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| The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets |
It’s easy to forget that even before the coronavirus, we were in a time of crisis as a nation with corresponding crises globally. A time both in need of analysis and a praxis with which to respond. For people of faith, one of the best of recent books to respond to our crisis has been The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets: Then and Now by Nahum Ward-Lev. (https://www.amazon.com/Liberating-Path-Hebrew-Prophets-Then/dp/1626983291) Our Wednesday morning reflections group has ben studying Ward-Lev’s book for several weeks and Monday afternoon, he agreed to meet with us for a conversation. As a bonus, we were joined by Norman Gottwald author of the landmark book on the origins of the people of Israel, The Tribes of Yahweh. https://w,ww.amazon.com/Tribes-Yahweh-Sociology-Liberated-1250-1050/dp/1841270261
Ward-Lev currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where he leads two Beit Midrash Bible Study/reflection groups, one for Jews who want to delve deeper
into the wisdom of their own scriptures, and another interfaith group focusing specifically on the prophets and Genesis. The primary interest is in pursuing moral discourse on issues as they emerge from the text, especially radical hospitality, immigration and criminal justice.
For Ward-Lev, the basis for the conversation flows from the model of covenant in which hesed (righteousness) is defined. by the love of the living presence (his translation of Lord) for the people of God. From this flows caritas, or charity where all creation is deeply relational. If creation is in its very essence loving, then love is created between people and each other and all creation. Being itself is there for the purpose of relationship, a very different idea than the western concept of the individual, the self-made man, so to speak. Creation exists for relationship.
In Ward-Lev’s concept of the scripture as expressing both covenantal and royal perspectives, he is clearly echoing Wes Howard-Brooks argument that the two religions in the Bible are not Judaism and Christianity but that of Covenant and creation against the religion of Empire. Both are present. (See Come Out, My People: God’s call out of empire in the Bible and Beyond. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00822J8FQ/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 )Th e
The Image of Egypt from which the people emerged was that of pyramid. For the Israelites in the wilderness, the image was of a tabernacle or even fragile succah (booth),
Steve Phelps comments on the sufficiency of the Genesis narrative as a statement of God’s reality where our role is as co-creators, in relationship with creation. A creation that is by its very nature fluid. Where creation itself is an active ally in our liberation.
This naturally led me to ask a question about creativity. In chapter 22 of Ward-Lev’s book he describes how their work for Egypt was building storehouses for military equipment. Their work now is gathering threads and skins to weave a tabernacle. It is a way of saying that creativity, art, is something beautiful, something holy. God tells us “ I will dwell in your midst” to know this, understand this requires imagination. Thus the role of art is central. Especially in the midst of plague. Beauty is how God tells us how God loves us. Tuning into beauty is tuning into love. Thus we find a trinity of love, beauty and justice, all in relationship and interconnected with each other. God is in the midst of what we create.
Ward-Lev points to the significance of Vatican II as moving from concern for the institution of the church to emphasis on God’s journey with the people. Much like Howard-Brook, Ward-Lev speaks of the inherent Biblical tension between the prophetic and the Davidic. The tabernacle is not the temple. Our goal is to be on the move with God, The succah(booth,) not the Temple is God's true home. Our greatest commonality is our fragility.
To address our current religio-spiritual-cultural divide, the challenge is not to avoid the Bible but to seriously engage the Bible.
All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know
Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just wanna hold you
And let the rest go
All my friends are part saint and part sinner
We lean on each other
Try to rise above
We're not afraid to admit we're all still beginners
We're all late bloomers
When it comes to love
All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know
Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers
Step forward
You can stay right here
You don't have to go
Is each wound you've received
Just a burdensome gift?
It gets so hard to lift
Yourself up off the ground
But the poet says, We must praise the mutilated world
We're all workin' the graveyard shift
You might as well sing along
All my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know
your tender heart—
This world's gonna rip it wide open
It ain't gonna be pretty
But you're not alone
'Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know
Orphaned believers, skeptical dreamers
You're welcome
Yeah, you're safe right here
You don't have to go
'Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me
My heart should know
Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just wanna hold you
And let the rest go
I
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