Vih-ay-ras-teach

By David Cohen

Shabbat Shalom, Please look at your Siddurim on the top of page 6. I want to briefly discuss the Vih-ay-ras-teach tefilah which comes from the Prophet Hosea.

These verses are said whenever we put on Tefillin in the morning. They are part of the Bamidbar Haftorah which was our daughter Eve's Bat Mitzvah Haftorah. Also my father, after his retirement, was a regular tefillin wearer. Over time I have found the tefillin ritual to be a grounding experience-missed for early planes or pressing distractions but not much else. And even then I am somewhat grounded by saying Vih-ay-ras-teach even without benefit of the tefillin

We don't know much about Hosea's personal background. We don't even know much about Gomer his real or metaphorical wife who either did not follow the commandment on adultery or perhaps thought and felt as one. We can picture the period. Hosea and Amos held forth in the northern Kingdom while the first Isaiah traversed the Southern Kingdom and Micah roamed in both. The 8th century BCE was a prosperous time for the Northern Kingdom with high material wealth, an expansion of its borders and a lowering of personal and public morality standards. The affluence and decline of standards led to the worship of material matters, its own form of idolatry. It smacks of the mid and late 1990s, and what it has brought us today. Heschel teaches us that to Hosea marriage is the image for the relationship of God and Israel. To Heschel this represents "one of the boldest conceptions of religious thinking." Think of what it means: restraint, duties, responsibilities and a relationship that is forever, an eternity.

Heschel concludes that "Israel is the consort of God." But remember that Hosea warned against the consequences of such idolatry and the personal and public laxity that accompanies it. His words can be harsh-"a miscarrying womb and dry breasts" from God to the wayward or the vehemence of "none shall rescue." How do we reconcile tenderness and vehemence? According to Heschel, Hosea talks of God's "longing for reunion." The reconciliation is a new betrothal. The gifts from God are: righteousness, justice, kindness and mercy. As our teacher Reuven Hammer tells us the tefillin represent an intimacy with God of love and affection. The straps wound three times around the middle finger remind us of a wedding band. Indeed the seven straps can also be connected symbolically with the seven wedding blessings. During the 17th Century it became customary to recite these verses from Hosea at weddings.

Now a short story. In the world I'm part of, celebratory or working luncheons and dinners, will often open with a prayer. It is not unusual to have Jesus invoked. I am never troubled about this. It expresses what many people believe. It's intent is not meant to exclude. This usually happens more in lower income settings and not where people have had extensive interfaith experience. It also reflects a certain amount of absence of the organized Jewish community in inner city activities. I never hear Jesus mentioned in suburban communities. In our community we can salute the work of Yachad, Jews for Justice and the start of Avodah. They are welcome contributions to our work in the city and older suburbs.

To close, I'm regularly called on to say a few words at these working meals. In a pluralistic world there is a place for jewish particularity. I have taken, initially when Jesus was invoked, and now even when he is not, to discuss a teaching from our Jewish heritage. Invariably it is Hosea's teaching. I say how it is said each time the tefillin is put on-so it has a daily aspect to it except for Shabbat and Festivals. I tell about the Bamidbar Haftorah as well. This all works wonderfully well because the universality of Hosea, and its direct Jewish links, connects non-Jewish people with our teachings. It even draws a chorus of amens when I finish.

Shabbat Shalom

Given at Tifereth Israel August 10, 2002 by David Cohen