{"id":71849,"date":"2020-03-16T19:24:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T17:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71849"},"modified":"2020-03-16T19:24:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T17:24:38","slug":"signs-of-impending-joy-in-dark-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/signs-of-impending-joy-in-dark-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs Of Impending Joy In Dark Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/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":"71849","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":37561,"related_cahpter":"438","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A promise of no more suffering - but first, the cataclysmic destruction\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter, packed with action and intrigue, ends on an ominous note. Jeremiah delivers his message to the king, and is sent back to the dungeon to wait for the next scene. The last verse of the chapter ends in an unexpected phrase: When Jerusalem was captured\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8230;and then what? The next chapter doesn\u2019t directly continue the narrative, so we don\u2019t really know what will happen. But, of course, we anticipate that it will not be good. Jeremiah has spent the previous 37 chapters warning about the destruction and downfall that awaits the Israelites, so if we imagine the downfall of Jerusalem as our climactic battle scene, we know to anticipate a lot of bloodshed and misery. When Jerusalem was captured, the people suffered catastrophic losses, and the survivors were forced into a painful exile. It seems like an inevitable \u201cterribly ever after\u201d, with no chance for a \u201chappily ever after\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unless you look at the midrash. In several different midrashim, rabbis claim that any place in Tanach that we see the phrase \u201cvayehi\u201d (it will be) or \u201cvehaya\u201d (it was), it is a sign of impending joy. They bring other verses from Tanach to support their assertion, but inevitably they bring our verse, which seems to call this into question. How could the downfall of Jerusalem be a sign of joy?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you take the long view, the downfall of Jerusalem was not just a concrete catastrophe, but the fulfillment of a messianic promise, in which God assures Israel that she will not suffer any more. The authors of the midrash bring a verse from Lamentations, rabbinically attributed to Jeremiah, which claims that after the destruction and exile, the people will never again suffer that kind of punishment. The suffering of the destruction was a discrete moment of pain, but the peace and divine protection that follows is everlasting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can be very hard to focus on the future when we are in a moment of crisis. Even if we are optimistic people, it takes a tremendous leap of faith to believe that this too shall pass when it currently feels unbearable. As Albus Dumbledore said in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, \u201cHappiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rabbis of the midrash add a new human element: we do not need to rely on just ourselves to turn on the light, but can look to others to help us through the suffering and see the bright destination at the end of the tunnel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":71850,"id":71850,"title":"jer38-hope","filename":"jer38-hope.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/signs-of-impending-joy-in-dark-times\/jer38-hope\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer38-hope","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71849,"date":"2020-03-16 17:24:17","modified":"2023-06-14 05:46:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer38-hope-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Signs Of Impending Joy In Dark Times","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A promise of no more suffering - 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