Jeremiah Chapter 23; I did not send those Prophets, but they rushed in.

God is assigning blame to those who have led his flock astray.  There is certainly enough blame to go around equally to the priests, kings and false prophets, but a ray of hope is offered to the remnant who can weather the exile. They shall be brought back to dwell in their own land.

 

Ellen: During this time of Passover isn’t all life sacred? Animals should be included.

Joel: I’ve met Chasidic Vegans.

Ellen: When God directs us to treat every flock well I believe he is saying to be a good steward. Raise your animals well and kill them compassionately.

Rabbi: At its best, Kashrut means that we treat animals compassionately.

Ellen: The land is included too. We are directed to be good shepherds of the planet. I have a hard time with the hypocrisy during Passover when people are arguing whether Quinoa is acceptable but then these same individuals are serving factory farmed meat at their Seder.

Corey: I think if you care for an animal knowing that you will eventually slaughter it then it is more meaningful to sacrifice it or slaughter it for food. There is something more honest about that because it means more to the person.

Ellen: I agree! If you choose to eat meat, then treat your animals well so they have a decent life. It’s a sense of heartfelt connection that is missing. Abraham could have slaughtered his son but he chose not to and refused.

Julie: No Ellen, God or the angel stopped Abraham’s hand. Abraham passed the test. It seems that he would have killed his son for God.

Corey: The lamb that magically appears is not connected to Abraham but it is used to take Isaac’s place.

Bill: If Abraham killed his miracle son how would the blood line continue?

Ellen: God doesn’t want human sacrifice but animals seem to be exempt from this requirement.

Bill: Referring to 23:14 “But what I see in the prophets of Jerusalem/Is something horrifying:…”

 Is Jeremiah saying that he is the only righteous man left?

Rabbi: Jeremiah has been rejected by his people. We see his humanity.

Joel: When Jeremiah or God says “the prophets of Jerusalem” does he mean the non-Jewish seers?

Rabbi: This can be an example of some North and South bias. The North is seen by the Jerusalem Scribes as the unseemly evil doers, but the Prophets say all are guilty – it’s a matter of degrees.

Bill: Referring to 23:13 “In the prophets of Samaria/ I saw a repulsive thing:…”

Were the prophets of Samaria pretending to be true prophets?

Joel: As far as I know there are Hebrews in Northern Samaria and then there are Samarians who are not. These are a Quasi-Jewish group, like the Good Samaritan of the New Testament or the Samarians in modern Israel today. The Samarians were hated as not real Jews. At any rate, there seems to be a comparison of the North and South’s sins. It’s a rivalry of sorts.

Rabbi: The pagan priests were practicing human sacrifice and probably Judean sympathizers were doing so as well.

Ellen: In the Garden of Eden, the world was so beautiful and we still haven’t improved upon it. This is very depressing! We see what it can mean, to be God but humans seem to have given up.

Bill: For this crowd there is no redemption.  Crap is going to happen!

Joel: We can’t be good enough to please God. In every age the issue seems to come up. The logic is that if every Jew followed the law and every person the more general Noahite Laws, then this wouldn’t happen, but it does every time. I can see the thought process that led to Jesus as the Savior/Messiah in Christianity. Humans want redemption.  The Prophets go from setting the bar for good behavior through the word of God, to Apostles writing about one person standing for all our sins, for original sin. In Judaism we have never accepted this logic. Our sins are our own. There is no original sin.  It’s our choice -the individual can choose to be good and he/she may still survive the Exile and get back to the land, but there are certainly no individual promises made. What is really created is a collective promise of redemption.

Rabbi: We have an interim promise from God. The remnant will not be all good or all bad. This is a communal punishment. This is the struggle for humanity.

Ellen: We are no closer to becoming actualized to our highest potential.

Joel: Last week you were so hopeful and positive about human nature Ellen – what happened?

Rabbi: We have developed. We don’t slaughter our children to Baal.

Julie: we just call it something else – we send our children off to war.

 

I wonder if the parents of the children who were sacrificed to Baal felt that they were insuring the community’s well-being. In the modern world, some parents whose children serve in the Military speak in parallel voices. They understand that their children are going to war with the possibility of their not returning in order to preserve the morals and values of our country. I do not wish to demean their efforts or sacrifice but why does this sound so similar? When making these decisions, have we actually exhausted all other possible options which would lead us to such a limited framework of thought and action? Why do we cop to a “sacrificial” position so quickly?  In reading the Jeremiah text I am always struck by how few things have actually changed and how frankly, human behavior does not seem very progressive. We certainly make technological advances but we are in this perennial moral dance where the steps are three forward then back two. We are instructed to take a higher moral position, but in doing so, we run the risk of putting ourselves in harms way because humanity’s efforts are not in synch . There is always the ideal and the reality and how we function within this space. As Jews and as individuals of the Human Race, this seems to be the challenge. Luckily we are provided with a guide book to assist us around those pointed sharp turns.