I’ve learned two new words this past month: mishpat (mish-pawt) and tzedakah (ts(e)daˈka). These are Hebrew words found many times (over 200, yikes!) in the Old Testament of the Hebrew Bible. In English they have been translated to “justice” and “righteousness.” As someone growing up in a faith community that teaches from the Bible, I’ve heard these pairings over and over again. 

What’s fascinating about these two words is that their true meaning had not been fully expressed to me until now. 

I’ve been going through what you may call a deconstruction of my faith for some years now. Not deconstruction in the sense that I’m giving up or turning away from my faith, but rather being in a long, long season of what feels like actually taking ownership of the things that I’ve been hearing for years and years. I’ve discovered that at the core, I’ve had a lot of issues with the Bible and I also experience a serious distrust of most leadership in organized Christian communities. And I think... for good reason. I never had a clear contextual understanding of what the Bible is. Where it came from. No one really talked about it. And now that it’s becoming a bit clearer, I have a fascinated appreciation for this weird book.

As I’ve been taking on this deconstruction, I’ve been pushed into areas of not only becoming a hearer of the Bible, but a studier. A meditator. I’ve become more of a historian, digging into the history of the creation of the Bible, learning about ancient Israelite culture and Hebrew language. Asking questions. Lots of questions. It’s what I should have been doing all along….took me almost 30 years but better late than never!

And from this digging I’ve been learning the true meanings of words in their original context… like mishpat and tzedakah. I’ve never even heard the Hebrew words until this past month. Something about hearing them spoken aloud moves my spirit. They speak even more volumes to me as the whole world has been going through COVID-19. 

Though translated as the word “justice” in English, mishpat refers to “my posture towards the vulnerable and the poor in my community,” (Tim Mackie, The Bible Project Podcast, 2017). The Bible often lists the groups of people that followers of Yahweh God are to care about, referred to as the “quartet of the vulnerable.” They are the widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor. Over and over and over again, Yahweh God in the Old Testament calls humanity to practice mishpat and tzedakah toward these groups. God cares deeply about them and so should we. 

Tsedakah, translated as “righteousness” in English, is at its core a relational word. Its better translation in English terms is “to do right by someone,” (Tim Mackie, The Bible Project Podcast, 2017). This word has always been presented to me as a personal standard. A word that describes my own moral rightness. I should try to be morally good, to be “righteous.” 

But in reality, this is a social word. A relational word that calls me to do right by my fellow human. It’s not about me. It’s about everyone else and my relationship to them.  

The call to practice “justice” and “righteousness” has totally new meaning to me! True meaning. Meaning that’s more in line with my spirit. Meaning that I can get behind. I think we all can...

What weight this holds in a time where the whole world is becoming (I hope) acutely more aware of the groups in our communities that are without resources and need help. They have always been there, but it was easier to ignore them. To put them aside. 

This new work has been created out of my meditation on the “quartet of the vulnerable.” It features four tasseled copper tubes, each representing one group in the quartet and expressed in a way teasing to depictions of iconographic imagery in the Byzantine era (golden halos around individuals).

I know that COVID-19 is affecting each of us in all sorts of ways but may we use this time to care for the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the poor in our community. May we clothe ourselves in mishpat and tzedakah. 
-KB

‘Any neglect shown to the needs of the members of this quartet is not called merely a lack of mercy or charity but a violation of justice, of mishpat. God loves and defends those with the least economic and social power, and so should we. That is what it means to “do justice.”’ (Tim Keller, Relevant Magazine, 2012)