{"id":74742,"date":"2020-05-16T10:24:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-16T07:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74742"},"modified":"2020-05-16T10:24:14","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T07:24:14","slug":"my-nile-is-my-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/my-nile-is-my-own\/","title":{"rendered":"My Nile Is My Own"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The daily chapter deals with Ezekiel’s prophecy about Egypt. Forty years of waste are decreed on the land that challenged God and humans.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSpeak these words: \u2018Thus said the Lord GOD: \u2018I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, mighty monster, sprawling in your channels, Who said, My Nile is my own; I made it for myself.\u2019” (29: 3)<\/span><\/p>\n

“The River is for me to water my fields and I have no need for water from heaven” (Metzudat David)<\/span><\/p>\n

I am the ruler, says Pharaoh. The abundance of life is in my hands, and I do not want or need a Higher Being above me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pharaoh, in his worldview, sees himself as “the head of the pyramid.”\u00a0 This position supposedly takes full responsibility for life, and expresses daring, self-confidence and courage. In some contexts, it can be interpreted as an expression of independence and leadership.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the Prophet teaches us that his position \u201cMy Nile is my own\u201d is not an expression of a leadership ideology of independence or responsibility, but the opposite. This position is a defiant attitude towards God and humans, as it robs human beings of the right to be dependent on the Creator and the obligation to take responsibility for their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know That I am the LORD. Because you were a staff of reed To the House of Israel.” (v. 6)<\/span><\/p>\n

The people of Israel are leaning tactically, but also ideologically, on Egypt, which resembles \u2018a staff of reed.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Prophet identifies danger in Egypt and fights this dependency.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Jewish thought, dependence is an existential human position, as in the blessing said every morning: \u201cI thank you, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. Great is your faithfulness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Our world has one Ruler, and we are His subjects. From this dependence, we learn to acknowledge, congratulate and rejoice that we have been privileged to be part of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for the dependence on human beings, we pray (in Grace after Meals) not to be dependent on it: …”<\/span> Lord our God, please do not make us dependent upon the gifts of mortal men nor upon their loans.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the Egyptian view strives for the position of “responsible adult” and one omnipotent ruler, the Jewish view teaches us the concept of mutual responsibility – \u201dAll of Israel are responsible for one another\u201d – along with the values of justice, compassion and mercy.<\/span><\/p>\n

As parents and educators, we are required to grapple daily with questions of dependency and independence<\/span><\/p>\n

The Prophet’s words guide us to stay away from negative behavior of “I have\u00a0 it all”,\u00a0 as reflected in an assumption of totalizing and harmful responsibility, by a single person (“leave it to me”, “trust me”, “I am the one who knows”), and thus \u201cstealing it\u201d from a son, daughter, partner, spouse and even from God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Translated by: Chava Wilschanski<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"My Nile Is My Own","main_caption":"Totalizing responsibility robs everyone else of the possibility of mutual responsibility, and the values of justice, compassion and mercy","main_caption_size":"2","sub_caption":"","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74743,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74742\/revisions\/74743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}