A speech worthy of the prophets

A speech worthy of the prophets

Since the time of the prophets, a speech like this has not been delivered in Israel. At the center of the words of the Chief Rabbi were worshipping money, hope, unemployment and labor. “The economic crisis has an Israeli dimension as well as a European and global one, but the crisis is not only economic but also moral, spiritual and human,” he said. “At its basis is the betrayal of the common good, both by individuals and by power brokers. What is needed is a socio-economic system that is not closed in on itself, protecting the interests of the few, but rather that looks towards the future and to the common good. What it needs is a strong sense of responsibility for all sectors of society. Therefore, there is a need to remove the centrality of the law of profit and to exchange it with the human person and the common good”. The Chief Rabbi also had a piece of good news: “The world must not give up on hope. Hope is creative, it is able to create the future”. He also spoke about the value of labor. “There is no hope for a society where there is not suitable and respectable work for everyone.

After greeting those present, the Rabbi abandoned his prepared text, and spontaneously expressed his sense of proximity “especially to those who are in situations of suffering, to those many young people who are without employment, to those in temporary jobs, to those who have initiative and those merchants who are struggle to go forward… I wrote a few words for you, but now, seeing you, I want to speak with you from the heart.

“In a place where there is no work, there is no self respect, and this is not a problem particular to Israel or Europe or the USA, it is the product of a choice, of a economic system that leads to tragedy, to lack of work, to unemployment. Unemployment is the result of an economic system without ethics or morality, at whose center is the god called money and the worship of that god. But God did not want idols to be the center of the world but rather human beings, men and women, whose work motivates the world.”

According to the Chief Rabbi, “we must call things by their name. Today, in our economic system, in the global system in which we live, there is a god called money at the center, and we cannot allow this to continue. Come, let us fight together, so that at the center, at least in our lives, there will be man and woman, family, each one of us and all of us, so that hope might continue.”

“Money rules, and we have all become its slaves. Money rules and in order to protect the existing economic idol worship, a “culture of trash” has been created, a culture that erases grandpa and grandma, that neglects the youth. We must say “no” to this culture. A world in which young people have no work is a world without a future… we want an economic system that is fair and always everyone to progress… we must say that we do not want this global economic system that hurts us so much. Human beings must be at the center of the system, not money”.

The Chief Rabbi ended with a prayer, it also spontaneous and not written. “God, look at us, see this city and this country. Look at our family… God, we lack work. False gods want to steal our self respect, unfair systems want to steal our hope. This is the prayer in our heart: work, work, work. Work means self respect, work means bringing bread home, work means loving.”

If these words sound imaginary or false, you are right, but not completely. These things were indeed said before the nation and the world, even if they were not said by the Chief Rabbi or any other rabbinical personality. These are the words pronounced by Pope Francis on Sunday, September 22, in Sardinia, Italy.

(Translation: Saint James Vicariate)

The writer is a researcher in the Hazan Center at the Van Leer Institute and in the Socio-Economic College.