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There is a bit of semiotics lurking within the recent messages of the Trump Administration to faith communities. I focus on two of them: Presidential Message on the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel; and Presidential Message on Yom Kippur. The text of both Presidential messages follows below. They are both short but each is quite interesting both in themselves and for their inter-connections as woven by the Office of the President.
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Both Yom Kippur and Michaelmas mark moments of transition. Michaelmas is attached to the turning of the seasons--and the struggles against external forces that must be overcome. It looks to the bounty of summer in the knowledge of the turning toward winter. Yom Kippur is also attached to a cyclical ending and beginning, a renewal of relationships among humans and with the divine; it marks the turning of the individual toward the divine, the wrestling with divine forces that then transform the individual, and with them, the community of believers. Both suggest a wrestling with forces that recall a "struggle" ur-text in the tradition of both communities:
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. (Gen 32:24-30; KJV).
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But Michael is more than a protector; in the tradition this
Archangel is also the divine force that weighs the souls of humans. In
that aspect the Archangel is connected to contrition for sin. The Saint Michael Chaplet,
approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851 (from Portuguese Carmelite nun Antonia
d’Astonac), provides an analogue to that of the Jewish Amidah (Standing
Prayer) which plays a central role in the order of services for the Yom
Kippur observances and is also connected to repentance (Teshuvah) and
confession manifested in accordance with Jewish practice and belief
rooted in praise of the divine.
O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven, and the pains of hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen (Saint Michael Chaplet, Contrition)
Our God and God of our fathers, may our prayers come before You, and do not turn away from our supplication, for we are not so impudent and obdurate as to declare before You, Our God and God of our fathers, that we are righteous and have not sinned. Indeed, we and our fathers have sinned. * * * And so may it be Your will, Lord our God and God of our Fathers, to have mercy on us and forgive us all of our sins, grant us atonement for all our iniquities, and forgive and pardon us for all our transgressions. (from Amidah for Yom Kippur)
All of this swirls around the proclamations and point to something quite interesting. When they are put together one might be forgiven seeing in these two proclamations a particular weaving. It is this: one must first seek communion with the divine which requires a reconciliation within a framework of human failings--confession, contrition, penance and absolution, each in accordance with their own traditions. This inner and communal reconciliation is a necessary predicate for the activation of the responsibility of the divine to protect their human flock, a flock made special by their communion with the divine authority itself. It is from a rekindling of faith that the human community might seek the protection of the instruments of the divine against heavenly and mortal danger.
If that is the template, then the critical question becomes--how does one transpose this onto the spheres of human activities. For the Jews, it seems, there ought to be contentment, and perhaps gratitude, against persecution (the UK version here). But that is an old story in Europe and elsewhere, one marked by cycles of protection and betrayal, and the quid pro quo of which, the meanderings of which might be understood to have led circuitously to the formation of the State of Israel--and in this way to the Jewish version of Michaelmas. That may be disconcerting for a global community more comfortable with the semiosis of the "compliant" and "well behaved" Israelite (or Hebrew, or Jew--the semiotics of naming from outside merits an essay in itself) who is willing to pay for protection. That may provide context for the reference to
Christians, on the other hand, appear to be sorely in need of the Archangelic spirit, or at least its totem. But that requires the internal dialogues central to Yom Kippur. For Christians there ought to be a an Archangel who can protect--yet this is a peculiar sort of Archangel--one who judges before he protects. And that brings one back to contrition and internal communion with the divine. In that sense one might extract a sense that an internal purging is a necessary perquisite to external protection; it is hard to seek protection against Stan when Satan has insinuated himself within the persons of those seeking protection. This is also an old story--one older than the Holy Office and the bonfire of the vanities. But what may be much more important is the possibility of the emergence of thinking in which these lines of premises combine and become manifest within political communities. For one there is the peace that comes from behaving well enough to merit protection from persecution--always a contingent bargain with no easy payment plan. For the other there is an internal purification that is a prerequisite to casting Satan and his minions back to hell.
And yet the underlying semiosis of Yom Kippur and Michaelmas suggests something infinitely more nuanced and complex. For Yom Kippur it is the underlying premise that the fundamental forgiveness would be manifested in the return to Zion. For Michaelmas it is embedded in the Saint Michael Chaplet, and a return to a state of communion with the divine. The President wishes the People of Israel a meaningful holiday. And yet it is not clear that the meaningfulness is understood across the religious aisle in exactly the same way. To Christians, the President offers greetings and an emphasis on the responsibility of going forth in battle. And yet that battle is as much an internal one as it is one against external forces, whether clothed in the bodies of humans or otherwise. Both of these imaginaries appear to be deeply embedded in the meaning structures of the messages delivered by the President to the Nation. That suggests the challenges of thinking in linear trajectories and embedding past expectations into future realities.
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I send my best wishes to the Jewish community before the start of their solemn observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Hebrew calendar.
Every year, the Jewish faithful spend this Day of Atonement in fasting, prayer, and spiritual reconciliation. The last of the Ten Days of Repentance, believers mark the end of Yom Kippur with the sounding of the shofar—symbolizing a rekindling of faith and a renewed relationship with Almighty God.
As you observe this blessed day, my Administration is working to strengthen our proud national tradition of religious liberty, end faith-based persecution, and further the sacred cause of peace both at home and abroad.
We wish the Jewish faithful a meaningful Sabbath of Sabbaths. May you be inscribed in the Book of Life, may God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America.
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