(Talk to Me More by Natan Goshen)
Sometimes it is hard to talk about Leviticus. As we delve into the minutiae of various sacrifices, my eyes often glaze over, trying to connect to instructions for rituals I have never seen. Sometimes, I challenge myself to look deeper. Other times, I flip to the haftarah — the selection from the prophets. Our haftarot often speak to the deeper elements of the relationship between God and the Jewish people. This week’s selection did not disappoint. Two verses stood out to me: (Isaiah 45: 25-26)
אָנֹכִ֨י אָנֹכִ֥י ה֛וּא מֹחֶ֥ה פְשָׁעֶ֖יךָ לְמַעֲנִ֑י וְחַטֹּאתֶ֖יךָ לֹ֥א אֶזְכֹּֽר׃
It is I, I who—for My own sake—
Wipe your transgressions away
And remember your sins no more.
הַזְכִּירֵ֕נִי נִשָּׁפְטָ֖ה יָ֑חַד סַפֵּ֥ר אַתָּ֖ה לְמַ֥עַן תִּצְדָּֽק׃
Help me remember!
Let us join in argument,
Tell your version,
That you may be vindicated.
These two verses are all about navigating a complicated relationship: there is a hierarchy (God over the Jewish people), there is sin (the Jewish people have yet again gone astray), there is the desire to repair what has been broken, and then there is the challenge of memory.
At the beginning of these two verses, God wipes away our sins, and chooses to actively chose not to remember the wrongs that we have done. And then God pleads: remind me of your merits and the merits of your ancestors. Help me remember what is good in you so that we can start again. And then, even though God and Isaiah accuse Israel of sin, the Divine invites the Jewish people to do something interesting — נִשָּׁפְטָ֖ה יָ֑חַד which can be translated as “Let us join in argument,” or “let us be judged together.” God finally asks that the Jewish people be given priority in telling their version of affairs first so that they will be judged meritoriously.
There is a formula here to come back from the brink of an irreconcilable breakup: Let us choose to remember the best in each other, let us engage with one another in questioning and debate with the understanding that we will be judged together, give the benefit of the doubt to the narrative of the other, and let us pray that even though one of us has sinned that our partner not carry the burden of guilt too heavily or too long.
God need not be gracious. God has more power, more knowledge, and is the True Judge. We have undeniably done wrong. And with all of that, God still asks us to help Him remember the things about us that will lead the Divine to judge us favorably. God wants to continue the debate, to affirm the fact that our fates intertwined. And like a parent who doesn’t want to punish but knows that there must be consequences for mistakes and sins —God doesn’t want us to suffer too long or too much. If God can approach us in such a spirit, how much the more so can we approach each other in that spirit across the breach.
We are living in a moment of chaos and cruelty, and it is up to us to establish a world worthy of God’s kindness through acting with basic integrity and compassion. This week, let us remember that God gives us a formula to engage with those who we believe have gone astray, or just those with whom we vehemently disagree. When it feels as though there is no place to go, we can look to the words of a prophets not only for rebuke, but also for the path of loving return. Let us take it to heart, and put it into practice in our relationships today.
Shabbat Shalom!
What I’m Reading:
Jamie Kirchick on the state of a Free World. (Not light reading — maybe save until after Shabbat)
Ezra Klein and Jonathan Haidt on technology and childhood.
PROGRAMMING NOTE:
IF YOU ARE JEWISH, VOTE IN THE WORLD ZIONIST CONGRESS ELECTIONS! THERE ARE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON THE LINE TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF ISRAELI POLITICS AND HISTORY. This is one of the rare opportunities for Diaspora Jews to have a direct say in the future of the world’s only Jewish state. I’m on the advisory committee for the ANU party, and strongly support both the Mercaz (Conservative Movement) and Reform Movement slates as well. DON’T BOO — VOTE.