Daily Prophets
Day 152
“Every one of the princes of Israel used his strength to shed blood. Fathers and mothers have been humiliated within you; strangers have been cheated in your midst orphans and widows have been wronged within you. You have despised My holy things and profaned My sabbaths. And the people of the land have done fraud and robbery; they have wronged the poor and the needy, have defrauded the stranger. And I sought a man among them…to stand in the breach…that I might not destroy it; but I found none.”(Ezekiel 22:6-8,29-30).
Ezekiel is so angry here again. He is using all the metaphors that other prophets used, yet in reading his words, I find his personal anger overflowing. Of course, why should we all not be angry for and with God. The princes of Israel were perpetrators in evil, in killing physically, emotionally and spiritually of the very people they were responsible for. The kingship in Israel was not a position of privilege, it was a position of responsibility, of caring for the people, protecting them against enemies, “foreign and domestic”. Yet, the prophet is railing, in God’s name, against these charlatans, these perpetrators of evil-using the vulnerability of the people against them.
Look who the people that God and the prophet are looking to protect; strangers, widows, poor, needy, parents; all vulnerable people who need and have put their faith and dreams in these very princes and their king. Yet, as the prophet relates, time and time again, they disappoint us through their selfish and wanton acts: their mendacity, their humiliating someone because they can, fraud, robbery, despising of God and God’s ways, all the while purporting to be God’s servant.
This type of behavior has continued throughout the millennia, we are still victims and perpetrators of these behaviors today. While I would like to find a hero, I also see, like Ezekiel relates, seeking someone “to stand in the breach” is becoming more and more difficult. What these words of Ezekiel point out is the difficulty people have to stand up for what is right and against the bully in power. We see this on both ends of the political, religious, moral, and educational continuums. People at the extremes, ‘right and left’/progressive and conservative, are no longer standing up for what God sees as right, only what they have decreed is right-while both can make very compelling religious cases for their positions and I have heard them all-no one on these ends are looking to learn from and with each other. They are not caring about the ways they cheat another of their voice from fear of humiliation and retribution.
Yet, we do not have to continue to be victimized by these current day “princes and princess’”. We do have the power to stand up and say no-it is not just the rich and famous who have power in America, it is not just the Rabbis of 2000 years ago who have power in Judaism, it is us, the people. As Ezekiel hints to above, we are the people being called upon to stand it the breach, to hold and rebuild the walls that these charlatans, speaking in God’s name yet actually despising God and worshiping idols, are breaking down. We are the people being called upon to heal the wounds of the needy, care for the poor, restore the dignity to the stranger, care for the widows and the orphans, and, of course, respect our fathers and mothers. We, all of us, have been called by Ezekiel, by God and by the current times to be this person(s) and, God knows it will take all of us to restore the sovereignty of God, to return to God’s ways, and to love each other.
In recovery, we are dedicated to standing in the breach! “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” This is the gift of being in recovery, we are on call 24/7 to answer God’s call “to stand in the breach” without concern or regard to race, color, creed, religion, etc. We know that standing in the breach is the gift of recovery and, while we will be scorned for it by many, it is the surest and best way for us to repay God for all the kindness’ God shows us daily. In recovery, we no longer defy God’s call for righteousness, kindness, truth, love and justice. We are able to and live to respond to the call of the widow, the stranger, the parent, the orphan, the poor and the needy with a loud and resounding Hineni, Here I am. We stand for God, for the people who still suffer and for what is right, holy and honoring of and to God.
I have also done many of the wrong actions listed above. I did not steal or defraud, I did not always stand for the voiceless and, at times, drown out the voices of reason in front of me. I did it when I was ‘in power’ and when I had no power. Every time I did not see the person in front of me, only what I wanted, I was/am guilty of these crimes above. I also know that I have carried God’s message to many both in word and deed. I realize that we want to judge people by their worst action and I also know that God doesn’t do that. I am aware of the perfection standard that we have for ourselves and another(s) and I know that God put T’Shuvah into the world so we could realize the folly of ‘perfection’. I am sorry for those times when I did not defer to wiser people around me. I am grateful for the gift of standing in the breach and being a partner with Harriet Rossetto, and so many partners, in brining the light of God that has led so many to freedom and joy. Stay safe and God Bless, Rabbi Mark