Cult worshipper – still Jewish?

 

Shalom and thank you for your question!

We don’t know the exact word you are referring to, but it’s possible that you have in mind the famous Vision of the Dry Bones, from the Biblical prophets.

“And he led me in the valley, which was full of bones… Very dry… And he said to me” Prophesy on these bones… And a spirit shall come in to them and they shall live and stand upon their feet, a very very large host “.

According to one of the Biblical commentaries the bones belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, who calculated the time of Redemption and based on that  ran away from the Egyptian enslavement before Moses took the Jewish people out with Divine guidance and assistance , only to be attacked by the people of Gat and killed. This prophecy makes a connection between the first Redemption, from Egypt, to the future Redemption, when there will be a general Resurrection of the dead.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that we should take note of an important detail in the prophecy, it’s location. The prophet Ezekiel, who had this vision, was located ‘in the midst of the valley’, a low place, in the Babylonian exile. This physically low location symbolizes a spiritually low situation. Not only that, but the valley is full of dry bones. These were bones of people who sinned by disobeying G-d’s instructions.

The prophet continues describing the lowly situation of these people:

“And behold they are exceedingly dry…”

Their spiritual state was so low, that no moisture – symbolizing spirituality, could be found. Nevertheless G-d instructs the prophet, “And you shall tell them, these dry bones, hearken to the word of the L-rd! ” and in the end they will merit resurrection.

The spiritual meaning of this vision relates to Jews who at first glance have no ‘spirit’, that is, no revealed connection to G-d. They are considered as infants who were kidnapped and not brought up by their real parents therefore having no recognition of them. They have no inkling of the precepts of Judaism, not knowing the most basic of concepts, or even the Hebrew alphabet. Thus they are called ‘dry bones’, possessing no basic knowledge, no flesh, no sinews.

The cry of the L-rd is to those Jews who do have knowledge of Jewish spirituality: “And he said to me, Ye son of Adam, shall these bones live?” if you are a son of Adam, that is, you have concern for Judaism and your fellow Jew, (the name Adam is from the same root as’Adameh’, I shall resemble, the Supernal One,) then you you must go and” prophesy to these bones and tell them: Dry bones, hearken to the word of the L-rd!”

The prophesy ends with the promise that when G-d’s command will be fulfilled and the dry bones will be told the word of G-d, then they will be brought to life in actuality, and this is what happened :

” And the spirit of the L-rd came in to them, and they lived, and they stood on their feet, a very very large host.”