Wed Sep 26, 2007 at 14:39:57 PM EDT
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Jacob Feinspan shared this great D'var Torah via email last week and I got his permission to share it with all of you. It was written for Tikkun Leil Shabbat, a volunteer-run Jewish community Jacob is involved in based in DC. As Jacob noted in his email, "the piece that I wrote (below) looks back at the 16 organizations that have spoken at TLS in the past year."
Enjoy!
A week from now, on Yom Kippur, we'll be sitting in rows again, perhaps a bit crankier due to the fast, doing our last minute work to be inscribed in the book of life for the coming year. While much of the service is powerful and moves me, I've always been conflicted with the Haftorah portion of the day. It's a familiar one, in fact, its probably at the top of the top 10 most cited Jewish Social Justice texts. In Isaiah 58, Isaiah speaks on behalf of God, saying:
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Isaiah 58:6-7
It's a beautiful text, and gives a clear vision of what Yom Kippur's fast should be. Why then do we read it every year, sitting in shul, in our white clothes, holding our books, and in a literal sense, failing to do a single thing that Isaiah commands. |
| Mik Moore :: Actualizing Isaiah 58 |
We observe Yom Kippur as a day of introspection, the OPPOSITE of what Isaiah declares that God wants: - a day of action, of liberation.
And, for good reason, for without the time to reflect and recenter ourselves, we cannot effectively engage in the work of Tikkun Olam, of repairing the world, that Isaiah calls us to. But if we're going to take a pass on the "doing" that Isaiah calls for on Yom Kippur itself, we had best be engaged in that work during the rest of the year.
Which brings me to why I come to Tikkun Leil Shabbat. I know that everyone comes for a different reason. It could be the amazing daveing, the welcoming pluralistic space, the great friends, the energetic and young wider community, the scrumptious pot-luck dinner, the beautiful signing...
But for me, the overriding reason I love to come to Tikkun Leil Shabbat is that it is a community where Tikkun Olam permeates everything: from the reusable plates and cutlery, to the D'vrei Tikkun, to the fact that it seems to me that everyone I meet at Tikkun Leil Shabbat is either professionally or personally engaged in social change work. And as I reflect on the past year of being here, and especially on the amazing D'vrei Tikkun (teachings) given by members of our community, and staff of organizations in the DC community committed to making change, I couldn't help but think that during 5767 we learned of ways to get engaged in our local community that speak directly to Isaiah's call to action.
What better way to "loose the fetters of wickedness" than to work against mean-spirited and discriminatory leaders who say that someone's gender should impact their ability to love another person and build a family by fighting for marriage equality with Equality Maryland? Or to help overcome the wickedness of communal indifference by working with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the National Capital Area to make a positive difference in the lives of children through long-term 1-1 mentoring relationships. Or help to overcome the wickedness of racism by volunteering with Metro Teen AIDS to provide life-saving knowledge to young people of color living in Washington, the city with the highest HIV rate in the country.
Why not work to "undo the bands of the yoke" and "break every yoke" by volunteering with the DC Earned Income Tax Credit Campaign to help break the yoke of poverty that shackles too many in our country, or with RESULTS to fight for funding for micro-credit programs around the world to help millions break themselves free of extreme poverty.
We can dedicate a day a week to help "let the oppressed go free" at the DC Employment Justice Center by volunteering at their clinic to help workers exercise their rights when they're being violated by oppressive employers. Or by donating our old cellphones to Secure the Call, which will distribute them to people in need of emergency phones, helping many to break free from the oppression of abusive relationship.
Isaiah demands: "deal thy bread to the hungry." If we are serious about feeding the hungry, we must be engaged in the debate going on right now in the Senate about the Federal Farm Bill. Programs like free and reduced price school lunches, food stamps and WIC are all part of this legislation, and we can work with groups like the Community Food Security Coalition to ensure that they are funded appropriately.
While few of us will take literally Isaiah's call to "bring the poor that are cast out to thy house," we can support the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Especially for those of us with legal experience, we can volunteer to work directly with clients to ensure that their rights are being protected.
Because being exposed to the elements makes one vulnerable, whether due to lack of clothing or shelter, we can all respond to the demand "when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him" by volunteering with Yachad: the Jewish Housing and Community Development Corporation of Greater Washington, DC to refurbish housing in our community.
I'll come back to the last phrase of that verse "and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" in a moment, but first I want to look at what our reward will be for following these guidelines. Isaiah promises:
thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. (Isaiah 58:11)
The imagery of the world that will be created if only we follow Isaiah's commandments is one filled with natural beauty, with a particular emphasis on overflowing waters. But we know that it is not quite that easy: solely addressing poverty in our community will not also restore our environment.
But if we live our lives consistently, carrying over our commitment to action to "loose the fetters of wickness" and "break every yoke" to our entire lives, we will surely create a world where we "shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose water fail not." By taking action with Food and Water Watch to maintain control of our public waters, and reduce our false reliance on bottled water we can ensure that our "waters fail not." By joining with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network to pass DC Clean Cars legislation, we can help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and help begin to turn back the tide of global climate change. And we help ourselves and others enjoy the natural beauty surrounding us by volunteering with Washington Parks & People to revitalize Washington by reconnecting two of its greatest assets: its vast network of public lands and waterways and its core of dedicated community leaders and organizations.
And now, back to the last phrase of Isaiah verse 7: "and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" I think that this is the key of what Isaiah is telling us. Just as in the morning service we are told that the study of Torah is equal to the other obligations without measure (honoring father and mother, performing acts of loving kindness, visiting the sick, etc) because it leads to them all; so to is it with this verse. When we "hide not from our own flesh", when we stop averting our eyes, and really see the infinite value of each human around us, this is what leads us to act for justice. It opens our eyes to the wickedness around us, the yoke that holds people down, the hunger, the nakedness. By opening our eyes, we can not help but take action.
And that is what I think that Tikkun Leil Shabbat and Jews United for Justice provide for us. Every time we meet, even in the middle of what is the most introspective time of the week -prayer time - we open each other's eyes with the divrei Tikkun that we listen to and by what we say in the conversations that follow it.
This fundamental intermeshing of social justice and Judaism is what gives me permission to sit in Yom Kippur services and listen to Isaiah, and know that while I'm not out there on that day taking action, that I will be, and that this community, my Jewish community in Washington DC, is what informs me and inspires me and nourishes me as I attempt to make good on Isaiah's challenge.
Martin Luther King once said: The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.
May the sound of the shofar awaken in us our hunger for justice and inspire us to do our part to help bend the arc of history toward justice.
L'shana Tova, let the next year be a sweet one, and one a little closer to justice.
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