{"id":67823,"date":"2019-12-29T09:49:59","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T07:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67823"},"modified":"2023-07-23T12:34:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T09:34:05","slug":"a-rose-among-thorns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-rose-among-thorns\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rose Among Thorns"},"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":[539,490,854,551],"acf":{"old_id":"67823","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"382","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"When is Jacob worthy of being called Israel?\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s in a name? Would that which we call a rose smell as sweet by any other name?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the better question is the reverse. A flower\u2019s identity as a \u201crose\u201d sets a standard by which to judge that flower, so we might ask about each one we encounter: Does this deserve to be called by the name \u201crose\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Has it bloomed? Does it smell sweet enough?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does it merit the distinction of being called by a name that often represents the highest echelons of floral worth?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Jacob becomes Israel in Genesis 32:29, the \u201cman\u201d (angel, perhaps) tells him it is because \u201cyou have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.\u201d The new name describes something he did, but also sets a standard by which the man, and eventually the nation born of him, will be judged: Both names, Jacob and Israel, continue to be used throughout the Bible, presumably to signify something about the man\/nation in each context.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every time we encounter the man, or the nation, we are confronted by the question: Is he, or are they, Jacob or Israel in this story?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does this nation, in this moment, merit the distinction of being called by a name that represents the highest echelons of moral worth?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Isaiah 48:1, apparently not. The prophet criticizes the \u201cHouse of Jacob, who bear the name Israel\u201d for claiming connection with that name (\u201cinvoke the God of Israel\u201d) without maintaining standards of truth and righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The name Israel was given in a moment of physical victory, but Abarbanel reminds us that it goes deeper: \u201cJacob (<em>Yaakov<\/em>) is the name our father, Isaac, called him because he was holding onto Esau\u2019s heel (<em>akev<\/em>) \u2026 a name said disparagingly\u2026 Therefore, the prophet said about the people of Jerusalem that in their deeds, they were the House of Jacob, conducting themselves with \u201c<em>akavah<\/em>\u201d and deceit \u2013 though they were called Israel for honor and glory.\u201d\u00a0 On a similar note, some suggest a connection between the name Israel and the Hebrew word \u201c<em>yashar<\/em>\u201d \u2013 straight, or upright. Truth, righteousness, uprightness \u2013 these are the qualities that earn the name Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For though God recognizes and stands with His people even as Jacob (as in verse 20, \u201cthe LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob\u201d) \u2013 they are also reminded at the close of the prophecy that \u201cthere is no peace for the wicked.\u201d The people called Israel can and must do better; they must sweeten their conduct to make themselves worthy of being called Israel, to make themselves known as a rose among thorns.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":67824,"id":67824,"title":"is48-rose","filename":"is48-rose.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is48-rose.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-rose-among-thorns\/is48-rose\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is48-rose","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":67823,"date":"2019-12-29 07:49:45","modified":"2019-12-29 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