Mark Borovitz <rabbimark@rabbimark.com>
Daily Prophets
Day 128
“Thus said God: See waters are raging from the north, they shall become a raging torrent, they shall flood the land and it’s creatures, the towns and their inhabitants…Fathers shall not look to their children out of the weakness of their own hands. Because of the day that is coming for ravaging all the Philistines”.(Jeremiah 47:2,3,4).
As with Isaiah, Jeremiah is not just a prophet for the Jews, he is a prophet for all the people of the land around Judea. His prophecy is meant, I believe, to let everyone know that God is deeply involved in the matters of humanity. God Cares! Unlike the gods of mythology-God cares about, is deeply involved with and, in some ways dependent upon our being human. When there are nations that continue to break the covenant with God, the “waters raging from the north” are waters that purify and cleanse the self-serving, false ego/pride, and uncaring features of the nations that the water rages in.
When we go to war as a nation, as individuals, collateral damage occurs. When this happens, people are sad or apologize for these events, yet everyone accepts it as part of war. Jeremiah is reminding us that we cannot control the destruction that happens. War is like a flood, going any way and anywhere it wants, destroying whatever is in its way and never looking back.
When this “torrent” is unleashed, the prophet tells us that fathers will not be able to look at their children because of their inability to help save them. Rather than see their children “drown” in the floods of war, fathers will look away out of shame and helplessness. What an excruciatingly sad experience this must be for both father and children. Kids find that they cannot trust their parents to care for them and save them in the most perilous of times and parents have to confront their powerlessness and their culpability in causing these floods to come. Jeremiah is giving us all hope that evil ends, power mongers lose power, idolatry and mythology give way to God and truth, at least for a moment until the next group tries to prove that it is stronger, more lasting and more powerful than God and spirit.
We continually seek to grow in our being human. This entails us being more Godly, living the Divine Image we are created in more each day. It entails, as Rabbi Heschel teaches:” synthesizing morality as a supreme, impartial demand and as the object of personal preoccupation and ultimate concern, consists of human ingredients and superhuman Gestalt… And if these are characteristics of human nature, then man is endowed with attributes of the divine.”(The Prophets pg.271). We cannot call ourselves human beings without our morality, our pathos, our care and concern for another(s), and our demand for and participation in justice. This is what Rabbi Heschel is saying to me. Yet, we live in a world where many of the people who claim to be spiritual leaders and God’s representatives/servants, preach hatred, separation, worship of power and lies, follow the liar to our own ruin and betray God’s will and the spirit of our founding fathers. We get to choose-are we going to be the Philistines, the Moabites, the Egyptians, the ruling class of Judea or are we going to be the remnant that repents, turns back to God and lives in a manner that is in concert with our being human?
In recovery, for many of us, it took this “raging torrent” to stop us on our path of destruction. We were truly unable to stop ourselves, even when we saw where we were heading and the many lives we were harming. We needed an intervention by God in order to hear the words, love and care of another(s) that we needed to be in recovery. In recovery, we are constantly on the lookout for the signs that we may be turning back to the path that caused the “raging torrent”. Being human is the only path for us to regain the trust and love of self, God and another(s). It is the path we choose to follow each and every day-growing one grain of sand more and being more human each and every day. When we are attacked by the Philistines in our midst, we do not give in nor give up to their treachery and their mendacity. In recovery, we “practice these principles in all our affairs” we do not compartmentalize our living, we live as a whole and complete human being.
I know the “raging torrent” of both the consequences and cause of the Philistine behavior. I have been this torrent in my addiction and in my criminality. I know the trust I broke, the covenant that I tore up with my daughter, my family, friends, etc. Most of it has been repaired and healed, the clean-up is always difficult, messy and incomplete, unfortunately. My recovery is based on being human, imperfect and messy and loud and lovingly human. Along my journey of recovery, I have found many fellow travelers, I have convinced many people to join this journey and I have run into some Philistines. When the Philistines act like the false prophets; sounding loving and caring, all the while plotting their takeover and their power grab; the pain is excruciating and the realization of my own self-deception tears at my soul. This is the saddest experience, I have looked at people I helped and could not stop the torrent mendacity that came their way. I am sad and apologetic at my inability to see the Philistines in front of me. I know that they will also feel the “raging torrent” and I am sad for them as well that they are so stuck in their own self-deception. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark