Hurricane Dorian battered the Bahamas, skirted Florida, and continued northward near the Atlantic coast.
Marianne Williamson, presidential candidate and self-help author, wrote the following tweet once the storm turned course away from the Florida coast.
"The Bahamas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas...may all be in our prayers now. Millions of us seeing Dorian turn away from land is not a wacky idea; it is a creative use of the power of the mind. Two minutes of prayer, visualization, meditation for those in the way of the storm.”
Hours later she deleted that tweet and replaced it with the following:
"Prayers for the people of the Bahamas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. May the peace of God be upon him and their hearts be comforted as they endure the storm.”
I don’t know if she realized herself the deeply problematic nature of her original tweet. She was implying, it seems, that it was powerful, collective thinking that resulted in the hurricane turning away from making landfall in Florida. It might have hit Florida, but powerful prayer, visualization, meditation, shifted it away.
Someone responded to her first tweet with the following, I’m paraphrasing: I guess the prayers, visualization and meditation of the people in the Bahamas just weren’t good enough.
The original tweet presents a spiritual approach, a theology, that, to me ear, frankly, is self-congratulatory and deeply offensive.
If you escape natural disaster, it’s because you said or thought the right thing. By implication, if you escape medical catastrophe, it’s because you said or thought the right thing.
And if you don’t escape those things, it means you didn’t think or pray right by God?
So much guilt and spiritual suffering has been inflicted on people by adding theological insult to physical, medical and emotional injury.
Of course I can’t narrow down Jewish theology to a few sentences, but I will say 2 things as Rosh Hashanah gets closer and closer.
1. We believe that the world pursues its path or, as the rabbis put it, ha’olam k’minhago noheg. You let go of a book and it’s going to fall to down. Moisture gathers over the ocean under certain conditions and it creates a storm system. How that storm systems moves depends on surrounding conditions, including the locations of proximate storm systems.
2. We also believe that human behavior can impact outcomes. Our tradition recognizes the significance of prayer, but there are numerous critiques of the problem of offering prayers that are unaccompanied by appropriate actions. For example, the passage we read from Isaiah on Yom Kippur pointedly rejects prayer and fasting that are unaccompanied by just behavior. If we are to gather thoughts at the time of a hurricane, they should be about helping those who have been harmed, protecting those who have yet to be harmed, and taking measures to help slow down the devastating effects of climate change. The most effective mind-over-matter move that will impact climate is a universal recognition of the damage our species has done to the earth and a commitment to try to rectify that damage.
Thoughts and prayers and reflection and meditation may help motivate and prepare us for the work we need to do; they don’t replace the work we need to do.
This morning’s Torah reading features the iconic phrase, צדק צדק תרדוף tzedek tzedek tirdof - justice, justice shall you pursue. We’re not asked to pray for justice, we’re asked to pursue it. It’s not going to rain down on us, we have to pursue it.
We pursue it, as the Torah teaches us, by appointing appropriate judges and officials. We pursue it by making sure not to take bribes, not to favor the rich over the poor, nor the poor over the rich. We pursue it by making sure our property doesn’t cause damage to other people. We pursue it by restoring lost items to people.
Almost never in these portions do we read that we should be praying for all of these things to happen. We are expected, commanded actually, to take actions that result in justice.
First you act, and then God will bless. That is the rough translation of a well-known Persian proverb.
In Jewish tradition, prayer is not, and never was, a replacement for action.
Which is why the thoughts and prayers following mass shootings that are offered by leaders who have obstructed the creation of sensible gun measures that most of the country supports are so frustrating. Save your thoughts and prayers and do the right thing.
Which is why the thoughts and prayers during climate disasters offered by people who are opposing measures that could help reduce such disasters are so frustrating. Save your thoughts and prayers and do the right thing.
Which is why the thought and prayers for asylum seekers offered by people who oppose measures that could result in more compassionate treatment are so frustrating. Save your thoughts and prayers and do the right thing.
Don’t pray about justice; pursue it. Don’t pray about positively impacting the climate; pursue measures that positively impact the climate and provide support for those who are most vulnerable to catastrophic climate events. Don’t just pray about the well-being of the people seeking asylum at our borders; pursue measures that offer a just response.
A powerful moment in the Torah occurs when the Israelites are stuck between the Sea of Reeds and the approaching Egyptian army. Moses starts to pray to God, and God says, מה תצעק אלי דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו Ma titz’ak elai? Daber el benei yisra’el veyisa’u. Why are you crying out to me? Speak to the Israelites and move forward.
Regarding all of the challenges that we face when it comes to trenchant issues like climate, violence and injustice, we have to encourage each other to move forward to take necessary, if difficult, steps.
I personally believe that God gives us the strength to act.
So I want to conclude with a two part prayer. Part one - may God continue to give us the strength to act. Party two - once we act, may God bless our efforts.
Originally delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on September 7, 2019
Marianne Williamson, presidential candidate and self-help author, wrote the following tweet once the storm turned course away from the Florida coast.
"The Bahamas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas...may all be in our prayers now. Millions of us seeing Dorian turn away from land is not a wacky idea; it is a creative use of the power of the mind. Two minutes of prayer, visualization, meditation for those in the way of the storm.”
Hours later she deleted that tweet and replaced it with the following:
"Prayers for the people of the Bahamas, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. May the peace of God be upon him and their hearts be comforted as they endure the storm.”
I don’t know if she realized herself the deeply problematic nature of her original tweet. She was implying, it seems, that it was powerful, collective thinking that resulted in the hurricane turning away from making landfall in Florida. It might have hit Florida, but powerful prayer, visualization, meditation, shifted it away.
Someone responded to her first tweet with the following, I’m paraphrasing: I guess the prayers, visualization and meditation of the people in the Bahamas just weren’t good enough.
The original tweet presents a spiritual approach, a theology, that, to me ear, frankly, is self-congratulatory and deeply offensive.
If you escape natural disaster, it’s because you said or thought the right thing. By implication, if you escape medical catastrophe, it’s because you said or thought the right thing.
And if you don’t escape those things, it means you didn’t think or pray right by God?
So much guilt and spiritual suffering has been inflicted on people by adding theological insult to physical, medical and emotional injury.
Of course I can’t narrow down Jewish theology to a few sentences, but I will say 2 things as Rosh Hashanah gets closer and closer.
1. We believe that the world pursues its path or, as the rabbis put it, ha’olam k’minhago noheg. You let go of a book and it’s going to fall to down. Moisture gathers over the ocean under certain conditions and it creates a storm system. How that storm systems moves depends on surrounding conditions, including the locations of proximate storm systems.
2. We also believe that human behavior can impact outcomes. Our tradition recognizes the significance of prayer, but there are numerous critiques of the problem of offering prayers that are unaccompanied by appropriate actions. For example, the passage we read from Isaiah on Yom Kippur pointedly rejects prayer and fasting that are unaccompanied by just behavior. If we are to gather thoughts at the time of a hurricane, they should be about helping those who have been harmed, protecting those who have yet to be harmed, and taking measures to help slow down the devastating effects of climate change. The most effective mind-over-matter move that will impact climate is a universal recognition of the damage our species has done to the earth and a commitment to try to rectify that damage.
Thoughts and prayers and reflection and meditation may help motivate and prepare us for the work we need to do; they don’t replace the work we need to do.
This morning’s Torah reading features the iconic phrase, צדק צדק תרדוף tzedek tzedek tirdof - justice, justice shall you pursue. We’re not asked to pray for justice, we’re asked to pursue it. It’s not going to rain down on us, we have to pursue it.
We pursue it, as the Torah teaches us, by appointing appropriate judges and officials. We pursue it by making sure not to take bribes, not to favor the rich over the poor, nor the poor over the rich. We pursue it by making sure our property doesn’t cause damage to other people. We pursue it by restoring lost items to people.
Almost never in these portions do we read that we should be praying for all of these things to happen. We are expected, commanded actually, to take actions that result in justice.
First you act, and then God will bless. That is the rough translation of a well-known Persian proverb.
In Jewish tradition, prayer is not, and never was, a replacement for action.
Which is why the thoughts and prayers following mass shootings that are offered by leaders who have obstructed the creation of sensible gun measures that most of the country supports are so frustrating. Save your thoughts and prayers and do the right thing.
Which is why the thoughts and prayers during climate disasters offered by people who are opposing measures that could help reduce such disasters are so frustrating. Save your thoughts and prayers and do the right thing.
Which is why the thought and prayers for asylum seekers offered by people who oppose measures that could result in more compassionate treatment are so frustrating. Save your thoughts and prayers and do the right thing.
Don’t pray about justice; pursue it. Don’t pray about positively impacting the climate; pursue measures that positively impact the climate and provide support for those who are most vulnerable to catastrophic climate events. Don’t just pray about the well-being of the people seeking asylum at our borders; pursue measures that offer a just response.
A powerful moment in the Torah occurs when the Israelites are stuck between the Sea of Reeds and the approaching Egyptian army. Moses starts to pray to God, and God says, מה תצעק אלי דבר אל בני ישראל ויסעו Ma titz’ak elai? Daber el benei yisra’el veyisa’u. Why are you crying out to me? Speak to the Israelites and move forward.
Regarding all of the challenges that we face when it comes to trenchant issues like climate, violence and injustice, we have to encourage each other to move forward to take necessary, if difficult, steps.
I personally believe that God gives us the strength to act.
So I want to conclude with a two part prayer. Part one - may God continue to give us the strength to act. Party two - once we act, may God bless our efforts.
Originally delivered at Temple Israel of Great Neck on September 7, 2019
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