Sermons & Stories

Shabbat Shalom!

Prophets serve many roles in Judaism. One is to warn us when bad things are about to happen. And it turns out that we’re not really great at listening to those warnings. Interpreting this week’s Torah portion, our rabbis envision that Noah took one hundred and twenty years to build the ark in order to give humanity a very long time to change their ways. Still the flood came.

Before Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, Abraham asks God to find just ten good people. But when every single person in Sodom, young and old, seek to harm two angels – we are led to believe that any warning would not have been heeded.

We know how Pharaoh doesn’t listen to Moses. The prophet Micah’s words about the destruction of the Northern Kingdom go unheeded. Jeremiah constantly warns the priests, prophets, and the king of Judea that they are leading the people toward disaster. In appreciation, Jeremiah is flogged, beaten, and imprisoned, his words burned.

We do have one success story and he really didn’t want to do it. Only Jonah, after he tried to flee from God’s service and survived in a big fish for three days, accomplished his task. Reluctantly, he goes to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria – the ones who conquered the Northern Kingdom -  and tells them that the city will be overthrown. The non-Jewish king and community actually pay attention to the Jewish prophet. They express real remorse and change their ways. And the prophet who was sent gets angry with God for being merciful. A Jewish kingdom is destroyed, but our enemy is saved… In that moment Jonah wanted judgment, not compassion. This is the root of his anger.

When we look at our prophets collectively, we could say that they don’t have a great track record. Jonah was successful when he didn’t want to be. Moses is Moses – but God intervened in a more active way, hardening Pharaoh’s heart, which makes it a bit of an outlier. The rest - Noah, Abraham, Micah and Jeremiah were all unable to move the needle enough to avoid destruction.

We could talk about how there are plenty of times when no matter how right, how just, or how important the message, some people just don’t listen. We can see the train wreck coming. We can see the ways that it could be avoided. And despite our best efforts – all of our words and actions and warnings – there’s a refusal to see, an unwillingness to recognize, an inability to understand.  The train wreck happens – within families and schools and work and various communities - and there are real consequences.

These prophets inadvertently teach us a number of lessons. Talking at someone will rarely win them to your cause, as in the case of Micah or Jeremiah. Changing someone’s mind is sometimes easier coming from an outsider, like Jonah. Staying silent and hoping good things will happen doesn’t usually work – that’s from Noah, who’s first words recorded by the Torah come after the Flood. And Abraham, who’s back door negotiation with the ultimate power broker almost succeeded, reminds us that the direct approach isn’t always the best approach.

And finally – while the leaders of their time were not able to hear their teachings, we can. When we sit down and study their words, we can open our hearts and minds and souls to learn from those who remain powerful voice for our people. We can learn from Micah (6:8):

God has told you what is good, And what Adonai requires of you: Only to do justice And to love goodness, And to walk modestly with your God

We can learn from Jeremiah (22:3)

Thus said Adonai: Do what is just and right; rescue from the defrauder one who is robbed; do not wrong the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow; commit no lawless act…

In other words – our prophets still have something to offer. We just have to listen in order to learn.

Shabbat Shalom!