{"id":70100,"date":"2020-02-12T12:35:39","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T10:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=70100"},"modified":"2023-09-07T16:37:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T13:37:40","slug":"who-will-console-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-will-console-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Console You?\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":[426,583,491],"acf":{"old_id":"70100","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37561,"related_cahpter":"415","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The suffering is inevitable - it is suffering alone that is the true curse\r\n\r\n","content":"

There\u2019s a classic Jewish joke about a man who falls into a pit. He calls out for help to all who pass by, but everyone refuses. The lawyer says there\u2019s no legal issue to fix so he cannot help and the doctor sees no illness so she cannot prescribe medicine. Finally, the man calls out to his best friend to help him. And to his surprise, his friend jumps into the pit with him. \u201cWhy did you do that?!\u201d The man demands. \u201cNow we\u2019re both stuck down here in this pit!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAh, yes,\u201d says the friend, \u201cbut I\u2019ve been down here before, and I know the way out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This chapter promises all kinds of suffering for the Israelites. They will know physical and emotional pain, anger and grief. And yet, there is one verse in this chapter that is not like the rest. Amidst God\u2019s promises of physical destruction, death and the sins for which the Israelites are being punished, one verse stands out as particularly poignant. In verse 5, the prophet asks a rhetorical question: \u201cBut who will pity you, O Jerusalem, Who will console you? Who will turn aside to inquire about your welfare?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Between mothers bereaved of their children, bodies eaten by scavengers and the prophet in incredible physical pain, we might think that this chapter is all about physical suffering. But this verse tells a different story. To suffer is inevitable. To suffer alone is a true curse. The verse cuts deeper than a physical wound, claiming that not only will the Israelites suffer tremendous loss and pain, but no one will know or care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we feel at our most downtrodden and alone, the last thing we want to hear is a pronouncement that we are, indeed, completely alone. That is why Jewish law insists that mourners spend the first seven days after the death of a loved one surrounded by visitors. We are commanded to visit the sick and comfort the bereaved because we want to ensure that these people do not feel alone in their pain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Centuries of Jewish law and practice teach us that the curse of verse 5 is in fact the worst thing that could happen, that we could be suffering with no one to console us or ask how we\u2019re doing. So we show up. Even when it is not comfortable or easy or convenient, we make an effort to check in on friends who have lost someone, bring meals to people who are sick, and spend time with members of our community who are otherwise isolated. Because we learn from Jewish tradition what we all know intrinsically: that everything’s better when you have someone to do it with.<\/span><\/p>\n

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