{"id":64796,"date":"2019-10-26T11:37:20","date_gmt":"2019-10-26T08:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64796"},"modified":"2023-05-21T15:26:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T12:26:30","slug":"swords-into-plowshares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/swords-into-plowshares\/","title":{"rendered":"Swords Into Plowshares"},"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":[464,706,512,409],"acf":{"old_id":"64796","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":60755,"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But even then, the task is not finished: plowing is still hard work","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The book of Isaiah describes the turbulence leading to the Assyrian invasions of the northern kingdom and eventually Judah, events that the eighth-century BCE prophet might have experienced during his lifetime. But before Isaiah gets started, this chapter offers us a compelling vision of peace. At its heart is God\u2019s own city, Jerusalem, the center of wisdom \u2013 \u201cfor instruction shall come forth from Zion, God\u2019s word from Jerusalem,\u201d (3) words sung in many communities as the Torah scroll is wrapped before it is returned to the ark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is followed almost immediately by another powerful passage, one that proved to be so meaningful that it is repeated throughout the Tanakh (cf. Joel 4:10, Micah 4:3 et al.): \u201cAnd they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war\u201d (4).\u00a0 Expressing a yearning for peace and a life of plenty, the phrase \u201cswords into plowshares\u201d reveals the glaring absence of the same in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not a new observation: some medieval Jewish commentators liked to point out that that the presence of suffering in the world indicated that the messiah had in fact not yet come, a not-so-subtle jab at their Christian neighbors. More recently, the phrase inspired Leo Tolstoy\u2019s novella <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kreutzer Sonata<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the 1980s anti-nuclear armament peace movements in Germany and many artists: from the spiritual <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Down by the Riverside<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to Michael Jackson\u2019s <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heal the World<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2000, the Jewish theologians who had convened to affirm the new relationship between Jews and Christians, stressing common ground while affirming theological differences between the two, chose this quote to conclude their statement, known as <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dabru Emet<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Speak the Truth). In their eyes, Isaiah\u2019s words served as an inspiration \u201cthat s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eparately and together, we must work to bring justice and peace to our world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Isaiah\u2019s vision might seem overly optimistic, and perhaps na\u00efve. Then, as today, we are far away from living in a peaceful world filled with peace. At the same time, the words \u201cswords to plowshares\u201d leave no doubt that even in these envisioned perfect days, the work is not done. The swords did not turn into plushy beds to lounge in, but into plowshares. This is, in all its dreaminess, a realistic vision. Working a plough remains hard work, even with the aid of a twenty-first century tractor. Isaiah\u2019s vision then also reminds us that a perfect time is a time where every person can enjoy the fruits of their labor, a labor that is not destructive, forced labor but rather nourishing and sustaining.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64797,"id":64797,"title":"is2-mural","filename":"is2-mural.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/swords-into-plowshares\/is2-mural\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is2-mural","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64796,"date":"2019-10-26 08:36:55","modified":"2020-07-29 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