Bernie Sanders delivered some of his most candid remarks on religion at the CNN Democratic Presidential Town Hall on Wednesday evening. Asked at the Derry, New Hampshire, forum how he’d reach out to religious voters, Bernie Sanders indicated that his public and spiritual lives were deeply intertwined.
Translation of the question: how can you possibly have morals when you are a Jewy Jew?
In which Sanders gives a very Jewish answer with lots of Jewy Jew Morals.
Wow, it’s almost as we have Justice, Justice, You Shall Pursue, and Repair Of The World as societal ideals, not to mention that the words for charity (tzedakkah) and righteousness (tzadek) are so close to each other… Weird, isn’t it? [/sarcasm]
This will keep happening more and more the longer he’s in the race. Expect another volley after NH.
2 To be sure, they seek Me daily,
Eager to learn My ways.
Like a nation that does what is right,
That has not abandoned the laws of its God,
They ask Me for the right way,
They are eager for the nearness of God:
3 “Why, when we fasted, did You not see?
When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?”
Because on your fast day
You see to your business
And oppress all your laborers!
4 Because you fast in strife and contention,
And you strike with a wicked fist!
your fasting today is not such
As to make your voice heard on high.
5 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?
6 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.
7 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.8 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.
9 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,
10 And you offer your compassion to the hungry
And satisfy the famished creature —
The shall your light shine in darkness,
And your gloom shall be like noonday.– Isaiah, Chapter 58 Verses 2-10
Remember: those values of his that you all love so much? Are directly from his Jewishness. Those are Jewish values.
This is why I am rapidly getting sick of Christianity and reading about conversion.
Jews are awesome. If I were not agnostic, they’d probably be the faith I’d want to join.
Not to wander off to one side with the conversation, but, yeah, it’s been tugging at me. I’m not one to consider things like this lightly but… I am. At some point I’ll make a post about the whys and wherefores, but some of the stuff I read while looking for something else, it was like … a light went on.
Never experienced that with the faith I grew up with. Really wanted to. Never did. Meh. Lots to write about it but not ready yet. Anyway, the point is, this sort of stuff is how the religion based on Judaism’s teachings SHOULD be behaving, but is NOT, and that’s very fucking sad.
Bernie is talking some real Judaica here with this tikkun olam answer. It gives me shivers!
The first time I read that phrase, after bring given some reading by @scribbleowl, I felt like someone had thumped me on the top of my head. I felt it in my feet, that sort of moment. Seeing it in practice is like “… oh. OH.”