Nehemiah and Izzy, Two Good Jews

What a thrill to find Nehemiah, yes, the governor of Jerusalem who has a book of the Bible named after him. When Artaxerxes sent Ezra from the Persian courts to oversee the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, he told Ezra to “do whatever seems best… within the will of your God” (Ezra 7:18). Nehemiah, Ezra’s contemporary tasked with rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, seems to have lived by the same advice. When he found that the noblemen were getting wealthy lending to farmers who could not feed their own families, he angrily asked the noblemen, “Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of our God” (Nehemiah 5:9)?

Throughout the book you see Nehemiah staying single-mindedly devoted to action that fulfilled Micah’s injunction to “do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.” By keeping his heart fixed on God and his hands fixing the plight of the people, Nehemiah successfully avoided self-indulgence in fat times and fear during threatening times. In each case Nehemiah avoided dwelling on the temptation or the terror by simply telling the Lord to remember, and then Nehemiah went back to work. He was doing the walk. He was one good Jew.

Several months ago, I became acquainted with the work of Izzy Kalman, a school psychologist turned international presenter. He started a “victim-proofing” program called Bullies to Buddies. We have spent several hours in emailed dialogue, so I was delighted to hear he would be presenting in Kennewick, June 4. I took Clare and KarrLayn with me to listen to Izzy.

It turns out “Izzy” is short for Israel. Izzy’s father survived the holocaust and has no belief in God, so Izzy grew up secular. He met a secular woman whose parents are observant Jews. As Merriam has gotten older she is returning to her faith and Izzy now attends synagogue once a week. As we talked over lunch, I learned all this and the fact that he had lived 11 years in Israel as a bilingual adult. We talked briefly about religion and he learned that I keep the Sabbath and still avoid “unclean” meats. In a later email he said, “You’re probably a better Jew than I am.” I answered by telling him that God specially blessed Abraham’s children and that the Jewish wit and wisdom have blessed people across continents and across time. I pointed out that the have always been at odds with the prevailing thought, and that he too is standing as a lone voice of reason against the anti-bully hysteria. I said, “So you’re probably a better Jew than you think.” Izzy is another good Jew who, regardless of his religious practice is lining up with the walk.