Reading 4

• Six voices: Announcer, Yeshua, Aaron, Rebecca, Leah, Ben

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, or they will be filled”
(Matt.5:6)


Announcer. Good morning and shalom, listeners to GAL Radio, broadcasting from Beatitude Heights. Lovely morning again; we hope it is wherever you are. I’m delighted to welcome again for his weekly talk-back Rabbi Yeshua ben-Yosef of Nazareth. Rabbi Yeshua has been holding seminars here for folks eager to get a better understanding of Torah. Good morning, Rabbi.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Good morning to you . . . and you . . . and you. I hope that the world is treating you fairly because that is what yesterday’s discusion was about, and it’s what we’re talking about today.

Announcer. Just remind us of the topic again, Rabbi.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Yesterday we took this great idea that drove the prophets of antiquity. God knows we need to recover it today. Every generation is in constant danger of losing it. Once the ruling elites are comfortable and content, it’s apt to be forgotten.

Announcer. Sorry to interject, Rabbi. What is this, again?

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Well, sometimes it’s called righteousness; that’s a word often heard. But righteousness can be a bit misleading. Far better is justice.

Announcer. And presumably those who ‘hunger and thirst’ for it (as I think you said) are those who are denied it.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Well, obviously . . . but they don’t get it unless the powerful are just as hungry and thirsty, and want it for everyone. Any way, lights are flashing. We have callers. Who’s first? Aaron from Jericho. Morning, Aaron.

Aaron from Jericho. Morning, Rabbi. I’d like to put something to you. I doubt seriously that the haves will ever relinquish their prosperity and power and privilege to the poor and disempowered at the bottom of the peck order. Surely that’s the lesson of history. Doesn’t it call for a revolution?

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Ouch! You have no confidence in the prosperous, the powerful and the privileged, Aaron?

Aaron from Jericho. Prophet Amos was pretty cynical, Rabbi, and I don’t think things have changed all that much in eight centuries. The well-to-do were corrupt then, and they’re corrupt today. And the inequity is compounded by our being a Roman colony. People are getting squeezed by Rome and what doesn’t go to Rome is collared by our own elites.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. You sound pretty angry, Aaron. I can’t say I disagree with you except for your talk of revolution. We’re not likely to drive out the Romans overnight, and brawling among ourselves just compounds the problems that flow from Roman occupation. So, I’m all for talking about justice without violence. Thanks for your contribution, though. We have Rebecca on the line. Hi, Rebecca. Where are you from?

Rebecca from Tiberias. Tiberias, Rabbi.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Oh, not too far away. What’s on your mind, Rebecca?

Rebecca from Tiberias. Don’t cringe, Rabbi . . . but I think I may be what you would call a radical feminist.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Delighted to meet you, Rebecca. And I’m not cringeing. My mother was a radical feminist. I remember that when I was a kid she used to sing an old freedom song called ‘My heart is overflowing.’ It was about God bringing a new age for humanity. ‘He has shown the strength of his arm, He has swept away the high and mighty. He has set kings down from their thrones and lifted up the humble . . .

Rebecca from Tiberias. (interrupting) I’ve heard that song too, Rabbi. My mother used to sing it. ‘He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands.’

Yeshua ben-Yosef. You were saying you were a feminist, Rebecca. Sounds like your mother is too . . . like my mother.

Rebecca from Tiberias. Rabbi, do you think it’s right for women to kick up a fuss?

Yeshua ben-Josef. Sometimes, Rebecca, I think fixing up the world will come about only when women do jump up and down for justice.

Rebecca from Tiberias. Thank you, Rabbi. I’ll tell my mother what you said.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Go well, Rebecca. We have Leah on the line. Good morning, Leah.

Leah from Tiberias. Hello, Rabbi. I was just listening to your last caller – Rebecca. I’m from Tiberias too.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Welcome to Torah Talkback, Leah. You a feminist also?

Leah from Tiberias. Not sure what that word means, Rabbi. But I have heard that your band has women in it. Is that so?

Yeshua ben-Yosef. Yes, indeed, Leah, and why should we not have women with us? We are trying to remould society, and if that means anything at all, it surely means equality between male and female. Besides, women seem to cotton on better than men to some of the stuff I’m teaching, especially what I’m trying to help people understand about non-violence.

Leah from Tiberias. And you think it’s possible to build a just society without violent overthrow of the rich and powerful?

Yeshua ben-Yosef. It has to be possible, Leah. If the only way to achieve a fair go for the deprived and downtrodden is by a violent uprising against their oppressors, we end up with a new class of bitter resentful people – and the whole cycle is perpetuated . . . over and over and over. We’ve got Ben waiting. Bye, Leah . . . and Hi, Ben.

Ben, travelling. Good morning, Rabbi. I’ve travelled quite a lot, and I’m just passing through now, on my way to Syria. My work has taken me to some interesting spots, and shown me that this isn’t a bad place at all. If we could get rid of the Romans, life would be better, but our religion does seem to promulgate some great ethics.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. You sound like a proud son of the covenant, Ben.

Ben, travelling. I am that, Rabbi. And you sound like one too. I like the way you have been interpreting Torah to the people – especially the stuff about working for a just and equitable society.

Yeshua ben-Yosef. We have to do it ourselves, Ben. There is no other way. I think some people figure that a Messiah will come down from heaven and fix up everything that’s wrong. I’m afraid that’s crazy stuff. We have to get stuck in and do it ourselves.

Announcer. (interrupting) Sorry to cut you off, Ben . . . and Rabbi. You’ve been listening to Torah Talkback with Rabbi Yeshua ben-Yosef. Be tuned again next week, same time, same station.