{"id":68717,"date":"2020-01-19T00:06:37","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T22:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=68717"},"modified":"2023-08-13T09:53:23","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T06:53:23","slug":"i-have-set-watchmen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-have-set-watchmen\/","title":{"rendered":"I Have Set Watchmen"},"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":[366,635],"acf":{"old_id":"68717","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"396","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But who are these watchmen?\u00a0\r\n","content":"

Chapter 62 extols the virtues of \u201cJerusalem,\u201d an evocative metaphor for the Jewish people themselves during the time of Divine redemption. The prophet mentions that such praises of the \u201ccity\u201d will be issued by, among others, \u201cwatchmen,\u201d who have been charged with \u201creminding\u201d God of His promise to restore \u201cJerusalem\u201d to its former glory:<\/span><\/p>\n

Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, Who shall never be silent by day or by night. O you, the LORD\u2019s remembrancers, take no rest. And give no rest to Him, until He establish Jerusalem and make her renowned on earth (verses 6-7).<\/span><\/p>\n

Who might these \u201cwatchmen\u201d be? R. David Kimchi (Radak) and R. Moshe Alsheich, in their respective commentaries devoted to v. 6, mention four distinct possibilities:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Angels that continually pray in Heaven for the restoration of the Jewish people;<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u201cAveilei Tziyon<\/em>\u201d (<\/span>lit. \u201cthe mourners of Zion\u201d<\/span>) who take it upon themselves as representatives of all the Jews, to specifically pray day and night for the restoration of \u201cJerusalem,\u201d (as in Shulchan Aruch, Orech Chayim 1:2-3).<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. The Jewish people in its entirety, who constantly look forward to the rebuilding of \u201cJerusalem\u201d and mention it again and again in their prayers and blessings recited during their days and nights\u2014e.g., see the 14<\/span>th<\/span> blessing of the Silent Devotion; the third blessing of the Grace after Meals; and the last of the seven nuptial blessings.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Torah scholars whose unceasing devotion to studying the Jewish holy texts constitutes a plea in its own right to restore and rebuild the walls of \u201cJerusalem.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Rather than approaching these commentaries regarding the identity of the \u201cwatchmen\u201d as mutually exclusive, they can also be understood as complementary to one another, together comprising a symphony of supplications from various sectors, in different \u201cvoices,\u201d and sounding unique \u201cnotes,\u201d all striving towards a single goal, i.e., ending the Jewish people\u2019s punishing and debilitating exile. The Jews being restored to their ancestral home would allow them to more fully fulfill the role for which they had been created to pursue and develop, namely \u201cto serve as a light unto the nations\u201d (see <\/span>my post <\/span><\/a>for Isaiah 42.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Image: Julius Schnorr Von Carolsfeld, Watchmen on the Walls of Jerusalem \/ wikigallery<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":68718,"id":68718,"title":"is62-watchmen","filename":"is62-watchmen.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is62-watchmen.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/i-have-set-watchmen\/is62-watchmen\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is62-watchmen","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":68717,"date":"2020-01-18 22:06:10","modified":"2020-01-18 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