The prophetic voice. During the three weeks between Shavar Sabahamas, the 17th of Thomas and Tishabarv,

as we recall the destruction of the temples, we read three of the most searing passages in the prophetic

literature, the first two from the opening of the book of Jeremiah, and the third next week

from the chapter of Isaiah, first chapter of Isaiah. Perhaps no other time of the book of Jeremiah and the third next week from the chapter of Isaiah, first chapter of Isaiah.

Perhaps no other time of the year are we so acutely aware of the enduring force of ancient Israel's great visionaries.

The prophets had no power. They weren't kings or members of the royal court.

They were usually not priests or members of the royal court. They were usually not priests or members of the

religious establishment. They held no office. They weren't elected. Often they were deeply unpopular.

None more so than the author of this week's Haftarah, Jeremiah, who was arrested, flogged, abused,

put on trial, and only narrowly escaped with his life. Only rarely

were the prophets he did in their lifetimes. The only clear exception was Jonah, and he spoke to

non-Jews, the citizens of Nineveh. Yet their words were recorded for posterity and became a major feature of Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.

They were the world's first social critics.

And their message continues through the centuries.

As Kierkegaard almost said, when a king dies, his power ends.

When a prophet dies, his influence begins.

What was distinctive about the prophet,

wasn't that he foretold the future. The ancient world was full of such people. Suithsairs,

oracles, readers of runes, shamans, and other diviners, each of whom claimed inside track with the forces that govern fate and shape our ends rough-hew them how we will. Judaism has no time for such people. The terror

bans, one who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or cast spells, or who is a medium

or spiritist, or who consults the dead. So we are told in DeVarium chapter 18, it disbelieves

such practice is because it believes in human freedom, which means the future is not prescripted. It depends on us

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