Rabbi Natasha Mann

  A Tale of (More Than) Two Cities There is an ongoing joke about the British that football is our religion. I happen to be a football atheist; I don't spend much time thinking about football or its value. However, we seem to be discovering in recent years that this parallel unfortunately extends to some of the less savoury elements of religion, too - such as the overlooking of abuse when it threatens to topple organisations and authorities.  I am thinking, of course, of a building project. I am thinking of a society rife with abuses of human rights, where individuality and expression are punished financially and violently, whose streets I would personally be afraid to walk.  Actually, I am thinking of two societies.  One is Qatar, where the World Cup is due to begin tomorrow, drawing over a million international visitors. Where migrant workers have been building the infrastructure, under conditions described as slavery, with a truly shocking death toll in the thousa...

This piece first appeared in Rabbi Natasha's commentary on the 929 Tanakh Project here . The Book of Amos mostly consists of prophecies, visions, and interactions between the Divine and the Prophet. However, in the seventh chapter, we come across a brief narrative conversation between Amos and Amaziah. Amos is a prophet from the Southern Kingdom of Judah, wherein the First Temple still stands proud; he has been sent by the Divine on a prophetic mission to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, in which there are two centres of religious worship: the temple of Dan and the temple of Bethel, both containing golden calves. The second character of this brief narrative is Amaziah, the priest of the temple in Bethel. Two religious leaders stand in opposition to one another.  The narrative begins with Amaziah sending a message to King Jeroboam II of Israel, warning the king that Amos’s critical prophecies are difficult for the people to hear, because Amos is prophesying about the death of the...

Background of Amos Time:  8 th Century BCE Place: Israel (North)             Born in Tekoa, Judah; Prophesied in Bethel, Israel Kings:  Uzziah (Judah); Jeroboam II (Israel) Political Backdrop: ·        Jeroboam II enjoyed wealth and military success. o    HOWEVER: Idolatry and abuse of the poor. ·        Bethel (where Amos prophesied) = one of the Northern temples with the golden calves, built by Jeroboam I. ·        When was Amos written? Scholars disagree, but likely an early work. o    Arguments for Amos being later are centred around the prophecies of monarchy falling come true (Amos 9:11-15). Primary Themes of Amos: ·        Classic prophetic outline: Sin – Punishment – Redemption ·        Morality > S...