Jeremiah Chapters 34-35; In the seventh year...

               

                                                                   Chapter 34

God has directed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem as punishment for neglecting the freedom promise of the Sabbatical year.

Bob: Referring to 34:2-5 “…You will be captured and handed over to him (Nebuchadrezzar)…you will not die by the sword. You will die a peaceful death…”

 Why bother saving (Judah’s King) Zedekiah? He’s part of the old guard.

Bill: Referring to 34:5 “… so they will burn incense for you…”

Does the use of incense mean that he will die a good death? I thought he was a puppet King not worthy of a good death.

Rabbi: It just means he will be remembered.  Jeremiah is saying that the King will have a peaceful death.

Joel: I thought Zedekiah was taken back into captivity to Egypt and blinded. Doesn’t sound so peaceful to me.

Jerry: I think Joel is right.

Bill: So Jeremiah’s vision of a peaceful death for Zedekiah is incorrect prophecy.

Julie: Well, after he is blinded, he has a peaceful death. After reading the Prophets, I wish we had a Jewish slave’s perspective on all this as commentary. We don’t get the slave’s voice.

Ceil: Jeremiah 34:8. After the Sabbatical year a slave was supposed to be set free. This is not the same as our notion of American slavery where it was in effect held in perpetuity.

Jerry: This (the Biblical definition of Slavery) seems to be describing indentured servitude.

Rabbi: Slavery was indentured servitude based on a system of working off a debt.

Jane: Isn’t this similar to our military? The poor make up most of the military because their options are limited and they are offered a career or a free education in exchange for their service.

Rabbi: So we see in 34:10 that there is a new twist. The people let the slaves go but then take them back into bondage. After Exodus, (in the book of Leviticus) God established the Sabbatical year. They people clearly know they are to give up their slaves, this but do not keep their promise.

Joel: I’m still upset about Zedekiah. He is going to die very badly.

Rabbi: Let’s not over- read this. He is promised that he will not die by war.  Zedekiah attempts to get his people to comply with God’s demand in order to free the slaves, but they violate that covenant. He is exiled, but he does not get to die in his palace.

Julie: Referring to 34:18 “I will make the men who violated my covenant, who did not fulfill the terms of the covenant which they made with Me, (like) the calf they cut in two so as to pass between the halves.” Rabbi, what is the significance of this calf reference?

Rabbi: God is calling attention to the people’s public affirmation of the covenant as referenced by Abraham’s sacrifice from Genesis 15:7 but, then they disregard this affirmation by walking through the two halves of the cow, forgetting their promise. In the ancient Near East, if you transgress the boundaries of a sacrifice, agreement markers or the like, you violate that agreement. Remember Moses throwing the two tablets of the Law at the Children of Israel after the debacle of the Golden Calf. This is similar.

Editor’s Note –Genesis 15:  at God’s bidding, Abraham offers a three year old heifer, a three year old she-goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young bird as sacrifice. He cuts each animal, with the exception of the young bird, into two parts. God promises Abraham prosperity and peace in the Promised Land, the legacy of ancient Israel, but explains that the people must first endure four hundred years of oppression. As the sun sets, a flaming torch passes between the animal parts as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham.

Julie: There is lots of physical learning and physical symbols going on in these

stories. Very much like performance art.

Joel: How much text did the Prophets actually know? What did they have at their disposal? This quote would suggest the text of Genesis, but did he actually have it? His audience must have known this story. It’s like Abraham Lincoln saying “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Lincoln’s audience had to know the biblical text in order to understand Lincoln’s speech. In other words, for a joke to be funny there has to be an unspoken understanding amongst the audience or the joke wouldn’t make sense.

Rabbi: It’s impossible to really know for certain how much text he had, but I imagine Jeremiah would use references to earlier written text in order to teach the people. They must have been familiar with some of the references, otherwise why use them?

Bill: Maybe God was coaching them.

Rabbi: Well yeah, the prophets are teachers. We will see in Chapter 35 that now we are traveling back 15 years before Zedekiah to the time of king Yohakim. Referring to 35:3 “So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah…” This is not the prophet Jeremiah. This is another Jeremiah.

Bill: referring to 35:5-6 “ I set bowls full of wine and cups before the men  of the house of the Rechabites, and said unto them, “have some wine.” They replied, “We will not drink wine, for our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab, commanded us: “You shall never drink wine, either you or your children, nor shall you own such things; but shall live intents…”

Why can’t they drink wine?

Rabbi: The Rechabites are not Jews. Their descendants trace back to Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. They are an Arab tribe that is nomadic preferring to live in tents and in contrast to the Jews they are adhering to the customs and covenant of their beliefs.

Bill: There is a Midrash that Jethro was a convert to Judaism.

Julie: I’m not sure I understand why they are coming into Jerusalem.

Rabbi: The Babylonians are coming so they are seeking protection inside the city walls against the Babylonians.

Julie: The city will be sacked anyway.

Rabbi: Yes but the Rechabite peoples are promised that their line will continue not because they follow the word of God, but because they have adhered to the precepts of their own declamations. They made a covenant on their own terms and they have kept their word.  The Jews have not been able to do this. God recognizes this and rewards them with a continued lineage. They are allowed to survive and even prosper. What makes this fascinating is that it is in the books of the Prophets where the notion of God, the nations and their respective destinies have been expanded. In the Torah, the plan concerns Israel and its destiny among the nations. It is primarily centered on Israel alone. It is in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the rest where other nations are held accountable as well. It is not enough that God uses the other nations to punish Israel for its misdeeds. What is important is that now each nation has a destiny based on its own deeds, its own system of rewards and punishments as per its accomplishments and collective behavior. The nations will be brought to account. This is a global scheme, far reaching, fascinating and much more modern. It’s not all about us any longer.

The words of Jeremiah remind us that the Biblical reality forms a complex web of morality, behavior and destiny where we are all bound together, whether we like it or not.  Even today the fate of the Jewish People as a separate autonomous religious and or ethnic group in exile or for that matter in Israel is offset by the common good of all the nations. The question” Is it good for the Jew’s” is always framed by the bigger question, “Is it also good for humankind?”

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah Chapters 29 - 30 ; You Shall Be My People

 

Chapter 29

Jeremiah has sent a letter to the exiled community leaders in Babylon directing them to tell the Jewish rank and file to carry on with their lives. Special emphasis is placed on refraining from following the diviners and false prophets in their midst. The exiled are told to suck it up and endure for an unspecified amount of time, until God brings them back to Israel. For those who have managed to avoid exile, they too will be punished and the land purified of their presence via pestilence, famine and the sword. It would seem that they are the carriers of spiritual and physical contagion, which if left unchecked would infect the returning Israelites.

 Ellen: Jeremiah gives these false Prophets too much energy. Why even react to them?

Joel: Jeremiah is a very specific personality. He’s a bit of a neurotic nudge. I think he can’t help but being annoyed at anything that rankles his defended personality.

Rabbi: Jeremiah is being persecuted! Even paranoids have enemies. These people can actually cause Jeremiah harm, so this is not just about neurotic behavior.

Ceil: Well, Jeremiah tends to be pettish!

Joel: Yeah, he is easily annoyed.

Rabbi: referring to 29:24 Shemaiah sent letters to all the people in Jerusalem to build houses and dwell in Babylon. Shemaiah wants the priests to rebuke Jeremiah for directing the people to accept their fate/punishment. Shemaiah wants Jeremiah to be punished.

Joel: People don’t want to hear that they must endure exile. This is counter- intuitive. A fight or flight instinct dictates that you run or mount an offensive. Exile sounds like submission to the enemies of Israel.

Ceil: Jeremiah is telling them to assimilate but only up to a point. They must remember who they are.

Rabbi: There is a shift in tone now. We can begin to see that Jeremiah is an optimistic realist.

Bill: Jeremiah has come a long way – he’s like the Energizer Bunny. He’s ready for the next round.

                                         

                                                           Chapter 30

Jeremiah is directed by God to write down his words which are to be committed to scroll. God is making the promise to restore the people of Israel. This is like a promissory note whereby God is paying the people with hope so that they will invest in their future. It’s a lot like a business contract.

Bill: referring to 30:10-11. God is going to handle those who have mistreated Israel, even though it was God’s hand that used Babylon to carry out the punishment of exile in the first place.

Joel: Corrupt empires are deserving of this punishment.

Ellen: I’m not sure that I know any longer why this (these books) is important to read. I really don’t! I see people behaving in history and the Prophets are like any leader saying stuff in order to get the people to stay together. They have to say the right thing in order to keep people along a certain path, but I don’t see any spirituality in this. It’s just politics being used by religion. I liked the early books much better. I liked the story of the Garden of Eden. It seems a lot more relevant even though it’s older.

Julie: There is a lot of repetition in the Prophets – same old, same old done in various ways in order to reach different people.

Paul: The value of reading these books, (the Hebrew Bible) is that they function like a compass. There are obstacles along our path and we can decide to go around, over or under them. It’s a compass of experience which we must negotiate.

Rabbi: I like this metaphor but I believe that Jeremiah is addressing a collective experience. It is not about the individual. We as a nation are meant to survive.

Joel: Whether these books actually happened or not Judaism functions under the logic of history. It reveals itself through history. It creates a history with a divine purpose and even if you don’t believe in God, it has great ramifications regarding secular ideas about progress and moral development. You can’t divorce Judaism from history. If you do you are stuck with myth and that’s a whole other story.

Ellen: I want the Torah to have amendments like the Constitution.

Rabbi: They do. Any amendments can be found in the Talmud and commentaries. That’s the purpose of them.

Whether we like those amendments or not, it is another story and entirely up to us. As Reform Jews we are often stuck with amendments to ritual behavior of the Orthodox world, when we as a movement have a history of secularizing Judaism or stream-lining it. How can we make the Torah relevant, when we may not believe in history as God’s particular punishment or reward? How can we remain Jews when laws regarding Temple purity are striven to be maintained in our local synagogue and we may question the legitimacy of those very arguments or requirements?  Our ability to make the Prophets meaningful is their very genius. We are forced to confront our own identity as individuals and as Jews belonging to a community precisely because Jeremiah asked the hard questions in the face of dissolution and annihilation. It is those very questions which posit “What is a Jew? Who is a good moral God-fearing Jew? Who survives and at what price? It is these questions which may be answered through moral, ethical and/or observant ritual behavior. Both exist in Judaism and both are actively addressed. But, it is up to us to make the personal or communal assessment as to how to these issues play out in our daily lives. The fact that Jeremiah presents us with as many questions as answers is our legacy. It is a personal commitment to moral behavior writ large and played out on the global stage. It is this personal commitment which makes up the greater tribal identity, that of B’nai Israel.

Jeremiah Chapters 24-25; Figs so rotten that they could not be eaten.

                                       Chapter 24

Tim: Referring to 24:2 “One basket contained good figs, like first –ripened figs, and the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.”

Who sorted these figs?

Ceil: Referring to 24:8 “And like the bad figs… so will I treat King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials and the remnant of Jerusalem that is left in this land… I will make them a horror – an evil-to all the kingdoms of the earth.”

 You would think that the remnant would be considered the lucky ones – the ones who were able to survive and remain in the land. Why aren’t they rewarded?

Ellen: God needs anger management!

Rabbi: God has been trying to direct and teach man all along – from Eden up to this point.

Ellen: God hasn’t stepped in for a very long time – now he will starve them and create hell on earth.

Ceil: Well, the people have misbehaved.

Rabbi: There is no pure good or pure evil/bad person who survives. Jeremiah is offering hope to those who will make it back from exile. All the people at that time will be purified.

Joel: This is the eve of the Babylonian invasion. To surrender to exile is counter-intuitive but that is what Jeremiah is directing them to do.

Jerry: The remnant will stay with the corrupt puppet-king Zedekiah, so maybe that is why they need to be purged.

Joel: The Jews did well in Babylon after a while.

Ceil: There wasn’t necessarily a climate of hate towards the Jews there. There were many different cultures of conquered people living together.

Julie: Sounds like NYC.

Ellen: Why didn’t God destroy the other people – why his own people?

Joel: In history bad things happen so humans make up reasons – God is historical contingency. If you believe he is a personality he or she is functioning in multiple dimensions. If he or she is not, then history sets up challenges and Jews have to survive in a Darwinian sense. So it’s a test either way.

Ellen: That works as an explanation if man made God but it doesn’t work if God made man.

Rabbi: I don’t believe in a God who makes people do things.

Bill: It seems that God wants people to earn things – learn and grow through adversity.

Rabbi: Ellen wants to know why if God stepped in once why won’t he do it again.

Bill: As we age our perspective changes.

Ellen: I don’t think God is on a linear plane.

Rabbi: I think it is man who is changing and discovering aspects of God. God doesn’t change.

Corey: The people were slaves in Egypt a long time. Maybe they needed and devised a reason to finally leave.

Joel: This is the evolution theory of God.

              

                                     

 

                                       Chapter 25

Rabbi: At this point Jeremiah has been prophesizing for twenty four years. This is his last appeal to the people.

Bill: This is in third person.

Rabbi: Yes, Baruch the scribe’s voice may be here.

Bill: This is like the end of the movie.

Rabbi: Yeah, like Lord of the Rings with seven possible endings.

Joel: Frum Jews believe that Jews are a nation. Real Jews yearn to go back. If we don’t, we are in exile regardless of where we may live and thrive. I see myself as an American and a Jew. This is a fundamental difference between Orthodoxy and Reformed Judaism.

Rabbi: Orthodox Jews pray three times a day for the time they can return to Israel.

Joel: These are two poles pulling in opposite directions. It isn’t resolvable.

Rabbi: In 586BCE this is where the diaspora began.

Ellen: Why would prophets stop existing? They seem to just end.

Joel: It’s easier to refer to a book than a prophet who claims to speak for God.

Ellen: I’m sure this was true back then too!

Rabbi: We stopped writing the book, but we continue to write commentary on it.

Ellen: Why can’t there be Prophets who add amendments to the Tanach, like we do with the constitution?

Joel: We do – it’s called the Talmud.

Rabbi: I am part of a group of Reformed Rabbis who are asked questions and we try to write answers or responsa. Of course the only authority we have is the belief that others have placed in our answers.

Joel: But this seems to be following the same Orthodox lines or reasoning. Judaism evolved for practical reasons. Great Rabbis and by extension the community can vote on the book and come up with their own commentaries to a particular problem.

Ellen: This is hard material to read – he is a nasty God!

Bill: In the parsha we read today God killed Aaron’s two sons. This upset me but he did and I have to accept this. It is what it is and some things happen as they are supposed to happen.

Paul: There is something about fire and the cleansing of fire. There is a line of thinking that fire was the cleansing element in the Holocaust.

Julie: This line of thinking is a very slippery slope!

Jerry: Fire is seen as an aspect of God, for example, the Burning Bush, the lights on Sabbath etc.

Joel: In this week’s Parsha Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, both Cohanim are killed for offering “strange fire” at the alter in the sanctuary. Some Rabbis say they were drunk, while others say “strange fire” was the wrong kind of offering, an unwanted offering or an offering to another god.

Rabbi: You laid this out very well, Joel. There are two branches. One is that we have sinned and we must change our personal behavior and the other is we are creative and try to figure out what God wants.

 

 

What does God want? What is the value of contemplating all this in the face of injustice and historical tragedy? Is God the source of all punishment and reward? Are we forever looking over our shoulders wondering when judgment will come down, despite our best efforts to live a good life? Whether you believe that these historical events are motivated by divine providence or not, it’s clear that bad things happen and often these things are out of our control. There is the issue that the Jews in Jeremiah’s time were doing what they thought was right, but God thought otherwise. There were also Jews who knew they were wrong, but chose to continue on that path. The response in Jeremiah is that following the laws is no guarantee of being saved or even rewarded in this life. We then must ask, what about those Jews that tried their best in Judah, but were swept away or killed by the Babylonians as a mark of collective guilt? What makes sense to me, are the ethical and moral teachings which can be used even when confronting these questions. Things are going to happen anyway, despite our efforts. What is critical is our moral response to these events. These teachings can stand on their own whether God is passing down moral judgments or not.  This is what makes the difference in repairing our own lives and the world.  

 

                                                                                      

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.

Jeremiah Chapter 22; A vessel no one wants.

                                                                Chapter 22

 

God directs Jeremiah to pay a visit to King Jehoiachim/Eliakim to emphatically remind him to heed the covenant; refusal to do so, will result in the end of the Davidic line. It is unclear whether this is a foregone conclusion regardless of the king’s actions. Adherence to this divine mandate seems like an improbability as Jehoahaz has already aligned with the Egyptians. The Egyptians have placed Jehoahaz on the king’s throne after taking Jehoahaz/ Shallum, Josiah’s younger son, the rightful ruler, to Egypt in Chains.  

 

Ellen: Referring to 22:5 “But if you do not heed these commands, I swear by Myself – declares the LORD – that this place shall become a ruin.”

I think it means that if bad things happen it is because you bowed to other gods – idolatry is the actual reason why they will be punished.

Jane:  Many reasons have been cited for the punishment. If you look at 22:9 “Because they forsook the covenant with the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.”  They call this an executive summary in legal terms. In one sentence its all broken down very clearly.

Ceil: I think the message is to follow the covenant and do not follow other gods. It’s both.

Joel: The idea that we only pray to our god who is the tribal god of the Jews but also happens to be the universal god of all things. Then it is also linked to an idea of universal morality. So it’s primed on tribal specificity, but it is couched on this God actually being the only viable game concerning worship in town.

Rabbi: An individual who does good may not be protected because the community as a whole is held accountable. Jeremiah has addressed the last four kings of Israel.

Ellen: People often say “trust in the lord” or “it’s God’s will.” Is God in the wings and then steps in when things are really awful?

Rabbi: I think God is saying that it is in our hands.

Julie: God provided the laws/ a code to live by which is the divine presence. If people adhered to it they would not require God’s punishment.

Ellen: Well, this implies that it is not always God’s will directing events and outcomes.

Rabbi: Both the bad and the good is attributed to God. The Babylonians came in because of our misdeeds.

Joel: If you continue the moral logic of the Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, there is a line of Ultra- religious reactionary thinking that attributes the Shoah to the secularization of the German Jews. I have heard it. God came in and used the Nazis as punishment because Jews stopped being observant.

Rabbi: My idea about God and my own personal theology is more like George Burns in the movie “Oh God”. When asked what happened and why did God create the catastrophes of history, he says” What do you mean why did I allow this? I gave you this world to take care of. I gave you each other to take care of. Why did you do this?

Joel: You have to ask yourself then, if God controls and is the motivating force behind history and did not intervene, then is he morally culpable for the Shoah? It’s a complicated issue, but if he is in charge, then he is bound by what happens too.

Rabbi: As hard as it is, we can’t have free will and then expect God to step in to change history.

Ellen: In the scheme of eternity I believe we are on the path to morality. We will develop, but it’s not all about us.

Julie: Wow Ellen I didn’t realize you were such an optimist. I can’t say that I agree with you about human nature.

 

Although we think we have mentally evolved so much compared to the religious "primitives" of times past, in fact a Police Officer was convicted this week for scheming to kidnap and cannibalize his wife.  If our presumptions are correct and the Tribal God of the Jews is the universal God of morality and history, there continues to be thorny issues concerning the nature of tragedy and how the innocent continue to suffer. The Prophets articulate a moral compass for why historical tragedy occurs. It is up to us to apply it for its best possible outcome.  We learn about and practise our culture’s morality so that in times of crisis our default is set to the highest good. For some this may allow them to feel the divine’s presence and for others it may reinforce a sense of hope that can carry us through to our next mitzvah.

Jeremiah Chapters 19-21; According To Your Deeds.

 

 

                                                           Chapter 19       

Jeremiah is directed by God to buy a ceramic jug and go with elders and priests to the entrance of the Harsith Gate to proclaim the people's impending destruction. They have defiled God’s laws and have sacrificed their children to the fires of Baal.  Jeremiah is instructed to smash the ceramic jug to illustrate how the Lord will smash the people and the city.

 

Rabbi: Referring to 19:11 “So I will smash this people and this city, as one smashes a potter’s vessel, which can never be mended.”

I believe that to break a jar next to another is meant to signify a wish for their death.

Ellen: How do we translate this practice when used during the wedding ceremony?

Corey: Jewish tradition uses it as a way to keep away evil.

Rabbi: I believe it entered from the Greek Tradition into the Jewish tradition sometime in early exile.

Paul: The Greeks break glass or ceramic for celebratory purposes.

Ceil: Breaking an object is meant to represent something that cannot be mended.

 

   Chapter 20

Pashhur, the son of the Head Priest hears Jeremiah prophesizing the coming destruction and so has him flogged and imprisoned for one day. Jeremiah’s mission does not allow him to temper his speech and so he further prophesies on the coming fate of Israel with a special message for Pashhur himself.  Pashur will survive the coming siege, but will die in exile. Rashi comments that the Hebrew word pashur which  means a great or noble man is a play on the word pasha which means to be cut- off.

 

Rabbi: This is one of the best chapters on the plight of the Prophet.

Ceil: This doesn’t sound like a special curse on Pashhur but rather on the whole community.

Paul: Where is the scribe Baruch at this time?

Rabbi: referring  back to 19:14 “When Jeremiah returned from Topath…he stood in the court…”

There is a switch in voice. Maybe this is Baruch’s voice.

Paul: Maybe Baruch left him.

Joel: I think Baruch dies with him in Egypt.

 

Ellen: This all sounds very neurotic.

Joel: No, this is therapeutic Jeremiah. This is stereotypical Jewish complaining. He’s getting all his stuff out.

 Ellen: “To spend my days in shame!”

Ceil: He is not being honored for being God’s servant ; he is being punished. “God you are great but WHY, are you doing this to me?

Joel: This is not the Buddhist message. Jeremiah is over- attached and can’t let go.

Ceil: Yes, he is asking God,” Why are you picking on me?”

Rabbi: We do see the interior of Jeremiah.

Ellen: We saw it with Moses too.

Julie: This is the experience of being the moral minority voice against the majority. They have the power to crush him, but he has to speak in spite of everything and everyone.

Rabbi: Yes, and he can’t or won’t filter his speech.

Corey: Are there any happy prophets?

Rabbi: In the midst of trauma, the prophets offer hope for others, even if they are not happy themselves..

Paul: Do all the prophets hail the coming of the Messiah?

Rabbi: Not across the board but they are saying that ultimately there will be redemption.

Joel: The prophets are illustrating what it takes to address institutionalized evil. In the past kings with total power would kill a dissenting voice, but in Judaism even kings must answer to a higher judge.

Ellen: I’m thinking about the difference between animals and humans. First you have people who think like animals. Then you have a tribal mentality where people do just what their leaders tell them to do, even if it’s killing or ritualized slaughter.  The human who burns its young in Baal’s fire is contrasted against the human who has developed past this idea or need. It’s the evolution of the human brain.

                                                      Chapter 21

Rabbi points out that at this point in the narrative the destruction of Jerusalem is taking place.

The people are experiencing what Jeremiah has foretold.

 

Rabbi: referring to 21:2 “Please inquire of the LORD on our behalf, for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon is attacking us.”

Jeremiah now has the king’s attention. He is asking Jeremiah, “What will happen next?”

Joel: referring to 21:5 “And I myself will battle against you with an outstretched mighty arm…”

This is a quote from the Passover Haggadah, only now God’s wrath is being used against us. It’s the same language that God uses to lift us out of Egypt.

Ellen: referring to 21:6 “I will strike the inhabitants of this city…they shall die by a terrible pestilence.”

This is reminiscent of the plagues.

 

To fight is to incur an assured death; to acquiesce is to accept enslavement. These are not choices in so much as they are statements of fact.  There are no bargains to be had but only an unspecified amount of time to make payment on a debt  long overdue.

Jeremiah Chapter 18; They sacrifice to a delusion.

 

                                                                Chapter 18

 

My apologies to all that I must skip chapters sixteen and seventeen but my computer crashed and it was too difficult to juggle lap- top time with my son.

Chapter 18 commences with God directing Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house to be instructed. This pottery- making metaphor will be used as an abject lesson to illustrate the spiritual retooling of man with God cast as the master potter. Rabbi has pointed out that this will be a reoccurring thematic trope in many chapters to come. There are other references to pottery- making in the Tanakh found in: Genesis 2:7, 2:19, Job 10:8-9, and Isaiah 29:16, 45:9 and 64:8. Unlike ancient Israeli potters, contemporary potters have the option of purchasing pre-wedged slabs of clay in all manner of colors, firing capabilities and textures to suit one’s aesthetic sensibilities and needs. A profitable biblical potter’s business would have enabled the addition of an apprentice(s) to do the physical labor of collecting and preparing the clay for the master crafts- person/the “Yatsar”, the one who forms. Archeologists believe that there was a thriving pottery industry in ancient Jerusalem/Israel having found potter’s wheels (kick wheels), raw and prepared clays, kilns and potter’s tools. Many of these artifacts were unearthed in the Hinnom Valley outside of the city exiting from what Jeremiah calls the Potsherd Gate 19:2 ( our JPS translation referring to it as the Harsith Gate). As man creates vessels, so God formed man from the clay of the earth.

 

Jane: So, God is molding the people like a potter raising clay on the wheel.

 

Joel: I can’t figure Jeremiah out. He pleads for the people, then he is against them, then he is angry with God. And perhaps God is easier to figure out, but less sympathetic. He seems a trifle arbitrary, like the good and the bad will be re-sculpted all at the same time.

Bill: Do you think the potter can be making idols too? Do you think that’s what the metaphor is alluding to?

 

Joel: Well, once you form objects you are moving into that realm because you are making form. The form here is divine form made by the creator, not a human craftsman.

 

Ceil: Pottery is an essential vessel in the life of these people, but there is no indication that potters were in the same business as idol makers.

 

Jane: When throwing clay on the wheel, if your hands slip or are off- center, the clay responds and the vessel is off-center or thrown off entirely.

 

Rabbi: That is a situation that is either the fault of the potter or the material, but this feels more like… “I brought you into this world and I can take you out”. God seems to be saying that he has the power to determine what is right and what is wrong.

 

Jane: I don’t think this is a good metaphor. Clay is an inert material – it doesn’t have a will or an intention.

 

Ceil: There is a difference between God saying, if this creation, man is no good I will wipe him out and if I feel like it, for my own reasons , I will wipe him out.

Jane: God is all powerful so why doesn’t he eradicate evil? I understand the concept of free will but why not just dispense with the evil impulse altogether?

 

Joel: This is what I think. We are still developing – we are being sculpted to be a higher Jew. We are a work in progress. It’s like Clark Kent peeling off the suit.

 

Rabbi: This is very nuanced and complicated. If we are suffering we can feel that this is God’s will. We can also consider that we can be made stronger from hardship.

 

Bill: When clay is soft it is pliable and can be molded but, once it becomes dry, it is brittle and will crumble back to dust.

 

Julie: This is a great metaphor. I love it!

 

Joel: The writer/prophets really shake up the genres. They weave in and out of many forms such as poetry, prose, history, art metaphor etc.

Ceil: Yes, like a stream of consciousness.

 

Rabbi: I’m currently reading William Gibson essays and he discusses the challenge of switching from non-fiction to fiction.

 

Gerry: This was so long ago. There was a verticality of effort. People had to be experienced at doing many things. The potters had to dig their own the clay and

prepare it. They had to make their own tools. This was a long and involved process- not like today.

 

Bill: God seems angrier than usual.

 

Ceil: Maybe Jeremiah needs to be shaken up!

Bill: He is already shaken up. Reading him feels more direct than Isaiah – he is more concerned for his own safety and for good reason.

Jane: This is similar to Plato’s Cave. We don’t see who he is talking to. It’s like the shadows on the wall. This is a one way conversation.

 

Jerry:  We don’t know what the people thought.

 

Rabbi: We know what some of the people though – they want to silence/kill him. For example in verse 18, “They said, “Come let us devise a plot against Jeremiah…”

 

Jerry: It’s not a good sign when the people want to kill the artists.

 

Joel: Or, it is a very good sign.  The artist is saying something truthful which is shaking up the people. He’s doing his job.

 

Ceil: Referring to 18:19, “Listen to me, O LORD- And take note of what my enemies say!”

This is very self- serving.

 

Jane: He feels betrayed – he has pled the people’s case to God and now they turn on him.

 

Ceil: There is a bit of whining going on here.

 

Rabbi: This is a new low for Jeremiah. He has done all that has been asked of him and has pleaded on behalf of the people but now, his own townsmen are turning on him.

 I would like to point out that this is page 812. It marks the half- way point of the Tanakh. We should plan a celebration!

 

As an artist I feel that art making is one of the most human of endeavors. The artist empowers herself with the authority to determine what will remain in the work and what will be “wiped-out.”  One must know the tendencies and limits of a material’s capabilities in order to determine how it can best suit a process and a finished product. Every artist knows there is a profound relationship between one’s materials and oneself. This intimacy occurs over time from experience and mastery. It is gained not over the material by mere force, but rather by being in partnership with it. The metaphor is a good one. If there is to be a new or higher Israel, there is a synthetic process going on between the maker and the made. It is a potent formula in reshaping human consciousness and history.