{"id":78618,"date":"2020-08-10T15:43:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-10T12:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=78618"},"modified":"2020-08-10T15:43:20","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T12:43:20","slug":"just-who-is-great-and-terrible-eminent-and-awesome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/just-who-is-great-and-terrible-eminent-and-awesome\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Who Is Great And Terrible, Eminent And Awesome?"},"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":"78618","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":70715,"related_cahpter":"543","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"And how do we overcome that awe to demand justice?\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<em>Ayom v\u2019norah<\/em>\u201d \u2013 a phrase that can move the heart.\u00a0 We might remember the words coming from the mouth of the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chazzan<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cantor,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on the High Holy Days. In the prayer that begins with the word \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hineni<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>,<\/em>\u201d cantors throw themselves on the mercy of the court, as it were, as they describe themselves as the unworthy messengers of a congregation imploring the divine tribunal to exercise compassion. God is described in the prayer as \u201c<em>ayom v\u2019norah<\/em>,\u201d which is translated in that context by the Metzudah Machzor as \u201ceminent and awesome.\u201d Understanding the phrase as referring to the omnipotent heavenly judge makes sense when we recall that these words form the opening phrase of verse seven of the first chapter of Habbakuk. The verse read in isolation might be translated as, \u201cHe is eminent and awesome, His law and His majesty come from Him,\u201d suggesting a sense of the divine as all-powerful and fearsome, yet just and commanding ultimate respect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But read in the broader Habakkukian context, this verse means something very different.\u00a0 The book opens with the prophet\u2019s rebuke of God for allowing the righteous (presumably the prophet\u2019s people) to suffer at the hands of barbarous hordes. The evil-doers, identified in verse six as the Chaldeans, are described in verse seven as follows, using the JPS translation:\u00a0 \u201cThey are terrible, dreadful; They make their own laws and rules.\u201d\u00a0 As Malbim explains, this can mean that the oppressive nation engenders terror in its victims because it perceives no need to follow internationally accepted norms. Instead, it follows its own rules that are based exclusively on its own interests.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This doesn\u2019t mean that we must read the phrase found in the High Holy Day machzor as entirely disconnected from what Habakkuk had to say. The traditional Rosh Hashana liturgy has us reading stories of Abraham, the Chaldean-turned-Jewish-progenitor, shortly before the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chazzan<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sings (or this year, perhaps, whispers) <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hineni<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. When we hear that prayer describe the divine as \u201c<em>ayom v\u2019norah<\/em>,\u201d we can recall that both Abraham and Habakkuk were able at times to overcome their awe of the divine to demand that divine justice operate in this world in a universalizable fashion for all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hineni<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Michael Sgan-Cohen, 1978 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":78619,"id":78619,"title":"hab1-hineni","filename":"hab1-hineni.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/just-who-is-great-and-terrible-eminent-and-awesome\/hab1-hineni\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hab1-hineni","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78618,"date":"2020-08-10 12:43:08","modified":"2022-04-17 14:11:07","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":590,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-300x221.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":221,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-768x566.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":566,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":590,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":590,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":590,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":590,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-569x420.jpg","home_baner-width":569,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Just Who Is Great And Terrible, Eminent And Awesome?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"And how do we overcome that awe to demand justice?","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":78619,"id":78619,"title":"hab1-hineni","filename":"hab1-hineni.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/just-who-is-great-and-terrible-eminent-and-awesome\/hab1-hineni\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"hab1-hineni","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":78618,"date":"2020-08-10 12:43:08","modified":"2022-04-17 14:11:07","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":590,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-300x221.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":221,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-768x566.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":566,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":590,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":590,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":590,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":590,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab1-hineni-569x420.jpg","home_baner-width":569,"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\/78618"}],"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=78618"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78620,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78618\/revisions\/78620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}