Haftarat Chukat: #Families Belong Together!

Can you imagine anyone claiming to be a modern-day prophet??? I mean, the absolute audacity, the hubris, the presumptuousness to claim the right to chastise everyone else, point out problems in society, and declare something objectively

"immoral." Well, you're looking at someone just that audacious and presumptuous. Ok, maybe you're not LOOKING at me, but you're reading his words. Now I haven't heard God's voice speaking to me, not even in a dream. And I don't see any visions of future glory or destruction. However, I do believe - quite strongly - that the ancient prophets were social critics. They held up a mirror to the community and challenged people to change their behavior; sometimes (and perhaps especially) when those people did NOT want to change. And it's THAT voice I need to inhabit right now, as foolhardy and chutzpah-dik as that might be.

Taking children away from their parents is wrong. Putting them in detention facilities is wrong. I know there is nuance to this issue, and that many feel we must consider where the children come from, who is accompanying them,

and what are the potential risks of a less-draconian policy. But sometimes we need to take a step back and see that basic humanity is at stake. Fighting over the details of rules and procedure MUST have its limits; there needs to be a point where compassion and kindness wins out. Too many dystopian novels and movies have been made about PRECISELY this issue; where law is never checked by compassion. It is our human decency that is always at greatest risk, and needs our protection more than any legal matter. Big surprise; even the Bible knows what I'm talking about.

Our Haftarah this week takes place in a lawless and chaotic time. Moses and Joshua are gone, and the era of kings has not yet begun in Israel. Occasionally, judges and leaders arise and briefly help the Israelites fight off enemies and withstand the temptations of idolatry. But after each one is gone, anarchy returns.

In this bizarre world (maybe not QUITE as hard to imagine as it once was...), we see two stark examples of law usurping empathy. We are told the story of Yiftach, a great warrior who leads the Israelites against the Ammonites. But before he becomes a hero, Yiftach is shunned by his family. His half-brothers hide behind a law that discriminates against children out of wedlock, and they banish Yiftach for being the son of a prostitute/concubine. In the Etz Hayim Chumash commentary on our text, it says: "His brothers successfully conceal their greed behind the mask of law" (pg. 909). Hey, you can't say what they're doing is wrong, can you??? They're just following the law; there's nothing they can do to change it. Oh well...

And then, even Yiftach himself falls victim to this same mindset. In a totally befuddling act of Greek-tragedy proportions, Yiftach utters a vow that couldn't POSSIBLY be ominous of something terrible yet to come. He declares that if he comes home safe and victorious from battle, he will offer as sacrifice the first "thing" that comes out to greet him. Sure enough,

his daughter runs out to congratulate her dad on a wonderful and successful campaign... Now, any normal person in a normal society would declare the vow null and void, or find some other - ANY other - way of getting out of this monstrous pact. But law is more important, right? Oaths, vows, and official declarations are unbreakable, and if our sense of decency and morality has to bend to fit into our "lawful" system, well, I guess that's just what has to happen, huh? I hope you know that I'm being sarcastic. Sarcastic and prophetic. We cannot behave this way. We have to eschew the notion that this is a partisan issue. It is not. Children should NOT suffer in this way, and our government must stop this practice, change course, and reunite these traumatized families. And we shouldn't just demand this for their sake, but for ours as well. Our society depends on it; so sayeth I!

NOTE: If you would like to stand with me against this injustice, please come on
Saturday, June 30th, at 2:00 p.m. to the Swarthmore amphitheater (next to the Borough Council building). You can read more about our vigil (hosted by the Interfaith Council of Southern Delaware County) online at:

https://act.moveon.org/event/families-belong-together/20581/signup/?referring_akid=undefined


Images in this blogpost:
1. CC image courtesy of pxhere
2. CC image courtesy of pxhere
3. CC image courtesy of Jonund on Wikimedia Commons
4. CC image courtesy of Peter Griffin on Publicdomainpictures.net