Without Social Justice Jerusalem And Its Holy Temple Will Be Destroyed On Av 9

“What need have I of all your sacrifices?” says YHWH. “Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged, uphold the rights of orphans; defend the cause of the widow” (Isaiah 1:11)

Dr. Ethan Schwartz, who holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University, points out: “What need have I of all your sacrifices?” says YHWH. “Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow” (Isaiah 1:11, 17).

By placing a reminiscence of the Assyrian invasion of Judah right before this rebuke (1:7–8), the opening chapter of Prophet Isaiah sends the message that Judah can survive only when a Jewish society takes care of its most vulnerable members. Prophet Isaiah’s warning is: piety without social justice will someday lead to the destruction of Jerusalem and its Holy Temple.

“Share your bread with the hungry, and the poor that are cast out, into your house. When you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break forth as a morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily.” (Isaiah 58:7-10)

And this is what God wants when we fast on Yom Kippur:
3 ’Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you (God) have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today  and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen  only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

And as Prophet Isaiah states:
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, 14 then you will
find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

In 1949, Israel signed armistice agreements with four Arab countries that only a year before had tried to destroy the Jewish state. In 1967 Israel offered to return almost all of the sizable territories that were captured in the Six-Day war.

Prophet Isaiah stated (2:2–4) 2 “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it,

3 and many (but not all) peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 He (God) shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

The Qur’an (46:12-14) states “And before it (the Qur’an) was the Book of Moses (in Hebrew), a model and a mercy. And this (Qur’an) is a confirming Book, in the Arabic language, to warn those who do wrong; and good news for the doers of good. 13. Those who say, “Our Lord is God,” then lead a righteous life; they have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve. 14. These are the inhabitants of Paradise, where they will dwell forever; a reward for what they used to do.”

The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah; then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided. And prior to the 20th century Arabs and Jews never did make war with each other.”Lo yisa goy el goy kherev velo yilmedu od milkhama” “Nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)

If all Arabs and Jews can live up to the ideal that ‘the descendants of Abraham’s sons should never make war against each other’ is the will of God; we will help fulfill the 2700 year old vision of Prophet Isaiah: “On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing upon the heart. The LORD of Hosts will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”…(Isaiah 19:23-5)

The Qur’an refers to Prophet Abraham as a community or a nation: “Abraham was a nation/community [Ummah]; dutiful to God, a monotheist [hanif], not one of the polytheists.” (16:120) If Prophet Abraham is an Ummah then fighting between the descendants of Prophets Ishmael and Isaac is a civil war and should always be avoided. “Lo yisa goy el goy kherev velo yilmedu od milkhama” “Nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”(Isaiah 2:4)

There will be no peace until both Palestinians and Israelis declare the chant ‘From river to sea’ becomes an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, and not death, destruction, or hate. We can make it truly aspirational by making it focus on both peoples first, and the land second. “From the river to the sea Palestinians and Israelis should be freed of hatred and suffering by ‘a two state for two peoples sharing of the land peacefully solution.’”

Both Palestinians and Israelis have a right of return.