Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim) These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. On Being a Jewish King • Politics or
Religion? So he made two golden calves and placed the one at Israel's northern-most point, Dan (near Kiryat Shemona), and the other at Bet El, that lay at the border with the Kingdom of Judah (close to Ramallah of today). When he did so, he called up ancient memories of their wanderings in the desert, as he told them, "These are your gods that took you out of the land of Egypt". Then he appointed non- kohanim and Levites to officiate and invented a religious happening in the form of a new chag; with the two convenient sites that people no longer would have to trouble themselves to make the long journey to Jerusalem for their religious obligations and spiritual needs. This made the break with Jerusalem complete. Were these purely political acts,
motivated simply by Yeravam's fear of his newly found kingdom and perhaps
his very life, should the people ever turn back to the king in Jerusalem,
or were there basic spiritual issues as well? It seems that Yeravam ben Nevat was acting out a difficulty with a religious and spiritual concept, that is special and intrinsic to Judaism, namely that Judaism is a nation - not merely a religion, and as such, all its spiritual, ethical and moral teachings were meant to find their complete realization in the political, social and economic workings of a state and a government. Throughout the Tanach we find that Israel too, had great difficulty understanding and accepting this idea. The people worshiped G-d, not idols, at the bamot scattered round the country in holy sites such as Shechem, despite the existence of a central sanctuary at Shilo and later at Jerusalem. This enhanced the tendency of the tribes to separate themselves from any centralised political act or person, as we witness in the books of Shoftim and Shmuel. Even many of the pious kings, including Shlomo himself, did not outlaw the bamot (local sanctuaries) when they outlawed idol worship; "Asa removed all the idols... and destroyed the monstrous image that his mother had made... but the bamot were not removed" (Melachim Alef 15:11-14). Early on in our history, the 2˝ tribes in Trans-Jordan, owing to their desire for economic wealth, voted for a separation for the rest of the tribes. Their resultant spiritual level, necessitated three cities of refuge for those accused of inadvertent manslaughter, compared to three for the whole of the rest of Israel. They built an altar in Trans-Jordan separate from the central sanctuary, in order, as they said, to keep a connection with the rest of the nation (Joshua 22). Owing to their weakened connection with the political-social- religious centre in Jerusalem, they were the first to be exiled. Now Yeravam with his separate worship at Bet El and Dan, set in motion a process that had the same result; the Northern Kingdom of Israel that he founded went into exile some two centuries before that of Judah and has been lost ever since. Thus, there always seems to have been amongst us the need, as we find in all other religions aside from Judaism, for worship, religious, and spirituality divorced from a political-social-economic entity. Indeed we can witness such a dilemma even in our own days, highlighted by the existence of the State of Israel. We have deeply religious people that see only a personal spiritual fulfillment of living in the Holy Land, of visiting or of coming to study Torah there. Their commerce is Torah- oriented as is that of their fellows in the Galut and so is their observance; but they have no desire for Torah-based (as distinct from the interests of Torah Jews) solutions to economic, military and environmental problems of the state. However, this is a far cry from Judaism's vision, seeing the state as the implementation and fulfillment of the task of being a holy nation in its economy, social structure and foreign policy. They talk of Eretz Yisrael but never of the State of Israel, its flag or anthem. There are many non-Jews who likewise see their own personal religious experiences and values in similarly living in the Holy Land but not in the State of Israel. This is the 28th installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Ki-Tisa Homepage]
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