Yom Kippur Reflections on Isaiah

Every year on Yom Kippur, a portion from Isaiah is read in the synagogue, from chapter 57:14 through the end of chapter 58. And every year I never fail to be moved by the words of the prophet, written more than two millennia ago. Below is a portion:

Is such the fast I desire,
A day for men to starve their bodies?
Is it bowing the head like a bulrush
And lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call that a fast,
A day when the Lord is favorable?
No, this is the fast I desire:
To unlock the fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of the yoke
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.
It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to ignore your own kin.

Then shall your light burst through like the dawn
And your healing spring up quickly;
Your Vindicator shall march before you,
The Presence of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Then, when you call, the Lord will answer;
When you cry, He will say: Here I am.
If you banish the yoke from your midst,
The menacing hand and evil speech,
And you offer your compassion to the hungry
And satisfy the famished creature —
Then shall your light shine in darkness,
And your gloom shall be like noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
He will slake your thirst in parched places
And give strength to your bones.
You shall be like a watered garden,
Like a spring whose waters do not fail. (1)

Of course this is the Haftarah, the reading from the prophetic portion of Scripture for Yom Kippur morning. By the time we get to the Haftarah, it is almost noon, and—for those of us who fast, our stomachs are starting to rumble. And as we begin to feel the effects of our fast, we are reminded that denying ourselves food for 25 or so hours is nothing compared to freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, giving the “wretched poor” a roof over their heads. 

Every year I am once again saddened and angered that so many in this country who call themselves “religious” can so thoroughly—sometimes deliberately—miss the mark of true “religion”—as defined by the prophet, above. I should add that the Christian Scriptures echo these sentiments, saying that “pure undefiled religion before G-d is this: to care for orphans and widows in their trouble…” (James 1:27) And “If a brother or sister is naked and lacking in daily food and one of you says to them ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what is the benefit?” (James 2:15-16).

The members and leaders of the so-called “religious right” are rarely more vocal than in an election year. Yet to their everlasting shame, they are vocal about exactly the wrong things. One might argue that the unborn are marginalized and oppressed by abortion; I’ve already argued that the religious right’s endorsed candidates have paid nothing but lip service to this hot button issue in nearly 30 years. (See my post about the Republican smokescreen.)

The “religious right’s” opposition to marriage equality and any and all equal rights for our LGBT brothers and sisters is downright perverse. Until the last 10-15 years, lesbians and gays were truly marginalized in our society. Transgender people still are. In most of our 50 states, anyone LGBT can be fired from her/his job or evicted from his/her apartment because of sexual orientation. And in the United States in 2008, are not GLBT teens who are thrown out of their homes, or who run away because their parents are so hostile, some of our real-life orphans? (2)

The so-called religious right rants and raves about “special rights”; about how marriage equality is going to “destroy the family.” They convince their followers—people whose only experience with a GLBT person is probably with the closeted and confused homosexual: fearful, perhaps even self-hating and suicidal, sitting in the pew in their very own church—that gays and lesbians are trying to “destroy the family.” 

When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the wretched poor: in short, when we take care of the needy, the oppressed, and the marginalized of our society the prophet says that our “light will shine in the darkness” and our “gloom shall be as noonday.” The “religious right”—along with many evangelicals—have a well deserved reputation as hypocrites, people who ignore or hide from the “light” and deeper truths of what they allegedly believe.

I, for one, am glad to encounter the words from the Book of Isaiah each Yom Kippur. I’m glad to encounter them on a day of self-reflection, a day on which we reflect how we as individuals and as a community have missed the mark. My hope is that if we take these words to heart, we will spread more—rather than less—light in the world. And to any religious rightniks who stumble on this blog, let me say this: you may or may not agree with what Mother Theresa believed, but I don’t think anyone ever called her a hypocrite.

 

(1) Translation: Jewish Publication Society, 1985

(2) For more information on how the LGBT are marginalized or orphaned in our society, we recommend the following book: Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America by Mitchell Gold and Mindy Drucker

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Tags: Equal rights, social justice, Yom Kippur

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