{"id":76495,"date":"2020-06-26T16:05:07","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T13:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=76495"},"modified":"2020-06-26T16:05:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T13:05:07","slug":"the-love-awe-matrix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-love-awe-matrix\/","title":{"rendered":"The Love-Awe Matrix"},"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":"76495","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":70715,"related_cahpter":"511","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"How God relates lovingly to human weakness and fear\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The love-awe matrix \u2013 the emotional construct that defines the optimal human relationship with the divine \u2013 finds expression in complementary passages at the beginning and at the end of Chapter 11 of Hosea. Although the love-awe emotional dyad is usually used to prescribe a human approach to divine power, here it also tells us something about how God relates to human weakness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The chapter opens with reference to the love that God felt toward the Israelite people, depicted as a child, when they were in Egypt. But Midrash Shemot Rabbah (43:9) helps us imagine that this love, like so many loves, has a complicated history. Yes, God relates to the Israelites with love. But, we\u2019re told by the Midrash, that\u2019s only after God experiences the power of the people\u2019s rejection of God\u2019s divinity, embodied in a statue of a calf.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God responds to their idolatry by discussing with Moses the prospect of eradicating the newly formed Nation of Israel. According to the Midrash, Moses reminds the Lord of the image reflected in verse 1 of Hosea 11. He points out that the incipient nation is still in its formative moments, still the collective equivalent of a child. He therefore pleads with God to give the people a break.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps Moses intuited that God shared some of the fear that, according to the Yismach Moshe (Vayishlach 8:1), accompanied the divine promise made to the forefathers. Because the promise that they would have many descendants who would achieve national fulfillment was understood as conditional on future events, the Yismach Moshe explains, the recipients of the promise feared that it could fall through. Given the many other emotions biblically ascribed to God, we can imagine a corresponding fear felt by God that God\u2019s plan would fall apart. And a combination of God\u2019s perception that the people were asserting their independence with the fear that human action could undo God\u2019s project might be called awe. The opening lines of Chapter 11 of Hosea, as read through the midrashic lens, pair that awe with divine love following Moses\u2019 intervention on behalf of the people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The closing verses of the chapter give us another view of love and awe. There the people are depicted as fluttering, peaceful birds that are drawn close, rather than being frightened away, by the roar of a powerful lion. Thus, they respond in a manner uncharacteristic of such flighty creatures when they hear the mighty sound which is symbolic of a divine call. They are not afraid, although they might be awestruck, as they fly in formation along the path blazed by the lion, demonstrating their love for the power of its regal, indeed divine, message.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":76498,"id":76498,"title":"hos11-matrix","filename":"hos11-matrix.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos11-matrix.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-love-awe-matrix\/hos11-matrix\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hos11-matrix","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":76495,"date":"2020-06-26 13:04:48","modified":"2020-06-26 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