it is for refinement and we are in desperate need of refining because we have filled ourselves with lies, with ‘fat’, with idol worship, with hard hearts, with all of the ways of being that defeated our ancestors. Exile is the time for us to re-evaluate and to make new choices (or not). God’s gift of refinement, of purification is the time and path for us to return to God and to our true, authentic nature of care and concern for another(s). Will we take heed to the Prophet’s words today or do we need another exile, another disaster, another destruction? 

We do this by taking God’s instruction and using it. We realize, through taking God’s direction and paths that all of what is happening is for our benefit and is happening because we would not listen, hear nor understand our selfish and self-seeking ways and how we left the paths that God has given us. The prophet is reminding us that we have the gift of redemption being handed to us, we have the path to freedom and wholeness within our reach, and we have to take it in. We have to immerse ourselves in God’s paths, in God’s ways and let go of our stubbornness, our false gods, our lies and surrender. Surrender is the path to redemption-we surrender to negativity, to idols- let us surrender to God, our Redeemer and The One who loves us.

Only with following God’s paths do we negate the last sentence in this chapter. We know that there is no peace for the wicked. We have spent years wandering, worrying, restless when we are engaged in following paths other than God’s. Rabbi Heschel writes: “We measure manhood by the sword and are convinced that history is ultimately determined on the fields of battle. Righteousness and peace are interdependent.”(The Prophets pg. 161,162).  When we realize the truth of his last statement then we will return and allow God to redeem us. We are in search of peace and we should instead be in search of righteousness that leads to peace. When we let go of our stubbornness, when we let go of our lies, our self-deception and we allow God’s teachings to penetrate our hearts, our minds and our souls, life changes and we find ourselves living as the righteous people God created us to be. We have to put down the sword, leave the battlefield and allow ourselves to be confronted and defeated by God so we are refined into the humanity that serves God and another(s). 

In recovery, we surrender our stubbornness daily, hourly and sometimes minute by minute. We know we exile ourselves when we hold onto our stubbornness and our negative ways. We are grateful for the ways God has refined us, we rejoice in our afflictions as signs of God’s love and God’s desire for us to return to God. We know the pain of “no rest for the wicked” as we were unable to ever feel rested prior to our recovery. In recovery, we seek to heed God’s commands and to improve our relationship with God. In recovery, we know that God is home and we seek to make our home with God and another(s) humans. 

I know stubbornness and I know when it has helped me and when it has harmed me. I am aware that I have been stubborn for God and stubborn against God. I have used my stubbornness to stay on the path that God has shown me, when another(s) have tried to lure me away. I have been stubborn in believing ‘my way or the highway’ and not heard God’s words nor direction. I have been exiled by my own actions, I had to spend time in prison to get purified and thanks to Rabbi Mel Silverman, I found God, God’s paths and a new heart, a new way of being. I have been exiled recently by an inappropriate behavior and the pain of being exiled without a hearing, without any input, being told my words mean nothing after years of service was very hard and painful to hear. I realize that, while the humans involved wanted to hurt me, God was showing my love, strength and a new path to follow. I am able to rest because I surrendered my evil ways 32+ years ago and today, I am blessed by God and you all. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 167

“Our Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is the Name, is the Holy One of Israel. I was angry with My people, I defiled my heritage, I put them into your hands and you showed them no mercy. Even upon the old heavy you made your yoke. You were secure in your wickedness, you said/thought ‘no one can see me’. It was your thoughts and your wisdom that led you astray.”(Isaiah 47:4,6,10).

In the first verse above, God is reminding Babylon of Whom will redeem Israel and the other nations and Whom has been their strength as well-even though they (Babylon) was unable to acknowledge it. The reason I find this so important is because we are always willing to claim credit for our victories and blame another(s) for defeats. We seem to be unable to see the unseen assistance from God in our redemption and success and unable to accept responsibility for ignoring God’s help and turning away from God and being Godly which leads us to being unsuccessful. 

God gave Babylon the job of helping bring Judah back to their senses and, instead of doing God’s bidding, they “showed them no mercy”. God seems incensed over Babylon’s lack of hearing, lack of mercy and lack of appreciation for God’s intervention on their behalf. What God sees is Babylon’s mistaken belief that they are “secure in their wickedness” has brought them to ruin, as it brought Israel to ruin, Judah to ruin, Egypt, Assyria, etc. all ruined because of being secure in their evilness! We have seen this pattern repeated throughout history up to today. What stops us from learning the lesson that God gives us over and over? Our mendacity, our self-deception, our belief that “no one can see me”, “I’m the smartest person in the room” etc. This is a deep flaw in the human being-mendacity and the unwillingness to hear, see, accept truth and act with integrity, transparency, justice, kindness and mercy. Babylon’s error is the same error that we, as a nation, commit so often-elect leaders who are so full of themselves, who lie to their constituents daily, gaslight the American people, thinking they are so clever. This behavior did not serve Germany, France, Spain, England, USSR, the Ottoman Empire, etc, yet many people believe it will serve them. We need to end this way of being-it is not what God wanted when God helped to found this country nor is it what God wants now. Caring for the stranger, the poor, the needy; living in truth, transparency, justice mercy, kindness, love and compassion are the paths that God calls for us to do. The other path, the Babylonian path leads us to ruin. Which do we choose? 

Rabbi Heschel says: “Israel’s suffering is God’s grief. In reflecting on what this people has endured, His words should like pangs of remorse. Not all the evils that befell Israel go back to the will of God. The Babylonians, who in His providence became the leading power in the world…”showed them no mercy”…”(The Prophets pg.151). Rabbi Heschel is reminding us of the responsibility of power, not the privilege of power. Judah was defiled and, while it could be an admission of error, it sounds like an admission of deep sadness that it came to this. The defiling, of course, was caused by Judah’s actions which mirrored the actions of the other nations rather than mirroring the ways of God. Too many of us believe power gives us privilege and forget that power is given to us by God to be responsible, to be caretakers of our corner of the world, to ensure the continuation of God’s will and God’s plans. Yet, as Rabbi Heschel noted in his work as a social activist, people in power forget the responsibility and Rabbi Heschel worked so hard to teach us to see one cannot be a person of faith and exploit the privilege of power.

In recovery, we freely admit our errors and our remorse for using power as a privilege and acknowledge how we, “in our wickedness” used the fears of those around us and the belief in our mendacious ways to harm so many, ourselves and God. In recovery, we are aware of God being our redeemer and the power of redemption. We are grateful for forgiveness, we are grateful to live in truth and we are amazed at our ability to add to God’s world in positive ways. In recovery, we understand our place and we rejoice in our portion, without needing to prove we are the smartest, etc. 

I have known since 1986 that God is my Redeemer. I realize the ways God has done this throughout the years and am grateful. I realize that I have, at times, thought I was clever and allowed my thoughts instead of God’s thoughts to rule the day and the times I was more Babylonian than Judean. And, it was only for a short period of time that my thoughts were in charge because God redeemed me through the hand/words of another(s) person. I am grateful and humbled by God’s love, care and discipline of me. I fully acknowledge being blind to God’s warnings at times and especially the last few years. In doing my own inventory, I am saddened by my inability to recognize God’s attempt to redeem me from the hands of the Babylonians around me. I have used power as privilege and know that overall-I used is as a responsibility to redeem God’s people, everyone, and am grateful to be an instrument for God’s goodness, kindness and redemptive power. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 166

“Listen to Me, House of Jacob, all that are left of the House of Israel…I will carry you and rescue you. Bear in mind what happened before, I am God and there is none else. Listen to Me, you stubborn of heart, I am bringing My victory close;…I will grant triumph in Zion and to Israel my beloved.”(Isaiah 46:4,9,12,13). 

The prophet known as Second Isaiah is again trying to get the attention of the people, asking them to listen and hear God. This is so important to all of the prophets and, as I am reading this chapter today, I sense an urgency by the prophet for the people to really listen with their entire being and to take in that God is here with them. It is a reminder of God promising Jacob that God would be with him in Egypt, when he was going to meet Joseph. These words are as relevant today as they were 2500 years ago. We need to listen to the call of our souls, the call of God, “God’s eternal cry”, as Rabbi Heschel speaks about in God in Search of Man, pg. 291.  This cry, this call resounds in our ears and in our beings yet, as the prophet is indicating, we don’t hear nor listen to it.

Yet, the cry is for us to allow ourselves to carried and rescued as we have been forever. God and the prophet are calling us to bring up our history and see how often we have been rescued by a power greater than ourselves, how often we have been carried to safety, to a homeland, to a place of refuge. This only happens when we hear and listen to the call of our souls, the call of freedom and both emanating from God. We get so used to listening to the noise in our heads, the noise and mendacity by another(s), we keep forgetting the covenant and the force that carried us and rescued us so many times before. The phrase, ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ is resounding in my head right now, as we all have thought, said, prayed these words or some similar, expressed gratitude that what is happening to another is not happening to us. This is not a callous statement, rather I believe it is a recognition of our gratitude and our hearing and listening to the “eternal cry of God” for us to do the next right thing, to forego our desire to worship idols that are physical, ie homes, buildings, statues, etc; or abstract, ie money, power, fame, etc. God is reminding us that we need to mature ourselves in order to handle the successful living God is providing for us. How many often and how many of us become deaf to “God’s eternal cry” once we begin to achieve some measure of success and become less than joyous in our inner lives? 

Listening is a key factor in this chapter and throughout the books of the prophets. In the verse quoted above, Second Isaiah is calling to those who are either stubborn of heart or, as the Septuagint reads, those who have lost heart. When we listen to the “eternal cry of God” we can never lose heart. We are incapable of falling into despair because we know God is close and God’s victory over evil will happen, with our help and our strength joining together with God’s despair, anxiety and evil will be dealt with and joy, clarity and homecoming will happen. I think of how often people give up when success/victory is near and we give up because we are not listening nor are we appreciating our strength, our history and God’s help. God is promising our victory, God is promising our triumph over negativity, depression, anxiety and idolatry. We can defeat all of these-not eradicate them- and be able to no longer have these and other deceptions of self and by another(s) defeat us. 

"God, I offer myself to Thee‐‐to build with me and to do with me as Thou wilt. Relieve me of the bondage of self, that I may better do Thy will. Take away my difficulties, that victory over them may bear witness to those I would help of Thy Power, Thy Love, and Thy Way of life. May I do Thy will always!” This is the 3rd step prayer of AA and for people in recovery, it is essential that we say this and begin to live this path in order to be able to Listen to “God’s eternal cry” and to remember that God is One and without Divine help, we are left to our own devices and they have failed us time after time. This prayer for those of us in recovery, reminds us to stop and hear, stop and act and remember that what we do is in the Name of God and shows God’s power, love, and God’s carrying us and rescuing us and placing us in our proper place in this world. In recovery, listening, hearing and acting all emanate from our soul, our inner lives as we change our locus of control from intellect to spirit; from self-centered to God-centered; from self-seeking to seeking to help another(s). 

My own listening is so much better now, even though my doctor says I have had some hearing loss and need hearing aids:)! Yet, my soul hears better, my spirit is more in control of me than my ego and my heart aches with sadness instead of madness much more now. All of this is the result of hearing God, listening to God and following God’s path, not my self-centered one. Being of Service, making the interests of another(s) my concern are cornerstones of my living and being in recovery. My sense of what is just and merciful, righteous and kind, truthful and compassionate all come from listening to “God’s eternal cry” and remembering I am acting in the Name of God. Which, of course, makes my errors, my inappropriate outbursts all the more painful to and for me. Yet, not all outbursts are inappropriate, my timing may be off, and as the prophets show us, outbursts in the Name of God to help another(s) live the 3rd step prayer above are holy actions. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 165

“Turn to me and gain success, all the earth! For I am God and there is none else. By Myself I have sworn, from My mouth has issued truth, a word that shall not turn back: To Me every knee shall bend, every tongue swear loyalty. Only through God will I find strength and righteousness When people trust in God, all their adversaries are put to shame.”(Isaiah 45:22-24)

This chapter begins with God speaking to Cyrus, who would defeat Babylon and allow the Jews to return and rebuild Jerusalem. The first verse above shows God’s universality, God is God of all people, not just the Jews. This is a departure from the norm of the time, there were Greek gods, Roman gods, Assyrian gods, etc. only among the Jews was there One God who is God of all people, One God who created the earth, One God who wants humankind to enjoy success and wants to help make success in their worthy endeavors a reality. We are in need of these words again-too many nations are worshiping false gods again, too many states are turning to “people of the lie”, as M. Scott Peck defines this type, and they are worshiping the false gods of power, race, privilege, anger, fear, mendacity, etc. There is only one God, the prophet is reminding us and we have to leave our own mendacity and self-deception in order to “turn to” God and be free and successful. 

The second verse above is the key to success, as I understand all the prophetic literature and, the entire Hebrew Bible: hear the truth that God gives us, know that God’s ‘word’ is good and, most importantly, surrender to God, to decency, to a way of life that is compatible with being called by God. Bending of our knees is not just a way to pray, as some people believe, it is, in my opinion, a way of surrendering to God’s will and, as to paraphrase Pirke Avot, nullifying our will before God’s will so God’s will can become our will. Bending one’s knee is crucial to surrendering and acknowledging a “power greater than ourselves”. In this acknowledgment, we also have to swear our loyalty to God, not ourselves. We have to surrender to the fact that we are not God, just trusted servants who’s first loyalty is to principles, to ensure that the interests of another(s) are our concern, to swear to be of service to God and humanity, not to our own self-interest and power, to commit to live in truth and discontinue our mendacious ways. Beware of the charlatans who preach the word of God and do the bidding of power for their own sake, not God’s. 

The last verse above is subtle and hidden, yet self-evident and on display for all to see. We cannot know what righteous behavior without God, without hearing and doing the words that God give to us and the path God has laid out for us. While many people preach God’s words, not as many actually live the ones they speak. When we surrender to God’s ways, will and path we find a strength and power to overcome the greatest of obstacles, to act decently, truthfully and righteously. Looking at the leaders of the major rebellions that were for God and the needy, poor; we see the surrender of the leaders to God and the defeat of their adversaries. God cares, God helps and God wants us, yet we have to decide to surrender. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches: “The Father of all men is committed to all men. Second Isaiah not only conveys the Lord’s invitation and commitment to every man on earth; he proclaims that God has sworn that all men will worship Him.” I read this and once again realize that our being chosen is not some privilege we can lord over another, rather it is an obligation that we get to fulfill. God is God of all people, not just Jews and not just Christians and not just Muslims, God is God of and for all of humanity! Even non-believers, God is God for, yet we have so many charlatans claiming God loves only them-it is hogwash and bullshit as I read Rabbi Heschel’s words. It makes me angry at how these liars, deceivers and practicers of mendacity have co-opted God’s words, God’s path and God’s desire for our return with their words, their path and their desire to dominate every one else. Surrender you charlatans! 

In recovery, we are aware of our need for and to surrender. It brings us to God, to joy, to live with dignity, awe, wonder, and knowing we are graced by God with this gift called life. In recovery we continue to seek ways to serve God, responding to the needs of another(s) and constantly cleaning our side of the street and letting go of resentments and the lies we tell ourselves.

My surrender is a daily experience, some days better than others! I do know that my knee bends to God and it doesn’t to another person. I know that God has provided me with both righteousness and strength to face any and all situations. I know that my imperfections harm me and another(s) and I know that people use my vulnerabilities against me at times. I know that pain of not surrendering and I have turned to God and the successes I experience are all the same-living well. God is God to all of us, God’s ways are ways of success and we each can find our own path without ruining the path and place another(s) is meant for. If we all could only stop with the lies, the need to harm another to feel better about oneself and bend our knees to God-our world would be so much better. God Bless and Stay Safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 164

“Do not be frightened, do not be shaken…I told you and you are my witnesses. Remember these things, Jacob, for you, Israel, are my servant: I fashioned you, you are my servant-Israel, do not forget Me. I wipe away your sins like a cloud and your transgressions like a mist. Come back to me because I redeemed you.”(Isaiah 44:8,21,22).

The prophet is addressing the fear and doubt that most of us have at any given moment. The prophet is addressing the people who wonder about God, who worship false idols and the such. He is also reiterating to the people Israel God is calling them to service and will redeem them. Hearing a call from God is frightening and exhilarating. It is also reassuring and calls into question our ‘hearing’. The prophet was sure of God’s call and therefore not afraid to speak God’s words and here he is letting all of us know God’s call to us is to serve and to testify to God’s kindness, greatness, love, justice, etc. 

The second verse above is all about remembering where we came from. It is so important to the prophet and to God that we not forget again, where we come from and where we are going. We come from Abraham who was a servant of God as he was described by Malki-Tzedek in Genesis. Abraham, whom God chose to “go to himself and for himself” to be a partner with God and to argue with God, is the forefather of all western religions. We come from a family tree of serving God, however imperfectly and every time we forget this and become selfish and self-serving; taking advantage of the poor, the needy, the stranger; we fail and we fall prey to another country. 

We are the servants, the witnesses and the promoters of God’s vision for humankind. This is the role that God has chosen for Israel, for believers, yet we continue to think that we are smarter than God, that our intellect can communicate with God and know what God is saying, when God speaks to us through our souls and through other people. We are constantly forgetting God and God’s will, God’s path, God’s call. We ignore it and try to use the name of God in vain for our own selfish, power-hungry ends. Yet, each time in the history of Israel and of the world, we destroy ourselves and another(s), on a personal level as well as on a national level. DO NOT FORGET GOD is the watch phrase Second Isaiah is giving to us-everything bad stems from our forgetting of God. We do this by giving lip-service instead of real service to another human being. 

The last verse above is a show of God’s love and, as Rabbi Heschel teaches: “There was no rejection on His part, He did not divorce His people. There was no detachment of personal alienation…”(The Prophets pg.153). This is the gift of unconditional love, as I understand the phrase. God is not saying it is okay for us to serve ourselves and abuse another(s) as we had done in the past, rather God’s love is so great that while we experienced the consequences of our actions, we were not thrown away. We were not used, abused and discarded by God as we have done to another(s). No, God allowed us to clean ourselves up some and then did the rest. Rather than hold a grudge, God is welcoming us back and letting go of the past errors. God wants our return, God wants to redeem us, God is loving us more than we can love ourselves at times. God is teaching us how to be with each other as well. 

In recovery, we let go of enough fear and doubt to have our being changed. We realize our judgmental behaviors have kept us stuck and in ruin. We slowly begin to accept truth and God’s kindness/unconditional love through another(s). We engage in service so we can leave our own self-centeredness and belief that we are the smartest person in the room. We no longer go along to get along, we begin to stand for and with God as a trusted servant. We realize not only that our sins have been wiped away by our amends/tshuvah, we become aware of the changes in us and how we have been redeemed and redeemed ourselves. We once again are able to participate in God’s world as a servant of the Universe, helping to make the world a little better each day through our positive actions and continuing to see our imperfections, repair the damage and grow one grain of sand better every day.

I have been fearful and shaken by so many events in my life and prior to my recovery these events pushed me farther and farther away from God. They were the catalysts for more and more drinking, stealing, disconnecting, and selfishness. Today and for the most part for the last 34+ years, events that shake me up and make me tremble, have been the catalysts to move closer and closer to God and another(s). Beginning with my last arrest in 1986 till my latest soul-shaking experience of betraying myself, God and being betrayed by another(s), being tossed out without a conversation and being convicted without an opportunity to defend nor confront my accusers, I run to God faster and faster each time. I know that most human beings do not have the strength to serve God by being open to another’s return, yet I am grateful for those who do. I also know that I have, over the years, always welcomed the tshuvah/amend of another with joy and reciprocity. I am grateful for God’s redeeming power and love. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 163

“Now, thus says God:…Who formed you, Israel? Fear not for I will redeem you; Because you are precious to me, and honored and I love you. Fear not, for I am with you. My witnesses are you, declares God; My servant whom I have chosen. It is I, who for my own reasons, wipe away your transgressions and remember your sins no more.”(Isaiah 43:1,4,5,10,25).

Isaiah, the second, begins this chapter with a reminder to the people, God has created each of us individually and as a people. Every people, every ethnicity, everyone owes their creation to God and, Israel who strayed from their path of serving God, is reminded of God’s power to redeem. In a time where people were hiding, living lives of quiet desperation, and engaging in self-deception, deception of another(s) and mendacity-there was, naturally, fear they could never be redeemed. 

This is certainly true today also-people will lie, cheat, help another(s) to die; just to not have to admit their own errors. These people believe that they are more powerful than God or worse-they believe that God wants them to lie, cheat, kill another(s) because Jesus, God, Allah, etc wants death over redemption. The opening verse above emphasizes how important redemption is to God. The next verse explains the reason-we are all precious to God-no one is not precious to God. There is no hierarchy in preciousness as I read the 2nd verse above.

Imagine if we would appreciate, receive, and live in this manner. We are all precious to God, we are all loved by God and no one is more valuable, dignified, etc than anyone else in God’s ‘eyes’, as Sanhedrin 37a teaches us also. We would no longer need to enslave another(s), no longer need to lord power over another(s), use one’s unique gifts to help everyone, engage in truth, transparency and forgiveness, ensure that everyone belongs rather than make them over in our image, etc. We would co-create the world that God is hoping for and entrusting us to build. Treating everyone with the preciousness, honor and love that God gives us would change and save our planet-It is God’s will and may it be ours. 

God also is reassuring us of our connection by reminding us to “fear not”, don’t give into the unhealthy fears and the fears that cause us to hid, run away and engage in self-deception/mendacity. God is with us, always. How do we know this? Because we take a breath, we awake each day new and with a pure soul as our morning prayers remind us. We are able to change, we have to change, we redeemed and God is with us at all times, how do we repay God for these gifts? By being the servant that God is calling us to be. We, Israel are the servant that 2nd Isaiah is speaking of. Israel-people who wrestle with God, each other and ourselves- are the servants bringing the message of redemption, hope, love, care, kindness, justice, mercy and truth to the world. 

Rabbi Heschel explains the last verse above so beautifully in describing 2nd Isaiah’s task: “he calls upon her (Israel) to sing and to rejoice. Israel’s transgressions are trivial and insignificant when compared with God’s love. Iniquities pass, even their memory may vanish in forgiveness, but God’s love for Israel, will never pass, never vanish.”(The Prophets pg. 153). Rather than misinterpret the ending verse above, Rabbi Heschel’s words and teaching help us put the verse in perspective. God is not being selfish, or trying to look good, God is redeeming us, forgiving us and wiping the memory of our missing the marks away because that is who God is! God is our Redeemer, God is our Forgiver, God is our Lover. 2nd Isaiah is bringing this message of song and merriment so that we can retake our place in the universe, no longer dwell in the darkness of shame, guilt and seek power for our own sake rather than for God’s sake. 

In recovery, we live in the world of redemption, forgiveness, joy, truth, transparency, love. It is the world that God is giving us as a gift and we do everything we can to honor this gift of forgiveness, memory loss and love. We are redeemed, we realize we are imperfect and we rejoice in this state of being where we never have to hide nor engage in self-deception and mendacity. In recovery, we are in awe of, grateful for and honor God’s love. We humbly accept the honor of being God’s witnesses and we testify to God’s redemption of us and how this redemption is open to everyone who wants each and every day. 

I have been redeemed is difficult for me at times when people deny my humanness because I am not “dignified, politically correct, and a liability”. Today’s reading from the prophets reminds me that God redeemed me and continues to. God’s love is more powerful and healing than anything and I experience through Harriet, Heather, my siblings, my extended family and my friends. I forget that I am precious to God and when I forget, I lose me and God/universe loses me and this is the greatest crime I commit. My time in exile has been uplifting for me as I have learned and relearned important lessons. Most of all, I have found the me that began this journey 34+ years ago, the me that continues to learn and grow-loudly and messily. I am grateful that God redeems me and that you forgive me. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 162

“This is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight I have put My spirit upon him to teach the nations. Sing a new song to God, His praise from the ends of the earth…Who is so blind as My servant, so deaf as the messenger I send? God desires His servant’s righteousness and that he glorify and make great God’s Torah.”(Isaiah 42:1,10,19,21).

The opening verse has been taken to mean a single person as opposed to the context which is about Israel. Isaiah the second, is reminding all of us of our heritage, our commitment, our ancestor’s deal with God and our purpose in the world. We are to know that God holds us up at our lowest times, God ‘has our back’ forever and a day, God doesn’t allow us to fail. We, people who are constantly wrestling with God, self and another, are the delight of God, according to this first verse as I understand it today. We are God’s delight even when we don’t follow God because we are at least aware of God, we know God’s love, help, kindness, grace, etc. 

And we forget that God’s spirit is upon us, in us and calling to us all the time. We are able to teach nations, individuals, self about God and how to live well, how to care for another and how to love self, God and another. We engage in purposeful forgetting and willful blindness because we mistakenly believe the next new Idol will fix us, will make it easier for us, will be under our control and not demanding anything from us. T In abdicating our responsibility to teach and practice, in imprisoning our spirit and trying to silence it, we are creating an inner war that leads us to ruin and destruction. Hence, the defeat of Judah and the destruction of Jerusalem and The Temple. Hence, the belief in the big lie and destruction of so many governments and uptick in authoritarianism. 

We are being told to “sing a new song” to God by Isaiah the second so that we can remember the purpose of our living. We are to sing a song that is original with each of us, a song that acknowledges the goodness, kindness, caring, love, justice, mercy, demands of God that fuels our living. We cannot borrow the words or melody from another, we have to sing our own unique song to and for God and ourselves. It is a demand from God that we each live lives that match our souls, we teach the words of Torah that have been placed in us by God and we do this loudly and proudly-no matter what some people think. 

Rabbi Heschel teaches about the last verse above: “Israel’s destiny is, as we have seen, “to open the eyes that are blind”. Yet the tragedy is that the servant himself fails to understand the meaning of his mission.”(The Prophets pg.157). Isn’t this the great conundrum we all face? We are destined for a purpose, we have the ability and, at times, the desire to “open the eyes that are blind and bring out the prisoners…” yet we succumb to our own willful blindness and self-interests. Self-deception, running away from God, from purpose, from helping another has been the bane of human existence forever and Israel was given the mission and sent to “teach the nations” has not only not done this, Israel has joined in the self-deception, blindness and deafness of everyone else. A tremendous betrayal of God, Covenant, and family-remember this deal was struck with Abraham and succeeding generations. We stand on the shoulders of previous generations, and it seems, that we only want to use the advances and the inheritance without the service, commitment and continuation of our part of the covenant that made the advances and inheritance possible. Are you able to see the tragedy of the failure of Israel to understand its mission? Are you able to see the tragedy of our failure to understand and fulfill our mission? 

In recovery, we are dedicated to hearing God’s call, in fact we are so aware of our need to hear the call we come “to believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity”. We wake up each and everyday searching for ways to be of service, to connect with another and God as well as singing a new song, a song that is uniquely ours and adding our voice to the millions of people who, like us, have found that recovering our passion and discovering our purpose is a job not just for ‘addicts’ but for all of us, as the prophet teaches above. In recovery, we are constantly “seeking to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand God” so we stay on the right path for us, not worrying about competition nor comparing ourselves to another(s), instead relishing in the delight of God for us living our authentic lives. 

I have been both deaf and blind at times in my recovery, I know this and I see how this has led me to where I am now. I think that, as God did in 1986, I needed to be hit right between the eyes in order to see and hear. I realize that, while I was living well and doing my thing, I was not where God nor another(s) needed/wanted me, maybe I had overstayed my welcome at one place too long.I wish that I had heard God’s voice better, I wish that ‘the powers that be’ would have not deceived me with promises and a plan that no else paid attention to. Yet, in the end, my blindness and deafness was the problem, not the deception by another(s). I realize that I have the opportunity to sing a new song to God, to myself and to another(s). Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 161

“And you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, seed of Abraham My friend-You whom I drew from the ends of the earth and called from its far corners, and I said to you:”You are My servant! I chose you, I have not rejected you. Don’t fear because I am your God, I strengthen you and I help you.”(Isaiah 41:8-10)

The prophet is continuing to give strength and hope to the people. He is describing a relationship that, according to God’s message to the prophet, is never broken-no matter that Israel, Jacob, we walk away from God, forsake God, etc-God keeps the relationship alive and waiting for our return. 

In the first verse above, we, those who wrestle with God, self and another, are described in 3 different and related ways. We are servants of God. Yet what does this mean? If I am a servant, according the Hebrew word used, I am a worker for God. What a career! Yet, it is not the priest, the rabbi, the shaman, the minister being singled out here, it is all of us-we are all workers for God. 

What is the job description, we cry out-how can I take this job without seeing the job description and the rate of pay, benefits, time off, etc? We are chosen to be workers for God, it is not something we apply for, it is not a 40hour/week job-it is our calling, it is our foundational relationship from which everything else in our life grows and builds on. The job description is simple: love mercy, do justly, live in a manner that is compatible with being created in the Image of God, care for the needy and the poor, treat the stranger well, walk in God’s ways. Not easy, very complex, yet a simple job description. 

We are chosen to God’s employees and God’s workers because we come from Abraham, God’s friend. To paraphrase Rabbi Heschel, I am never lost, I know where I came from and where I am going; I come from Abraham and I am going to the Sovereignty of God. Immersing ourselves in our careers as servants, workers, chosen ones of God and lineage going back to Abraham will allow us to embrace the job description above with joy, excitement, respect and love. God brings us together from all corners of the world so that we can work together, each doing our own unique task to make the whole work force as productive as possible and bring about a more finished work for the next generation. 

It is important for all of us to work together to create, continue this work of art called life, world, we saw the destruction that came about when we fought each other for power, etc- Jerusalem was destroyed and we went into exile. God is calling us back and reminding us again and again that God wants our return, God does not forsake us, God doesn’t reject us, God is with us, God strengthens us and helps us always. 

What a wonderful relationship-it is a marriage, God loved Abraham, Sarah, and has kept the promise made with them. We need to look at ourselves and see how we are serving God instead of selfish self, puffed up ego, etc. How are we returning to God daily-cause we will stray, hence Tshuvah? How are we realizing that being chosen doesn’t give us more rights, rather it gives us more responsibilities? How are we doing justly and loving mercy? How are we treating the stranger, the poor and the needy-locking them up, shooing them away from the ‘nicer’ neighborhoods, keeping stronger borders and boundaries? 

God gives us the strength, the help to realize we are never alone, we are never devoid of inner strength and character, we are never without a job. God is our employer who puts up with our ‘sick’ days, our ‘vacation years’, etc. In recovery, we are aware of God never forsaking us, rather it is us who forsake God. We are aware that we are “but trusted servants” and we are constantly seeking ways to serve and reviewing our job performance daily. In recovery, we know God chooses us to reach out to another(s) in love, mercy, justice, kindness, truthfulness, compassion, etc. We are grateful beyond words for the life we have now and we continue to rejoice in our ability to fulfill the responsibilities this new way of living allow us. 

One of the most horrific crimes I committed in my ‘out there’ days was the way I trashed my father’s and grandfather’s name. Both of them were known for being truthful, just, merciful, kind, giving human beings and I was ‘on vacation’ from being the  God worker they both were all their lives. I remember visiting their graves once I was in recovery and the experience of acceptance and forgiveness that overcame me was immense and has empowered me to continue to be a good worker for God. Second Isaiah is speaking to me today about my own job performance, and I realize I may have gotten stuck in an old job description and not realized God changed the job I was needed for, not some earthly employer who thinks they are God. I see that God has never rejected me and, what I experienced as God’s rejection, was, once again, God trying to get my attention. God chose me, God chooses me, God will continue to choose me-and each of us-I just have to be more aware of God changing my job description and know that is always with me/everyone. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 160

“Comfort, comfort My people, says God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and declare to her that her service is finished, her iniquity is atoned for, for she has been given from the hand of God, double for all her sins. God gives strength to the weary, great courage to the spent. Trust in God and strength is renewed.” (Isaiah 40:1-2,29,31).

Moving from Ezekiel to Second Isaiah, we see the movement from exile to return. The opening verse above is to revive the spirit of the people of Judah. The Rabbis decreed that this chapter be read each year on the Shabbat after Tisha B’Av, ushering in 7 weeks of consolation/comfort for our preparation for Yom Kippur. As I think about this, I understand how important it is to read this opening after every T’Shuvah we do for ourselves and another(s). After we do T’Shuvah, we have to confirm to ourselves that we allow ourselves to be comforted by our recognizing our errors, repairing them, asking for forgiveness, learning from them and having a new way of living well.

The problem is that many people carry guilt and shame for their errors way past the time necessary for change and T’Shuvah. Another problem is that people want to make another(s) pay for their errors for a long time after they have done their T’Shuvah. In both instances, the opening verses are crucial lessons and wisdom for us to incorporate into our being. 

God is telling us that God wants us back, accepts us back and we have to let go of our own shame and guilt for our “service is finished…iniquity is atoned for”. Yes, Judah/Israel has suffered greatly and their idolatry was great, their selfishness, greed, injustice, senseless hatred, haughty/privileged lifestyle was hugely against the covenant with God so the lessons had to be learned and their return had to be earned. T’Shuvah is not just “I’m sorry”, it is a change and a time out, in some cases. In the case of Judah/Israel, the exile lasted 70 years and the destruction of Jerusalem was total because of their failure to hear the prophets and God calling them back from their idolatrous, covenant breaking paths. AND, the prophet (known as Second Isaiah) is letting us know that our debt is paid in full and we are going to be restored fully to our rightful place. 

This is a fascinating concept to me. I am seeing the ways we hold onto our guilt and shame, the paths we take to stay stuck so we can become our own victims and/or make someone else feel guilty and shameful so they become our victim after being victimized by them. Many people are stuck in a very unhealthy cycle of shame/guilt, never allowing their T’Shuvah to relieve them, never allowing God to comfort them. Still others are using the guilt/shame of another to keep beating them up for the error they committed and telling them that they are the error and they can never be fully forgiven. This is in direct conflict with God’s way and God’s words above, yet many of these people are “God-Fearing, Religious, Progressive, Conservative, etc” who believe that they are the true people of faith! Charlatans and liars who only want power refuse to follow God’s command to comfort another after they have done their T’Shuvah. 

The last verses above we say everyday in our Morning Blessings. We need to remember God gives strength to the weary and renews our strength each and everyday when we are connected, comforted and accepting of God’s forgiveness and the forgiveness of another(s). Our doing T’Shuvah-seeing where we hit the mark as well as where we missed the mark-is a daily activity, or should be, and we get renewed strength from looking at our actions honestly and, with the help of God, take credit for the harm and the good we have done. Living without the shame/guilt of past errors we have already atoned for allows us to accept God’s comfort, God’s forgiveness and move forward-we are weary from carrying the guilt/shame of the past and God lifts it from us and we can stand strong and tall each day. 

In recovery we have a daily practice of giving and receiving comfort and strength from God, from another(s), from ourselves through our daily inventories, amends, gratitudes, acceptance of gratitude from another(s) and being of service. We know the comfort that the prophet is speaking of in the opening verses because we have experienced it. We know the necessity of inventory, confession, repair of our errors, learning from them and the change we need to implement so we don’t keep repeating them. We are always in the process of engaging in these behaviors because we have accepted our imperfections and are comforted and forgiven by God and another(s) human being. In recovery, we let go of the past shame/guilt so we can see a brighter future and engage in life on God’s terms. 

I have been comforted and I have been vilified. I have made the same error more than once and I have corrected many of them. What these verses remind me is that I don’t have to accept the guilt/shame others want to put on me. I am who I am and I strive to be one grain of sand better each day. I also reject the stories some people in power tell about me and I am comforted by God and another(s) for their forgiveness and love. I am sorry for my errors and I refuse to be in exile any longer for them. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark

The Prophets - wisdom to enhance our daily living

Daily Prophets

Day 159

“Thus said our Lord, God: Enough, princes of Israel! Make an end of lawlessness and rapine, do what is right and just! Put stop to your evictions of My people….But the prince shall not take property away from any of the people and rob them of their holdings. Only out of his own holdings may he endow his sons so that My people may not be dispossessed of their holdings.(Ezekiel 45:9, 46:18).

This is the end of my writings on Ezekiel for this go around. These last 10 chapters of the book is about the Temple space, the allotment of land to the people and the forward looking, hopeful future of the people Israel. 

In the first verse above, God is coaching Ezekiel on how to talk to the princes of Israel. God is instructing him to speak directly to the princes and to be direct with them.

The first instruction to the princes is ENOUGH! In order for their return to power, they have to give up their power. God is reminding us that leaders are not in power because they are strong or shrewd, they are in power to serve God and the people. Yet, over and over again we see people in power control people with their rules, use laws to promote their own lawlessness(think the Nuremberg laws) and seize what isn’t theirs just because they can. They are so intent on keeping power for their sake and for the sake of their cronies, they use the law to exclude rather than include, make new laws that further disenfranchise one group of people to the benefit of the few. These people, like the princes of Israel want to keep power consolidated with the “right people”. They practice evictions of people from their homes, from their safety and from their lands. They are so intent on power, God has to say ENOUGH! 

Will they listen, the fact that God is sending a message to them is hopeful. God believes they have learned a lesson. God’s preoccupation with this abuse of power is amazing to me. God is angry with the ruling class and the priestly class and the wealthy because they took advantage of the poor rather than lifting them up. God is reminding us that evictions are not the way to treat people who are down on their luck, have suffered setbacks because of no fault of their own, like a pandemic, and we all are responsible for each other. God is especially holding the powerful responsible for the welfare of every one of their subjects.

In the second verse, God is reminding the princes that their practice of seizing property from the people, who are God’s people, is not going to work anymore. The princes are being told they are not above the law, they are not allowed to break the letter or the spirit of law just because they are in power. No longer can we rob someone of their holdings just because we are in control. No longer can we dispossess people for our benefit. No longer can we treat someone who is ‘lower’ on the ladder, ie not in power, as less than human. We cannot treat people as objects and do with them as we wish, rather we have to respect the humanity of everyone and be happy with our own portion. This is, of course, reminiscent of King David and Bathsheba story. When we return from exile, God is telling the princes that God’s way has to be the way of the land. Wouldn’t we all live better if leaders today remembered they are but trusted servants of democracy and the people, not controllers and practitioners of power. 

In recovery, we are constantly looking for our part in every situation/experience in our daily lives. Being in recovery means that we get to serve God/Higher Power and another(s) in our own unique manner. We do not believe in power for power’s sake, we are committed to living a life of service, integrity and lovingkindness. As AA says, “our leaders of but trusted servants…” We know our place is to aid, protect and serve anyone and everyone who is in need and we are aware that doing this takes on many different forms, ie, direct service, pointing people in a direction, etc. In recovery, we surrender our need to control people, places and things and we accept with clarity our ability to control our acting out on our urges for power etc. We are blessed with the same spirit that God imbued the prophets with-the spirit to hear, listen and understand the call of another and the call of God. 

I have, of course, abused power and control. In my former days, I used my power and control to ‘get mine’-much like the verses say and I never cared about what was happening for my victims. In my recovery, I have used my power and control to help another human being achieve their goals and the goals that God has set out for them. While not perfect in this endeavor, I know that the times I have used my power and control as the princes described above did were much fewer and far between. I know, and maybe it is my self-deception, that I did what was best for the individual and the whole in the vast majority of my dealings, only occasionally giving into my greed/need to satisfy only me. And, as Ezekiel is reminding us, I am hopeful for the future, I know that mine is filled with more adventures, service and joy and I pray you see the same for yours. God Bless and stay safe, Rabbi Mark