Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Prophets
Sermon, February 9, 2007
Rabbi Bruce Kadden

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Micah, Jonah, Malachi, Nathan, Elijah, Moses, Miriam, Deborah.  These are the names of some of the men and women who were called N’vee’eem, prophets.  These are some of the individuals who were called by God to lead and guide the people.  These were individuals who spoke truth to power, who were singled out by God and who, often reluctantly, responded to the Divine invitation. 

Each was a human being, and yet in many ways they were larger than life.  There words and deeds have echoed throughout the generations, and remain among the most significant of Jewish teachings. 

“Lo yisa goy el goy cherev/Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall not learn war anymore.”

“Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says God.”

“Each of us shall sit under a vine and under a fig tree, and none shall be afraid.”

These are words we read, and sing, more than 2000 years after they were first uttered, attesting to their lasting power and meaning.  These are words that tell us who we should be and what God expects of us. 

Forty-five years ago Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote The Prophets, a monumental work based upon his Ph.D. dissertation.  It remains the most important English book about the prophets, helping us understand who they were and why they said what they did.  As I continue my series of sermons this month about Heschel, I examine this important work.

“The prophet,” according to Heschel, “was an individual who said No to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness, and syncretism…. His fundamental objective was to reconcile man and God.”

In saying “no” to society, the prophets were often unpopular.  Witnessing the evil and decay that would lead to the destruction of the First Temple, Jeremiah had the unenviable task of telling the people that their enemies would overwhelm Jerusalem.

“The sons of Israel and the sons of Judah…have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands, says the Lord.  This city has aroused My anger and wrath…” (Jeremiah 32:30-32)

No one likes to hear such a message; no one wants to believe that their actions merit such punishment.  Jeremiah, according to Heschel, “screamed, wept, moaned—and was left with a terror in his soul.”  He speaks of sitting alone (15:17), isolated, the only one who understands the wicked actions of the people and their tragic consequences.

The prophets, according to Heschel, were particularly attuned to human suffering.  They personally identified with the anguish and despair that the people faced.  “My grief is beyond healing; My heart is sick within me…. For the wound of my beloved people is my heart wounded.” 

Jeremiah had been arrested and thrown into jail for continuing to insist that resistance was futile and that the leaders should surrender.  Most people are happy when what they say is true, when their predictions come about, but not Jeremiah.  He suffered the anguish of witnessing the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of his people. 

Generations earlier, Amos had offered a similar prophecy to the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  Though a shepherd and a “dresser of sycamore trees,” he was chosen by God to call the people to account for their evil behavior.  He condemned the people who “sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted.” (Amos 2:6-7)

Not only did the people behave wickedly, but they went about their lives with a false sense of piety due to their observance of the Sabbath and the sacrificial rituals.  “Even though you offer Me your burnt offerings and cereal offerings, I will not accept them…. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; To the melody of your harps I will not listen.  But let justice well up as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. (5:22-24)

In response to his words of condemnation, which included a prediction that the king of Israel would be killed, he was told to flee to the south, but stood his ground.  Like Jeremiah, Amos takes no joy in being right; rather he despairs that the people refuse to listen and thus condemn themselves the suffering and defeat.

While most of the prophets offered words of doom and destruction, others focused on words of hope for redemption.  Such a message is found beginning with chapter 40 of the book of Isaiah.  Biblical scholars have long concluded that this part of the book was written by a different person than the first part of the book; whereas the first part was written prior to the Babylonian exile, the second part is written during the exile, looking forward to the return to the land.

Second Isaiah, as he is commonly called, offers words of comfort and hope.  “It is a prophecy tempered with human tears, mixed with a joy that heals all scars,” Heschel writes.  Many of these chapters are read as haftarot in the weeks following Tisha B’Av, offering comfort as we recall the destruction of Jerusalem. 

This prophet introduces the concept of Israel as God’s “Suffering Servant.”  Heschel explains:  “Israel’s suffering is not a penalty, but a privilege, a sacrifice; its endurance is a ritual, its meaning is to be disclosed to all men in the hour of Israel’s redemption…. Her suffering and agony are the birth-pangs of salvation.” 

Second Isaiah’s message still contains words of condemnation, such as the famous indictment we read on Yom Kippur:  “Is this the fast I desire, a day for men to starve their bodies?” (58:1) The prophet teaches that the fast God desires is “to unlock fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of the yoke; to let the oppressed go free…to share your bread with the hungry.”  The message concludes that by acting thusly, God will look favorably upon the people.

What is it that these prophets have in common?  What do they share?  Heschel writes, “The prophet is a person who sees the world with the eyes of God…a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times…who suffers harms done to others.”  More than others, the prophet is able to understand the will of God and to translate that understanding to his fellow human beings. 

But it is more than an intellectual understanding.  The prophet is touched by God to the core of his being and is able to know better than others the will of God and how that will should be manifest in our world.  The prophet offers God’s words to the people with emotion and anguish.  Although standing apart from the people, the prophet is one with the people, so words which condemn them condemn him as well. 

As we read the prophets today, and reflect on their legacy, let us appreciate the passion with which they spoke, reflecting a deep love of God and love of the people Israel.  While their words were uttered in response to a particular historical situation, they transcend time and place and continue to speak to us today, reminding us that we, too, are called to understand what God wants of us and to live our lives to reflect this understanding.

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