How do we as a we - respond to threats?
It’s best if we do so -- whatever the we is - together. Not just with optics but with tangible, effective sincere ways for each of the segments of society to show up united. We did this during COVID - better or worse - and such events on any scale require a communal response, on a larger scale than selfish measures, to take on major disruptions - wars or plagues alike.
Joel the prophet either recalls the famine that threatened the loss of life for his community -- or is envisioning a future famine. Either way his warnings and passionate message survived for us to remember the importance of coming together, urgently, when we are under any kind of threat.
The collective cal that he imagines is so urgent that nobody is exempt:
אִסְפוּ־עָ֞ם קַדְּשׁ֤וּ קָהָל֙ קִבְצ֣וּ זְקֵנִ֔ים אִסְפוּ֙ עֽוֹלָלִ֔ים וְיֹנְקֵ֖י שָׁדָ֑יִם יֵצֵ֤א חָתָן֙ מֵֽחֶדְר֔וֹ וְכַלָּ֖ה מֵחֻפָּתָֽהּ׃
Gather the people,
Bid the congregation purify themselves.
Bring together the old,
Gather the babes
And the sucklings at the breast;
Let the bridegroom come out of his chamber,
The bride from beneath her canopy.
Joel 2:16
It isn’t just the coming together as community that will help but also the ways with which we will show up -- beyond signaling distress, slogans and empty gestures, or auto-dialing prayer -- the remorse and responsibility for next steps has to be embodied in order to matter - in our feelings not just thoughts — it has to happen, and hurt, in our hearts:
וְקִרְע֤וּ לְבַבְכֶם֙ וְאַל־בִּגְדֵיכֶ֔ם וְשׁ֖וּבוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־חַנּ֤וּן וְרַחוּם֙ ה֔וּא אֶ֤רֶךְ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ וְרַב־חֶ֔סֶד וְנִחָ֖ם עַל־הָרָעָֽה׃
“Rend your hearts
Rather than your garments,
And turn back to the ETERNAL your God.
For YHWH is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in kindness,
And renouncing punishment.”
Joel 2:13
We tear our outer garment when a loved one dies. This moving mourning gesture hints at the torn aspect of our lives, a death leaves us with a rip that’s irreplaceable. Joel wants us to take the ripping deeper, to rip it through our hearts.
Rabbi Natasha Mann adds this reflection on what he may be wanting us to do, as we confront life’s chaos and seek change:
“The tearing of garments is symbolic of (and responsive to) overwhelming grief. It is an outward display of internal turmoil...One reading is that we can, at times, be guilty of performative emotional measures, the same way that we can be guilty of performative worship. In Joel’s example, it is simply not good enough to perform repentance (teshuvah); it must come from within...
What changes is not the chaos. It’s us. Perhaps this is what Joel is trying to teach us: If we rend our hearts by doing teshuvah, we will be better able to handle the situations which cause people to rend garments.
Teshuvah does change the world - but it does so by changing us.”
Rabbi Mann’s important reading helps me make sense of what Joel reminds me of today: Begin the grief within. If grief begins within, so will the peace, and one by one, we gather, with both grief and peace, to co-create a space for mourning, reflection, and commitment to repair.
He ends this chapter with a juicy vision of the better days, lots to eat and days of simple pride and purpose.
And what then? He starts the next chapter with a radical vision that celebrates the prophetic spirit within every living being and every hurting, torn apart, healing heart.
Dear Below the Bible Belt Readers,
Join me for our monthly Zoom conversation Below the Bible Belt - to wrap up the visions of Hosea and Joel, as we get to meet Amos. What do these ancient prophets have to tell us about war and peace today?
We’ll meet on February 1, 2024, 5pm ET to explore the legacies of the so-called minor prophets. Please bring your questions, comments, responses and thoughts.
Here’s the link to the next Below the Bible Belt Zoom Live Conversation:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88915392821
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We pray for healing and peace.
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