{"id":75088,"date":"2020-05-23T09:36:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-23T06:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75088"},"modified":"2020-05-23T09:36:24","modified_gmt":"2020-05-23T06:36:24","slug":"a-prince-among-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-prince-among-men\/","title":{"rendered":"A Prince Among Men"},"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":"75088","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"486","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Born aloft by the people, he in turn bears them\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the beginning of this chapter, God compares His people to a flock of sheep who have been led by a corrupt shepherd. Such a shepherd tends to himself before tending to his flock and takes the fattest sheep and the best wool for his own use. So, too, have many of the nations\u2019 kings neglected to serve their people, while at the same time, benefiting from their struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God is very specific about the particular failings of leadership, and the examples provided all focus on social justice. \u201cYou have not sustained the weak, healed the sick, or bandaged the injured. You have not brought back the strayed or looked for the lost (34:4).\u201d These are failures not only of physical leadership, but spiritual as well, and are considered a catalyst for the downfall of the nation. R. Yosef ben Shimon Kara (Mahari Kara) attributes the nation\u2019s descent into idol worship to the willful negligence of leaders who did not go after the strayed or look for the lost. Since they were not being tended to, the people looked for leadership elsewhere: tragically from other gods. Rashi points to a flock that has become scattered, as the Jewish people have, being more vulnerable to predatory nations, both physically and spiritually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So dire had the situation become, that Ezekiel prophecies that God Himself will now step in to be their shepherd. First, He will \u201csearch for the lost, retrieve the banished, bind the broken, strengthen the ill and tend them with justice (34:16).\u201d And then He will appoint a new shepherd. But the era of kings is now over, and the new leader, from the house of King David will be \u201ca prince (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nasi<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> among them (34:24).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How will a prince\u2019s leadership differ from that of a king? Rav Mordechai Breuer, in the name of his great-grandfather Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, likens the Hebrew word for prince \u2013 <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nasi<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2013 to the Hebrew word for banner \u2013 <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nes<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Just as people raise a banner and hold it aloft to uplift and guide them through difficulty, so too is a nasi \u2013 a prince \u2013 \u201cborne by the people to in turn bear them\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be a true servant of God and leader of a nation, means to recognize one\u2019s role as \u201ca prince among them\u201d; to respond to one\u2019s elevated status by reflecting wisdom and energy back to the people for the nation\u2019s benefit and wellbeing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":75090,"id":75090,"title":"ez34-prince banner","filename":"ez34-prince-banner.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-prince-among-men\/ez34-prince-banner\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez34-prince-banner","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75088,"date":"2020-05-23 06:35:10","modified":"2020-05-23 06:35:24","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":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"A Prince Among Men","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Born aloft by the people, he in turn bears them","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":75090,"id":75090,"title":"ez34-prince banner","filename":"ez34-prince-banner.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-prince-among-men\/ez34-prince-banner\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez34-prince-banner","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75088,"date":"2020-05-23 06:35:10","modified":"2020-05-23 06:35:24","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":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-prince-banner-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"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\/75088"}],"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=75088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75091,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75088\/revisions\/75091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}