{"id":65428,"date":"2019-11-07T12:51:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T10:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=65428"},"modified":"2023-06-04T14:28:41","modified_gmt":"2023-06-04T11:28:41","slug":"havdalah-as-midrash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/havdalah-as-midrash\/","title":{"rendered":"Havdalah As Midrash"},"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":[517,384,940,378],"acf":{"old_id":"65428","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"346","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The text of the ritual for the conclusion of the Shabbat makes a deep point about the nature of salvation\r\n\r\n","content":"

Two verses in Isaiah 12 (v. 2 and 3) serve as the beginning of the introductory text for the Jewish ritual of Havdalah (<\/span>lit<\/span><\/i>. <\/span>separation; making a demarcation between Shabbat and the upcoming weekdays<\/span><\/i>), recited every Saturday evening at the conclusion of Shabbat:<\/span><\/p>\n

2 Behold, God is my unfailing <\/span>help<\/span>; I will trust in God and will not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and song; God is my <\/span>Deliverer<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

3 With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of <\/span>salvation<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The verses in question could be understood as stark reminders that although we are transitioning <\/span>from<\/span> a time when we were able to intimately engage with thoughts about God\u2019s role in our lives via Shabbat\u2019s special prayers, festive meals, Torah study, and conversations with family and friends, <\/span>to<\/span> having to focus once again upon the every day, primarily secular, responsibilities over the course of the following six days, we should try to continue to keep in mind how he can rely on God, especially when the \u201cgoing gets rough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In effect, all of the introductory verses of Havdalah, including the two verses from Isaiah, sound a similar theme of reliance on God for salvation and assistance, with a single, blatant exception:<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalms 3:9 \u201c<\/span>Salvation<\/span> belongeth unto the LORD; Thy blessing be upon Thy people. Selah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibid. 46:8 \u201cThe LORD of hosts is <\/span>with us<\/span>; the God of Jacob is <\/span>our high tower<\/span>. Selah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibid. 84:13 \u201cO LORD of hosts, happy is the man that <\/span>trusteth<\/span> in Thee.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibid. 20:10 \u201cSave, LORD; let the King <\/span>answer us<\/span> in the day that we call.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Esther 8:16 \u201cThe Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Tehillim 116:13 \u201cI will lift up the cup of <\/span>salvation<\/span> and call upon the name of the LORD.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only does the verse from Esther cited in Havdalah\u2019s introduction not mention anything about God, but His name never appears in the entire Megillah<\/span>, leading the Talmud (Chullin 139b) to comment: \u201cWhere is Esther indicated in the Torah? \u2018And I will surely hide (<\/span>Astir<\/span><\/i>) My face\u2026\u2019\u201d (Deuteronomy 31:19).<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading the story related in Esther could lead one to reach one of two conclusions. E<\/span>ither<\/span> that the Jews being saved from Haman\u2019s genocidal plans was entirely an exercise in serendipity, and they ended up celebrating their close brush with death and destruction due to pure luck. Or, rather,\u00a0<\/span>while God was not overtly perceived as the orchestrator of the events affecting the Persian Jewish community (as was clear, for example, in Exodus\u2019 account of the Jews being redeemed from Egypt), God nevertheless remained extremely active \u201cbehind the scenes.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The amalgam of verses introducing Havdalah make a case for the latter approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Observing the Havdalah ritual, 14th-century Spain, Detail from a miniature in the Barcelona Haggadah, British Library \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":65429,"id":65429,"title":"is12-Havdala","filename":"is12-Havdala.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/havdalah-as-midrash\/is12-havdala\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is12-havdala","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65428,"date":"2019-11-07 10:51:04","modified":"2019-11-07 10:51:13","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":278,"height":328,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","medium_large-width":278,"medium_large-height":328,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","large-width":278,"large-height":328,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","1536x1536-width":278,"1536x1536-height":328,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","2048x2048-width":278,"2048x2048-height":328,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","post_full_size-width":278,"post_full_size-height":328,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":328}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Havdalah As Midrash","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"The text of the ritual for the conclusion of the Shabbat makes a deep point about the nature of salvation","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":65429,"id":65429,"title":"is12-Havdala","filename":"is12-Havdala.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/havdalah-as-midrash\/is12-havdala\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is12-havdala","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65428,"date":"2019-11-07 10:51:04","modified":"2019-11-07 10:51:13","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":278,"height":328,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","medium_large-width":278,"medium_large-height":328,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","large-width":278,"large-height":328,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","1536x1536-width":278,"1536x1536-height":328,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","2048x2048-width":278,"2048x2048-height":328,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","post_full_size-width":278,"post_full_size-height":328,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is12-Havdala.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":328}},"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,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65428"}],"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=65428"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115786,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65428\/revisions\/115786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}