Daily Prophets
Day 24
“Hear this Priests, Pay attention House of Israel. Listen house of the king because justice is your responsibility. Their habits don’t let them return to their God for the spirit of harlotry is within them, they do not know Adonai.”(Hosea 5:1, 4)
Hosea is calling everyone together in the beginning of this Chapter. He begins with the Priests and Kings and the leaders of the people and then the people themselves. He calls them out for their practice of injustice in the first verse. Hosea and God are not letting anyone off the hook for the injustices’ that are happening in Israel. They “were shocked not only by acts of injustice on the part of the scoundrels but also by the perversion of justice on the part of the notables” as Rabbi Heschel says on page 202 of The Prophets. Power means responsibility to do right according to this verse, not the entitlement to do what we want.
This is the power and beauty of the prophet, they are unafraid to speak truth to power and they do not need to get the result they are hoping for. In the second verse for today, verse 4, Hosea and God are telling the people in power what they need to do and why they are not hearing Hosea. Their message is to let go of the habits that are bringing them down and attach themselves to Adonai once again. I am noticing the 2 names of God used in this verse, Eloheyhem and Adonai. The first reminds me/us of the words from The Song of the Sea, “This is my God” and the second reminds me/us of the personal relationship Adonai has with me/us.
Rabbi Heschel speaks of the ‘spirit of harlotry’ as denoting deep passion for the actions being taken as well as an intense pathos the prophets have for God. In The Prophets, he has an entire chapter on the “religion of sympathy: I understand Rabbi Heschel to be teaching us that Hosea has the utmost sympathy and pathos and emotion for God and the betrayal of Adonai by Israel and its leaders. He goes on to explain in this chapter that one cannot separate emotion and passion from spirit, “Emotion is inseparable form being filled with the spirit, which is above all a state of being moved.” This teaching of Rabbi Heschel on page 316 of The Prophets, is so important to take in. Being filled with the spirit has to be tempered with a deep pathos for God, it is the state of the soul, Rabbi Heschel teaches and if we are not careful, the state of our soul can deteriorate, I know.
We see this deterioration in the realm of addiction, in the realm of politics, in the realm of religion, etc. Our political reality is one of deterioration and our leaders have the spirit of harlotry within them and it is killing us. We have some prophets speaking and they are not hearing. Some of our elected officials see their status as the Priests and Kings of Israel saw theirs, entitled to do what they want and they are the smartest people in the room. They see themselves as doing whatever it takes to hold onto power and to use power for their welfare, not the people’s and not God’s. We, the People, must take back our house. God, through Hosea, is calling out to us to be just. Adonai is calling for us to remember that we are all responsible, as Rabbi Heschel says: “In a free society, some are guilty all are responsible”.
In recovery, spirit is the ‘secret sauce’. When Hosea repeats the phrase “knowing Adonai” he is speaking of an intimate relationship, as I have said before. The intimate relationship with Adonai/God here is that with God’s help I can change my habits and turn back to Adonai. I can find comfort and rest in the embrace of mercy, kindness, righteousness and truth. Turning from the ‘bad habits’ and turning to a life of principle, meaning and God imbues us with the ability to enjoy life, to care for others and to live with and on purpose. “Knowing God” is what the 11th step is all about, “sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.” This is the antidote to the “spirit of harlotry” that we all have engaged in prior to our recovery and that many people who think they are fine are engaging in as we speak.
On a personal note, I am shuddering at the times that I have failed to act justly and righteously. I have stood accused and I am guilty. I believe that we all have to look at our past with a critical eye and see our being through God’s eyes and not our rationalizations. Paying attention to the “little things” is one of my strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes I am too much in the weeds and sometimes, I overlook and don’t hear another because I am not paying attention to everything around me. I have not hear and not been responsible to and for acting justly. I am sorry for these actions. I am also aware of my imperfections and know I will make this error again, again and again. What I am proud of is my ability to return and, hopefully, you are proud of your ability to return. Because of “knowing Adonai” my habits have become filled with the spirit of god instead of the spirit of ego, pride and harlotry. I am filled with hope and promise for today and everyday because of my ability and yours to “know God” and use God’s help to change the habits we need to. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark