{"id":77562,"date":"2020-07-16T17:22:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T14:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77562"},"modified":"2020-07-16T17:22:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T14:22:05","slug":"we-cant-hear-what-the-prophet-heard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-cant-hear-what-the-prophet-heard\/","title":{"rendered":"We Can\u2019t Hear What The Prophet Heard"},"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":"77562","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":38047,"related_cahpter":"526","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But, sadly, we can still see the injustices that he saw\r\n\r\n","content":"

Reading the second verse of the chapter in English is puzzling. In the New JPS translation, Amos reports that he sees \u201cA basket of figs,\u201d and God then tells him \u201cThe hour of doom has come for My people Israel; I will not pardon them again\u201d (Amos 8:2). More literally, the prophet sees \u201csummer fruit\u201d and God announces the people\u2019s impending \u201cend.\u201d On a technical level, this is a word play, revolving around the similarity in the sound of the words \u201csummer,\u201d <\/span>kayitz<\/span><\/i>, and \u201cend,\u201d <\/span>ketz<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I think something more is happening here. Beyond the phonetic similarity, the visual contrast between juicy, ripe fruit and the approaching disaster is stark. And yet it is strangely appropriate, echoing the bounty enjoyed by the wealthy and the contrasting poverty of their depleted neighbors. Amos scathingly describes prosperous merchants waiting impatiently for the markets to reopen at the end of Shabbat or the New Moon festival. They would not consider violating the strictures of the day, but openly disclose their eagerness to exploit their poor customers, using undersize containers to measure out poor quality grain, and oversize weights when receiving payment. Someone could be impoverished just by virtue of being their customers. It\u2019s hard to make ends meet when the market is run by cheats.<\/span><\/p>\n

God cares about this, immensely, and Amos knows it. These verses are the first that Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel quotes in <\/span>The Prophets<\/span><\/em>, as paradigmatic acts \u201cthat horrified the prophets\u201d that \u201ceven now [are] daily occurrences all over the world.\u201d It matters not how small the infraction, for \u201ca single act of injustice\u2013cheating in business, exploitation of the poor\u201d is nothing less than a disaster for the prophets. (1962 JPS edition, pp. 3-4). Amos\u2019s eyes see the basket of figs, the bounty present here-and-now, but \u201cwhat the prophet\u2019s ear perceives is the word of God\u201d and he knows that God is indeed concerned with \u201cthe affairs of the marketplace\u201d (Heschel p. 364).<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Jewish tradition, prophecy ended with Malachi (coming to 929 on Sept. 10). None of us are prophets. We cannot hear what Amos heard. But we can see what he saw, and train our hearts to understand that even a basket of ripe fruit can be a sign of looming disaster, if it comes to market through unjust means.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":77563,"id":77563,"title":"amos8-ThumbScale","filename":"amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-cant-hear-what-the-prophet-heard\/amos8-thumbscale\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"amos8-thumbscale","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":77562,"date":"2020-07-16 14:21:51","modified":"2020-07-16 14:22:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":864,"height":645,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-768x573.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":573,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","large-width":864,"large-height":645,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","1536x1536-width":864,"1536x1536-height":645,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","2048x2048-width":864,"2048x2048-height":645,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":645,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-563x420.jpg","home_baner-width":563,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"We Can\u2019t Hear What The Prophet Heard","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"But, sadly, we can still see the injustices that he saw","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":77563,"id":77563,"title":"amos8-ThumbScale","filename":"amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/we-cant-hear-what-the-prophet-heard\/amos8-thumbscale\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"amos8-thumbscale","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":77562,"date":"2020-07-16 14:21:51","modified":"2020-07-16 14:22:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":864,"height":645,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-768x573.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":573,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","large-width":864,"large-height":645,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","1536x1536-width":864,"1536x1536-height":645,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","2048x2048-width":864,"2048x2048-height":645,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale.jpg","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":645,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos8-ThumbScale-563x420.jpg","home_baner-width":563,"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\/77562"}],"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=77562"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77564,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77562\/revisions\/77564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}