“[God] has told you, O human, what is good,
And what the Eternal requires of you:
Only to do justice
And to love goodness,
And to walk modestly with your God."
"Adam," while often gendered as "man," is actually a non-gendered term for human. Everyone is being addressed in this verse! Do you think the term "adam," human, is intentional here?
How is Micah's charge simple? How is it complicated?
- appeared on the scene in 735 BCE at the very latest until at least 728, and was a prophet in Jerusalem
- was a fierce advocate of justice. His opponents were other prophets as well as spiritual and secular leaders (!) who he claimed weren't interested in justice, but their own power.
"This city’s leaders give judgment for a bribe; its priests interpret the law for pay; its prophets give their revelations for money.” (Micah 3:11)
Who might we imagine as Micah in our modern times? When do you feel like you have embodied Micah's values?
Do you agree that all 613 Commandments - or perhaps, more figuratively, all mitzvot in general - can be distilled into Micah's charge?
And this is what Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written(Micah 6:8)? “To do justly”; this is justice. “To love mercy”; this is acts of kindness. “To walk humbly with your God”; this is referring to taking the indigent dead out for burial and accompanying a poor bride to her wedding canopy, both of which must be performed without fanfare.
The Gemara adds...:Walk humbly, then in matters that tend to be conducted in private, e.g., giving charity and studying Torah, all the more so should they be conducted privately.
There is little in the world more insufferable than self-righteousness. Those who suffer from it believe that God is on their side, supporting the piety of the observant against the ignorance of those who are not. Self-righteousness lies at the very heart of the fundamentalist, making him police officer, judge, and prosecutor.
In contrast, God makes a small request through the agency of the prophet. “Act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Micah asks this of us as if it were easy and imposed no great burden. Yet the burden of humility is the very fact that we have to remind ourselves of it always. - Dr Erica Brown
How is one's attitude and humility towards justice important?
How does Micah's approach to justice inform, resonate with or strike a dischord in our own justice values? How might it inform our listening session today?