Chapter14
The people are in mourning because there is no
rain. There is an outcry; the men cover their heads. They need help, but their
behavior continues to not change.
Jonathan:
referring to 14:3. This is concerning the droughts in the text (Judah). They
are shamed and humiliated…
Why are they
shamed?
Ceil: This
could just be a translation issue.
Rabbi: No,
there is shame and there is punishment.
Joel: This
is communal shame.
Ceil: Well,
I know that in Appalachia the word ashamed is used for shy.
Julie: Every
time the weather takes a turn for the worst the people feel guilty and blame
God?
Rabbi:… And
conversely all good things are attributed to God.
Joel: God
makes the weather. That’s all they know.
Rabbi: Doesn’t
this feel very different than Isaiah? Isaiah didn’t include himself in the
group. Jeremiah does. For example, “our inequities”, “our rebellion” He’s preaching from the
inside.
Joel: He’s a
bit reproachful of God.
Rabbi:
Jeremiah is more in the middle of things than Isaiah was. He pleads for the
people, but he also agrees with God that they have transgressed.
Jerry: How
do the people know who is a false Prophet and who is a true one?
Joel: When
in doubt go with the Pessimist. That’s Jewish philosophy. Go with the “glass half empty” guy!
Bill: So God’s
been saying for a few chapters now that there is this terror coming from the
North.
Rabbi:
Referring to Jeremiah 14:20-22,We acknowledge our wickedness, Oh Lord- The
iniquity of our fathers…
This sounds
like a Yom Kippur message.
Tim: It does
feel like a High Holy Holiday.
Bill; So Jeremiah is now pleading on our behalf. God
seems to be becoming tougher and he has lost all patience.
Ceil: Well,
there has been centuries of spitting in God’s face.
Chapter 15:
Rabbi: Referring
to Chapter 15:1, “The Lord said to me, even if Moses and Samuel were to
intercede with Me, I would not be won over to that people…. “
It’s not
that Jeremiah is less than Moses or Samuel, but rather that the people are so
bad. Moses and Samuel came to God after the people had repented, but here there
is no sign of repentance.
Jerry: Is Jeremiah
challenging Isaiah?
Julie: Why
would he if they are saying the same thing?
Jerry: It
may be competition.
Rabbi:
Jeremiah is so miserable. I don’t think he is competing for this job.
Ceil: Jeremiah
may not have been born when First Isaiah would have been prophesying. It’s
possible that Jeremiah was influenced by his writing.
Corey: God
is so angry. You need to be family to get that angry.
Paul: It’s
very “woe is me!” Could it be different
authors?
Julie: Well,
We know that Baruch wrote for him and accompanied him as his scribe. He
functioned as Robin to his Batman.
Rabbi: The
next 800 pages are written during the Babylonian Captivity and return.
In Isaac
Bashevis Singer’s short story, “The Last Demon”, a Jewish demon arrives at a
sleepy European schtetl to weed out the pious from the impious by tempting
them. The little demon sets his sights
on the town’s new young Rabbi. Using flattery and pretending to be a voice from
God, he tries unsuccessfully to corrupt him. In the end, both the pious and the
impious are destroyed by the Nazis. The only one to remain is the little demon,
left to read the Yiddish books for eternity. He contemplates the fate of the
town’s lost Jews . He says“the generation is already guilty seven times over,
but Messiah does not come. Messiah did not come for the Jews, so the Jews went
to the Messiah. There is no further need for demons.” All that is left for the demon is the word:
“ Aleph, the abyss, what else waited?
Beth, the
blow, long since fated.
Gimel, God,
pretending He knew,
Daleth,
death, its shadow grew,
Hai, the
hangman, he stood prepared;
Vov, wisdom,
ignorance bard
Zayeen, the
zodiac, signs distinctly loomed;
Chet, the
child, prenatally doomed.
Tet, the
thinker, imprisoned lord;
Yud, the
judge, the verdict a fraud.
So end s an
entire generation with questions unanswered. We are all the descendants of the Remnant.
So Hebrews, keep reading Torah.
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