{"id":66553,"date":"2019-12-05T12:55:33","date_gmt":"2019-12-05T10:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=66553"},"modified":"2023-07-02T13:48:58","modified_gmt":"2023-07-02T10:48:58","slug":"calling-out-bad-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/calling-out-bad-behavior\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling Out Bad Behavior"},"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":[391,835,436,548],"acf":{"old_id":"66553","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"366","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Silence in the face of wrongdoing enables evil, and hypocritical flattery of villainy just perpetuates injustice","content":"

Contrary to what some might think, the job of a king is not just to fight wars; rather, the prophet states, \u201ca king reigns for <\/span>tzedek<\/span><\/em> (righteousness)\u201d; indeed, part of a king\u2019s job is to ensure upright governance by all officers of the realm (Isaiah 32:1, with Malbim).<\/span><\/p>\n

A ruler who does that will provide a welcome refuge for his people (verse 2), building a society in which the people will no longer hide from inconvenient truths (as they did in previous chapters) but will open their eyes, ears, and hearts to gain insight and speak truly (3-4).<\/span><\/p>\n

With that newfound righteous clarity, \u201cNo more shall a villain (<\/span>naval<\/span><\/em>) be called noble (<\/span>nadiv<\/span><\/em>), nor shall \u2018gentleman\u2019 be said of a knave\u201d (5).<\/span><\/p>\n

Pretty clear, right? We get the point: recognize evil as evil. Call it out; don\u2019t hide from it, don\u2019t pretend you don\u2019t see it or don\u2019t realize what it is.\u00a0<\/span>And yet, the prophet continues:<\/span><\/p>\n

For the villain speaks villainy; his heart plots treachery, to flatter; he strays regarding the word of the Lord; to leave the hungry unsatisfied and deprive the thirsty of drink (verse 6).<\/span><\/p>\n

What do these details add?<\/span><\/p>\n

Abarbanel sees in this verse the terrible consequences of remaining silent in the face of another\u2019s evil. \u201cIt is not to explain the dishonor of the villain or the knave\u201d \u2013 that, we probably already know \u2013 \u201cbut to describe the evil of \u2018flatterers,\u2019 when they say about a villain, \u2018noble\u2019\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What is so evil about this sort of \u201cflattering\u201d support of the wicked?<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cFor the villain speaks villainy; his heart plots treachery, to flatter\u201d: The flatterer is himself a <\/span>naval<\/span><\/em>. In the Talmudic expression, his inside is not like his outside; he knows what kind of person he\u2019s flattering, but deliberately speaks the opposite of the thoughts in his heart.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cHe strays regarding the word of the Lord\u201d: Abarbanel reminds us that dishonesty \u2013 such as \u201cflattering\u201d a villain \u2013 is not only dishonest but violates a divine command; \u201cdistance yourself from a matter of falsehood\u201d (Exodus 23:7).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cTo leave the hungry unsatisfied and deprive the thirsty of drink\u201d: The Hebrew words translated above as \u201cnoble\u201d and \u201cgentleman\u201d carry more specific connotations of generosity. One who fawns over a miser, proclaiming him \u201cgenerous\u201d when he\u2019s not, contributes to his continued non-generosity \u2013 to the detriment of those he might have helped, who are instead left hungry and thirsty.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Not only will silence enable continued bad behavior, but it is a betrayal on multiple levels. Religious mandates are often categorized as \u201cbetween person and God\u201d or \u201cbetween person and another\u201d \u2013 sometimes with a third category, \u201cbetween person and self.\u201d In Abarbanel\u2019s reading, we find that failure to call out bad behavior is a betrayal in all three realms: It is a betrayal of those who need help, a betrayal of our relationship with God, and a betrayal of our very selves \u2013 of the person of integrity we each deserve to be.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Calling Out Bad Behavior","main_caption":"Silence in the face of wrongdoing enables evil, and hypocritical flattery of villainy just perpetuates injustice","main_caption_size":"2","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"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\/66553"}],"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=66553"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116476,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66553\/revisions\/116476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}