This year marks 15 years since 9/11. The attack was of such magnitude to the heart of American consciousness has never been the same. In a similar scope, the attack on Pearl Harbor also led to a shift that led into the Cold War. These traumas transformed our community.
We now live in an era dominated by fear and uncertainty. An era which is reactionary. Prior to 9/11, we took so much for granted - our safety, our wealth, and our power in the global sphere. We did not know the difference between Sunni or Shiite or Islamist strands of the Islamic faith, but we know now. That day unleashed an evil rarely seen. An evil which creates a feeling of great uncertainty. Is it safe to walk down the beach in France? Can I go dancing at a nightclub in Orlando? Or visit New York, New Jersey or a mall in Minnesota and be safe?
This time, this period of fear and uncertainty, recalls a similar time in our Jewish history. In the opening chapter of the book of Jeremiah, we learn that in his lifetime 2500 years ago there were five different kings – indicating the amount of uncertainty. There was captivity of Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem. There was deportation and displacement. There was great questioning of the future of the Jewish community And, within that community, a questioning of the presence of God.
Jeremiah had an impossible task as a leader. He had to help his community comprehend the loss of independent rule, the royal family, the Temple, and lastly, what appeared to be a broken covenant with God.
The events during the time of Jeremiah and the events today can be paralleled into TWO distinct categories. Sociological and theological.
I want to simply draw the parallel between the feelings of uncertainty experienced by people in the time of Jeremiah to the feelings of uncertainty that we have today. Our world, is changing at an astounding rate. The effects of climate change are real, the political dominance and the economic monopoly that America had in the world is changing and the moral certitudes of the past are no longer quite so certain. This uncertainty has led to a seemingly inability to listen to one another long enough to agree on the problem. And if we cannot come together to define the problems we face, then we cannot come together to solve them either.
Let me take you back to Jeremiah's time to really understand what the destruction of the Temple meant. The Temple was a place where God was worshiped, where sacrifices were offered, where taxes were collected – it was the heart of the community. The people of this community knew for certain that whatever happened in their community was a mirrored up in heaven. If neighboring nations were engaged in a battle then God was engaged with that other people’s deity in battle in heaven. If a group of people lost the battle it meant that their deity died.
There had been a covenant between God and the Israelites. In exchange for His blessing and continued presence, His people promised to obey His commandments. God promised to be present for His people This covenant began during the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was reestablished with Moses and again with David. But by the time of Jeremiah there was a belief that God’s temple, by its very presence in Jerusalem, would protect the city and its inhabitants. Because the people of Jerusalem felt protected, they lost their way. They were not focused on obedience to God's commandments. They had forgotten to live a life based on the story of the Exodus narrative, based on our deliverance from slavery. Instead they focused on increasing their own wealth (Jeremiah 5:26-28 and 2:8). They took things for granted and perhaps even felt a sense of entitlement.
The religious leadership had forgotten to put God at the center of their activities. They wanted to make everyone happy and not hold up the mirror of truth.
It can be argued that we too have lost our way in our relationship with God. There is an increasing secularization of our society. There is a decrease in affiliation with religious organizations
We must ask the challenging questions:
Are we in danger of losing our relationship with God?
What parts of us need to be revealed so that we are not living in denial of the current situation?
Have we allowed ourselves to be pulled away from God by the temptations of shiny new objects and the worshiping of the cult of celebrity and the cult of anti-intellectualism in America?
Jeremiah attempted to answer these questions in an exceedingly radical way. Jeremiah knew what the problem was – the lack of attention placed on living a life with God at the center. He understood too, that because of that deficiency the people were suffering. He needed to break through their denial of why they were having a problem, help them the accept the problem they were facing and lastly help them grieve over what was lost. He wanted the Judeans to break through the denial of keeping everything as the status quo and accept that their decisions to do so had negative consequences for them. It is impossible for an individual who is not ready to engage in cheshbon nefesh, an accounting of their souls to identify a problem and truly repent. The Israelites were not prepared to even look at themselves to explore a problem, Jeremiah had problems with other prophets of his time who told the people everything would be ok. But because of the people’s rejection of self-reflection the nation was going to lose and did lose everything. The covenant with God was frozen and numb there was no possibility for newness because the people were numb from the pain. Only once the criticism that Jeremiah offered was embraced and understood, faced and accepted, was liberation from the pain of suffering the loss of their nation a possibility. By grieving and letting go of what was, Jeremiah presented an opportunity to face what could be. We know today after much psychological study of grief that mourning is a process that we go through in order to be able to let go of what was lost. Jeremiah attempted to offer the people a path to mourn.
When they were ready to listen he then offered his people were two prophecies that helped shape their future and free them from the negativity of the past. Those two prophecies can also offer us a path forward in our feeling uncertain about the future. They can provide a path for us to walk down and to live a more balanced, whole and holy life.
Jeremiah told the Jews living in exile in Babylonia to live life. They were to build houses, plant gardens, make memories, and have children and grandchildren (Jeremiah 29:4-6). More astounding than that, he instituted a practice of praying for the government.
The prayer that I lead you in each Shabbat and holiday service is a prayer for the welfare of this country; a practice that began with Jeremiah. He advocated that while we live outside of Israel we are to create a thriving community. The community of Jews that was created in Babylonia, and existed there for thousands of years, is like our community here in Huntsville. We have children here, we build houses here, we create a life here, and we pray for peace here.
We have a relevant and vital community here and it is mandated by Jeremiah to support the Jews worldwide by supporting our congregation. We are strong Jews here. By participating in the Jewish community we can become even stronger and more cohesive as a community. This is a community which I have seen be a blessing to its members and one which I am honored to by the rabbi for. Thank you for giving me that honor. May I always live up to the opportunity given to me. May you also be able to be strong members here, supporting the congregation and helping it continue to thrive just as it has since the 1870s.
We are good citizens in Huntsville because we are good Jews. The hope Jeremiah gave the Israelites was to take the tools and the resources that they had available and keep on living. Winston Churchill famously said KBO – Keep Buggering On. It is our obligation in the face of uncertainty and in the face of limited resources to Jewishly live life to the fullest.
To live a life full of Judaism and to bring that gift to our children by making a strong temple.
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The second prophecy that Jeremiah offered was that we must be partners with God.
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The God of Jeremiah was strong enough to heal the world. But God did not do it alone. God relied upon Jeremiah’s imagination to challenge the people and ask: how do you imagine God? Do you see God inside of your family/friends/self or small miracles which occur around you daily?
Toward the end of Jeremiah’s life he gave a last and hopeful prophecy. He was told to buy a plot of land and he was told by God that God does not close the door without opening a window. “I will surely gather them from all the countries, where I have driven them in My furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and cause them to live in safety. They will be My people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one path, that they may always revere Me, that all may go well with them and their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing them good, and I will inspire them to fear Me, never turning away from Me. I will rejoice in doing good for them and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. (32:37-41).
The statement that we will fear the Lord, is not about fear, but rather AWE. We will have a relationship with God based on love and that we will humble ourselves before God’s presence. God’s will acts regardless of our desires. God will shower us with love and not stop doing good for us. God is so great, that God’s vision and power is beyond anything we could construct.
What Jeremiah was saying to the leaders in exile was that they needed to examine their own lives and recognize a new manna from which to eat to feed their souls. For Jeremiah there had to be a relinquishing of what was so that the leaders could receive the potential of what could be. We will dream of possibilities and together we will make them a reality. We will release God, as Jeremiah attempted, from our conceptions and expectations so that we can see God for what God is. God offers us comfort and promises God’s presence to energize us to have fresh faith. The God of Jeremiah was powerful, liberated and free.
This is the power and potential of God. Does your vision of God allow you to tackle the tough issues in your life?
Are you willing to recognize God as powerful enough to take bold stands in the face of tyranny as Dietrich Bonhoeffer did when facing the Nazis?
Are you open to seeing God as capable to changing the hearts and minds of America as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr did when he worked for racial justice in this country?
Do you take every opportunity to speak out against the plagues of society in the public square or simply wander back and forth between home and work?
Are you willing and able to be a partner with God. Or do you simply lie in your own anguish clinging to the pain of missed opportunities for improvement. There is mourning to be done as a community, there is grief work that needs to occur, because the Temple may not be everything we would wish it to be. But together we can dream and together we can create a community based on love here in Huntsville. We need to apply those lessons then to society. Just imagine how united we could make society.
It is the role of our congregation to apply the prophetic literature in imaginative way, to practice acts of gimilut hassadim (acts of loving kindness) in a concrete world to improve our existence and engage in Tikkun Olam (repair of the world).
While this may be a period of uncertainty, with uncertainty comes an opportunity to develop something fresh and new, something transformative.
May this year give us the ability to be open to naming our problems, the strength to mourn opportunities lost, the possibility of using our imaginations for the good and the courage to act on them.
Shanah Tova!
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