{"id":63278,"date":"2019-09-22T14:29:44","date_gmt":"2019-09-22T11:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63278"},"modified":"2023-04-17T08:48:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T05:48:08","slug":"elishas-musical-interlude","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/elishas-musical-interlude\/","title":{"rendered":"Elisha\u2019s Musical Interlude"},"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":[527,931,512,506],"acf":{"old_id":"63278","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":40788,"related_cahpter":"312","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"He is able to identify his psychological state and knows what tools will work for him in such a situation","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maimonides, in his <em>Guide of the Perplexed<\/em>, discusses a variety of requirements for becoming a prophet. In addition to possessing perfected intellectual, moral, and imaginative faculties, Maimonides also identifies anger and sadness as emotional states that prevent one from receiving prophecy. Social science research supports the idea that when we are consumed with anger our brains function differently and certain faculties cannot be easily accessed. The Talmud summarizes the concept that one cannot receive prophecy in a state of anger and bases this assertion on the story of Elisha\u2019s first prophecy, which appears in our chapter, 2 Kings Chapter 3.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story of Elisha unfolds as follows: Jehoram King of Israel, Jehoshafat King of Judah and the King of Edom have all joined forces to wage a war against Moab. But, on their journey to the battle they run out of water. When Jehoram turns to the prophet Elisha for a solution, instead of jumping at the opportunity to guide the people of Israel through delivering God\u2019s word, Elisha lashes out in anger and mocks Jehoram. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you call out to your father\u2019s and mother\u2019s idolatrous prophets (instead of turning to me for help)\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Putting aside questions of Elisha\u2019s reluctance to simply serve as prophet to the King of Israel in his time of need, more fascinating is Elisha\u2019s next step. When he finally does decide to deliver a prophecy, he first calls for a musician to play music for him. The various commentaries suggest that his was his mechanism for diminishing his state of anger and bringing himself to a better place, one in which he would be able to receive God\u2019s message.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does it mean that Elisha could not hear the word or God in his state of anger? If we think of prophecy as a line of communication between God and human beings it makes sense that those lines might be cut off or blurred at times. Elisha\u2019s ultimately achieves success in his first solo prophetic moment because he is able to readily employ a two-pronged approach: He is able to identify his psychological state and knows what tools will work for him in such a situation. Once Elisha acknowledges his anger, his chosen method for shifting his emotional state is listening to music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While prophecy may not be a part of our general experience today, we certainly understand what it means to participate in productive dialogue and have lines of communication be truly open. Elisha models for us a path to achieve this: honing our emotional self-awareness and developing a set of tools to employ in moments that require an emotional recalibration. That is when we may merit to see authentic communication, of all sorts, flourish.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63279,"id":63279,"title":"2kings3-music soothes","filename":"2kings3-music-soothes.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-music-soothes.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/elishas-musical-interlude\/2kings3-music-soothes\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings3-music-soothes","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63278,"date":"2019-09-22 11:29:33","modified":"2022-05-04 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