Book Review: The Liberating Path of the hebrew Prophets Then & Now
Book Review
“The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets, Then and Now,” by Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev
Reviewed by Rabbi Lisa Goldstein
The well-known Jewish educator, Jonny Ariel, recently observed[1] that the motto of the French Revolution, Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, had a curious unwinding. “Liberty” went west to the United States, where personal freedom has been taken to such an extreme that in our day common sense measures to protect public health are taken by some to be an unbearable imposition on their autonomy. “Equality” went east to the communist experiments of the former Soviet Union, where the brutality of the extreme collective squashed individual creativity and expression. But what happened to “Brotherhood,” the vital link of solidarity, affection and connection? It seems to have dropped out of our consciousness altogether.
Rabbi Nahum Ward-Lev’s slim and eloquent book, “The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets, Then and Now” seeks to change that. Ward-Lev is a rabbi and spiritual director who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. About 20 years ago, he founded a weekly Beit Midrash for 20 participants from a variety of spiritual backgrounds. In 2011 he felt called by events in the world to lead the members of the Beit Midrash on an exploration of the teachings of the Hebrew prophets along with Abraham Joshua Heschel’s seminal work, “The Prophets.” The journey moved forward and back in time to include several contemporary “prophets,” including Paulo Freire, Martin Buber, Beverly Wildung Harrison, Martin Luther King, Jr. and bell hooks, as well as earlier Biblical books, all the way back to Genesis.
The fruit of these years of study is Ward-Lev’s timely book. In it he makes a compelling argument that “Fraternite,” which Ward-Lev rightly updates to “mutual relationship,” is not only is the glue that might help this fractured and polarized world recover a little, but is the essence of the prophetic tradition and indeed of Divinity Itself. In a powerful combination of scholarship, vision and tools for practice, he invites us to recommit ourselves to the path of liberation that is the thrilling mission of the Jewish people.
In some ways, the title of the book, “The Liberating Path of the Hebrew Prophets” is misleading. It is true that the book begins with an analysis of the Hebrew prophets. According to Ward-Lev, the role of the prophet is threefold: First, the prophet is able to deeply experience Divine love and through it, true concern for this world. As a result of that experience, the prophet has the courage to notice where that love is thwarted through oppressive systems and to both name it and act upon it. Thirdly, the prophet has the moral imagination to envision an alternative way. The first section of the book offers an insightful exploration of the classic prophets, drawing upon a close reading of the texts as well as Biblical scholarship.
But then Ward-Lev’s book makes a surprising turn. The main focus, it turns out, is not the prophets per se. It is what Ward-Lev calls the “prophetic stream,” the ever flowing, dynamic, growthful Presence that can be felt and channeled in every generation. This stream is a journey towards greater and greater mutuality, through covenant, love, and dialogue. It is quite revealing that Ward-Lev translates the Tetragrammaton as “Living Presence,” a definition that many Hassidic masters[2] and other mystics would understand perfectly. The prophets were able to align themselves with this living stream, but we can trace its story all the way back to Genesis and the Exodus narrative and all the way forward to the present day.
So Ward-Lev revisits the earlier Biblical stories, first with the Book of Deuteronomy and then back to Genesis itself, offering some fresh and original insights into stories such as Cain and Abel, Judah and Tamar, and the women of the Exodus narrative. He analyzes the contrast of the aliveness of the prophetic stream with the rigidity of the institutions of empire, royalty and priesthood. He shows how the thread of multi-vocality which supports dialogue and critical thinking was preserved in the codification of the Biblical texts. And he shows how contemporary activists, theologians and thinkers, Jews and non-Jews, have drawn upon the prophetic legacy and continue to call us towards more careful listening, reflection upon the sober truths of suffering we hear, and action that, like that of the prophets so long ago, is grounded in Divine love, demands accountability and imagines a better future for all.
Why might busy people choose to invest their time in this book as opposed to the dozens of others that are waiting to be read? I would offer three reasons. First, Ward-Lev provides a new lens through which to experience the Biblical narrative. So many of us have to engage in all kinds of hermeneutical gymnastics in order to find ourselves in the Biblical text. But Ward-Lev’s prophetic stream provides a new orientation towards the pshat of the text that is inclusive, exciting and invites a new relationship – indeed a more mutual relationship - with Judaism’s most sacred texts.
Secondly, while it is indeed scholarly and intellectually engaging, the book is also extremely practical. The teaching is not given as an exercise in liberation theory. It is meant to be put into practice. Towards that end, Ward-Lev adds two appendices. The first offers concrete spiritual practice suggestions meant to support the readers in their ability to connect in to the prophetic stream themselves. The second provides reflection questions for each chapter, which help the readers internalize and process the content. These two appendices would be invaluable for a study group.
Finally, the book offers crucial inspiration for those of us who intuit that the only way forward at this fraught moment in human history must originate in mutual relationship and yes, love. This experience of interconnectedness, which was the clarion call of the Hebrew prophets, began at the beginning, blossomed into new beauty with the Exodus story and continues right to this day. We too can open to this prophetic stream; we too can experience the flow of Divine care, name the injustices that prevent its unfolding and start imagining the new path that is so needed. To situate ourselves in the chain of that tradition is thrilling.
[1] Private conversation, December 7, 2020.
[2] For example, R. Menachem Nahum of Chernobyl famously noted, “I am alive. And who is this aliveness? Is it not the Holy Blessed One?” (Meor Einayim, Yitro 7).