{"id":70777,"date":"2020-02-26T17:39:29","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T15:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=70777"},"modified":"2023-10-18T13:40:04","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T10:40:04","slug":"of-millstones-and-lamplights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-millstones-and-lamplights\/","title":{"rendered":"Of Millstones And Lamplights"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The verses of this chapter describe God\u2019s frustration with the Jewish people\u2019s failing to heed the warnings to mend their ways delivered by His prophets, and His readiness to punish them by bringing invading armies to embitter their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the descriptions of these terrible attacks against Israel is a poetic rendering of what a decimated and destroyed people will sound and look like: \u201cAnd I will banish from them the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and bride, and the sound of the mill and the light of the lamp\u201d (v. 10).<\/span><\/p>\n

The examples in the first portion of the verse speak for themselves, i.e., things will become so bad that people will no longer be heard laughing, and there will be no more weddings, the quintessential form of human happiness and hope for the future, at least not publicly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But what is meant by the phrases at the end of the verse, \u201cthe sound of the mill,\u201d and \u201cthe light of the lamp\u201d that are predicted to also cease during times of persecution?<\/span><\/p>\n

Taking its cue from the explicit reference to \u201cweddings,\u201d the Talmud understands \u201cthe sound of the mill\u201d and \u201cthe light of the lamp\u201d as allusions to Jewish ritual observances in general, that before could only be hinted at due to the occupying and persecuting authorities, but now were not be publicized at all:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026The Sages taught: When the gentile governors issued decrees outlawing observance of the mitzvot, members of Jewish communities devised clandestine ways of indicating observance of mitzvot to each other. For example: If one produces the sound of a<\/span> millstone in the city called Burni, this is tantamount to announcing: Week of the son, week of the son, i.e., there will be a circumcision. If one displays the light of a lamp in the city called Beror Chayil, this is tantamount to announcing: There is a wedding feast there, there is a wedding feast there\u2026 (Sanhedrin 32b)<\/span><\/p>\n

However, Abravanel, Metzudat David, and Malbim understand the phrases more generically, in the sense that they represent overall economic, rather than specifically ritual, deprivation. The sounds of grinding grain into flour will not be heard, implying that everyone\u2019s food supply will be heavily impacted, and, in order to conserve fuel, people will be forced to sit in darkness. According to these commentators, the contrast between the beginning of the verse and its final portion is one where the society has not only had to forego its celebrations of the human lifecycle, but also the basic necessities of food and light that had previously offered some respite from the harsh conditions under which they were made to subsist, but now have been severely limited, if not done away with entirely.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is interesting to reflect upon which would be a more debilitating situation\u2014to no longer feel comfortable to publicly celebrate the religious milestones in our lives, or to have to significantly alter and restrict our patterns of everyday existence?<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":70778,"id":70778,"title":"jer25-teddy-bear","filename":"jer25-teddy-bear.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer25-teddy-bear.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/of-millstones-and-lamplights\/jer25-teddy-bear\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer25-teddy-bear","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":70777,"date":"2020-02-26 15:39:18","modified":"2020-02-26 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