{"id":79848,"date":"2020-09-12T21:13:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T18:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79848"},"modified":"2020-09-12T21:13:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T18:13:53","slug":"writing-the-next-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/writing-the-next-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"Writing The Next Chapter"},"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":"79848","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":46656,"related_cahpter":"567","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"It\u2019s up to us...\r\n\r\n","content":"

This final book of prophecy, the Book of Malachi, is mysterious to us in that there is no definitive answer forthcoming from our sages as to who Malachi is. The last chapter opens with God proclaiming, \u201cBehold, I am sending My messenger and he will clear a path before Me.\u201d The messenger is Malachi, but Malachi simply means \u201cMy messenger.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Evidently, it\u2019s not important to know who this messenger is. It\u2019s the message that matters. This chapter, heralding the end of the period of prophecy culminates in three reminders to the Jewish nation, essentially: remember and keep the Torah; the Messiah will come; and your relationship with God will continue (3:22-24).<\/span><\/p>\n

In literature, when we read a story or a book, we usually expect to reach a conclusion that ties up everything preceding it in a nice bow. It may not always be the ending we expect, but, it\u2019s almost always an ending. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out that none of Tanach has a definitive conclusion. The Five Books of Moses (Torah) is largely focused on the goal and journey of the Jewish people to receive their homeland in the Land of Israel. And yet the final book, Deuteronomy, concludes with Moses standing on a mountain, looking over at the land but not entering it and the nation on the banks of the Jordan River, not yet having crossed into their promised land. The reader is left waiting for the hope of the nation to be realized. Likewise, the Books of Prophets (Neviim), so finely focused on the themes of repentance, redemption, and the promise of Messianic times, concludes with none of those yet realized. Instead. we are reminded to invest ourselves in Torah, wait for the Messiah and nurture our relationship with God. And finally (spoiler alert) the Books of Writings (Ketuvim) will conclude with a reiteration of the narrative of King Cyrus of Persia granting the Jewish people permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple.<\/span><\/p>\n

On these cliff-hanger endings Rabbi Sacks explains, \u201c<\/span>The last chapter is not yet written. The Messiah has not yet come. Until then, the story continues \u2013 and we, together with God, are the co-authors of the next chapter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We have now reached the end of the Books of Prophets, but we have not reached the end of the story.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79849,"id":79849,"title":"mal3-next chapter","filename":"mal3-next-chapter.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-next-chapter.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/writing-the-next-chapter\/mal3-next-chapter\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"mal3-next-chapter","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79848,"date":"2020-09-12 18:13:41","modified":"2022-02-03 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