Word and Journey

The Rituals that Bind Us. Hunters, Season 1, Part II


Listen Later

Moses and Jake continue their review of the hit Amazon Prime

show Hunters, which follows the adventures of a group of Nazi Hunters in
New York in the 1970's. We bring many questions.

 

            Why do we

need to remember the painful things?

            We need to

know where we came from so we don't repeat it.

            We need to

know where we came from so we know what's driving us, and what we're carrying.

            We need to

know what we are carrying so we can lay it down.

            Why did God

command the Children of Israel to build memorial stones? To remember how He
showed up with them. Why does the church partake of the Eucharist? To call to
remembrance what Christ did - to ritually recreate and participate in the
events of our salvation.

            Remembrance

can be life giving, connective, healing even. I don't see that coming out in
Hunters. When they talk about remembrance, there is a sense of
remembering heritage, and that seems to be a binding agent. Very much an Us vs
Them dynamic. Also a high vengeance component.

 

            We could

say that technically the Hunters are holding a grudge on behalf of the Jewish
people. But we wouldn't really talk about it that way usually, because we
generally think of holding a grudge as bad. Why do we find a way to forgive
these folks for what they do? Is it just because of the badness they've gone
through? Is one exempted from forgiveness when the atrocities committed against
them have reached a certain point?

            Compare and

contrast The Hunters with Corrie Ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place. She
engaged the same enemy differently, and achieved forgiveness.

 

What is the difference between vengeance and justice.

            Vengeance,

revenge, is an expression of an anger part. It's a reaction to injustice and boundary
violation. I think it's meant to be protective against a feeling of
helplessness, and against the gnawing horror of irreplaceable loss and
irreparable damage. What was broken cannot be repaired, therefore the only
agency I have left is to destroy in return.

 

            Justice is

to put all things in their proper place. This could include consequences, but
could also allow for healing. I would say true justice can be done from a place
of compassion, or at least calm. It's not out to punish or destroy, but to
simply allot what is meet and right.

 

            We also see

the binding power of ritual, the way self-sacrifice makes God real, and a whole
lot of trauma.

 

 

This podcast is all about building a community of readers,

viewers, thinkers, and creatives! If you would like to join us, consider supporting
the podcast at patreon.com/mosesbernabe.

 

Moses Bernabe can be found on instagram @mosesbernabe.

 

For more information about Jake, contact him at www.jacobrayschwartz.com or @jacobrayschwartz

 

 

Thanks for listening!!

 

#hunters #tv #show #entertainment #media #jew #jews #holocaust

#nazi #nazihunter #history #historicalfiction #trauma #intergenerationaltrauma
#legacy #suffering #redemption #vengeance #justice #family #community #ritual
#remembrance #remember #memory #memorial

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Word and JourneyBy Moses Bernabe