Lent 3 - Exodus: Our Neighbor's House

Lent 3 – Exodus
Exodus 20.1-17

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…. (Ex 20.17)

These ten “words” to Moses on Sinai are God’s gift—a gift intended to bring happiness and prosperity to the people God chose to be a light to the nations. These words—this gift—are given a special holiday in the Jewish calendar, Simchat Torah, when the Torah is carried in joyous procession and the blessings of God’s good order are celebrated. These ten rules show us a way of life that will bring good health, well-being and abundant life. This is God’s desire for us.

Hearing these words, we know our shortcomings. We are not living the way God intended. Each of these commandments conjures images of the suffering and misery we endure because we are unable to live up to God’s intentions for us.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…..

Houses in Palestine are a particular source of suffering. Many Palestinian families lose their property because their titles to the land are not recognized by Israeli courts and they are evicted.

Other families want to add a room or remodel the bathroom or put on a new roof. When they apply for building permits they are denied. When permits are granted, the permit often costs more than the construction.

Some Palestinian families live for years under the threat of having their homes bulldozed. The demolition orders are issued and the family waits….the soldiers could come any morning…next week, next month, or three or ten years from now. They never know when. Since 1967, more than 24,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian houses are destroyed to make way for settler-only roads in the West Bank. Palestinian houses are destroyed to create parks for Israelis. Houses have been destroyed in Bethlehem to clear the land for building Israel’s security wall. Houses in the northern edge of the Gaza Strip have been demolished to create a buffer between Palestinians and the Israelis living near the border with Gaza. Houses are demolished as punishment when a family member is convicted or suspected of attacking Israelis, sometimes damaging or destroying neighboring homes in the process.

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) works to stop demolitions and rebuilds houses every year, to replace homes destroyed by the Israeli military. On January 23, Beit Arabiya (“Arabiya’s house) was destroyed for the fifth time. Beit Arabiya is a home belonging to Arabiya Shawamreh, her husband Salim and their seven children. Each time the house has been rebuilt by ICAHD's Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists. [In the first photo, Salim and Arabiya stand in front of their home. Second photo is the rubble left after the fifth demolition]

“ICAHD Director, Dr. Jeff Halper, standing astride the ruins, vowed to support Salim and Arabiya in rebuilding their home. ‘We shall rebuild, we must rebuild forthwith, as an act of political defiance of the occupation and protracted oppression of Palestinians,’ said Halper.”

Beit Arabiya is part of a Bedouin community in an area where Israelis are expanding their settlements in the West Bank. Although the residents claim the land, Israel does not recognize their claims.

Gracious God, you have given us an abundance of good gifts, but we have failed to distribute them equitably. We abuse your gifts and the power you have given us over your creation. Give us the humility to admit our failure and the courage to stand up for human rights and to rebuild our world according to your desires for us. Amen.