The aftermath of war is never just the trauma of death and dislocation, loss of land and trust.
It is also often a interruption of long held values, and sometimes the collapse of core concepts and beliefs - as new forms emerge and evolve.
The destruction of Jerusalem in 597 BCE was not just the devastating fate of the people - killed, taken captive, exiled and dispersed. It was also a tough theological crisis - with the temple in ashes - did YHWH desert the nation? Now that there was no more home and homeland -- where can YHWH be found and worshiped? For a nation that nurtured territorial theology for centuries --as was the norm everywhere - this was a very serious problem.
The perception of YHWH’s betrayal and the defeat of their national pride caused some to seek other forms of faith and affiliation. For many of the people who found themselves in Babylon and for those who were left in Jerusalem as its doom drew near - this problem required new religious solutions. Like their ancestors through the ages, and like so many of their neighbors - they turned to other local deities, no longer compelled by the old laws of their land and the lore of their religion.
This religious crisis - far from over — is at the heart of the next chapters, starting with this one, in which Ezekiel is transported back to Jerusalem, in a reverie that also still reverberates today.
In his book ‘Return to Zion’, exploring this time period and how it echoes today’s Israeli reality(So far only published in Hebrew) Rabbi Benny Lau takes a deep dive into today’s compelling chapter:
“It is the fifth day of the month of Elul, 592 BCE. In the city of Tel Aviv, by the river Chebar in Babylon, Ezekiel son of Buzi sits surrounded by the exiled elders of Judah.
Six years ago, led by their king and his mother, along with their families and thousands of their people, they arrived here, refugees from their homeland. Their new calendar begins from that year onwards.
This is the 6th year since the exile began and the people of Jerusalem living in Tel Aviv miss their home. They don’t necessarily miss the people - but the simple knowledge flowing through their veins, for so many generations - this is where their ancestors are buried, this is where the royal flag of the House of David was raised since always, and there, in the city of the sacred temple - the Divine Presence dwelled...
But in Jerusalem, the king does not listen to Jeremiah the prophet and prefers to join the voices that call to revolt against Babylon. But Jeremiah sends an urgent message to his Judean family in Babylon, imploring them to accept their fate as a minority on foreign soil and not rebel in any way. This is the moment of disconnect between the leadership and fate of Jerusalem and Babylon - the two centers of Jewish life.
Now, the elders of Judah sit around Ezekiel, seeking words of hope and clarity. And as they sit with him, they suddenly feel that he is no longer with them. For a few long moments the elders sit and see that the prophet-priest is far, far away. This is not the first time this man of mystery hovers between earth and heaven.. In a few more minutes he will return to them with the visions he had seen on his long imagined journey - back to the temple in Jerusalem.
What did Ezekiel see on his vision tour of Jerusalem? For the next four chapters he leads the elders of Judah, and us the readers, on a wild ride where the voices of the people of Jerusalem who justify their ways are heard - as well as the voice of the Divine Authority - gradually getting separated from Jerusalem and its inhabitants.”
Ezekiel’s spirit journey to Jerusalem included four scenes, each one depicting acts of worship to foreign deities - conducted right inside the temple. Since he was a priest before his exile — these are locations he is painfully familiar with.
The first scene is happening inside a secret windowless chamber, illustrated with religious images, where seventy of the elders stand holding smoke-filled pans; a secret ritual that defies the official rites of the YHWH temple.
Ezekiel is instructed to enter this chamber through a hole in the wall, and as he ‘sees’ the scene, the voice of the divine says this to him:
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַי֮ הֲרָאִ֣יתָ בֶן־אָדָם֒ אֲשֶׁ֨ר זִקְנֵ֤י בֵֽית־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ עֹשִׂ֣ים בַּחֹ֔שֶׁךְ אִ֖ישׁ בְּחַדְרֵ֣י מַשְׂכִּית֑וֹ כִּ֣י אֹמְרִ֗ים אֵ֤ין יְהֹוָה֙ רֹאֶ֣ה אֹתָ֔נוּ עָזַ֥ב יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
“God spoke to me again “O mortal, have you seen what the elders of the House of Israel are doing in the darkness, everyone in his image-covered chamber? For they say, ‘YHWH does not see us; YHWH has abandoned the land.’”
Ezekiel 8:12
The errant elders reason for choosing to embrace other gods is a compelling theological premise -- since YHWH has deserted us - why should we still worship this god?
Built into the religious infrastructure of the ancient world was the belief that each and every nation has a deity connected to its ethos - and its land. Egypt, Moab, Midian, Canaan or Assyria - as the notion of empires grew, so did the idea that deities can migrate and take over other nations - through seduction or force.
This territorial connection - to language, landscape, legends and locations of worship - defined the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well. With the dispersion of the Kingdom of Israel’s lost ten tribes a century earlier - the first cracks in the covenant between the local Hebrew god and the people already began to appear. But as the shattering of Jerusalem drew near -- the total crash would seem inevitable.
How will the surviving and traumatized Judeans still hold on to faith -- beyond betrayal and loss of familiar territory -- how can they reconstruct their sense of sacred trust?
This religious crisis is at the heart of this moment, in which two centers for the people once known as Judean - emerge.
Babylon and Jerusalem, original home and diaspora, will become two competing national narratives. This shift will also echo the evolution of the Hebrew deity — the god of the land - and the god of within. Eventually, the Shecnina - the Feminine Divine Presence will emerge as the mythic deity that joins Her children in the exile — a deity transcending territorial specifics. She may have been inspired by the goddesses worshipped by the people Jeremiah argued with and Ezekiel saw in his visions - yet the Shechina would become a unique and central symbol in the sacred Jewish vocabulary.
Ezekiel, transported back and forth between earth and heaven, Babylon and Jerusalem - this bring back to the people a glimmer of this vastness - an invitation, then, as now, to explore the very essence of the divine -- through mysterious visions, startling sounds and very specific messages, somehow transcending both time and space.
The next chapters will continue this journey and the question that still lingers -- in the heart of anguish, through war and exile, heartache and uncertainty — how can we define and refine - the utility and meaning of the divine to help us ground, and help us soar, and help us feel connected to the core?
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For some time now in these post-Oct 7 weeks, I have read this blog with new eyes. I am keenly aware of how these prophets in their words, acts, and visions can be mapped onto the present. I am aware , too, of how differently you, Amichai, make use of them for your perspectives of interpretation, restraining what might be your own reactions to present events to let the texts and commentaries speak for themselves. Who could have foreseen the timely timing of these chapters when 929 first began? Can anything speak more persuasively about the cyclic nature of the spiritual history of the Jews than what I find in these blogs? I honor your discipline and devotion, Amichai, and the ways you are offering windows and mirrors for our contemplation. Thank you. Peter
"Jerusalem and Babylon original home and diaspora, will become two competing national narratives. This shift will also echo the evolution of the Hebrew deity — the god of the land - and the god of within.