Torah Lesson 6 Amos and Isaiah: the Intolerant Prophets
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Torah Lesson 6 Amos and Isaiah: The Intolerant Prophets INTRODUCTION During the last lesson on Jeremiah and Jonah, the students had their first encounter with the literary prophets. The focus was on Jeremiah and Jonah, who followed God’s instructions but were never com- fortable with their role. In this lesson the students will learn through the prophets Amos and Isaiah about injustices that God saw in the world. Like Jeremiah and Jonah, Amos and Isaiah also saw the problems that God saw. However, they felt the full importance of the responsibility of the task God gave them and did not attempt to avoid this responsibility. Amos and Isaiah spoke out and felt compelled to do so because they also saw the wrongs the Israelites were committing. Through the texts the students will see that while the Israelites of the time might still have been worshipping God, they were not treating each other fairly and nicely. Amos preached in the Northern Kingdom. His message primarily focused on social justice and God’s concern for all people. He tells the people that although they continue to perform the commanded ritu- als for God, God does not approve these actions. God is most concerned about the unjust way they treat other people. Amos tells the people that God says: I loathe, I spurn your festivals, I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies. If you offer Me burnt offerings—or your meal offerings—I will not accept them; I will pay no heed to your gifts of fatlings. Spare Me the sound of your hymns, and let Me not hear the music of your lutes. But let justice well up like water, righteousness like an unfailing stream. (Amos 5:21–24) These concepts and ideals are a foundation of Reform Jewry in North America. They were the corner- stone of our social action mission in the 1960s and continue to be the underpinning of our call to jus- tice today. Although the book of Isaiah is a single entity, many scholars believe that chapters 1–39 and 40–66 can be ascribed to two different prophets with the same name. There are other scholars who believe that chap- ters 56–66 can be attributed to a third prophet. If you are interested in a discussion of this topic you can consult W. Gunther Plaut’s The Haftarah Commentary (New York: UAHC Press, 1996), p. xxxiv. Isaiah and Amos had a similar message: you can continue to perform sacrifices and bring burnt offer- ings to God but they are meaningless when you don’t treat other humans well. According to Isaiah, God says: And when you lift up your hands, I will turn My eyes away from you; though you pray at length, I will not listen. Your hands are stained with crime—wash yourself clean; put your evil doings 65 66 Torah Lesson 6 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life away from My sight. Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Devote yourself to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow. (Isaiah 1:15–17) As with Amos, while prayer and service to God are important, we are to heed the call to show more com- passion and concern for others. In this lesson the students will begin to look at the world as God might see it. By sharing the news- paper articles found for homework in the previous lesson, students will have the opportunity to get into the mindset of not only seeing the ills of this world but also determining what needs to be done to correct these problems. Then they will be “transported” back to the time when Amos and Isaiah prophesied. The newsflash from INN–Israelite News Network will provide a historical overview of the Israelites from the Exodus from Egypt to the time in which Amos and Isaiah lived. (For a greater understanding of the time line see pages 98 and 117 in The Gift of Wisdom:The Books of Prophets and Writings, and page 91 in The Gift of Wisdom Teacher’s Guide [New York: UAHC Press, 2001].) Then the students will have the opportunity to look at biblical citations from Amos and Isaiah. Once again they will be asked to hear what God is saying through the prophets, determining what God was disturbed by and what changes the Israelites might need to make to address these injus- tices. The biblical citation exercise has several options to choose from. You, the teacher, know your class better than anyone and you should determine which of the options will provide the greatest learning opportunity for your students. Finally, the students will complete the lesson with their journal writing. ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS • Torah is an ongoing dialogue between the text and its students. • Torah is real in our daily lives: It goes with us wherever we are. • Developing the skills to study the Torah is essential to integrating Torah into our lives. • The prophets were focused on reminding the Jewish people how God wants us to live, and their mes- sages are at the heart of Reform Judaism. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS 1. What does the Torah have to say to me and my world? 2. How can Torah study help me in my everyday life? 3. Why is the Torah different from other books? 4. What is prophecy? 5. What is a prophet? 6. In what ways do the prophets and what they said (prophecy) remind us how God wants us to live? 7. How can I as a Reform Jew understand how God wants me to live through the writings of the prophets? CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Amos and Isaiah: The Intolerant Prophets 67 QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED 1. What are some of the problems that God might see in our world today? 2. What problems did God see that God spoke to the Israelites about through Amos and Isaiah? 3. How is the world we live in similar to that of Amos and Isaiah? EVIDENCE OF UNDERSTANDING • Through a speech, poem, collage, or poster, students will describe the problems God had with the Israelites during the time of Amos and Isaiah. • Students will compare the problems of the world during the time of Amos and Isaiah and the prob- lems of the world they live in today. • Through class discussion, students will begin to consider what we need to do to correct the problems of our world. LESSON OVERVIEW • Set Induction (10 minutes) • INN—Israelite News Network Broadcast (5 minutes) • Be a Prophet (35 minutes) • Conclusion (10 minutes) MATERIALS NEEDED • A copy or copies of Steven E. Steinbock’s The Gift of Wisdom: The Books of Prophets and Writings (New York: UAHC Press, 2001) for background material on the prophets Amos and Isaiah • Newspapers from the previous week • Scissors • Adult or student teacher to be the INN news anchor • INN Script for news reporter (page 71) • Time Line of the Prophets (page 74) • Map of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms (page 74) • Pointing stick (optional) • Paper • Pens or pencils • Chalkboard and chalk, or whiteboard and markers, or chart paper and markers 68 Torah Lesson 6 CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life • Poster board* • Glue/glue sticks* • Magazines* • Markers* • Quotations sheets (pages 72–73) READING RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS Plaut, W. Gunther. The Haftarah Commentary. New York: UAHC Press, 1996. LESSON PLAN SET INDUCTION (10 MINUTES) Have the students turn to page 9 in their workbooks and share the articles that they found for homework from the previous lesson. They don’t need to read the entire article to the class, just have them: • Give a synopsis of what the article says. • Explain why they think God would be unhappy with what is described in the article. • Describe what we should or could do to correct the wrong action or injustice. Not all of the students need to share their articles, perhaps only four or five, so that the class gets a feel for looking at our world through God’s eyes. If more students are interested in sharing their articles and you do not have the time, then you might want to consider finding five minutes at the beginning of each of the next few classes so that all of the students might have the opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas. Have a few newspapers from the previous week available in the room so that if a student did not com- plete the assignment but wanted to look through a paper to find an article, he or she would be able to do the work before class begins or if there is extra time during class. You might want to have an article prepared so that if the students are nervous or wary about starting, you can be the first to share. After, the students might be more comfortable. LEARNING ACTIVITIES INN—Israelite News Network Broadcast (5 minutes) Have an adult or student teacher come in dressed as a TV anchor. The volunteer should be someone who is willing to “ham it up” a little. Place a sign reading “INN (Israelite News Network)” in front of the desk that the volunteer will be speaking from and have him or her read the news report on page 71. If possi- ble, enlarge copies of the Time Line of the Prophets (page 74) and the map of the Northern and Southern *These items are necessary if you choose the alternative activity on page 70. CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life Amos and Isaiah: The Intolerant Prophets 69 Kingdoms (page 74) and display them behind the “anchor.” If the anchor wants, she or he may use a pointing stick to refer to the time line and map during the report.