Two great commands[1]: - from this weeks Torah Portion – Emor (Leviticus 21-24)
“Do not desecrate My holy name. I must be sanctified among the
Israelites. I am YHWH, who made you holy and who brought you out of Egypt to be
your God. I am YHWH' - Leviticus 22:32
In this
sentence are two really important instructions from the Almighty – they are
firstly a prohibition against desecrating God's name, and secondly the positive
corollary, to sanctify God's name.
What
are these commands and what do they mean?
First
we have to understand the concept of "name" as it applies to God.
A name is how we are known to others. God's "name" is therefore His standing in the world.
Do people acknowledge Him, respect Him, honour Him?
A name is how we are known to others. God's "name" is therefore His standing in the world.
Do people acknowledge Him, respect Him, honour Him?
We
read in Isaiah: "You are my witnesses,
says God, that I am God" (Isaiah 43:10)
So
here we see that HaShem, through the great prophet Isaiah informs the Jewish
people that they are the witnesses to God Himself and to the reality that He is
God. His standing; the degree to which the Almighty is held in respect and
honoured is through the degree to which the Jewish people have been powerful
and effective witnesses.
Yet, the
God of Israel is the God of all humanity. He created the universe and life
itself. He made all of us - Jew and Gentile - in His image. He cares for all: "His tender mercies are on all his
works" (Psalm 145:9).
Because
He is Spirit, because He created the Universe, he transcends it; it is beyond
it. So how can he be known?
Science
can only measure and ‘know’ the material universe. Yet there is no question
that Nature does declare the Almighty and His works. Science continues to
further reveal the amazing design of the Universe and the powerful and
undeniable inference of an Intelligent Designer[2].
Science
is increasingly revealing to us that this mind-bogglingly vast Universe was
created over an incredibly long period of time for the central purpose of
creating mankind! Science is also demonstrating that the truths of the Universe
have been revealed to us in a tutorial like fashion, in a similar way to the
unpeeling of an onion of increasing complexity as we reach toward its core.
But
such revelations of Science tell us little about the nature and ‘personality’
of this Designer or Creator.
So
incredibly the Creator decided to reveal Himself to the world through a ‘Chosen
People’, the nature sons and daughters of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the Jewish
people.
Yet,
because He is the God of the Gentile as well as the Jew, he also eventually
opened a doorway for gentiles to not only learn of Him through the witness of
the Jewish people, but also to be adopted into the family of Abraham.
To
reiterate then, the Creator of the Universe has made Himself and His nature
known primarily (not exclusively), through Jewish history and the Jewish
impact, influence and witness to the world.
At the end of his life Moses stated:
At the end of his life Moses stated:
Ask now about the former days, long
before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from
one end of the heavens to the other.
Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?
Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things YHWH your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? -Deut. 4:32-34
Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?
Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things YHWH your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? -Deut. 4:32-34
Some 3,300 years ago Moses already knew that Jewish history was and would continue to be unique. No other nation has survived such trials. The revelation of God to Israel was unique.
No other religion is built on a direct revelation of God to an entire people as happened at Mount Sinai.
Therefore God - the God of revelation and redemption - is known to the
world through Israel.
Thus the Jewish people (and all who have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel) are testimony to something beyond ourselves. They (we) are God's ambassadors to the world.
Thus the Jewish people (and all who have been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel) are testimony to something beyond ourselves. They (we) are God's ambassadors to the world.
Therefore
when the Jewish people, or the ‘Grafted Ones’, behave in such a way as to evoke
admiration for their faith and way of life, that is a sanctification of God's
name.
When
the opposite occurs - when they/we betray that faith and way of life, causing
people to have contempt for the God of Israel - that is a desecration of God's
name.
That
is what the prophet Amos means when he says:
“They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground, and
deny justice to the oppressed ... (in doing) so (they) desecrate My holy
name.” -
Amos 2:7
When
Jews or ‘grafted ones’ behave badly, unethically, unjustly, they create a desecration
of God’s good name.
People then say, ‘I cannot respect a religion, or a God, that inspires people to behave
in such a way’.
The
same applies on a larger, more international scale. Ezekiel made this clear:
“I dispersed them among the nations, and they
were scattered through the countries; I
judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they
went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them,
"These are YHWH's people, and yet they had to leave his land." - Ezekiel 36:19
Rabbi
Sacks writes:
“When Jews are defeated and sent into
exile, it is not only a tragedy for them. It is a tragedy for God. He feels
like a parent would feel when he sees a child of his disgraced and sent to
prison. He feels a sense of shame and worse than that, of inexplicable failure.
"How is it that, despite all I did for him, I could not save my child from himself?"
When Jews are faithful to their mission, when they live and lead and inspire as Jews, then God's name is exalted. That is what Isaiah means when he says, ""You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified" (Isaiah 49:3).”[3]
"How is it that, despite all I did for him, I could not save my child from himself?"
When Jews are faithful to their mission, when they live and lead and inspire as Jews, then God's name is exalted. That is what Isaiah means when he says, ""You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified" (Isaiah 49:3).”[3]
The
fate of God's "name" in the world is dependent on us (Jews and
‘grafted ones’) and how we behave.
No
nation has ever been given a greater or more fateful responsibility than Israel.
When
we gather to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Ps 122:6) and share in the
support of her people, we ‘grafted ones’ also have a share in this task.
BUT,
when we, especially the more religious and zealous amongst us, behave badly;
that is when we act unethically in business, or are guilty of sexual abuse, or
utter a racist remark, or act with contempt for others, etc. – such failure;
such desecration of He who we represent; who we are witnesses of; reflects badly on all Jews and righteous
Gentiles, and on the faith of Abraham itself[4].
And
when we act well – when we develop a reputation for acting honourably in
business, or caring for victims of abuse, or showing conspicuous generosity of
spirit - not only does this reflect well on our community, and on the
commonwealth of Israel, it naturally increases the respect people have for
religion in general, and thus for the One True God, YHWH.
This is how Maimonides puts it in his law code:
This is how Maimonides puts it in his law code:
“If a person has been scrupulous in his
conduct, gentle in his conversation, pleasant toward his fellow creatures,
affable in manner when receiving, not retorting even when affronted, but
showing courtesy to all, even to those who treat him with disdain, conducting
his business affairs with integrity ...
And doing more than his duty in all things, while avoiding extremes and exaggerations - such a person has sanctified God.”[5]
And doing more than his duty in all things, while avoiding extremes and exaggerations - such a person has sanctified God.”[5]
Throughout
history the Jewish people have been trust into the limelight so that their
witness, both good and bad, has really been unavoidable. Despite their very
small numerical size, their witness has been undeniably huge.
The
Jew, Milton Himmelfarb wrote: 'The number
of Jews in the world is smaller than a small statistical error in the Chinese
census. Yet we remain bigger than our numbers. Big things seem to happen around
us and to us.'[6]
God trusted the Jewish people enough to
make them His ambassadors to an often faithless, brutal world.
Yet,
individually, tribally and corporately the choice is always theirs.
They each daily need to decide ‘Will my
life be a sanctification of God , or a desecration?
If you
are Jewish or a ‘grafted one’, you too need to make this choice every day. I
think all who seek God; all who are truth seekers, will eventually learn that
they are, or can become part of the family of Abraham.
Yet
this choice, this freedom to follow our ‘fleshly hearts’, our ‘Yetzer HaRa’ and
in turn potentially desecrate the name and reputation of the Almighty, or
instead to heed the call of our ‘spiritual heart’, our ‘Yetzer HaTov’ and act
in ways that sanctify His Name, is always in front of us.
Perhaps
when we reflect that an act of good that we participate in has in turn
sanctified the honour, and reputation of God, and in doing so has been a
faithful and effective witness of the true reality of our Father in Heaven, our
joy should increase!
We can
then also take comfort in having inspired others to believe and have faith, and
in turn, seek Him whose mercies are new every morning!
May it
be so! Amen!
[1] Most of the
article is a paraphrasing of a great Parsha from Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Rabbi
Sacks is one of the most amazing theologians and authors of our time. I am
deeply indebted to his scholarship.
[3] I have written at length on Isaiah 49, an amazing
and prophetic chapter - see Isaiah 49 -
a commentary
[4] For more on the ‘family of Abraham’ see
‘The Tripartite Salvation Paradigm’ - http://www.charismacomputers.com.au/The%20Tripartite%20Salvation%20Paradigm%20first%20draft%20feb2012.pdf
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