"It was once religion which told us that we are all sinners… It is now the ecology of our planet which pronounces us all to be sinners, because of the excessive exploits of human inventiveness. It was once religion which threatened us with a last judgment at the end of days. It is now our tortured planet which predicts the arrival of such a day without any heavenly intervention."
Jonas was a German-born American Jewish philosopher who, among his many achievements, was one of the pioneering prophetic voices warning civilization about the climate crisis. His dire projections, much like Jeremiah’s, were often overlooked.
Jeremiah may not have spoken out against climate crisis denial or human responsibility for the planet but like other prophets he did focus on morality and also on some Jewish ways of living that promote wellbeing and balance, equality and equity. In today’s chapter he takes on the desecration of the sabbath, already a big source of conflict in 6th century BCE Jerusalem.
The context for today’s rant is likely the early days of King Josiah’s religious reforms - when Jeremiah is still quite young. Josiah’s grandfather, King Menashe, was the one to introduce full scale idolatry into Judea and his grandson’s massive attempt to eradicate that culture and reinstate (or invent) stricter Judaic ruling was supported by Jeremiah. And one of prominent signs of this religious neglect was the turning of Sabbath into a regular day of commerce. Not unlike current affairs in Israel and worldwide - if and how Sabbath is kept was a big debate in Jeremiah’s Jerusalem. To tackle the disregard for Sabbath observance, Jeremiah stands at the main gate of Jerusalem, where kings come through and the commercial traffic is thickets. There he calls out in defiance, warning the people that there are consequences for ignoring the Sabbath commandments. He chooses one particular Sabbath prohibition as his focal protest:
“You shall not carry burdens or merchandise out from your houses on the sabbath day, nor do any work, but you shall hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your ancestors.”
The prohibition to publicly carry merchandise or goods between domestic and commercial domains on the Sabbath is a rabbinic add-on to the vague original Sabbath laws found in the Torah. Scholars cite this chapter as proof that the observance of Sabbath, including some restrictions, evolved over time, often as custom before written down as law. Jeremiah’s reproach proves that already in his day, some of the laws we recognize today were just getting used to - and resisted - by the people. In order to entice the people to obey Josiah’s reforms and take on the Sabbath, Jeremiah resorts to threats, which, as often the case, don’t work. The consequences of observing the Sabbath would be peace and prosperity, he promised the people going through the city’s gates. But what will happen if they keep working on the holy day? He quotes YHWH:
“But if you do not obey the command to hallow the sabbath day and to carry in no burdens through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day, then I will set fire to its gates; it shall consume the fortresses of Jerusalem and it shall not be extinguished.”
It’s hard to tell whether Josiah’s reforms or Jeremiah’s warnings managed to persuade the people to take on the Sabbath. Jerusalem did burn after all, no matter how many pious people populated it.
Nowadays, the battle for the sabbath still rages in Israel, and the spirit of the sabbath is still at the heart of many of the campaigns for social justice and equity, coming up strong against capitalism workism.
Jonas, who was not an observant Jew, would probably have joined Jeremiah on the campaign to fight for the spirit of the sabbath as a way to save the planet and honor human beings as opposed to overwork human doings.
“Our sabbath days must become a time of active avoidance of environmental vandalism, a time for congregational and individual reflection on how we are undoing creation. Green Sabbaths can digest anew the biblical prophets’ warnings against the corruption of the rich and powerful, the oppression of the poor and the self-centered pursuit of short-sighted pleasures, understanding how relevant such warnings are to the ecological devastation wrought by hypercapitalism. Sabbath properly practiced offers a weekly interruption of the suicidal econometric fantasy of infinite growth, a weekly divestment from fossil fuels, a weekly investment in local community.”
Jeremiah would join Jonathan, along with Jonas, in the gates of the cities of the world, calling out as forcefully as possible, to try and wake us up.
As a new Jewish year begins this coming Sabbath - maybe this is a prophetic call for each of us to reconsider and perhaps recommit the ways in which we can weave the sacred sabbath with eco-consciousness, to unplug, hold back, and reconnect to sacred and healthy, nourishing and sustainable - for us, and for all?
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Breaking the Bottle: Jeremiah’s Prophetic Performance Art
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Was Jeremiah a performing artist protesting social ills? Was he a poet speaking truth to power or a madman everybody tried to avoid?
What does his story have to teach us today, on the eve of a new Jewish year?
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I just read a New Yorker article on the Bible I think might interest this cohort. Here's the link:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/08/28/why-the-bible-began-an-alternative-history-of-scripture-and-its-origins-jacob-l-wright-book-review