{"id":54852,"date":"2019-05-04T23:33:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T20:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=54852"},"modified":"2019-05-04T23:33:03","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T20:33:03","slug":"storytelling-and-decision-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/storytelling-and-decision-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Storytelling and Decision-Making"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"54852","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49419,"related_cahpter":"211","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many books in the Tanach end with a final speech by the leader, summarising the events that had befallen the people thus far. Jacob\u2019s blessings end Genesis, and most famously, the entire book of Deuteronomy is a parting speech by Moses. Here too, in our final chapter, we have Joshua relating a condensed version of the national narrative. In all these cases, we can learn as much from what is left out of these summaries as from what is said in them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The brief history of the Israelites given in this chapter is a polemic of chosenness and responsibility. Abraham was chosen by God, and everything that happened to his descendents is part of God\u2019s plan for them: the deliverance from slavery in Egypt, the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, and the numerous victorious battles with nations along the way. None of the stories of complaint against God that dot the books of Exodus and Numbers are mentioned here; neither are the dramatic stories around the sin of the golden calf or the ten spies. Even the revelation of the Torah at Sinai is omitted. Only divine deliverance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This story forces a certain perspective on the people listening. They are made to identify with Joshua\u2019s retelling of the story &#8212; \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your own eyes saw what I did to the Egyptians<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (verse 7) \u00a0&#8212; even though none of them were alive at the time of the exodus. At the same time, Joshua\u2019s framing might contradict their own recent experiences: \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I sent a plague before you to drive out [the nations]&#8230; it was not by your sword or your bow<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (verse 12). For those who had just recently fought with their swords and bows (see 19:47, for example), this might have been a strange thing to hear!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But framing works. After telling this particular version of their history, Joshua gives the Israelites a strange three-way decision to make: either worship the gods that Abraham\u2019s family used to, or the gods of the Amorites in Canaan, or the one God of Israel (verses 14-15). After hearing such a story, what could the people do but agree? Even when he goads them, saying that they will not be able to remain faithful, they redouble their enthusiastic commitment to God. (Stay tuned for the book of Judges to see what happens to this promise!)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What can we make of this rhetoric? Sometimes, such speech is dangerous. We have to make sure that we notice how national narratives and memories are constructed, and become sensitive to the way they are framed. When we are told something general about the way the world is, we need to learn to listen to what is being silenced or erased through this telling, and wonder why. And when a choice is presented between a number of fixed options, we must wonder whether any other alternatives also exist. 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