{"id":74111,"date":"2020-05-03T16:42:39","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T13:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74111"},"modified":"2020-05-03T16:42:39","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T13:42:39","slug":"you-shall-live-by-them-assimilation-threatens-israels-national-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/you-shall-live-by-them-assimilation-threatens-israels-national-existence\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You Shall Live by Them\u2019: Assimilation Threatens Israel\u2019s National Existence"},"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":"74111","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38322,"related_cahpter":"472","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"You call that living!?\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

Ezekiel\u2019s prophetic critique of Israel\u2019s increasingly undeserved reputation as a champion of God\u2019s \u201cname\u201d in this chapter stands out in two ways. The first is the thrice repeated breach of God\u2019s laws (<\/span>chukim<\/span><\/em>) and rules (<\/span>mishpatim<\/span><\/em>) by which the people \u201clive\u201d (<\/span>ve\u2019chai ba\u2019hem<\/span><\/em>) (v. 11, 13, 21). This is a rare prophetic recitation of its original formulation in Lev. 18:5 where God identifies His <\/span>chukim<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>mishpatim<\/span><\/em> as comprising the framework \u201cby which man shall live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In typical biblical \u2018measure for measure\u2019 justice, those practices by which the people assimilated to foreign cultures, turned into laws and rules \u201cby which they could not live\u201d (v.25).<\/span><\/p>\n

The second is specifying Israel\u2019s desecration of the Sabbath. Ezekiel outdoes other prophets in his repeated accentuation of Sabbath violation as an irreparable rupture in the relationship between God and Israel, reprimanding the people no less than six times for this transgressive conduct. Perhaps the number six reflects Israel\u2019s deteriorating worldview informed by six weekdays-an exclusively profane life as opposed to a sacred life the number seven represents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet the question remains as to why Ezekiel singles out Sabbath violation. The answer resides in the integral connection between the Law\u2019s role as a code to \u201clive by\u201d and the Sabbath. One of the most crucial rabbinic reforms was their ingenious reading of Lev. 18:5: <\/span>Shall live by them<\/span><\/i>, the verse commands, \u201cand not die by them\u201d the rabbis added. That innocent extrapolation – not the simple sense of the verse – generated the supreme halakhic principle that the value of life supersedes God\u2019s law. Violating law is mandated, not just permitted, when fulfillment endangers life (<\/span>pikuach nefesh<\/span><\/em>). So paramount is this that Maimonides requires the greatest of Israel\u2019s sages to perform the \u2018violation\u2019 \u201cin order not to minimize Sabbath\u2019s importance\u201d- affirming its sanctification rather than desecration.<\/span><\/p>\n

This biblical stricture \u201cto live by them\u201d reflects another dimension of Jewish life. God did not reveal simply a religion but a comprehensive code of conduct ensuring the coherent life of a nation. In addition to rabbinic consideration of Sabbath as the paradigmatic example of the principle \u201cyou shall live by them\u201d (<\/span>Yomah<\/span><\/i> 85b), the earliest recorded historical enactment of this principle was the Maccabees\u2019 decision to defend against Greek attacks on the Sabbath for if \u201cwe fight not for our lives and laws against the heathen, they will now quickly root us out of the earth.\u201d(1<\/span>Maccabees<\/span><\/i> 2:43) Note the two-pronged argument. Breaking the Sabbath guaranteed its principal aims- perpetuating a legal system reflecting a unique culture and survival of individual and national life.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sabbath was the most distinctive mark of Israel\u2019s national life among its neighbours. Violating it then was not simply a \u2018religious\u2019 affront to God, but an overt expression of assimilation to \u201cbecome like the nations\u201d(v.32). In this case the people\u2019s rejection of the Sabbath strategically undermined the directive \u201clive by them\u201d, forming part of a concerted effort at destroying Israel\u2019s distinct national life and identity.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":74116,"id":74116,"title":"ez20-Assimilation-300x289","filename":"ez20-Assimilation-300x289.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez20-Assimilation-300x289.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/you-shall-live-by-them-assimilation-threatens-israels-national-existence\/ez20-assimilation-300x289\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez20-assimilation-300x289","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":74111,"date":"2020-05-03 13:41:46","modified":"2022-03-01 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