{"id":69655,"date":"2020-02-04T13:16:31","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T11:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69655"},"modified":"2023-09-02T22:59:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T19:59:30","slug":"what-god-truly-desires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-god-truly-desires\/","title":{"rendered":"What God Truly Desires"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Towards the close of this chapter (and at the conclusion of the haftarah of Tish`a b\u2019Av, as noted in the previous chapter), Jeremiah cautioned his audience against \u201cglorying\u201d in wisdom, strength, or wealth (22), but only in \u201cearnest devotion\u201d to God, Who acts \u201cwith kindness, justice, and equity in the world\u201d<\/span> (23). Shadal,* as a devotee of the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment, picked up on the \u201cearnest devotion,\u201d which, in the Hebrew, literally says \u201cbe enlightened (<\/span>haskel<\/span><\/em>) and know Me.\u201d He wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n

Be an enlightened one (<\/span>maskil<\/span><\/em>), who understands things properly. By those means, you will acquire a proper and true knowledge of Me and come to know that the Lord, \u201cacts with kindness, justice, and equity in the world.\u201d \u201cFor in these I delight\u201d\u2014these are the deeds I want people to perform. Therefore, I say: \u201cIn these shall one glory,\u201d in knowing that I act thusly, because that will stimulate him to act likewise. See what I wrote in <\/span>Bikkurei Ha\u2019Itim<\/span><\/em>, 1831, 120-121.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shadal\u2019s reference is to a periodical of the Haskalah movement that was published, briefly, in Austria and Galicia. The only copy of that issue I could peruse online was missing p. 120, but here is what appears on p. 121:<\/span><\/p>\n

Before you serve Him, know Him and know what pleases Him and what He does not desire. Otherwise, you may do something to honor Him that gentiles do to honor their deities\u2026 which is why the Torah warns us several times not to follow in the ways of the gentiles\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

This is what Jeremiah meant by \u201clet the sage not glory in his wisdom, nor the hero in his strength, nor the rich in his wealth.\u201d I [God] do not desire these. I am not the god of wisdom, strength, or wealth like the gentile nations have deities for everything. \u201cBut only in this should one glory\u201d\u2014in knowing what I am, how I act, and what I desire. Then will he be able to glory and proclaim that his path is true before God.<\/span><\/p>\n

I, the Lord, My way is only to act \u201cwith kindness, justice, and equity in the world\u201d because that is what I desire, and whoever acts as I do and follows in My path, he alone is praiseworthy and desirable before Me. This is also the intention of \u201cI desire piety more than sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings\u201d (Hosea 6:6), or \u201cI shall elevate him for he knows My name\u201d (Ps. 91:14), because a name is indicative of one\u2019s character, and one who knows My name knows My attributes and knows how to follow in My ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

*For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Image: scan of Shadal\u2019s original article in the periodical Bikkurei Ha\u2019Itim, from 1831.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69657,"id":69657,"title":"jer9-bikkurei haittim","filename":"jer9-bikkurei-haittim.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer9-bikkurei-haittim.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-god-truly-desires\/jer9-bikkurei-haittim\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer9-bikkurei-haittim","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69655,"date":"2020-02-04 11:16:19","modified":"2020-02-04 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