Jewish Musings Thursday, June 6

[hollygail]

What’s on your mind — how to make kugel? This week’s Torah reading? Life goals? Prayer? We are all engaged in weight loss/weight maintenance journeys and we are all Jewish or at least interested in Judaism. We like to eat, we like to discuss. It is our goal here to provide each other support on our journeys, to share experiences, to call on our rich cultural heritage and texts, and to help each other grow spiritually.

Some of us take weekly turns starting the thread:

Frieda (hopefully)?
Holly
Lee
Louise
Lynne
Peachy

And for those of you that stop by to read this thread without posting — you are welcome to, but you are also welcome to chime in. Don’t be shy!

[hollygail]

Let's talk a little about the haftarah for this week's Torah portion. It's from the prophet Hosea, one of the so-called twelve "minor" prophets. Are they "minor" in the sense of "less" important? No. We just have less of their teachings than we have of the first group of prophets. Sometimes these twelve are referred to as "The Twelve" because all 12 are written on one scroll (each of the previous prophets is each written on his own scroll). Moreover, it seems that an editor (perhaps in the fourth century BCE) combined these 12 individual prophets together to make them into one book. The editor took words and ideas from some of the 12 plus from other sources and added them to the other of the 12 books in order to make them fit together more cohesively. As a group, these prophets cover about 30 years, from the early 8th century BCE until approximately the middle of the 5th century BCE. They predicted and witnessed the fall of Israel and Judah, the Babylonian exile, the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, the revival of the nation, and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple.

Hosea lived in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the first half of the 8th century BCE, a time when Israel was feeling insecure. Internal leadership was rocky as the throne changed hands at least six times in fewer than 20 years, often when the reigning king was assassinated. Insecurity also stemmed from external factors Two superpowers, Assyria in the north and Egypt in the south, had been quiet, but now both were poised to expand their territories and control. Israel sat anxiously in between. Hosea seems to believe that Israel's troubles are punishment from God who is angered by Israel's practice of idolatry. The prophet pleads with his people to abandon idolatry and return to Adonai before it's too late.

Here's a translation of this week's haftarah that I trust: www.sefaria.org/Hosea.2?lang=bi

The haftarah, taken from the 2nd chapter of Hosea (verses 1 through 22), begins with a vision of Israel's glorious future. Hosea sees that the people in both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah will be as numerous as the sands in the sea, as they live peacefully and obediently under the guidance of God. Yet the tone quickly turns sour. As the text continues, Hosea uses a metaphor in which Israel is represented as God's unfaithful wife. Expressing God utter disgust with the wayward wife, Hosea preaches that Israel will be severely punished for chasing after idols and rejecting her true husband. And then the haftarah jarringly turns again to a more hopeful outlook in verse 16 as Hosea explains how God will tenderly lead Israel out of the wilderness of sin. On that day, Israel will represent of her infidelities and enjoy a loving and mutually respectful marriage with God, instead of punishment and disgrace. Israel will be blessed with peace and prosperity, righteousness and justice, goodness and mercy, and devotion to Adonai.

According to Rashi, the phrase "rebuke your mother" (in verse 4) means that the Israelites should protest the action of their nation. Rashi suggests that a nation, like a parent, produces future generations of people. In my generation (in the 1960s), we protested the war in Vietnam and racial prejudice at home (you've all heard about my own activities during that era). Do you think it is our obligation to protest when we think our nation is doing the wrong thing? What do you think are some issues Americans should be concerned about today? What is your attitude toward those, such as Quakers and Mennonites, who protested the bombing of Afghanistan based on their pacifistic religious beliefs? And where would you stand in a debate between "It is unpatriotic to protest against your nation when you believe it is acting wrongly"? Which side of the debate do you think Hosea might have taken?

Any other thoughts about Hosea, "The Twelve," or this week's haftarah?

[peachymom1]

I do think we should protest when we see wrongdoing, though I admit I don't always have the courage to do so. I don't think we should be blindly loyal; we need to constantly be aware of our own moral compass and behave with kindness and decency, even when the rest of the world isn't. That takes courage too.

I do take heart in the final verses of this week's haftarah, which we say while we're wrapping tefillin (a particularly beautiful custom, IMO). God is speaking to us: "And I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness and with justice and with loving-kindness and with mercy. And I will betroth you to Me with faith, and you shall know God" (Hosea 2:21-22)

I'm having a frustrating day at work today and will be glad when it's 4 p.m. and I can LOAF.

[louise]

Very long day and I'm nt sure I have the bandwidth. No,k it is not unpatriotic to protest against your nation when you believe it is acting wrongly but such thought have been so turned on their head these days. C'mon now, saying Biden/Democrats are weaponizing the DOJ? Seriously?!