{"id":63523,"date":"2019-09-25T16:50:33","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T13:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63523"},"modified":"2023-04-23T13:16:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-23T10:16:34","slug":"help-from-those-you-least-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/help-from-those-you-least-expect\/","title":{"rendered":"Help From Those You Least Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/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":[415,402,755,372],"acf":{"old_id":"63523","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33992,"related_cahpter":"316","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Daring solutions can come from the outcasts: wisdom doesn\u2019t always come packaged as an elder or a professor or a sage","content":"

One of the ways society holds itself back is with our own preconceived notion of where help might come from, what an expert is \u201csupposed\u201d to sound or look like, who counts and who doesn\u2019t, who looks presidential or ministerial and who doesn\u2019t. How often have we passed over the very person who has what might lift us up or put us back on the right path, only because we are blinded by our preconceptions of what our help should appear as.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s reading offers a radical break, so large, in fact, that the traditional commentators mostly missed it.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Israel is facing its worst famine, a result of the siege and war brought on by Aram and its kingdom, the only people not in the city starving are four <\/span>metzoraim<\/span><\/i>, four people banished for their skin disease. According to biblical law, these people, once diagnosed, are forced to reside alone, outside the protection and benefit of civil society.<\/span><\/p>\n

Small wonder, then, that they are the most bold when it comes to addressing their famine. They have less to lose. As one remarks to his fellows: \u201cif we go into town \u2026 we shall die there; and if we just sit here, still we die.\u201d Their being expelled and isolated fuels their desperate courage. They wander into the very camp of the enemy and discover that it has been abandoned. Food and livestock and riches abound, left behind by the terrified Aramean soldiers on the run.<\/span><\/p>\n

After satisfying their own hunger, the show a remarkable elevation of soul. Rather than despising the culture that had isolated them, they challenged themselves to respond with a loyalty greater than the residents of Samaria deserved: \u201cWe are not doing right. This is a day of good news, and we are keeping silent!\u201d So they report their finds and the siege is lifted.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one expects a great victory from a gaggle of lepers. No one in the city expected their starvation to end with such a miracle. And it is indeed a miracle, as every miracle was a surprise when it happens. Blinded as we often are by our prior expectations, our bias, our chauvinism, we don\u2019t really see the resource in front of us until it demands our attention by taking direct action.<\/span><\/p>\n

What if we learned from this story that wisdom doesn\u2019t always come packaged as an elder or a professor or a sage? That inner strength doesn\u2019t always come wrapped in a warrior or soldier? That compassion can come from a man, that decisive leadership can come from a woman? That someone with a disability might be the very companion we need to get through a hard time or to help us delight in a good one?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Time to open our eyes, friends. The famine is about to break, and we can all break free together.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63525,"id":63525,"title":"2kings7-beggar","filename":"2kings7-beggar.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/help-from-those-you-least-expect\/2kings7-beggar\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings7-beggar","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63523,"date":"2019-09-25 13:51:13","modified":"2022-09-27 04:20:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1359,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-212x300.jpg","medium-width":212,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-725x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":725,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-725x1024.jpg","large-width":725,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar.jpg","1536x1536-width":1087,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar.jpg","2048x2048-width":1359,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-849x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":849,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-297x420.jpg","home_baner-width":297,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Help From Those You Least Expect","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Daring solutions can come from the outcasts: wisdom doesn\u2019t always come packaged as an elder or a professor or a sage","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":63525,"id":63525,"title":"2kings7-beggar","filename":"2kings7-beggar.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/help-from-those-you-least-expect\/2kings7-beggar\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings7-beggar","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63523,"date":"2019-09-25 13:51:13","modified":"2022-09-27 04:20:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1359,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-212x300.jpg","medium-width":212,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-725x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":725,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-725x1024.jpg","large-width":725,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar.jpg","1536x1536-width":1087,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar.jpg","2048x2048-width":1359,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-849x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":849,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings7-beggar-297x420.jpg","home_baner-width":297,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63523"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114280,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63523\/revisions\/114280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}