{"id":72470,"date":"2020-03-27T15:52:10","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=72470"},"modified":"2020-03-27T15:52:10","modified_gmt":"2020-03-27T12:52:10","slug":"to-be-or-not-to-be-vengeful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/to-be-or-not-to-be-vengeful\/","title":{"rendered":"To Be Or Not To Be Vengeful"},"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":"72470","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"446","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Vengeance is the Lord\u2019s - therefore we don\u2019t have to\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jeremiah 46 marks the beginning of a series of prophecies about the downfall of the nations that had a hand in Israel\u2019s destruction. Who are these prophecies for? Are they directed to the doomed nations themselves, or to Israel? Rabbi Menachem Leibtag proposes, as do many of our sages, that it is the latter. The intent of these prophecies, says Rabbi Leibtag, is to impact the Jewish people\u2019s relationship with God by informing how we see His hand in history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the beginning of these prophecies Jeremiah says, \u201cThat day will be a day of revenge for my Lord, a day of vengeance to avenge Himself of His enemies (46:10).\u201d Revenge. Vengeance. Avenge. These are difficult terms to reconcile with a God who commanded us \u201cDon\u2019t take vengeance (Leviticus 19:18).\u201d We\u2019re supposed to fashion ourselves in the image of God, but isn\u2019t the essence of vengeance simply reflecting back the image of our enemies? It all seems very contradictory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The modern notion of vengeance is about giving as good as we get and getting even. But in the context of considering God as vengeful, what if we define vengeance not as the common human trait of needing to settle a score, but rather through a lens of divine justice. In that case we are compelled to consider that God, the ultimate source of true justice, has a higher intent than score-settling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rabbi Aron Moss explains that if we truly understand God as the ultimate judge, and his \u201cvengeance\u201d as divine justice, then God has effectively liberated us from our own need to seek revenge. \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is precisely G\u2011d&#8217;s vengefulness that enables humans to let go of the desire for revenge. We know there is a true Judge, and He will do justice. So, we humans can leave the vengeance to Him, and get on with living.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is not to say that we should stand idly by and be trampled. In Deuteronomy 22:26 we are commanded, &#8220;If someone is coming to kill you, rise against him and kill him first.&#8221; There are conditions under which we must take action, but revenge is not one of them. Our belief that the world is ultimately in God\u2019s hands extends to our national experience, at the hands of our neighbors and nations of the world, from biblical times through today. There is a plan, God\u2019s on it, and vengeance is His providence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>image:\u00a0 Pierre-Paul Prud&#8217;hon, &#8220;Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime,&#8221; 1808, The Louvre \/ wikimedia<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":72471,"id":72471,"title":"jer46-divine vengeance","filename":"jer46-divine-vengeance.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/to-be-or-not-to-be-vengeful\/jer46-divine-vengeance\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer46-divine-vengeance","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":72470,"date":"2020-03-27 12:49:41","modified":"2022-10-19 19:01:50","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":793,"height":656,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance-300x248.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":248,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance-768x635.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance.jpg","large-width":793,"large-height":656,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance.jpg","1536x1536-width":793,"1536x1536-height":656,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance.jpg","2048x2048-width":793,"2048x2048-height":656,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance.jpg","post_full_size-width":793,"post_full_size-height":656,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer46-divine-vengeance-508x420.jpg","home_baner-width":508,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"To Be Or Not To Be Vengeful","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Vengeance is the Lord\u2019s - 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