Passionate Voices - Judas: Synagogue, Sabbath before Passover

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד

Hear O Israel
The LORD our GOD
The LORD is One


I stand here among the brothers, the men of Israel crowded in this full to bursting house of prayer. We begin to gather for Passover and here I confess hatred, O Adonai.  I hate him.  He stands before me head bowed as The Torah is read. The perfect Jew, the untaught Rabbi, and yet last evening he sat as a woman poured ointment over his feet, and publicly wept and caressed him.  He defended her, he scolded my concern for her wastefulness and made some self aggrandising declaration about his death; about how the poor are more permanent than him. Hypocrite!

I loved him once; loved his compassion and his passion, his powerful words and his amazing acts.  I thought they were signs of the Messiah – but he turned on the Pharisees and turned to the prostitutes and liars, away from the pure to the filth.  He has turned away the rich and the important and called the permanent poor to his side.  He gave me the purse  to care for, I thought it was a sign of trust and inclusion but not once has he called me aside with Peter and the others.

All that I loved now repulses me. This must come to an end: he must be stopped before he damages himself or God’s People.