Haburot

There are parts of the gospel talking about the controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees. People often think that the Pharisees had a lot of problems, and so do the Jews now. Actually, by telling this controversy, the author of the gospel wants to teach us about our own conducts, not of the Jews.

In the Gospel of Luke 11:37-42, the Pharisees strongly criticize Jesus, because Jesus doesn’t wash his hands before eating. The Pharisees criticize Jesus not about hygienic matters, but more about ritual matters. This ritual is called haburot. It is a ritual purity, especially after performing exorcism and after being in contact with people. Remember the gospel readings of last week: Jesus performed exorcism and taught the crowds. The Pharisees criticize him as unclean, since he is eating without washing his hands. Here, the Pharisees are bewildered by something that is really unnecessary. They turn the ritual matters to the moral matters. As if they say, “You, Jesus, are morally unclean, since you don’t wash your hands before eating as the rituals said!”

However, Jesus’ reaction is amazing and surprising, the NIV’s translation writes, “But give what is inside the dish (what you have) to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.” Jesus is so clever. If the Pharisees twist the ritual law to the moral law, Jesus twists it back by emphasizing the importance of giving the food within the dish as alms, as the sign of ritual purity. Jesus doesn’t to be bothered by unnecessary ritual matters just for the sake of the ritual itself. Instead, he really emphasizes the social aspect of the ritual. That’s why he easily changes the debate from just the ritualistic view to the social view. By saying this, Jesus also justifies what he just did, that is, exorcism and teaching the crowds, are not something that make him or people unclean ritually, but make them clean ritually instead.

Many people think that the ritual purity is above all things, and this ritual makes people holy. Jesus doesn’t think so. The ritual can make people holy, but not automatically makes people holy. The ritual for the sake of the ritual is useless. And Jesus is always bothered with it. There is a story from the Eastern tradition.

There were a master and his disciples who sat down to worship in their Buddhist temple. Each evening the monastery cat would get in the way, this black cat also always meowed terribly. It really distracted the worshipers. So the master ordered that the cat be tied during evening worship.

After the master died the cat continued to be tied during evening worship. And when the cat died, another cat was brought to the monastery so that it could be duly tied during evening worship.

Centuries later, the master’s scholarly disciples wrote academic book on the liturgical significance of tying up a cat while worship is performed. The title of the book was “THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ROPE AND BLACK CAT IN THE LITURGICAL CEREMONY IN WORSHIPING GOD THE ALMIGHTY.” Impressed by this highly academic work, that community made this argument as an eternally unchanged dogma.

What a silly liturgical tradition and regulation!

Don’t be surprised that there are many modern Pharisees who do not know the life of the people in grass root promulgate unimportant liturgical regulation. These regulations, for example, forbid priest to give signs of peace, forbid cultural dances, clapping hands, altar girls in the mass. Perhaps those people consider shaking hands, dances, clapping hands, or women/girls as ritually unclean. Isn’t it a new kind of haburot / ritual cleanness, which really bothers Jesus?

Eucharist is a celebration of our faith on the death and resurrection of Christ. A celebration should have a social aspect. If a celebration really touch the very heart of the people, people can be moved to giving alms, or in other sense, people are moved to do many necessary social works. Eucharist can be a power that moves the society, as it was in the life of the early Church, if only there was no haburot.

We’d better listen to Jesus!