{"id":71329,"date":"2020-03-07T23:00:15","date_gmt":"2020-03-07T21:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71329"},"modified":"2020-03-07T23:00:15","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T21:00:15","slug":"wailing-and-bitter-weeping-is-heard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wailing-and-bitter-weeping-is-heard\/","title":{"rendered":"Wailing And Bitter Weeping Is Heard"},"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":"71329","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"431","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But where is it coming from?\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

NOTE: In most editions of the Bible, Chapter 31 begins with \u201cThus said the Lord\u2026\u201d In others, including the <\/span>JPS Prophets<\/span><\/i> whose translation 929 generally follows, it begins with \u201cAt that time,\u201d the ostensible last verse of Chapter 30. The consequence for us is that the verse of our title will be 31:14 in most editions, but 31:15 in others.<\/span><\/p>\n

This chapter, which serves as the Haftarah for the second day of Rosh Hashanah, features a well-known motif in Jewish art and culture: Matriarch Rachel mourning over the exile of her children. The first day\u2019s Haftarah features the prayer of Hannah, another exemplary mother, perhaps in keeping with an epithet of that festival, \u201cthe day the world was conceived;\u201d <\/span>hayom harat olam<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our focus, here, is on where that mourning is said to have occurred: Ramah, a site we encountered in 1 Samuel 1:1 as the home of Elkanah, Hannah, and their son Samuel, who was later buried there (1 Samuel 25:1). The implicit assumption is that as the exiles from Jerusalem\u2014who were mostly Judean and Benjaminite\u2014passed by her tomb, Rachel cried out to God on their behalf, receiving the words of consolation that follow, here, in the next verse.<\/span><\/p>\n

But what was Rachel doing in Ramah, which is clearly situated north of Jerusalem (the direction in which Judean exiles would head towards Babylonia), when her tomb lies near Bethlehem, which is to the south (and hardly a direction in which Babylonian-bound captives would head)?<\/span><\/p>\n

It could be that Rachel\u2019s tomb may not be where it has traditionally been located. Indeed, in the words of none other than Samuel himself\u2014prophet and direct descendant of Rachel\u2014to Saul\u2014future king and also a direct descendant: \u201cWhen you leave me today, you will find two men by the tomb of Rachel, near the border of Benjamin at Zelzah\u201d (1 Samuel 10:2). (<\/span>See our comments <\/span><\/a>at greater length in 1 Samuel 10.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Shadal,* whom we overlooked in 1 Samuel 10, shared our argument and, possibly, our conclusion, noting here: \u201cRamah is in the portion of Benjamin, near the tomb of Rachel. Samuel was a resident of Ramah, and told Saul \u201cWhen you leave me today, you will find two men by the tomb (<\/span>kevurat<\/span><\/i>) of Rachel\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

*For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction<\/span><\/a> in Jeremiah chapter 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Freso – Rachel is weeping for her children, 14th C.\u00a0 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71330,"id":71330,"title":"jer31-Freso_-_Rachel_is_weeping_for_her_children","filename":"jer31-Freso_-_Rachel_is_weeping_for_her_children.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Freso_-_Rachel_is_weeping_for_her_children.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wailing-and-bitter-weeping-is-heard\/jer31-freso_-_rachel_is_weeping_for_her_children\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer31-freso_-_rachel_is_weeping_for_her_children","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71329,"date":"2020-03-07 20:59:56","modified":"2020-03-07 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