Jeremiah, Hanani, Beinart & Stewart: Tough Love by Truth Tellers

There have always been, and there will always be, brave prophets who speak unpopular truths to power—calling their people to recalculate. Throughout the Bible, known and unknown prophets tried—often in vain—to change minds, to change the course of history - for better. They cried out, some paid the price, some silenced - yet their words still show up on our signs and in our sermons today — prophetic poetry, love-driven laments protests powered by the passion of rage, a rebuke meant to repent, to admit what’s wrong and to repair. To wake us up.

We know the famous ones—Jeremiah, Jonah—but this week, on our Below the Bible Belt journey through Chronicles, we heard from Hanani the Seer.

We know nothing about him—only that in the 8th century BCE, on the road to Jerusalem, he dared tell King Asa of Judah: don’t go to war, don’t rely on foreign alliances—first fix the infighting at home. For that, he was imprisoned and never heard from again.

But his story lives on, his words written, a reminder of the many voices in our saga of survival— not just men, generations of resistance, multiple ideologies and POV’s, often united by discord.

There were always those among us who spoke up for peace over war, trust over terror, complex both/and bonds over simplified us or them binaries of trauma.

Prophets didn’t only deliver rage. They also soothed the hurts with healing and compassion. They gave us the words we need to grieve, lament, to grow. Jeremiah gave us the Scroll of Lamentations—heartbreaking poetry which will be chanted this coming wknd in every synagogue worldwide in a haunting tune. Once again we’ll recall destructions — past and present - starving babies, rubble and rupture — history repeated not just to us but also because of us - on the minds and hearts of those who will dare listen.

The Hebrew name of Lamentations is its first word: Eicha— How - “How could this happen?” “How can this be happening?” A howl of grief. But Jeremiah didn’t just leave us with Eicha. Like Hanani the Seer, generations later, he too tried to stop a war in Jerusalem. He too was thrown in prison by his own people—called a traitor, nearly killed. He survived, witnessed the destruction, joined the exiles. His words survived too—protests of love and moral clarity, mourning and wake up call. It’s never too late to repent and to recalculate.

Today we need the voices of the prophets ancient and new—the ones who’s words wail that this cruel conflict and this war must end, for morality to be restored, for a painful brave solutions towards truth and reconciliation or risk much worse on the path our people are now on.

Protest isn’t only for prophets. It’s on all of us—ordinary people daring to care and risk and raise our voice for justice, not as traitors but as truth tellers, on the mission of repair. And when we falter, fear, forget, the prophets still among us remind us to fear less. Love more. Listen to the still small voice of values beating in our chests.

Did you hear how Jon Stewart and Peter Beinart talked about this very call of the problems of the path towards prophetic peace this week on national TV? Check out two Jewish truth tellers speak about tough love:

Check it out:

As we near the end of our Bible journey—with Chronicles, with Lamentations, with Jeremiah and Hanani—I’m struck by the gift our ancestors left us: these poetic and prophetic manuals for grieving and loving, protesting and persisting. They are our role models—those who refused to stay silent. They are here to hold our hand.

It’s hard to know these days who is a trusted prophet and who is false, fake news from real, who profits from power, and who sees the bigger picture and the path ahead. But our hearts , more than our minds, are often wise. We know whose words ring true—whose clarity cuts through the fog. Even and especially when this truth hurts us. That’s how the light gets in and how the healing starts.

Listen to the ones who wail, the ones who call us to correct course. The ones who pay the price for truth. This weekend as we lament the losses of our past, I invite us to take time and listen to the ways we heal the present - and the future. Show up, fast, protest, protect - in any way you can.

Chronicles continues next week. We’re in the final month of excavating old wisdom from the oldest book to guide our new ways forward. Listen to the prophets. Don’t give up on peace.

Thanks for joining me Below the Bible Belt.
May peace prevail.
Shabbat shalom.