{"id":64688,"date":"2019-10-23T21:29:43","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T18:29:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64688"},"modified":"2023-05-18T06:53:42","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T03:53:42","slug":"carrots-sticks-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/carrots-sticks-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Carrots, Sticks And More"},"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":[552,447,608,390,752],"acf":{"old_id":"64688","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":64460,"related_cahpter":"335","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"To save the people from itself, we need threats, promises - and reason","content":"

To change a person\u2019s way of life is a task so difficult that it can seem impossible. But prophets of Israel were not charged with converting individual souls \u2014 their task was nothing less than to effect national transformation. It is not hard to understand, then, why for most of the prophets, their calling might seem a burden too heavy to bear. How, then, confronted with their stiff-necked people, did they proceed? In the first chapter of Isaiah, which reads like an epitome of the prophetic genre, we can see the main strategies to which Israel\u2019s prophets made recourse in their attempt to save the people from itself.<\/span><\/p>\n

The first is the threat: the prophet lays before the people a vision of their own destruction. They are no better than the denizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, and a people consumed with greed and acquisitiveness will be brought low: \u201c[I]f you refuse and disobey, You will be devoured [by] the sword\u201d (verse 20).<\/span><\/p>\n

The second is the promise. The future, should Israel change its ways, will be one where the best elements of its past are restored, but also transcended. God \u201cwill restore your magistrates as of old, and your counselors as of you\u2019re. After that you shall be called City of Righteousness, Faithful City\u201d (v. 26). The change envisioned is so profound that very name of Jerusalem itself will be changed. Keeping in mind the essential significance of names and name-changes in the Bible (think of Abraham, Sarah, or Jacob), we can get an inkling of just how meaningful this promise would be to Isaiah\u2019s listeners.<\/span><\/p>\n

The third, rather more rare but all the more intriguing, is hinted at in verse 18:\u00a0 \u201c\u201cCome, let us reach an understanding\u201d \u2014 says the LORD.\u201d The verb in this sentence can also be taken to mean \u201clet us <\/span>reason<\/span><\/i> together,\u201d and that is the meaning it was sometimes given by medieval Jewish philosophers, who wished to find an anchor in the Bible for their favored approach of solving religious controversies by reasoned argument rather than emotional appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n

These strategies to which the prophets made recourse are still valuable to those of us charged with the religious and moral formation of the Jewish people. Each has its place, depending on the audience and subject. There are some who respond best when the negative consequences of their actions are emphasized, others who are best motivated by a clear vision of how things could be better. Whichever of these routes is taken, there will be times when it is appropriate for the Rabbi or teacher to try to touch her listeners\u2019 hearts, and others when the best approach is to spell things out in careful, reasoned terms. While this task will always be difficult, and perhaps even painful, the prophets provide us with models of how to undertake it with integrity, and even with artistry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64689,"id":64689,"title":"is1-carrot and stick","filename":"is1-carrot-and-stick.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/carrots-sticks-and-more\/is1-carrot-and-stick\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is1-carrot-and-stick","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64688,"date":"2019-10-23 18:29:29","modified":"2021-03-27 07:41:23","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":518,"height":257,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick-300x149.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":149,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","medium_large-width":518,"medium_large-height":257,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","large-width":518,"large-height":257,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","1536x1536-width":518,"1536x1536-height":257,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","2048x2048-width":518,"2048x2048-height":257,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","post_full_size-width":518,"post_full_size-height":257,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","home_baner-width":518,"home_baner-height":257}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Carrots, Sticks And More","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"To save the people from itself, we need threats, promises - 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