{"id":68736,"date":"2020-01-19T12:55:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T10:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=68736"},"modified":"2023-08-13T10:34:55","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T07:34:55","slug":"nostalgia-isnt-what-it-used-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/nostalgia-isnt-what-it-used-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"Nostalgia Isn\u2019t What It Used To Be\u00a0"},"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":[397,403],"acf":{"old_id":"68736","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"397","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Remembering previous redemptions\u00a0\r\n","content":"

Israel\u2019s reaction to its exile and oppression, rather than inspiring introspection and remorse, consisted of their rejection of God. \u201cBut they rebelled, and grieved His holy spirit; Then He became their enemy, and Himself made war against them\u201d (10). So afflicted, they began to reflect on their historical fate, recollecting the better times they had once experienced. <\/span><\/p>\n

Then they remembered the ancient days, Him, who pulled (<\/span>moshe<\/span><\/em>) His people out [of the water]: Where is He who brought them up from the sea along with the shepherd of His flock? Where is He who put in their midst His holy spirit? Who made His glorious arm march at the right hand of Moses (<\/span>moshe<\/span><\/em>), Who divided the waters before them to make Himself a name for all time\u201d (11-12).<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi explained, simply, that Israel, in exile, became nostalgic for its past glory, which they personified in Moses and epitomized in the crossing of the Sea. Radak elaborated, suggesting that the exodus from Egypt was cited, specifically, because, although many Jews there had fallen under the sway of\u00a0 idolatry, God nevertheless redeemed them, and the crossing of the sea was mentioned because God effected it despite the Israelites having complained \u201care there no cemeteries in Egypt that you have taken us out to die in the wilderness?\u201d (Exodus 14:11). In other words, these particular examples were chosen because they promised salvation even in the absence of complete righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our ongoing preoccupation with Malbim\u2019s* substantive interpretations does not free us from making other observations on the text of Isaiah and its exegesis. One particularly noteworthy point arises apropos of a single Hebrew word that we have highlighted in two of the aforementioned verses: <\/span>moshe<\/span><\/em>. In its second appearance, \u201cat the right hand of <\/span>moshe<\/span><\/em>,\u201d it clearly is a proper noun and is properly translated \u201cMoses.\u201d The question is, what of the previous verse, \u201c<\/span>moshe<\/span><\/em> His people\u201d? Our translation (Jewish Publication Society, 1978) treated it as a verb meaning to pull out, clearly regarding it as a pun on the noun Moshe (Moses), and basing itself on Exodus 2:10: \u201c[Pharaoh\u2019s daughter] named him Moshe, because I have pulled him out of the water.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ibn Ezra cited this possibility, but rejected it, as did Malbim. Ibn Ezra read the opening clause of v. 10 as \u201cThey recalled Moses <\/span>and<\/span><\/em> his people (<\/span>ve-`amo<\/span><\/em>),\u201d and Malbim made the \u201cpeople\u201d its subject, reading \u201cHis people recalled the days of yore, [the days of] Moses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

*For the significance of Malbim\u2019s commentary to the Book of Isaiah,<\/span> see our introduction to chapter 1.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Image of the splitting and crossing of the Red Sea by Bracha Lavee, courtesy of the artist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":41725,"id":41725,"title":"Ex14-BLavee","filename":"Ex14-BLavee.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/walls-of-water\/ex14-blavee\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ex14-blavee","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":41096,"date":"2018-10-09 10:48:07","modified":"2022-05-03 13:41:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1890,"height":1537,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-300x244.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":244,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-768x625.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":625,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1024x833.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":833,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1249,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":1890,"2048x2048-height":1537,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1200x976.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":976,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-516x420.jpg","home_baner-width":516,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Nostalgia Isn\u2019t What It Used To Be\u00a0","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Remembering previous redemptions\u00a0","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":41725,"id":41725,"title":"Ex14-BLavee","filename":"Ex14-BLavee.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/walls-of-water\/ex14-blavee\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ex14-blavee","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":41096,"date":"2018-10-09 10:48:07","modified":"2022-05-03 13:41:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1890,"height":1537,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-300x244.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":244,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-768x625.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":625,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1024x833.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":833,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1249,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":1890,"2048x2048-height":1537,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-1200x976.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":976,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Ex14-BLavee-516x420.jpg","home_baner-width":516,"home_baner-height":420}},"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\/68736"}],"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=68736"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117108,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68736\/revisions\/117108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}