{"id":80428,"date":"2020-09-27T06:02:19","date_gmt":"2020-09-27T03:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=80428"},"modified":"2020-09-27T06:02:19","modified_gmt":"2020-09-27T03:02:19","slug":"the-lord-proves-the-righteous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-lord-proves-the-righteous\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lord Proves the Righteous"},"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":"80428","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34243,"related_cahpter":"578","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"But the proof of the righteous is in the testing...\r\n\r\n","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Midrash quotes R. Yohanan as saying:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The potter does not test fragile vessels that would break at a single blow of his hammer. What does he test? Well-made vessels that withstand even several blows. So is it that God does not test the wicked but the righteous; to wit: \u201cThe Lord proves the righteous\u201d (Ps. 11:5). (Bereishit Rabbah 32)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Note that my translation is at odds with the New JPS translation here, which renders the verse as: \u201cThe Lord seeks out the righteous man,\u201d and from that of Soncino (Old JPS): \u201cThe Lord trieth the righteous.\u201d Herein, lies a lesson in both linguistics and theology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ordinarily, tests or examinations are given in order to determine something previously unknown. The problem is that God is omniscient and has known everything that was, is, or will be; ergo, He does not need to test or examine anyone since He knows the results in advance. We first encountered this problem in Genesis 22: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some time afterward, God put Abraham to the test (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nissah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).\u201d Several medieval exegetes\u2014paramount among them, Se`adyah Gaon\u2014resolved this dilemma by deriving the key word <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nissah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the verbal root N-S-S, to raise (as a flag). In their explanation, the binding of Isaac (Akeidah) was a display of Abraham\u2019s faith rather than a test (from the root N-S-H).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, my preference for the verb \u201cto prove,\u201d which retains both of those connotations: providing evidence to establish a fact or a truth (e.g., proof of income, proof of citizenship), and the process by which that very evidence is secured (e.g., a military proving ground, an author\u2019s page proof, the alcoholic content of a beverage, or, most tritely, the exception that proves the rule).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here, the New JPS appears to have avoided the problem through its translation of \u201cseeks out,\u201d while it appears to me that Rabbi Yohanan, having drawn the analogy to the way a potter \u201ctests\u201d his wares, would agree with 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