A HANUKAH CONTROVERSY

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 In Jewish practice, the festival of Hanukah celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem to the service of one God after the successful revolt of the Maccabees against the Seleucid rulers of Syria in the 2^nd cent. BCE.  It is customary to light eight candles during Hanukah, one per night.

 The question is this: In which order should they be lit? On this issue, two famous rabbinic schools of the first century CE disagreed. We read in the Talmud:  “Beth Shammai maintains: On the first night eight lights are lit and thereafter they are gradually reduced. However, Beth Hillel says: On the first night one is lit and thereafter they are progressively increased” (BT Shab. 21b).

What is Beth Shammai’s justification? They argued that the candle lighting should correspond to the sacrifices offered during the festival of Sukkot- Hanukah was originally viewed as a second Sukkot-with one sacrifice less each day (cf. Num. 29). The school of Hillel, however, maintained that in matters of holiness we must increase and not reduce.

Hillel’s position makes more sense to me (and that is the Jewish practice today). When it comes to questions of religion and spirituality, even within the context of religious naturalism, we need to realize that, ultimately, faith, which is nothing but certainty of one’s convictions, requires a leap of faith. For, we are all fallible.  However, as we absorb more knowledge about the universe and as we engage in a variety of spiritual exercises, our sensitivity increases, and with that comes a deepening sense of sanctity and wonder for all existence.

 The adding of the candles reminds us that religious conscientiousness is broadened slowly. We build one block upon the other. At times, we stumble, we are burdened with questions; we often struggle with doubts and with answers that do not always satisfy the mind. But, with a faith based on a positive attitude, we plug along, and discover glimpses of lights here and there, finding deeper meaning and purpose in our existential condition. And that spells human growth.

 Have a happy Hanukah.

 

 

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED DURING HANUKAH, BRIEFLY

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

The history behind Hanukah is, briefly, this:

In the second cent. BCE, Antiochus IV, the Syrian king, set out to conquer Egypt. While he was fighting there, Jason, deposed from his position as the Jewish High Priest in Jerusalem, left the Ammonites with whom he had taken refuge, and attacked Menelaus, his brother in Jerusalem, in order to regain the High Priesthood. A civil war broke out between the two, and Jason successfully entered Jerusalem. King Antiochus was furious. On his way back from Egypt, the king attacked Jerusalem, imposed restrictions on Judea, and eventually desecrated the Temple. In reaction, a priest by the name of Mattathias, and his sons (called the Maccabees), fought against the Syrians, and were able to clean and rededicate the temple of Jerusalem to the worship of one God in the year 165 BCE. This rededication is called Hanukah (“dedication” in Hebrew).

The festival lasted 8 days, not because of the so-called “miracle of the oil,”

 (miracles don’t happen)  but because it was considered a delayed Sukkot

(“Tabernacles”) which is 7 days-long, plus Atzeret, a one day festival (See, II Mac.

4:59; Lev.23: 33-36, 39).

 

Happy Hanukah to all who celebrate it.

          For more information, read my article, “Was Hanukah Really a Miracle?” in my book, Did Moses Really Have Horns; And Other Myths About Jews and Judaism, pp. 155-164)

 

 

WHERE DOES GOD DWELL?

 

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 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 In ancient times, biblical authors assumed that the earth was flat, with Sheol, below the earth where the dead live, and a dome on top of the earth, which was the abode of God (Deut. 26:15; Isa.40:22). Later on, the Rabbis spoke of God as “our Father who is in heaven.” In fact, early Christians referred to three different levels of heaven (II Cor. 12:2): The first was set aside for us humans and animals; the second, above it, for the moon, stars and other planets- some even claimed that this was the living quarters of Satan-, and finally, on top of everything, it is where God resides. 

It was the early Greeks who first convincingly argued that the earth was in fact round. Some claimed it was Pythagoras in the 500 BCE who did this; others attribute this invention to Eratosthenes, a Greek mathematician of the 3^rd cent. BCE. Today, it is normative to assume that the earth is round. 

So, where does God live in our universe? 

Some biblical authors maintained that God lives not only in the heavens above but everywhere, both heaven and earth (See, for example, Ps.139:7-8; Jer. 23: 24; Isa. 66:1). 

As a religious naturalist, I do not conceive of God as a “Persona” ( “Theism”) who “lives” in a particular place. I do not search for God or expect to encounter God only in the heavens or the earth below. I do not even understand when people talk about “God’s abode.” For me, God represents the energy, the force, which keeps the universe going, and, as such, God is omni-present in the universe.  The more we know about nature and nature’s mysteries, the more we discover how God operates.

 In my view, God does not verbally communicate with human beings; God does not respond to our pleas or prayers. God does not choose one people over another. God does not reward or punish. God does not change the course of nature by a miracle. As the ancient Rabbis taught, “the universe follows its own path” (Avodah Zarah 54b). Spinoza taught us that God acts by necessity in line with the laws of nature. We humans create a culture in response to the mystery of nature and formulate prayers that represent our inner most feelings and expectations. 

This is religious naturalism that is based on reason, natural law and human efforts. We are Jews because we chose to be Jews and are proud of the culture that we have created over the centuries.

FOREIGN WORDS IN HEBREW TEXTS

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 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 It is noteworthy that many classical Hebrew texts contain a number of foreign words. Let’s start with examples from the Bible:

 In the Hebrew Bible, in The Song of Songs, we have the word pardes (4:12), meaning “park,” or “garden” (our “paradise”) and egoz (6:11), meaning “nut-tree.” They are Persian loan-words, indicating that the Song was probably written during the Persian period (6^th-4^th cent. BCE).

 It is well known that after the destruction of the first temple of Jerusalem in 586 BCE many Jews were exiled to Babylonia (today, Iraq) where they lived for a number of years, and many of them returned around 515 BCE to rebuild the Second Temple. One of the famous Jewish residents in Babylonia was the prophet Ezekiel (6^th cent. BCE), a priest, who grew up in Judah but lived and prophesized much of his adult life in Babylonia.  It is, therefore, not strange to find in his book a number of loan words taken from Akkadian, the language spoken in Babylonia at the time. For example: hashmal (Ez. 1:27) from elmeshu , meaning “a shining substance” (BDB). Or, eshkar (Ez. 27:15), from ishkaru, meaning “work assignment” or “gift” (BDB). Or, tsurah (Ez. 43: 11), from utsurtu, meaning “plan, design,” or “form” (Gesenius).

 A large part of the biblical books of Ezra (c. 4^th cent. BCE) and Daniel (c.2^nd cent. BCE) are in Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Babylonian diaspora.

 Similarly, many Rabbinic texts contain Greek words, because Greek was the  dominant language of the many Jewish communities in the Middle East during and after the first century CE. For example, Midrash Rabba, a text composed around the 4^th century CE, contains a number of Greek words written in Hebrew letters, such as (on Gen. 1) pedagogos, “nanny;” palatin,  “palace;” matrona , “woman;” or astrologos, “astrologer.”

 On the other hand, modern Hebrew has many English words written in Hebrew letters, such as “Hi,” “Bye,” “please,” “OK” or even using a verbal form, such as ledaskes, namely “to discuss.”

 It is interesting to note that Hebrew has contributed a number of words to English, such as Mazal tov (“congratulations”), amen (“verily, “certainly”), behemoth (“beasts”), or hallah (“egg-rich yeast-leavened bread”). Similarly, Yiddish has added many words to our English language today, such as shlep (“carry”), schmooze (“talk”), bupkes (“least amount”), klutz (“clumsy”), or tchotchke (“trinkets”).

 These examples show that Jews, wherever they lived, appropriated words prevalent at the time and contributed to society special words of their own vocabulary.

 

 

 

FANATICS-THEN AND NOW

 

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  Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) of Spain was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the Middle Ages. He was a physician and philosopher, a rationalist. There is a statue of him in downtown Cordoba that I saw a few years ago. He was the author of The Guide of the Perplexed (he wrote it in Arabic) on theology, and Mishne Torah (“The Second Law”-he wrote it in Hebrew) on Jewish law.

 But he was also controversial, because of his advocacy of Aristotelian philosophy. Some people did not like him. And in 1233, in a public square in Paris, a group of Dominican monks set fire to a huge pile of his books. The sad part was that they did this at the instigation of some fanatic Jews who had accused him of heretical views.

Every religion has its own fanatics who think they have the truth and cannot accept a diversity of opinion. Christians have them- look at the fights between Catholics and Protestants.  Moslems have them- look at the enmity between Sunnis and Shiites. We Jews have them too. In fact, right now, there are a number of Haredim, members of the right-wing Orthodox movement, attacking Reform Jews at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, who are celebrating a Bar Mitzvah!!! What a shame!

 No one has an exclusive key to the truth. It is by an open and respectful discussion of issues that we can learn from one another and reach an understanding of the mysteries of the universe.

 

WHOSE LIFE COMES FIRST?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

 The topic of whose life comes first has exercised the imagination of many ancient Rabbis. One scenario was debated in a Jewish legal commentary called SIFRA (on the Book of Leviticus, 4^th cent. CE). Here, we find the following dilemma (See also a parallel discussion in the Babylonian Talmud,BM 62a, 6^th cent. CE).

 “The following was expounded by Ben-Petura (a 2nd cent. CE rabbinic scholar): Two men are traveling through the desert. One of them has a flask of water. If he alone drinks the water, he will reach the town but if both of them drink, they will both die. Ben-Petura expounded the biblical text (in Lev. 25:36) “That your brother may live with you” to mean that both should drink and die (rather than one should live while the other dies). But Rabbi Akiva (a 2^nd cen. CE scholar) said to him: “That you brother may live with you” means that he may live WITH YOU , not instead of you, namely that your life takes precedence over the life of your friend. Rabbinic law accepts this approach.

This dilemma sounds very much like “the Plank of Carneades,” namely , Carneades of Cyrene,  a Greek philosopher who lived in 2^nd cent. BCE. Here, instead of a desert, the event takes place in water:  There are two shipwrecked sailors. They see a plank that can support both of them. Sailor A gets to the plank first. Sailor B , who is about to drown, pushes A off and away from the plank and, thus causes A’s death. Sailor B is later saved by a rescue team. The question is whether B should be tried for murder?

The similarity between the two cases, though not completely parallel to one another, shows that the ancient Rabbis were aware of the popular ethical debates that took place in the Greco-Roman world.

Obviously, the tension here is between self-preservation and personal sacrifice. Many ancient Greek thinkers argued that one should die rather than deprive the other of his or her means of survival. The Rabbis, however, gave self-preservation the upper hand. (See, the detailed discussion by K. Berthelot, “A Classical Ethical Problem in Ancient Philosophy,” Harvard Theological Review 106/2, 2013, 1-29).

 I would argue that it depends on who is the “other”? If it is my child, I would be ready to give him/her a chance to survive. Otherwise, if it is a stranger or if the other has a lesser chance of survival, I will save myself.

Your opinion?

FOR THE SINS THAT WE HAVE SINNED

 

על חטא שחטאנו;  AL HET SHEHATANU

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 For the sins that we have sinned against our parents

…………………………………….against our siblings

……………………………………against our children

…………………………………....against our spouse

…………………………………….against our friends and relatives

……………………………………against our teachers and students

........................................................against the elderly

........................................................against the sick and the handicapped

 We are deeply sorry.

 For the sins that we have sinned consciously or unconsciously

……………………………………by the abuse of our power

 ………………………… ……..   by using deceitful language

……………………………………by hardening our hearts

……………………………………by speaking slander

……………………………………by hiding the truth

……………………………………by ignoring the pleas of the poor and innocent

…………………………………….by hurting others

…………………………………….by failing to respond to people in need

 We are deeply sorry.

 We are committed to undo the wrong we have caused.

HOW TO WRITE A PRAYER IN THE SPIRIT OF RELIGIOUS NATURALISM?

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

For me, prayers represent our hopes and expectations. They help us identify and clarify our needs- for ourselves and those we care about. In formulating these, we need to pay attention to some details:

1. Instead of addressing God, we need to invoke God, who, I maintain, is the energy of the universe. God does not “listen” to our pleas.

2.    In expressing our wishes, we need to be realistic and not ask for “miracles” which will not happen just because we need them. God works in line with natural laws.

3.     In formulating our expectations, we need to indicate what we are willing to do ourselves in trying to achieve our goals.

4.     It is always appropriate to praise God and express gratitude for everything we have or have achieved.

5.     The answer to prayer comes as we face the future with openness, with clarity of mind and realistic expectations.  

Here is an example of a prayer for healing, written in the spirit of religious naturalism:

 We invoke God, the energy of the universe, and express our gratitude for every moment we experience good health and wellbeing, and our hope for a speedy recovery. We also think of our friends and relatives who are in pain. In particular, we think of…..(names here). We hope that they will be restored to good health, both physical and spiritual, in due time. We want them to know that we are thinking of them and will keep them in our mind continually. May we continue to enjoy their company in better times. And for those with a terminal illness, we hope they will have the strength to leave life without much suffering and with a gentle touch of peace.

Amen.

 

 

 A PRAYER AFTER MEAL

In the spirit of religious naturalism

Oh God, the Holy One of Being,

As we conclude this meal, we are grateful for the many gifts with which we have been blessed: for life itself and the love which enriches it, for the fellowship of friends and family who respect one another and learn from one another, for this good earth that has been entrusted into our hands and for the delicious food that sustains us day by day.

Our praises to God who is the source of food for all who live.

A PRAYER OF HEALING, In the Spirit of Religious Naturalism

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

We invoke God, the energy of the universe, and express our gratitude for every moment we experience good health and wellbeing, and our hope for a speedy recovery. We also think of our friends and relatives who are in pain. In particular, we think of…..(names here). We hope that they will be restored to good health, both physical and spiritual, in due time. We want them to know that we are thinking of them and will keep them in our mind continually. May we continue to enjoy their company in better times. And for those with a terminal illness, we hope they will have the strength to leave life without much suffering and with a gentle sense of peace.

Amen.

DOES GOD HEAR OUR PRAYERS?

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 In the Hebrew Bible, the basic assumption is that God hears our prayers and responds. For example, the Psalmist declares, “Blessed is God who has not turned away my prayer” (Ps.66:20; see also 34:18; 116:1-2; 145:18). The prophet states, “Call and I will answer you” (Jer. 33:3). In the wisdom literature, God is viewed as one “who hears the prayer of the righteous (Prov. 15:29). And in the daily liturgy, we find that God “hearkens to prayer” (16^th benediction).

Yet, many prayers seem to be left unanswered in spite of our need, sincerity and fervor. Even the Psalmist at times complains, “How long, O Lord will you ignore me forever” (Ps. 13:1), and the prophet exclaims, “How long, O Lord, shall I cry out and you do not listen” (Hab.1:2). Some people justify God’s silence by the fact that we lack faith, or because we treated others wrongly or even because we are prideful.

In reality, the answer may be found elsewhere. Instead of worrying about whether God listens to our prayers or not, I suggest, we concentrate on the formulation of our prayers, which are nothing but an expression of our hopes and expectations of ourselves! It does not make a difference if someone is listening. The prayer exercise itself must help us formulate our prayers in a realistic and constructive manner—don’t ask for miracles or for the impossible-, giving us options for possible future behavior.

 What do you think?

GOOD DEEDS AND THEIR REWARD

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 Recently, our online rabbinic study group in Boston got stuck on a statement in Midrash Rabba (c. 5^th cent. CE) that reads:

שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע (“whoever observes the commandments will not suffer anything bad”). (Mishpatim, 32:8)

 This is factually not correct. Many people observe the commandments and still do not get their deserved reward.

 Maybe, good deeds ought to be carried out for their own sake without concern for any reward. The satisfaction of having done something right, should be enough!

Do you agree?

 

BOOKS I HAVE PUBLISHED

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.d

Here below is the list of all the books I have published:

1.FINDING GOD (with D. Syme)- Behrman House

2.WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I DIE (with D. Syme)-Behrman House

3.MOSES' HORNS (Behrman House)

4.MANY FACES OF GOD (Behrman House)

5.AND GOD SPOKE (On the Decalogue)-Behrman House

6.SPIRITUAL PATHS (Turner)

7.MODERN JUDAISM (Cognella)

8.VIVIR VOMO JUDIO (Palibrio)

9.MOTIVE CLAUSES IN HEBREW LAW (SBL Dissertation Series 45)

10.A GOD WE CAN BELIEVE IN (with R. Agler)- Wipf and Stock

They are all available for purchase.

HEBREW TRANSLITERATION; PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, PhD

 Transliterating (or, Romanization of) Hebrew into English is a problem, primarily because Hebrew is a Semitic language and English is not.  Hebrew has some letters that are not reproduced in English or other languages that are not Semitic.  (Please note: Sumerian, even though it uses cuneiform signs, is not a Semitic language).

          Which are the problematic Hebrew letters?

 1.     The guttural letter HET  can be transliterated variously: h (in academic Hebrew, with a dot underneath), Chet (in German) , Jet (in Spanish) or simply h. I prefer the last one, even though, in English or Hebrew , it sounds close to the letter heh.

2.     The guttural letter AYIN can be rendered as a, even though it sounds like the simple Hebrew letter alef.  (Many Middle Eastern Jews still pronounce the letter correctly. Arabic has a similar letter)

3.     The letter R, is not rolled the way some Israelis do, but is rendered as a simple r.

4.     The letter KOF, at the back of your throat, is difficult to distinguish from the Hebrew letter KAF.

5.     The letter TET, t (with a dot underneath, in academic Hebrew), is not pronounced differently from t (taf).

6.     The letter SAMEH, is pronounced like the letter sin, as s.

           In my practice, the Hebrew alphabet is transliterated (and pronounced like Latin) as follows:

 a (alef), b (bet), v (vet), g (gimal), d (dalet), h (heh), v (vav), z (zayin), h (het), t (tet), y (yod), k (kaf), h (haf), l (lamed), m (mem), n (nun), s (sameh), a (ayin), p (peh), f (feh), ts (tsadi), k (kof), r (resh), sh (shin), s (sin), t (taf).

           NOTE: I do not like the transliteration of the festival of Hanukah, as Chanukah (as in German), or as Janukah (as in Spanish). In French, Chanukah, would be pronounced as Shanukah.

          Nor do I like to transliterate Baruh (“blessed”), as baruch.

           In Hebrew , a “happy holyday,” would be Hag Sameah, and not Chag           Sameach.

           Furthermore, today, in Israel, they use the Sefardic (i.e., of Spain) pronunciation of Hebrew and the Ashkenazic (Eastern-European) script. Therefore, we do not say and transliterate Boruh Ato Adonoy, but Baruh Ata Adonay. (“Blessed are you, Oh, God”).

           This is how I would transliterate the first sentence of the Hebrew Bible:

Bereshit bara Elohim et ha-shamayim ve-et ha-aretz. (“When God began to create heaven and earth” , JPS, Gen.1:1)

           Now, that is simple and readable!

 

 

 

 

A PRAYER OF HEALING; A Religious Naturalist Version

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D 

Here is an example of a traditional Jewish prayer for healing:

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me and I shall be saved; for thou art my praise (Jer. 1714). May it be thy will, O Lord my God, and the God of my fathers, speedily to send from heaven a perfect cure, both spiritual and physical, unto my sickness. Blessed art thou, O Lord, who art the faithful and merciful Healer of all flesh. Amen” (The Authorized Daily Prayer Book, Joseph Hertz, p. 1061) 

          Traditional prayers are addressed to God, with the expectation that the divine will respond favorably. Often, this does not happen. Therefore, many people have searched for ways to reformulate the content of the prayers and, in fact, refocus them in order to make better sense of them and, actually, derive some strength when facing the unknown in a rational matter.

          Here is a prayer of healing that I can recite with clear conscience as a religious naturalist who does not address but simply invoke the divine in life: 

רוח העולם ומקור כל יקום

The spirit of the universe and the source of all existence 

          Life experiences show us that illness and suffering are not punishments, but an inevitable part of the fragility of life itself. Nature has provided our bodies with the means to keep us alive and the means to overcome pain and suffering. We hope these will prove effective when we are down, and that our doctors, nurses and other healers will have the knowledge and the wherewithal to strengthen us when our afflictions become too powerful for us to battle them alone. 

          We invoke God, the energy of the universe, and express our gratitude for every moment we experience good health and wellbeing, and our hope for a speedy recovery. We also think of our friends and relatives who are in pain. In particular, we think of…..(names here). We hope that they will be restored to good health, both physical and spiritual, in due time. We want them to know that we are thinking of them and will keep them in our mind continually. May they see release soon and may we continue to enjoy their company in better times. And for those with a terminal illness, we hope they will have the strength to leave life without much suffering and with a gentle sense of peace. 

Amen.

 

OUR NEW BOOK: A GOD WE CAN BELIEVE IN

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D 

A colleague of mine, Rabbi Richard Agler and I have just published a book on theology, entitled A God We Can Believe In. We have also incorporated 25 essays written by other Rabbis and academics. As we state in the Preface: 

          It is self-evident that many of the characterizations of God found in our sacred texts, liturgies, and holidays are replete with images that large numbers of contemporary Jews find neither meaningful nor believable.

          Our annual cycle is filled with references to a Deity who intervenes in history, supernaturally responds to prayers, protects his (sic) faithful and chosen, and executes righteous judgment. In the twenty-first century, such propositions engender doubt and disbelief in rabbis and laypersons alike. At the same time, they are a disincentive to Jewish engagement, commitment, and affiliation.

A God We Can Believe In is a response to this moment. Herein you will find contributions from leading rabbis and academics that articulate paths to Jewish hearts, minds, and souls with God-teachings that are spiritually compelling and intellectually sound.

          Our authors present God in ways that are consistent with the facts that higher learning has established, the principles of reason, and their own life experiences. We are not speaking primarily to academics, but to all inquisitive Jews, and perhaps even non-Jews, who seek to live by these same lights.

          The value and importance of the poetic, the metaphorical, and the ancient religious imagination are vital in Jewish tradition. At the same time, God-language, God-teaching, and God-understanding need to be coherent, comprehensible, and credible if modern Jews are going to hear it.

          In these pages you will find a God that cannot be brushed aside by educated moderns; a God that does not violate the realities of logic or natural law; a God presented in accessible, yet deeply grounded, Jewish language; a God that can be lived with, and lived for.

          Our hope is that this book will help secure a place for a living, non-mythical God at the heart of Jewish life in this generation and in generations to come. We endeavor to strengthen the connections between our people, our faith, and our tradition.

          It is our further goal to impress upon our institutions the need to embrace new and systematic ways of addressing God in formal worship, of hearing God interpreted from the pulpit, of learning about God in classrooms, and of praying to God from future siddurim (“prayerbooks”).

          May our respective strengths strengthen us all— .חזק, חזק, ונתחזק 

          The book is available for sale at Wipf and Stock (www.wipfandstock.com) , the publisher, at  AMAZON and others. 

          Please let us know your reactions.         

Date: April 29, 2022

WHAT IS A "COVENANT"?

 Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 The term “covenant” (from the Latin, con, namely “with”, venire, namely, “to come”) refers to “an agreement enacted between two parties in which one or both promises, under oath, to perform or refrain certain actions stipulated in advance” (ABD, 1/1179). The corresponding term in the Hebrew Bible is berit, coming most likely from the Akkadian  biritu, meaning a clasp or a fetter. The Septuagint (3^rd cent. BCE), which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, renders it as diatheke, meaning “will” or “testament.” Thus, Jews have the so-called “Old Testament” (a Christian term) and Christians have the “New Testament.”

           In the Hebrew Bible, a covenant may be established in two different ways:    a) Between two individuals, such as, the covenant signed between King       Solomon and King Hiram, of the city of Tyre (I K 5:26), or

          b) Between God and human beings, such as the covenant with Noah (Gen. 9:9), or, with Abraham (Gen. 15:18), with Phinehas, the priest (Num. 25: 12), with Joshua and the people (Jos. 24:25), with Jehoiada, the priest, and the people (II K 11:17), with king Hezekiah and the people (II Chr.29:10), with Josiah and the people (II K 23:3), with Ezra and the people (Ezra 10:3), and, the crown jewel, with the people of Israel at Mt. Sinai, through Moses (Ex.19:5). According to the Rabbis, this covenant includes, not only the Ten Commandments but the entire Torah (i.e., all the Hebrew Scriptures as interpreted by the ancient sages).

           The prophet Jeremiah (6th cent BCE), spoke of a “new covenant” that will be signed in the future between God and the Israelites (Jer.31:31), referring, most likely, to the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian exile and the reconstruction of the second Temple (See, Jewish Study Bible, p. 991). Christians, however, reinterpret this passage as a prophecy through Jesus in the New Testament.

           These covenantal documents were mostly modelled after Hittite covenants of Anatolia (2^nd millennium BCE), either as parity or suzerainty (see examples in ANET, pp. 201ff). They followed a strict literary format that included the following elements: 1. The identification of the covenant giver; 2. The historical prologue; 3. The stipulations; 4. The provision for deposit and public reading; 5. The list of witnesses to the covenant; and 6. The blessings and curses as a means of enforcement.

          Even though, we have many examples of treaties in the ancient Near East, the idea of covenant between a deity and a people is unknown to us from other cultures. In fact, we can state that this covenantal idea is a special feature of the Israelite religion. Jewish sages of the past used the format of legal documents between individuals and applied it to the special relationship between God and others.

           In reality, the concept of berit between God and Israel is more than an agreement between two parties, and implies an  imposition on the part of the deity, as indicated in the Book of Psalms by the expression, “He has commanded his covenant” (Ps. 111: 9). In so doing, God literally “cuts” (karat) a covenant, as clearly stated in Aramaic as gzr ‘ady, by simply imposing unilaterally a pact on the biblical Israelites. The idiom most likely comes from the ceremony that accompanies the covenant by “cutting” (namely, slaughtering) an animal during a ritual.

           How shall we view this concept in our time?  From the perspective of a non-theistic religious naturalism, where God is conceived as the energy of the universe, the idea of a personal God imposing a covenant is hard to accept. Nature acts as it must according to its own rules, and does not discriminate between people. It would be better, I would argue, to reinterpret the covenant as a sign of our own commitment to a particular way of life. Thus, when we say, God made a covenant with Jews, it really means that we are committing ourselves to the pursuit of the high moral standards espoused by the Torah, the text of the covenant. So, Jews can follow the teachings of the Torah as interpreted by the Rabbis (the so-called The Old Testament) and Christians can follow the teachings of the Gospels (the so- called the New Testament) as interpreted by Christian teachers. And we all respect one another.

 Date: 4/6/22

PROBLEMS WITH THE CONCEPT OF "THE CHOSEN PEOPLE"

 

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D

 Many Jews believe they are God’s chosen people.

 The concept is already in the Hebrew Bible: “Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God chose you to be His treasured people” (Deut. 7: 6b). It was promoted by the prophets: “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen” (Isa. 41:8). It was taken for granted by many medieval Jewish philosophers: Thus, for example, Judah Halevi (12^th cent), in his magnum opus, The Kuzari, argued that Jews were special, because they distinguished themselves from other people by godly qualities and attained the high degree of prophecy(1). It is even enshrined in our present liturgy, when a reader of the Torah recites, “Blessed is the Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has chosen us from all peoples by giving us His Torah.”

 The idea was taken over by the early Christians too, as , for example, when I Peter considered the Church “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart” (2:9).

 Yet, even some Jews in the past realized that this election came in with a heavy responsibility. The Israelites were expected to observe God’s teachings and had to be better than others. As the prophet Amos declares, “You alone have I singled out of all the families of the earth –that is why I will call you to account for all your iniquities” (Amos 3:2, JPS).

 However, the anti-Semitism that Jews faced in the past and even in our time (i.e. the Holocaust), brought into question the veracity of the concept of God’s election of Israel, with some even jokingly suggesting that God, perhaps, should choose another people. Besides, the idea of chosenness smack of self-aggrandizement to assume that Jews were chosen by God.

Consequently, a different interpretation of the concept was proposed.  Thus, for example, Rabbi Eugene Borowitz (d. 2016), stated that “Jews were chosen to serve God through life of special duty, not to receive an abundance of privilege or power.” (2) Similarly, Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn (d.1995), wrote, “We were chosen for special service to God…Not for privilege are we a special people, but for responsibility.” (3)  But it was Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (d.1983), the founder of the Reconstructionist movement in Judaism, who took a bolder position when he asked that the entire concept be abandoned. At best, he stated, Jews have a “vocation” to pursue truth and righteousness. (4)

 The concept of God’s election of the Israelites may have played an important role in the past, but it is historically and theologically questionable today. It is time to give it up for good. For me, a religious naturalist, the feeling of being chosen has to do with the sense of pride I have in being a Jew. We are, I would argue, not a chosen people but a choosing people, who have opted to follow a certain path dictated by our past sages, and have contributed to the well-being of our society through our teachings of monotheism, our special view on life  and through our contribution to the arts and sciences of all times. That is enough to make me a proud Jew. As we find in the “Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism” (1999), “Partners with God in tikkun olam, repairing the world, we are called to help bring nearer the Messianic age” that represents the best of what can be achieved in our societal life.

 Probably, we also need a new prayer before the Torah reading! How about, “We invoke the divine in life and express gratitude for the opportunity to study and practice Torah”?

 FOOT NOTES:

1.     Judah Halevi, The Kuzari, H. Slonimsky, Schocken, NY, 1964, 1: 103.

2.     Eugene Borowitz, Liberal Judaism, UACH, NY, 1984, 54.

3.     Ronald B. Gittelsohn, Little Lower than the Angels, UACH, NY, 1955, 209, 210.

4.     W. Gunther Plaut, The Growth of Reform Judaism, WUPJ, NY, 1965, 177.

Date: March 22, 22