Tikun Olam - The Words of our Prophets

As part of our ancient Jewish studies, the Edot track students learned about the Hebrew prophets and their moral teachings in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea. Specifically, we learned about the Prophets Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel who spanned the 500 or so years of the age of prophets, from ca.1000 to 500 B.C.E.

We learned that the first prophet, Samuel, annointed the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, even as he warned the Israelites that God should be their only king, and begged the people to "Serve the Lord with all your heart...the Lord has made you His people." (First Samuel 12:20-22)

Elijah tried to keep King Ahab of Israel from worshipping other gods, often unsuccessfully thanks to Ahab's Phoenician wife, Jezebel, who worshipped Ba'al and many other gods. According to the Bible, Elijah is the only person never to actually die, but instead, was swept up by a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses. It is Elijah whom the Jewish People believe will lead the Messiah into Jerusalem. Elijah became a symbol of comfort to the Edot living throughout the world, and even today, we practice the ritual of the Cup of Elijah during our Passover seders, inviting him into our homes as a sign of hope, that the world will become a better place.

The Prophet Isaiah, for whom our Temple and Religious School is named, was another prophet of hope. Living in the Kingdom of Judah during the time of the Assyrian conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel and its attempted conquest of the Kingdom of Judah, he promised the people that if they followed God's commandments and pursued justice, God would save them from the Assyrian enemy, and there would come a time when "...nation shall not lift sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)

Jeremiah had to fight against the hopeful prophecy of Isaiah.  He lived during the Babylonian conquest of the Kingdom of Judah, and walked the streets wearing a yoke, begging the Judeans to follow God's commandments, lest God punish them by sending their enemy with a crushing force upon them, destroying beautiful Jerusalem and taking them all into captivity. He was called a traitor and fool by the people, and ultimately was taken captive and brought to Egypt, never to see his beloved Jerusalem again. Yet, from Egypt, this prophet of "doom" wrote to the Judean captives in Babylon, telling them not to give up hope. "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare." (Jeremiah 29:7).  It was the words of Jeremiah which set the stage for how future edot would live amongst many cultures, retaining their Jewish identity even as they "sought the welfare" of the people with whom they lived.

The Prophet Ezekiel was one of the Judeans taken captive by the Babylonians. His was a prophesy of redemption for the exiles. "I will assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the Land of Israel." (Ezekiel 11:17) This promise has never been forgotten by the Jewish People.

As a closing activity for our unit of study about the prophets, Edot students worked in small groups to create "torn paper" posters depicting the individual prophets and their messages, as well as the words of the Prophet Isaiah, "Learn to do good; Cease to do evil; Seek justice; Relieve the oppressed; Defend the orphan and plead the widow." (Isaiah 1:17)