{"id":71478,"date":"2020-03-10T11:41:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T09:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71478"},"modified":"2020-03-10T11:41:58","modified_gmt":"2020-03-10T09:41:58","slug":"a-new-covenant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-new-covenant\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Covenant"},"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":"71478","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":48172,"related_cahpter":"431","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A new foundation, or filling in the cracks in the old one?\r\n\r\n","content":"

The people of Israel are exiled in Babylon and God hears their suffering. Their feelings of abandonment, their hopelessness, their yearning to return to their land are deeply felt when God says, \u201cA cry is heard in Ramah — wailing, bitter weeping — Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, who are gone\u201d (v. 15).<\/span><\/p>\n

Just two verses later, God makes a promise. We read, \u201cthere is hope for your future –declares the Lord: your children shall return to their country.\u201d But how can the Israelites believe this God, this God who would allow them to live in exile, this God who made a covenant with them but let them struggle? How can the Israelites learn to trust in the Divine again?<\/span><\/p>\n

This is an essential question for all of us. When trust is broken and hope is all but lost, how do we move forward? It seems that two answers to this question emerge time and again:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0 <\/span>Return to the foundations where trust was broken and try to fill in the cracks and beautify it, or\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0 <\/span>Discard the foundations and build something entirely new.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The 20th century writer and activist Audre Lorde wrote frequently about racism, homophobia, and sexism. She encouraged her fellow activists to discard historically white heteronormative systems and work within systems of their own creation to achieve liberation. She wrote, \u201cFor the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.\u201d Lorde is clear that attempts at repair within current societal systems will ultimately serve to perpetuate harmful behaviors rather than catalyze meaningful change.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    So how does God attempt to reestablish trust with the suffering Israelites? It seems that God utilizes both approaches. In the same way that God was watchful \u201c<\/span>eshkod<\/span><\/i>\u201d in the past \u201cto uproot and to pull down, to overthrow and to destroy and to bring disaster,\u201d now God \u201cwill be watchful \u201c<\/span>eshkod<\/span><\/i>\u201d over them to build and to plant.\u201d (Jeremiah 31:28). The foundations of an attentive Divine presence will remain, and the cracks will be filled in with building and planting rather than destruction. And yet God also presents a new foundation altogether. God promises the Israelites a \u201c<\/span>brit chadashah<\/span><\/i>,\u201d a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) where God\u2019s Torah will be close to them and God will \u201cinscribe it upon their hearts.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In every moment of challenge and despair, we have the opportunity to choose: Do we uproot or do we build, remain or start from scratch? Each instance requires its own answer. Usually, our approach will already be inscribed upon our hearts<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71480,"id":71480,"title":"jer31-cracks","filename":"jer31-cracks.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-cracks.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-new-covenant\/jer31-cracks\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer31-cracks","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71478,"date":"2020-03-10 09:41:38","modified":"2023-11-16 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