Daily Prophets
Day 14
Continuing with Chapter 5 of Amos, I am finding a strong connection with both Adonai and Amos. Rabbi Heschel says in his book The Prophets: “It was not only iniquity that had aroused the anger of the Lord, it was also piety, upon which His words fell like a thunderbolts. Sacrifice and ritual were regarded as the way that leads to the Creator. The men and institutions dedicated to sacrificial worship were powerful and revered.” I am going a little nuts here. Like the prophets of Israel, Rabbi Heschel disturbs me greatly. He, as he says in his interview about the prophets, “gives me a bad conscience”. As I think about God’s anger, I do understand how God’s words can be understood as said in anger and they are harsh. Yet, I am reminded that rebuke is a Mitzvah, a part of the Holiness Code and God’s rebuke feels like anger because of our fear of God and our thinking that we can appease Adonai as idol worshipers appease their idols.
In fact, Adonai doesn’t work that way. Because Adonai is abstract, ‘the Ineffable One’ as Rabbi Heschel refers to God, it is easy to believe that if we do the rituals, it will be good enough. I know many people who think because they go to pray everyday, observe the Sabbath, keep the laws of kashrut (food laws in Judaism) they are pious and can do anything they want. It is okay to cheat on taxes, in business, on my wife, etc. We have built powerful religious institutions, we have built powerful secular institutions and the people in charge think they can “get away” with things because they live out the rituals of their institutions. Many Priests, Ministers, Imams, Rabbis, and other Clergy believe that they can hide their imperfections and get away with acting them out because they follow the “rules and rituals” of their particular religion. In my addiction, I lived a life of ‘if I can take it then it is mine’, I always had a job as a cover for my criminality, I made hanging out at the bars a business selling stolen merchandise so I could drink all day. In my recovery, I realize how I stayed sober and have not always acted from my highest moral place. I think this understanding of what Rabbi Heschel and the Prophet Amos is saying is something intuitive within me and all of us. When we allow ourselves to go past what is expedient, we realize that we know when we are putting on a facade and when something is real to us. Being real means that study, prayer, ritual, Shabbat go through us rather than us checking them off and going on to the next thing. I can’t count how many times people have quoted the Bible, the Big Book, the New Testament, etc to me and when I ask them what it means to them, how it changes them, they can’t answer.
The secular institutions have become so strong that the words and lies of the Internet rule the Political Parties. Fake news, stop the steal, defund the police, etc. are all battle cries that show the power of the extremes. We have too many people who take up a battle cry in order to get elected, to turn our country from a democracy to either a theocracy or a secular rule that regulates every aspect of life. Our secular institutions have the power to accept or reject people based on religion, color, creed, gender, etc. in the most subtle of ways and, sometimes, not so subtle. We hear about calls for unity from the people who tried to break the backs of the working poor, people of color, Barack Obama, who denied the results of a free and fair election until it was almost too late. We have been ruled by people who don’t see differences, they see hatred and politics is a blood sport. Yet, they say that they are only playing by the rules:)
Amos has a message for all of the people mentioned above and for all of us: “I loathe, I spurn your festivals, I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies. If you offer Me burnt offerings…I will not accept them. …Spare me the sound of your hymns, and let Me not hear the music of your lutes. But let justice well up like water and righteousness as a mighty stream.”(Amos 5:21-24)
I am sitting here trembling. I keep being overwhelmed by righteousness and justice. I am trembling for all the times I have not allowed justice and righteousness to rule me, guide me and be the actions I take. This trembling is not a self-loathing, rather it is my awareness of my imperfections and the trembling brings me to the awe of God’s forgiveness and understanding of our imperfection. This is why I started today’s writing with God being the Rebuker-in-Chief. God is not asking for our perfection here, God is demanding that we walk our talk and stop saying one thing and doing another. Aren’t we all tired of other people doing this? God’s call and question is to us: are you tired of doing the actions that you hate being done to you (to paraphrase Rabbi Hillel)?
We see this behavior in our leaders, our parents, ourselves and our children. The prophets of Israel saw this thousands of years ago. Rabbi Heschel exhorts us to study the prophets and I know why. STOP THE LIE, is what I hear Amos saying in this passage. Justice and Righteousness have to prevail over our need to look good, look holy. They have to break through our facade and our lies to lead us to an authentic awareness of God, Reality, ourselves and another(s) human beings. What a lot of people miss is this is possible, otherwise God would not be demanding it of us. God cares so much about us that God sent Amos to tell Israel and us that we can change. God is giving us the path through Amos. Rabbi Heschel, Rabbi Silverman, Rabbi Omer-man, Rabbi Shulwies, Rabbi Feinstein, Rabbi Neal Borovitz have been Amos to and for me and I am so grateful to all of them. Heather, my daughter, and Harriet, my wife and Sheri, my sister have been Amos to and for me. I pray that I honor their words and guidance more often than I don’t. How are you practicing justice and righteousness more in your daily living? How are you still lying to yourself and propping up your facade? Who is/are Amos in your life. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark