{"id":75241,"date":"2020-05-26T17:40:22","date_gmt":"2020-05-26T14:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=75241"},"modified":"2020-05-26T17:40:22","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T14:40:22","slug":"unfinished-business-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/unfinished-business-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Unfinished Business"},"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":"75241","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":72765,"related_cahpter":"489","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Reviving the dry bones and restoring them to their land was the easy part\r\n\r\n","content":"

Ezekiel\u2019s magnificent prophecy of the \u201cdry bones\u201d and their return to Israel concludes: \u201c\u2026and I will place you in your own land; and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and performed it, says the Lord.\u201d (37:14)<\/span><\/p>\n

Comments Rabbi Dr. S. Fisch in the Soncino Tanach: \u201cWhen the miracle of Israel\u2019s national revival is performed, the people\u2019s faith in God will be firmly established\u2026Israel\u2019s restoration could not be achieved by human power, but only by the spirit of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Flash forward to May 14, 1948. The remnant of the Jewish people – those who survived the inquisitions and the pogroms and, having been given up for dead, the Holocaust – have been restored to their homeland. Now they stand on the brink of statehood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben-Gurion presides over a council meeting in Tel Aviv that is drafting the text of the new state\u2019s Declaration of Independence. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon, leader of the Mizrachi party, insists that the God of Israel be mentioned in the document. Aharon Zisling, a founder of the Labor party, protests: \u201cI cannot possibly sign a document which refers to a God whom I do not believe in at all!\u201d Rabbi Maimon proposes that the concluding sentence begin \u201cPlacing our trust in the Rock of Israel and its Redeemer.\u201d His opponents counter that \u201cRedeemer\u201d can only refer to God. Ben-Gurion referees a compromise: Drop \u201cRedeemer\u201d and keep \u201cRock of Israel\u201d which each side can interpret as they will. Because it is late on Friday afternoon, erev Shabbat<\/em>, Rabbi Maimon agrees.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Natan Alterman\u2019s famous poem \u201cThe Silver Platter\u201d, written late in 1947, the people are depicted, \u201cheartbroken but breathing\u201d, standing in anticipation of a \u201cunique miracle.\u201d Were they expecting another Mount Sinai, another gift from on high? Perhaps they were conditioned in this hope by our text here in Ezekiel, and by others like it.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there was no miracle, no gift from on high. The \u201csilver platter\u201d upon which was served Israel\u2019s victory in the upcoming War of Independence\u2014and all of Israel\u2019s subsequent wars\u2014was Israel\u2019s own soldiers, its precious youth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Who performed the major work of redemption in these battles: God? Or the battle-weary soldiers in Alterman\u2019s poem, the young boy and the young girl who \u201cfall in shadow\u201d at the people\u2019s feet?<\/span><\/p>\n

One wonders: what if God really had presented us with the land of Israel on a \u201csilver platter\u201d? Would that have been sufficient to restore the \u201cGaon Yaakov<\/em>\u201d, the Jewish national pride that had been shattered in the Holocaust?<\/span><\/p>\n

The State of Israel has enjoyed hardly a full day of peace since its inception and currently \u201cenjoys\u201d the opprobrium of much of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out that reviving the dry bones and restoring them to their land was the easy part. Restoring the reputation of a tarnished and tardy God\u2014and persuading an often unconvinced Diaspora\u2014remain to be accomplished.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Vision of the Dry Bones – The Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem (detail), Benno Elkan, artist \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":75242,"id":75242,"title":"ez37-menorah","filename":"ez37-menorah.jpeg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/unfinished-business-2\/ez37-menorah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez37-menorah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75241,"date":"2020-05-26 14:39:41","modified":"2020-05-26 14:39:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":639,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-300x281.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","medium_large-width":639,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","large-width":639,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","1536x1536-width":639,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","2048x2048-width":639,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","post_full_size-width":639,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-448x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":448,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Unfinished Business","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Reviving the dry bones and restoring them to their land was the easy part","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":75242,"id":75242,"title":"ez37-menorah","filename":"ez37-menorah.jpeg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/unfinished-business-2\/ez37-menorah\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ez37-menorah","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":75241,"date":"2020-05-26 14:39:41","modified":"2020-05-26 14:39:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":639,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-300x281.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","medium_large-width":639,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","large-width":639,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","1536x1536-width":639,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","2048x2048-width":639,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","post_full_size-width":639,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-448x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":448,"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\/75241"}],"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=75241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75243,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75241\/revisions\/75243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}