Daily Prophets
Day 41
“In days to come… And many people shall walk and say: Come, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; that Adonai may instruct us in God’s ways and we may walk in God’s paths. For teaching(Torah) shall come from Zion and God’s word from Jerusalem.”(Isaiah 2:2,3)
Reading this verse is so uplifting to and for us all. Isaiah is not predicting doom here, he is telling us what will come from God’s love. I am awestruck at the ideas presented here. We will find ourselves whole enough to realize what we need, God’s teachings, God’s Torah. We will make a decision to go to the source of wisdom, to heed the call of our soul to connect and live in the ways and walk the paths of decency, connection, love, surrender and humility.
The beginning of verse 3 is “many people shall walk…” the prophet is telling us that coming together for a sacred purpose, to serve God is possible and will happen. He is reminding us that we have to seek ways to live together and be one whole community. Before the Global Economy became a thing, Isaiah and the other Prophets were calling for us to come together. We need to let go of our differences and envies and fears to find the common ground that Isaiah is speaking of: Going up to the House of God and learning to live well.
The last two sentences are what we say/sing as we take the Torah out of the Ark each Sabbath. So many people sing these words and do not relate to their lives. This is the great tragedy, not taking these words to heart and not taking action on them. In this search to live well and (w)holy, we are being given the keys to the kingdom, hearing and acting on God’s words and teachings.
Rabbi Heschel speaks of the third verse a sign of God’s concern with the inner life of the individual. He says: “God not only asks for justice; He demands of man “to walk in His paths”.(The Prophets pg 207/8). Rabbi Heschel says in the same subchapter on the same page: “The fault is in the hearts, not alone in deeds”. This idea about the inner life of humans is very revolutionary for the time, both Isaiah’s and Rabbi Heschel’s.
Rabbi Heschel reminds us that Jerusalem/Zion being spoken about here is proof of: “God’s lasting and indestructible attachment to God’s People and to Zion”. Rabbi Heschel’s faith in God was inviolate. Here he is talking about God’s faith in us, as I understand him today. What a burden and a joy! The burden is God’s attachment to us when we are doing the next wrong thing. The joy is that we get to serve God and God never cuts us off. Rabbi Heschel was never lonely because he nurtured, grew and reveled in his attachment to God and God’s attachment to him. WOW!
If only our political leaders could experience this attachment and would hear and grow their inner lives more. Their issue is that they are so arrogant that they know the “word of God” and these words are telling them to take advantage of the poor, lie to the people, appeal to the greed and self interest of the people all the while serving only themselves, and obstruct good being done by anyone else. Blaming others for their failures and telling the people that it is too bad they are suffering as is happening in Texas by elected officials is the height of arrogance and deafness to God’s words, paths and teachings. These elected officials have forgotten that they are servants of the people, not masters of the people. These verses could come to remind our Public Servants to live the words of God, not the lies of the charlatans who preach idolatry and sedition.
In Recovery, these words ring throughout the steps and our souls. The 3rd step says: “Made a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God…”. We know that on our own, we will keep making the same mistakes over and over again-even though sometimes they are dressed up differently. Our recovery is based on the growth of our inner life and letting go of resentments. It is based in “God’s lasting and indestructible attachment” to us and our decision to create the same attachment with God. As Dr. Paul says: “Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.” I would say that the first acceptance is God’s will and God’s love for us. We live this out loud each and every day in recovery and we do continue to listen and receive more of God’s teachings and see God’s path for us clearer and clearer each day in our recovery.
When I asked Rabbi Mel, my prison Rabbi, “are you going to let me go too?”, he responded: “You are a Jew, one of my own, I could never let you go!” This was the embodiment of God’s attachment to all of us in these words of Isaiah and Rabbi Heschel. I continue to hear and understand God’s teachings and seek God’s path. I realize that only through acceptance can I hear and implement the teachings of Adonai. I need to get my hearing checked every so often and I believe that my soul is stronger and stronger each day. As I engage in life, I am so grateful for these teachings and signposts showing me the way. What are the signposts and teachings of God that help you live well? Which ones are you ignoring? Stay Safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark