{"id":48154,"date":"2019-01-24T16:41:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T14:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=48154"},"modified":"2022-08-18T13:17:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-18T10:17:34","slug":"pledge-of-allegiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pledge-of-allegiance\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPledge\u201d Of Allegiance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[478,366,451,363],"acf":{"old_id":"48154","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":45298,"related_cahpter":"141","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A brilliant message of hope in a surprising twist of a midrash","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In commenting on the phrase in Balaam\u2019s blessing \u201cHow goodly are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel,\u201d Rashi, the 11<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century commentator, offers a rather surprising interpretation. He explains that the Hebrew word for dwelling place, \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">m<\/span><\/i><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ishkenotekha<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d refers to a pledge (<em>mashkon<\/em>), more specifically, God\u2019s commitment that in the future, hundreds of years after Balaam first delivered these words, He will take out His anger on the Jewish people by destroying the Temple as opposed to destroying the Jewish people themselves &#8211; and this destruction of the Temple will serve as a means of atonement for the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The authoritative biographer of Rashi, Prof. Avraham Grossman, professor Emeritus of Jewish History at the Hebrew University, suggests that what prompted Rashi to propose such a far-fetched interpretation was his commitment to being both an educator and inspiration to the Jews of his time, the era of the Crusades. In order to combat the Christian claim that God\u2019s destruction of the Temple meant He had given up on his relationship with the Jews, Rashi, through an interpretation of the non-Israelite Balaam\u2019s words, reassured his contemporary kinsmen that God had laid waste to the Temple in order to take his anger out on a building, and not His people, who He remains ever loyal to and did not abandon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite Rashi\u2019s explanation stretching our usual inclinations to interpret a verse within its immediate context, we can very much appreciate what he was doing \u2013 as one contemporary scholar, R. W. L. Moberly has put it, \u201cOriginal meaning and continuing significance are not identical, but they are in important ways inseparable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While on the level of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">peshat<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Rashi, the master teacher of Jews throughout the ages, knew \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">mishkenotekha<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d meant \u201cdwelling places,\u201d he offered the alternative explanation of \u201cpledge\u201d to remind the Jews of his time that despite the constant attacks, both polemical and physical, by their enemies, despite the Crusades, God had not abandoned the Jewish people and our relationship with Him was secure.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79446,"id":79446,"title":"zech7-temple-Francesco_Hayez","filename":"zech7-temple-Francesco_Hayez.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-temple-Francesco_Hayez.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-fifth-month\/zech7-temple-francesco_hayez\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"zech7-temple-francesco_hayez","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79443,"date":"2020-08-30 13:03:07","modified":"2022-08-18 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