{"id":71138,"date":"2020-03-03T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T12:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71138"},"modified":"2020-03-03T14:15:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T12:15:34","slug":"rabbi-a-blessing-for-the-babylonian-czar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/rabbi-a-blessing-for-the-babylonian-czar\/","title":{"rendered":"Rabbi, A Blessing For The (Babylonian) Czar?"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"71138","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37561,"related_cahpter":"429","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Prayers for the captors, between revenge and empathy\r\n\r\n","content":"

\nIn the opening scene of \u201cFiddler on the Roof\u201d, a group of Chasids approach their rabbi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi, may I ask you a question?\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cCertainly!\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cIs there a proper blessing\u2026 for the czar?\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cA blessing for the czar?\u00a0 Of course! May God bless and keep the czar\u2026 far away from us!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This iconic line is not only a great comedic opening to the movie, but also a deeply Jewish idea. We learn it in some of the most quoted Jewish texts, including in Proverbs, in Pirkei Avot, and in this chapter. In verse 7, the prophet urges the people: \u201cseek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the LORD in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.\u201d Some commentators take this to mean that if the Babylonian Empire is secure, the Jews will suffer less. This is certainly a pragmatic approach, in which the Jews in exile would essentially be praying for their own wellbeing, all while hopefully culling favor in the eyes of their captor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But in comparison with the text from Proverbs, it seems that Jeremiah may have a different message. In Proverbs 25, we learn \u201cIf your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; If he is thirsty, give him water to drink. You will be heaping live coals on his head, And the Lord will reward you.\u201d Here, the writer believes that God will look favorably upon us if we can show mercy and compassion even to our enemies.Through this lens, the prayer Jeremiah encourages is not a form of genuine petition, but a way of cultivating our own sense of revenge, and God\u2019s favor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Or might we read Jeremiah as encouraging the people to develop empathy for their captors, in the belief that the best way to ensure peace is through tolerance and respect? The idea might be foreign to the immediate context of the book, which otherwise mostly indulges a traumatized people\u2019s need for revenge fantasies after the horrors of the exile. But even in the halting and sometimes circular process of healing from trauma, we might have moments of relative peace and clarity, in which we are able to offer some degree of forgiveness or understanding for those who harmed us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not easy, nor is the process automatic. The book of Jeremiah as a whole indicates that primarily trauma leaves behind a lot of pain, fear and suffering. Yet, even when we are at our most raw and vulnerable, we still might be able to recognize that eventually, peace will need to involve some degree of reconciliation, or at least recognition of the other\u2019s humanity. Like Jeremiah, we might get it as a brief flash amidst overwhelming anger, but let us hold on to that flash and know that even at our most downtrodden, we are still capable of tremendous empathy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: from \u201cFiddler on the Roof,\u201d Otterbein University Theatre & Dance, 2016 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71139,"id":71139,"title":"jer29-Fiddler_On_the_Roof","filename":"jer29-Fiddler_On_the_Roof.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer29-Fiddler_On_the_Roof.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/rabbi-a-blessing-for-the-babylonian-czar\/jer29-fiddler_on_the_roof\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer29-fiddler_on_the_roof","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71138,"date":"2020-03-03 12:15:20","modified":"2021-08-16 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