Shabbat Shuvah 5769 - Prophets vs. Teachers

Prophets vs. Teachers

Real life changes happen through a long and difficult process of acquiring wisdom

I must begin by saying that I think we had a terrific Rosh Hashanah together. I hope you enjoyed the services as much as I did. I also want to express my deep gratitude to all of you for your good wishes and encouraging words. This was a very big week for me. It was my first time leading HHD services and the first time I’ve given a HHD sermon to such a large congregation. And, as you know, when it rains it pours… just yesterday morning our movers delivered all our furniture and stuff to our new house. We also had a contractor come out to give us a quote on work we want to do on the house. We also discovered some little problems here and there and I’ve had my first introduction to the headaches of home ownership. When I sat down to write this sermon yesterday, I was feeling quite exhausted until I read the opening words of this weeks parsha:

Va’Yelech moshe v’yedaber et ha devarim ha’eleh el kol yisrael

Moses went out and spoke these words to all of Israel. He said to them, “I am 120 years old today and I can no longer come and go, for HaShem has said to me, ‘you shall not cross the Jordon’…” the Parsha then goes on to describe Moshe’s preparations to give the most stirring and elaborate sermon of his life, which comprises all of next week’s parsha – “haazinu.” So, I figured, if Moses could deliver one last sermon at age 120, after having lead this rebellious people for 40 years through the desert, I can give one more sermon.

The Shabbat between RH and YK is called Shabbat Teshuvah or sometimes Shabbat Shuvah after the first words of the Haftarah: “Shuvah yisrael ad Hashem Elokeicha, ki chashalta ba’avonecha” “Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God, for you have stumbled over your iniquity.” The prophet Hoshea, like every prophet, exhorts the Jewish people to repent and return to the service of God. Hosea prophesied in the mid-8^th C BCE, prior to the destruction of the northern kingdom, during a time when the conventional mode of repentance was the sacrificial system operated by the priests. But rather than calling on the people to repent through the sacrifices, Hosea asks for something that is arguably more powerful. In the second verse of our Haftarah (14:3) Hosea tells the people, “K’chu imachem devarim” “Take words with you and Return to the Lord. Say to him, ‘Forgive all guilt and Accept what is good; Instead of bulls, we will pay the offering of our lips.” Hoshea argues that sincere words of contrition and regret are more powerful than animal sacrifices. For this, Hoshea promises that God will take us back with mercy and love. This is the sage advice he gives the people, “Whoever is wise will understand these words, he who is prudent will know them. For the paths of the Lord are straight (just) – the righteous can walk on them, but sinners will stumble on them.”

However, as in the case of virtually all the prophets, the people do not listen and they suffer the consequences. Truthfully, being a prophet is a thankless and aggravating job. Most of the Hebrew Prophets accepted their missions reluctantly and they lived miserable lives. Most of them were persecuted by the authorities of their day, they were reviled by the population, and no one listed to them. Do you know which prophet was the most successful in changing the behavior of people? Those of you who were here for Dovid Silber’s talk know. The most successful prophet was the most reluctant one of all: Jonah (who’s book we read on Yom Kippur). With little effort on his part, Jonah turns a bunch of pagan sailors into followers of God and with just a few words he convinces the entire metropolis of Ninveh to repent and abandon their evil ways.

Even our greatest prophet, Moshe, was repeatedly disappointed by the Israelites’ backsliding and rebellion. Of course, Moshe is considered our greatest prophet of all times. Maimonides includes this idea in his 13 articles of faith. In the Yigdal, based on the 13 articles, we sing “Lo kam b’yisrael k’moshe oed” – “no prophet has ever arisen like Moses.” Interestingly, we don’t call Moses – Moshe Nevi’einu – Moshe our prophet. How do we refer to Moses in our tradition?: Moshe Rabbeinu – Moses our Teacher. Rabbi David Wolpe argues that given the choice between the Navi (Prophet) and the Chacham (Sage or Teacher), we are better off choosing the chacham. Prophesy is important, inspiration is important, but there’s a reason why the prophets were so miserable. The great pioneer of the Conservative Movement, Rabbi Solomon Schechter, pointed out that prophetic Judaism can’t work. It’s too pure, too ideal. Except maybe for Jonah, none of the prophets succeed entirely because what they demand from the people is pure perfection… and their mode of persuasion is inspiration and charisma. Inspiration is powerful… we all know inspiring people – when you hear them speak, in that moment you just want to get up and change your life. Their moving words might blow you away and make you think differently. But, we also know that inspiration is ephemeral and fleeting.

At this time of year, many of us are thinking about ways in which we want to change. Perhaps we’re making Rosh HaShanah resolutions. But all the research done demonstrates that the vast majority of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned in a matter of weeks. Prophetic inspiration works the same way. You can not sustain real change in your life through inspiration. On the other hand, wisdom has the power to change us. Rather than dissipating and fading like inspiration does, wisdom becomes part of us and has the potential to grow. What is wisdom? {maybe take a few answers} – Wisdom is practical knowledge about how to live in the world. Wisdom is knowledge gained through experience or study. Wisdom is knowledge that has been tested and vetted, perhaps over generations. Think about the pieces of wisdom your parents or grandparents passed down to you.

In the post biblical period, our Rabbis abandoned the prophetic mode and instead held up a very different archetype of the ideal Jew. What do you think is the archetype they chose? {perhaps take an answer or two} – that’s right, the ideal Jew according to the rabbis was someone who studies and prays (– i.e. a rabbi).

To our rabbis, what makes Moses our greatest prophet is that he was, in the final analysis, Moshe Rabbeinu – our greatest teacher. After a lifetime of prophecy – a lifetime of trying to change the people’s rebellious tendency – we read some of God’s final words to Moshe in this parsha. God tells Moshe, “Behold, you will soon lie with your ancestors, but this people will rise up and stray after foreign gods…” When I read these words, the first thing I thought was: how disappointing this must have been for Moshe… after a lifetime of prophecy and inspiration. The Torah doesn’t record what his reaction was or how he felt, but it does tell us what he did. It was to teach the wisdom of our tradition. Among Moshe’s final acts was to write the Torah down and place it in the Ark of the Covenant. He gathers the people and essentially tells them, “look, I know you’re going to be rebellious, but I’m leaving you with this Torah. I want you to read it publicly so that it will be an on-going guide for you when you stray.”

A stirring speaker can change our way of thinking, can introduce new ideas, or point out the error of our ways, but real life changes happen through a long and difficult process of acquiring wisdom. Perhaps you found RH as inspiring as I did. Perhaps you were inspired by the music, the prayers, the powerful experience of community, the grandeur and pageantry, or the sermons you heard. If you were, then we did our job. But now the real work starts. This is indeed the time for resolutions, but you can’t make a resolution to be inspired. However, you can make a resolution to seek out wisdom and to learn. You can make a resolution to study; you can make a resolution to take classes; you can make a resolution to read every day. In other words, you can find ways to deepen your knowledge and understanding of our tradition. The Torah and our other sacred texts are the Jewish people’s collective wisdom written down in books.

I want you to make a resolution right here – to find some way, a class, a book, a lecture – to deepen your Jewish knowledge. The HEA offers a number of opportunities for learning. This fall, we will begin a series of Adult Education courses as well as occasional lectures, films, and workshops. There are also countless opportunities in the broader community to learn. In the year ahead, I hope you will have many moments of inspiration – inspiration is powerful and indispensable – but I also encourage you to seek out learning in order to deepen and grow your own wisdom.