Daily Prophets
Day 96
“Though our iniquities testify against us, God, act for the sake of Your Name…Your name is attached to us-do not forsake us. We acknowledge our wickedness, God, the iniquity of our fathers-for we have sinned against you… Remember, do not annul Your covenant.”(Jeremiah 14:7,9,20,21).
Jeremiah is trying to avert the severe decree of God against Judah and Jerusalem. Even though the decree is warranted and, in some ways, necessary; Jeremiah wants to avert it, showing his deep love for both the land and the people. Even though they have imprisoned him, scorned him, reviled him, etc, Jeremiah’s love for the people allows him to rise above it all and plead to God on their behalf.
In the verses above, Jeremiah reminds me of Moses, acknowledging the guilt of the people and reminding God of the covenant and the promise to not forsake the people. The Hebrew used means abandon and it also means rest/comfort-a polar opposite verb.
Jeremiah is calling out to God to not abandon and give comfort/mercy to the people. Yes they ‘miss the mark’, yes they abandon You, God, yes they learned this from their fathers’ for whom they also are responsible for, yet…. Do Not Abandon Your People, God is what Jeremiah is screaming.
These verses are proof that Jeremiah was a prophet sent by God to me. Whom else would be scorned by his people, be revulsed by the actions and treachery of his people against God, be told what was to happen and still fight with he Judge of all the earth, for mercy, compassion and connection to these same people! Only a prophet who can and does hold God and humanity together in one moment, in all moments, as Rabbi Heschel describes.
Rabbi Heschel teaches:”Pathos resists from a decision…It comes about in light of a moral judgement rather than in the darkness of passion. It was only in the certainty that His mercy is greater than his justice…”(The Prophets pg 298). He goes on to say: “God had a stake in the life of Israel…Here, then was a task of the prophet: to remind Gd of His own concern…The prophet was haunted by the fear of ultimate calamity: God’s rejection or loathing of the people…Jeremiah’s thought turned to God’s soul and pathos.”(The Prophets pg. 122).
Rabbi Heschel is reminding us of the greatness of the prophets and the reason we all need to study, learn, appreciate and internalize their teachings and their wisdom. God’s pathos is alive and well, as I read Rabbi Heschel’s words today. Pathos can be mercy, anger, compassion, love, etc. because it is act “formed with intention, depending on free will, the result of decision and determination.”(The Prophets pg. 224). Jeremiah is determined to remind God of God’s promise, covenant and the need for connection for both God and the people. As humans, the worst betrayal most of us experience is the abandonment by someone we love, we care for, we believed we had a connection and/or covenant with. This betrayal is at the core of most traumas we experience and the cause of most of our ‘missing the mark’. Jeremiah is reminding God of God’s mercy being so large that all of Israel’s iniquities, once repentance and return is done by them, can be forgiven and the opportunity to repent and return must always be available so they can’t be destroyed completely nor ever abandoned.
In recovery, we admit our sins daily, we acknowledge our ‘missing the marks’ every evening and we seek mercy and forgiveness from the people we have harmed and abandoned. Because we see our own frailties and weaknesses, we can have more compassion when people harm us. In recovery, we pray for the well-being of those who have harmed us and we ask for forgiveness from those we have harmed. Each time, we realize a new nuance of our behaviors that lead to abandoning the people we love, while proclaiming that love. I use the word abandon because to harm someone, anyone and especially someone we love and are connected to means, for that moment, at the time of the harming action, we have abandoned the covenant, we have severed the connection, turned off the electric switch, in order to harm them. We stopped living our connection and our “needs/desires” overtook what we know is the next right thing to do. We pray for the person who harmed us as our acting Godly; showing the Divine Pathos of mercy, at a time we would rather show anger and retribution. We call out to God to forgive and turn the people’s hearts, minds and souls to repentance and return.
In my life, I have advocated for many with God, with families and with the people themselves. This is what Spiritual Leadership is, in my opinion. I hear the call of Jeremiah to God in today’s verses and look at the times I emulated him and the times I haven’t. I have experienced the abandonment of people as Jeremiah has and I am blessed because God has never abandoned me. While I have abandoned God’s principles for moments in my recovery, we have kept our covenant strong, renewing it each day and I know the love, compassion, justice, kindness and caring that God has for me and all people. I know that all other abandonments heal because of the healing of God’s mercy. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark