{"id":100671,"date":"2018-07-09T18:03:33","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1185\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T19:46:08","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:46:08","slug":"wall-1185","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1185\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20250817-to-20250823"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1185","date_from":"20250817","date_to":"20250823","book":"II Chronicles","books_group":"Writings","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"28\/06\/2020","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"101076","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Mishpatim: Shmita Laws, And Constraints As A Source Of Thriving ","post_title":"Mishpatim: Shmita Laws, And Constraints As A Source Of Thriving","slug":"mishpatim-shmita-laws-and-constraints-as-a-source-of-thriving","old_id":"101076","type":"song","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1185","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Our mastery and possession of creatures and objects is always provisional and limited by the broader guidelines of our creatureliness.\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

This parashah is known in Hebrew as Sefer Ha-Brit (the Book of the Covenant). It contains the first body of laws in the Torah. These rules\u2014 a combination of moral imperatives, social standards, civil and criminal injunctions, and rules for proper worship\u2014are all recognized as the will of God, the embodied consequence of the distinct relationship between God and the people Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the heart of these guidelines for establishing the Beloved Community lie the laws of Shmita:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cSix years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce. And in the seventh you shall leave it untended and unharvested and the destitute of your people shall eat and the wildlife of the field shall eat what is left of them; so shall you do to your vineyard and your olive grove.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah establishes a practice that echoes throughout Mishpatim: our mastery and possession of creatures and objects is always provisional and limited by the broader guidelines of our creatureliness. We are finite in time and understanding, and our ownership is too. The law Is most explicit with land, rebutting the arrogant illusion that a person could ever own the earth or the bounty of creation. We are given rights to enjoy its fruit, but true ownership is God\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But a careful read of Mishpatim reveals that same principle again and again. You must release a Hebrew slave after a limited period, and what you can demand of that slave is constrained. A father\u2019s prerogatives over his daughter (even in a patriarchal society) are limited and she retains a degree of volition and self-determination. The chattel of your enemy that fall into your hand are not yours to keep. The Sabbath sets weekly limits that correspond to the Shmita\u2019s 7 year cycle of return and renunciation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are constrained by our nature and mortality. We are constrained by justice and the rights of others. We are constrained by respect for creation as a whole, a functioning, ecological organism. All for our own good.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only with those limits in place can we stand on a reliable base to build a system of morality that recognizes the preciousness of all things and the divine image in everyone. Only with borders placed on our rapacity can the bounty of the earth bless us all. And only with our seeking total control as an ill-guided response to our fear of not being in charge can we be redirected to true sources of consolation and thriving: our love for each other, reverence for the holy, delighting in life itself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This year is the shmita year: Shmita means a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we continue to share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around shmita themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"A Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","tile_main_caption":"Mishpatim: Shmita Laws, And Constraints As A Source Of Thriving","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1185"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"100890","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Many Lives Of Masks\u00a0 ","post_title":"The Many Lives Of Masks\u00a0","slug":"the-many-lives-of-masks","old_id":"100890","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64450,"post_title":"David Curwin","slug":"david-curwin","old_id":"64450","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Curwin ","description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","short_description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64452,"alt":"","title":"david curwin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","width":427,"height":464,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-276x300.png","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","medium_large-width":427,"medium_large-height":464,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","large-width":427,"large-height":464,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","1536x1536-width":427,"1536x1536-height":464,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","2048x2048-width":427,"2048x2048-height":464,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","post_full_size-width":427,"post_full_size-height":464,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-387x420.png","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"921","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From molten images to COVID protection\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In II Chronicles 28, we read about the evil deeds of King Ahaz:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAhaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was pleasing to the LORD as his father David had done, but followed the ways of the kings of Israel; he even made molten images for the Baals.\u201d (II Chronicles 28:1-2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These \u201cmolten images\u201d are familiar to use from another story of idolatry \u2013 the Golden Calf in the desert:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis [Aaron] took from them and cast in a mold, and made it into a molten calf. [\u2026] They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it\u2026\u201d (Exodus 32:4,8)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But while the concept of a molten idol might be familiar, the term used might seem odd today. The Hebrew word in these verses is <\/span>masekha<\/span><\/em>. That word has a very different meaning in modern Hebrew (and one that is in very common use in the past few years) \u2013 \u201cmask.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How did the same word come to mean both \u201cmolten\u201d and \u201cmask\u201d? And are they related somehow to the similar sounding word in English \u2013 \u201cmask\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let\u2019s first look at <\/span>masekha<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as \u201cmolten\u201d. It comes from the root <\/span>n-s-kh<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto pour,\u201d referring to the pouring of the metal when casting the images. Other related words are <\/span>nesekh<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201clibation,\u201d and <\/span>nasikh<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cprince\u201d (literally, \u201cthe one who had oil poured upon him as anointment.\u201d)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Masekha<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as \u201cmask\u201d originally meant \u201ccovering.\u201d It also comes from a root <\/span>n-s-kh<\/span><\/em>, but this is an unrelated root which meant \u201cto weave.\u201d A related word is <\/span>masechet<\/span><\/em>. In the Bible (Judges 16:14) it meant \u201cweb of the loom,\u201d and then in Rabbinic Hebrew it referred to a \u201ctractate (of the Talmud).\u201d Just as the loom collects the strings, a collection of teachings is found in a tractate. English has a pair of related words with a similar connection \u2013 \u201ctextile\u201d and \u201ctext.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But what about the English word \u201cmask\u201d? It isn\u2019t related to either of the Hebrew words we\u2019ve discussed, but it (and its French cognate <\/span>masque<\/span><\/em>) did influence the second meaning of <\/span>masekha<\/span><\/em>, encouraging the transition from \u201ccovering\u201d to \u201cmask.\u201d However, the word \u201cmask\u201d actually does have a Semitic origin, deriving from the Arabic <\/span>mashkara<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meaning \u201cclown.\u201d It may ultimately be related to the Hebrew <\/span>sheker<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201ca lie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So looking at all these words, we find some with a very positive connotation: libations and tractates, and others with negative connotations: molten images and lies. And what about masks? While today they are used to save us from dangerous diseases, let\u2019s hope we can return to a time when they were associated with clowns and fun.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81984,"alt":"","title":"ps30-masks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks.png","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Many Lives Of Masks\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From molten images to COVID protection","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81984,"alt":"","title":"ps30-masks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks.png","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-300x150.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-768x384.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-1024x512.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-1200x600.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ps30-masks-840x420.png","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"28","chapter_main_number":"921","date":"20290311","wall_id":"921"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"100921","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Vayashkem ","post_title":"Vayashkem","slug":"vayashkem","old_id":"100921","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"922","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hezekiah is in a long and dignified tradition of early risers for important tasks\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 29 begins the story of one of the greatest kings of Judah, Hezekiah. His first act is to clean out the Temple and purify it from the acts of his father and those kings before him. After the massive cleaning is complete, the Levites and priests inform the king that their work is complete.\u00a0 The text then states: \u201cKing Hezekiah rose early, gathered the officers of the city, and went up to the House of the L<\/span>ORD<\/span>\u201d (verse 20).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The use of this word \u201crise up early\u201d (<\/span>vayashkem<\/span><\/em>) has specific connotations in the Torah. The word usually introduces a very deliberate and important event that is about to take place or that just took place. The word is used most often with Abraham. \u201cNext morning, Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood before the L<\/span>ORD<\/span>\u201d (Genesis 19:27) after Abraham pleads with God to save Sodom, he gets up early to try to see what happened to the city. \u201cEarly next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away.\u201d (Genesis 21:14). Abraham must expel his concubine at the direction of his wife Sarah and God. This is the first step in anointing his son Isaac as his heir.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The most famous usage is \u201cSo early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him\u201d (Genesis 22:3). This is the beginning of the story of the binding of Isaac. Rashi explains that \u201che awoke\u201d implies that Abraham was alert and ready to do whatever God asked, even to sacrifice his son.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Other instances of the word include Jacob after his vision of the angels and the ladder (Genesis 28:18) and Moses the morning after receiving the Ten Commandments from God (Exodus 24:4). The inclusion of this phrase here with Hezekiah is no accident then. The word does not appear in the II Kings version of the story. The word is used here to link the righteous king to these great men and to show that his act of building the Temple was deliberate and important and done with a clear heart and focused mind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":100922,"alt":"","title":"2chron29-clock torah alarm","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm.jpg","width":1920,"height":1281,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1025,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1281,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-1200x801.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":801,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Vayashkem","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Hezekiah is in a long and dignified tradition of early risers for important tasks","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":100922,"alt":"","title":"2chron29-clock torah alarm","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm.jpg","width":1920,"height":1281,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1025,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1281,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-1200x801.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":801,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron29-clock-torah-alarm-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"922","date":"20290312","wall_id":"922"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"100914","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Fixing The Calendar To Fix The Nation ","post_title":"Fixing The Calendar To Fix The Nation","slug":"fixing-the-calendar-to-fix-the-nation","old_id":"100914","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"922","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hezekiah\u2019s leap (year) of faith\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

With the period of King Ahaz now over, his successor King Hezekiah, immediately sets out to reverse the desecration wreaked on the Temple. The effort necessitates ridding the Temple of idols and purifying the priests and Levites who conduct the Temple services. We are told that it took a full eight days to remove all the idols, and King Hezekiah was worried. The month of Nissan was upon them, and Passover (Pesach) was fast approaching. It wasn\u2019t just the re-consecration of the Temple that Hezekiah sought. He also saw an opportunity to reunite the divided Jewish nation, leveraging the upcoming Passover festival in which the centerpiece was the Pesach offering. Hezekiah wanted to extend an invitation to all the northern tribes of Israel to come to Jerusalem and observe Passover with the Judahites as one united people. But the calendar was moving too quickly, and there wasn\u2019t enough time either for all the priests and Levites to purify themselves or for the northern tribes to complete the journey. Hezekiah had an elegant solution: call a leap year (the calendar wasn\u2019t as fixed then as it is now) and make the current month of Nissan the leap month of Adar 2. Then Pesach would be pushed off for another month, allowing all the necessary blocks to fall into place on time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The sages of the time were opposed to Hezekiah\u2019s plan on two grounds. First, because of the law in place that if an entire community was deemed impure, they would all, paradoxically, be deemed pure. So, there was no issue with purification of the Levites. The sages were, however, opposed to fiddling with the calendar, because of other laws in place that proscribed how and when that could be done. This instance, they concluded, didn\u2019t meet the letter of that law.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a certain poetic irony in Hezekiah\u2019s proposed solution. When the Jewish nation first divided into two Kingdoms, Jeroboam, the first king of the northern nation of Israel, was so emphatically committed to divisiveness, that as the holiday of Sukkot approached \u2013 a holiday in which the people of his kingdom would normally travel to the Temple in Jerusalem - he sought to ensure that the nations did not unite. Jeroboam\u2019s solution for that possibility was to create a new Sukkot festival in Israel, exactly one month after Sukkot was celebrated in Judah, thus shifting the calendar by one month for his nation. Now, Hezekiah is re-syncing the calendar in order to achieve reunification.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Despite their objection, Hezekiah\u2019s sages did not prevent him from declaring a leap year. Perhaps they appreciated the significance of Hezekiah\u2019s plan to unify the nation. We know that in Jewish law saving a life overrides the usual religious rules \u2013 we call it <\/span>pikuach nefesh<\/span><\/em> \u2013 preservation of life. Maybe the reunification of the kingdoms was a case of <\/span>pikuach nefesh<\/span><\/em> for the Jewish nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"922","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A great historical king, as well as the stuff of myth and legend","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> begins the detailed narrative of the reign of Hezekiah, the 13<\/span>th<\/span> King of Judah. This narrative continues until Hezekiah\u2019s burial in<\/span> II Chronicles 32:32-33<\/span><\/a>. The parallel text in<\/span> II Kings 18:1<\/span><\/a>-<\/span>20:26<\/span><\/a> notes that: \u201c...Hezekiah\u2019s reign, and all his exploits\u2026are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Judah\u201d. <\/span>Our chapter<\/span><\/a> adds that Hezekiah\u2019s \u201cfaithful acts are recorded in the visions of the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz and in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel\u201d. Indeed, Hezekiah reigned (697\u2013642 BCE) during the time of the Prophets Isaiah and Micah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A seal impression reading \"Belonging to Hezekiah [son of] Ahaz king of Judah\" was discovered in Jerusalem. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, claims in a cuneiform text that he made Hezekiah \u201ca prisoner in Jerusalem, his royal residence, like a bird in a cage\u201d (see <\/span>Ancient Near Eastern Texts Related to the Old Testament<\/span><\/em>, page 288). However, according to<\/span> our chapter<\/span><\/a> (compare<\/span> II Kings 19:35-36<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Isaiah 37:36-37<\/span><\/a>), through the intervention of an angel, Sennacherib did not conquer Jerusalem, but retreated in disgrace to his capital Ninveh, where he was murdered by his own sons.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In addition to his<\/span> cleansing of the Temple and other religious reforms<\/span><\/a>, Hezekiah constructed the<\/span> Siloam Tunnel<\/span><\/a>, and the<\/span> Broad Wall<\/span><\/a> to protect Jerusalem from Assyrian conquest (see<\/span> II Chronicles 32:2-5<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hezekiah is the subject of many <\/span>post-biblical legends<\/span><\/a>. According to<\/span> Bavli Sanhedrin 63b<\/span><\/a>, Hezekiah\u2019s wicked father, King Ahaz, attempted to sacrifice him to<\/span> Moloch<\/span><\/a>. But his mother,<\/span> Abijah<\/span><\/a>, saved him by anointing him with the blood of the fire-retardant salamander, which protected him from the fire of this blood-thirsty idol. Elaborating on the Scriptural praise of Hezekiah, that \u201che did what was pleasing to the Lord, just as his father David had done\u201d (<\/span>II Chronicles 29:2<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> II Kings 18:3<\/span><\/a>), the sages particularly extol Hezekiah\u2019s extraordinary support of Torah study.<\/span> Sanhedrin 94b<\/span><\/a> states that: \u201cThe yoke of Sennacherib was destroyed due to the oil of Hezekiah that would burn in the synagogues and study halls [when the Jewish people were engaged in Torah study at night]. The <\/span>Gemara<\/span><\/i> goes on to ask: \u201cWhat did Hezekiah do to ensure Torah study?\u201d \u201cHe placed a sword at the entrance of the study hall and said: \u2018Anyone who does not engage in Torah study shall be stabbed with this sword\u2019! As a result, during Hezekiah\u2019s reign no unlearned person was to be found in the Land of Israel, and there was no man or woman, young or old, who was not expert even in the complex <\/span>halakhot<\/span><\/i> of ritual purity and impurity!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For this reason, King Hezekiah was buried, not only \u201con the upper part of the tombs of the sons of David\u201d (<\/span>II Chronicles 32:33<\/span><\/a>), but according to<\/span> Bavli Bava Kamma 17a<\/span><\/a>, a Torah scroll was laid upon his bier while the many mourners declared: \u201cThis one (i.e., Hezekiah) fulfilled that which is written in this (i.e., the Torah scroll)\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Hezekiah seal from the City of David, ca. late 8th century BCE. Photo courtesy of Eilat Mazar and Ouria Tadmor. <\/span>\u05d7\u05d5\u05ea\u05dd \u05d7\u05d6\u05e7\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5 \u05de\u05ea\u05e7\u05d5\u05e4\u05ea \u05de\u05dc\u05db\u05d5\u05ea\u05d5 \u05d4\u05e9\u05e0\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4, \u05e0\u05de\u05e6\u05d0 \u05d1\u05d7\u05e4\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05ea \u05e9\u05dc \u05d3\"\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d9\u05dc\u05ea \u05de\u05d6\u05e8 \u05de\u05d3\u05e8\u05d5\u05dd \u05dc\u05d4\u05e8 \u05d4\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea, \u05e6\u05d9\u05dc\u05d5\u05dd: \u05d0\u05d5\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4 \u05ea\u05d3\u05de\u05d5\u05e8, \u05d1\u05d0\u05d3\u05d9\u05d1\u05d5\u05ea \u05d3\"\u05e8 \u05d0\u05d9\u05dc\u05ea \u05de\u05d6\u05e8<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":100912,"alt":"","title":"2chron29-hezekiah 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great historical king, as well as the stuff of myth and legend","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":100912,"alt":"","title":"2chron29-hezekiah 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"923","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Pure thoughts and fervent prayers overcome bodily impurity\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

After abolishing idolatry, and purifying the Temple as well as the priests and Levites in the previous chapter, II Chronicles 30 describes how King Hezekiah set about to bring the rest of Israel in line with his religious reforms. The king called for the entire country to gather together and celebrate festival of Passover, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah; he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh to come to the House of the LORD in Jerusalem to keep the Passover for the LORD God of Israel (30:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like King Josiah of the kingdom of Israel after him (II Chronicles 35), and contemporary Jewish people throughout the world, Hezekiah recognized the power of the Passover celebration to cause different types of Jews, e.g., the righteous and the evildoers, the simple Jews and those who are too ignorant to even know where to begin, to share together an experience that potentially could restore their religious fervor, once it had become attenuated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But as in so many things, the \u201cdevil is in the details,\u201d particularly when it comes to properly observing religious rituals. While the Talmud concerns itself with whether Hezekiah properly inter-calculated the Jewish year in preparation for his Passover extravaganza (see Pesachim 56a,) one of the obstacles that the king had to contend with was the fact that many of the participants had not purified themselves prior to their consumption of the paschal sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For most of the people\u2014many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun\u2014had not purified themselves, yet they ate the paschal sacrifice in violation of what was written\u2026 (Ibid. 18; see Leviticus 7:20-1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hezekiah, ever the optimistic, inclusive, and rationalizing king, takes this issue up with God, emphasizes the innate good will of all who opted to participate, and the text states that he is duly rewarded:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, \u201cThe good LORD will provide atonement for Everyone who set his mind on worshiping God, the LORD God of his fathers, even if he is not purified for the sanctuary.\u201d The LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people (Ibid. 18-20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the chapter\u2019s last verse, there is another indication of God\u2019s responsiveness when being worshiped so whole-heartedly by His people, albeit this time without mention of any specific sinful behavior:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Levite priests rose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer went up to His holy abode, to heaven.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While in neither instance, are we told how it could be objectively evaluated that God proved amenable to these two appeals made to him, first by the king, and later by the priests, it is reassuring to believe that God will choose to act with compassion towards those who are clearly meaning well in their worship.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70033,"alt":"","title":"jer14-moses-prays","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","width":450,"height":648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-208x300.jpg","medium-width":208,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":648,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":648,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":648,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":648,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":648,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-292x420.jpg","home_baner-width":292,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"It\u2019s The Intention That Counts","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Pure thoughts and fervent prayers overcome bodily impurity","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70033,"alt":"","title":"jer14-moses-prays","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","width":450,"height":648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-208x300.jpg","medium-width":208,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":648,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":648,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":648,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":648,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":648,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-292x420.jpg","home_baner-width":292,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"30","chapter_main_number":"923","date":"20290313","wall_id":"923"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"100967","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Of Time And Difference ","post_title":"Of Time And Difference","slug":"of-time-and-difference","old_id":"100967","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38047,"post_title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","slug":"shoshana-michael-zucker","old_id":"38047","first_name":"Shoshana Michael ","last_name":"Zucker ","description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor by profession, but would much rather be learning and teaching Torah. 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\r\nKing Hezekiah\u2019s postponement of the Passover sacrifice and festival, reported at the beginning of this chapter, is included in the Mishnah\u2019s (<\/span>Pesachim<\/span> 4:9) list of six controversial actions during his reign, and one of three that met with the Sages\u2019 disapproval: \u201cSix things King Hezekiah did\u2026 he intercalated [the month of] Nisan in Nisan, and they did not agree with him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The delay in the observance of Passover was forced by the fact that the repurification of the Temple, reported in chapter 29, was only completed on the 16<\/span>th<\/span> day of the first month (29:17), too late for the Passover sacrifice to be brought at its proper time (at twilight on the 14<\/span>th<\/span> of the month, see Exodus 12:6 and Leviticus 23:5). Therefore, postponing the sacrifice until the 14<\/span>th<\/span> of the second month seems consistent with the provision for a second Passover outlined in Numbers 9. Explicitly the Mishna\u2019s problem is not with the postponement but rather with the timing of its announcement. King Hezekiah should have given people more warning. It\u2019s hard to disagree with that point but that option was not available to him, having only just ascended to the throne (2 Chron. 29:3). Moreover, its seems presumptuous to claim the Sages did not agree with this move when our chapter states at the outset \u201cThe king and his officers and the congregation in Jerusalem had agreed to keep the Passover in the second month\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What then is going on here? We can\u2019t know for certain but it seems likely that the Mishnah here is less interested in revisiting the reign of Hezekiah, which was long in the past even in their day, than in asserting rabbinic control of the calendar. The first commandment given to the Israelites as a people, in preparation for the first Passover sacrifice and subsequent exodus, establishes a new calendar, independent of the Egyptians: \u201cThis month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you\u201d (Exodus 12:2). As argued by Prof Sarit Kattan Gribetz, \u201cTemporal institutions can cultivate shared notions of time along with shared communal identities, but they can also differentiate those who mark their time in certain ways from those who mark their time differently\u2026. the rabbis used time-keeping and discourses about time to construct crucial social, political, and theological difference (<\/span>Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism<\/span><\/em>, p. 1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just as King Hezekiah began his reign with a major 14-day festival celebration (2 Chron. 30: 23, 26), the rabbis understood that determining the calendar and festivals were an effective way to establish their authority and restabilize the people after the destruction of the Temple. While criticizing Hezekiah, they were actually following in his footsteps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48988,"alt":"","title":"num34-timewarp","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp.jpg","width":1920,"height":1452,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-768x581.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":581,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-1024x774.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":774,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1162,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1452,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-1200x908.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":908,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-555x420.jpg","home_baner-width":555,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Of Time And Difference","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"While criticizing Hezekiah, the rabbis were actually following in his footsteps\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":48988,"alt":"","title":"num34-timewarp","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp.jpg","width":1920,"height":1452,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-768x581.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":581,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-1024x774.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":774,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1162,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1452,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-1200x908.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":908,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/num34-timewarp-555x420.jpg","home_baner-width":555,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"30","chapter_main_number":"923","date":"20290313","wall_id":"923"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"100965","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"The Mysteries Of Intercalation ","post_title":"The Mysteries Of Intercalation","slug":"the-mysteries-of-intercalation","old_id":"100965","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"923","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The why and how are clear. It\u2019s the when that\u2019s disputed\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter, which has no parallel in 2 Kings, describes how King Hezekiah led a celebration of Passover \u201cin the second month\u201d (2). While the Torah stipulates its observance in \u201cthe first month\u201d (Exodus 12:18, Leviticus 23:5, Numbers 9:1-3, 28:16), it makes allowance for those who were either impure or who lived at a great distance (from Jerusalem) to celebrate it a month later\u2014also on the 14<\/span>th<\/span> of the month (Numbers 9:10 ff.).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is that what happened here? Not according to the Talmud\u00a0 (Sanhedrin 12b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our Rabbis taught: We may not intercalate a year because of uncleanness. R. Judah said: We may intercalate. R. Judah observed: It once happened that Hezekiah king of Judah declared a leap year because of uncleanness, and then prayed for mercy, for it is written: \u201cFor most of the people\u2014many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun\u2014had not purified themselves, yet they ate the paschal sacrifice in violation of what was written. Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, the good L<\/span>ORD<\/span> will provide atonement<\/span>\u201d <\/span>(2 Chr. 30:18). R. Simeon said: If the intercalation was on the ground of uncleanness, it holds good. Why then did Hezekiah implore Divine mercy?\u00a0 \u2014 Because only an Adar can be intercalated and he intercalated in Nisan. R. Simeon b. Judah said on behalf of R. Simeon, that it was because he had persuaded Israel to celebrate a Second Passover [unduly].<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words, whereas the extra month is customarily added in the month of Adar (which is why it is called Adar II\/<\/span>Sheni<\/span><\/em>), in that year there was only one month of Adar, but there were two months of Nisan, and Passover was celebrated in the second one. In practice, it was celebrated on the same day on which it would have fallen had the extra month been inserted in Adar, but since the \u201cdeadline\u201d for intercalation (<\/span>`ibur hashanah<\/span><\/em>) had passed, Hezekiah had no right to postpone it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Radak, however, raised an interesting alternative:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I am perplexed\u2026 Scripture states: \u201cThe king and his officers and the congregation in Jerusalem had agreed\u201d (2), which implies that they [the Sages, i.e., \u201chis officers\u201d] concurred. Moreover, their assumption that he added the month in Nisan has no Scriptural basis; perhaps this [consultation] occurred in Adar to create an Adar II instead of Nisan, and \u201cto keep the Passover in the second month\u201d (<\/span>ibid.<\/span><\/em>) meant that the second month\u2014that ought to have been Iyar\u2014became Nisan and that is when Passover was celebrated.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45861,"alt":"","title":"Jewish_calendar,_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","width":734,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948-300x262.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":262,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","medium_large-width":734,"medium_large-height":640,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","large-width":734,"large-height":640,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","1536x1536-width":734,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","2048x2048-width":734,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","post_full_size-width":734,"post_full_size-height":640,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948-482x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":482,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Mysteries Of Intercalation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The why and how are clear. It\u2019s the when that\u2019s disputed","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45861,"alt":"","title":"Jewish_calendar,_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","width":734,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948-300x262.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":262,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","medium_large-width":734,"medium_large-height":640,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","large-width":734,"large-height":640,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","1536x1536-width":734,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","2048x2048-width":734,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948.jpeg","post_full_size-width":734,"post_full_size-height":640,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Jewish_calendar_showing_Adar_II_between_1927_and_1948-482x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":482,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"30","chapter_main_number":"923","date":"20290313","wall_id":"923"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"101035","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Protecting The Dignity Of Transgressors ","post_title":"Protecting The Dignity Of Transgressors","slug":"protecting-the-dignity-of-transgressors","old_id":"101035","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":99130,"post_title":"Sandra Lilienthal","slug":"sandra-lilienthal","old_id":"99130","first_name":"Sandra ","last_name":"Lilienthal ","description":"Dr. Sandra Lilienthal is an independent adult educator in South Florida. Besides her many weekly classes, she is a frequent speaker at Jewish education conferences, synagogues and other Jewish organizations. Sandra is a 2015 winner of the Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.","short_description":"Dr. Sandra Lilienthal is an independent adult educator in South Florida, and is a 2015 winner of the Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":99132,"alt":"","title":"sandra lilienthal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1.jpg","width":2319,"height":2209,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1-300x286.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":286,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1-768x732.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":732,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1-1024x975.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":975,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1463,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1951,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1-1200x1143.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1143,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/sandra-lilienthal-1-441x420.jpg","home_baner-width":441,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"925","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Details here are sparse of Hezekiah\u2019s illness, repentance and recovery\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

After three chapters following King Hezekiah\u2019s intent to return the nation to a behavior that was \u201cproper in God\u2019s eyes,\u201d with the destruction of idolatry and the return to service at the Temple, we are now faced with a threat from the Assyrian king, Sennacherib. Hezekiah prepares for the encounter with the Assyrian army recognizing their strength but counting on God\u2019s help and protection. King and prophet (Hezekiah and Isaiah) pray together, and God answers their prayers destroying the Assyrian army. It is easy to imagine how Hezekiah was seen by other nations: the one who returned Israel to the service of God, who is then rewarded by God. It is also not difficult to understand why Hezekiah saw himself as invincible. Hezekiah accumulated a significant amount of wealth, and the text tells us that \u201cHezekiah was successful in all his endeavors.\u201d When he died, the entire nation paid tribute to him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is, though, a passage in this narrative that catches one\u2019s eyes and almost begs to be read again and explained. Verses 24 through 26 speak of Hezekiah becoming very ill, praying to God, receiving a sign, becoming snobbish, and then humbling himself. Very little detail is given. How was Hezekiah\u2019s haughtiness presented? How did he repent? The passage speaks in very vague terms.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This same story is told, however, in two other places: in the Book of Kings (chapter 20) and in Isaiah (chapter 38), and in those two sources, a lot more detail is given. Our focus is on the account in Chronicles, so the details in the other two books are not relevant for today\u2019s conversation. The fact that the Book of Chronicles chooses to be vague might be teaching us an important lesson. When stories are developing, details are important. Yet, a book of chronicles, a book which recounts history with its most important facts, does not see a need to report the details about the mistakes of King Hezekiah. He missed the mark, as every human being does. But the dignity of transgressors should be protected.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a difficult balance between calling out those who make mistakes, especially those in leadership positions. Public figures have an added measure of responsibility in how they act, considering they become role models for others. Their mistakes, whether big or small, become news and many times serve as reminders of what is right and what is wrong behavior. In the end, though, what is important is that a person who made a mistake repented (and in Jewish terms, repentance is not simply saying \u201cI am sorry,\u201d but never repeating that same mistake). That is what history needs to tell: Hezekiah was haughty, and Hezekiah repented. The details become irrelevant.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66818,"alt":"","title":"is36-hezekiah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","width":622,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah-300x289.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":289,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","medium_large-width":622,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","large-width":622,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":622,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":622,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":622,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah-435x420.jpg","home_baner-width":435,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Protecting The Dignity Of Transgressors","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Details here are sparse of Hezekiah\u2019s illness, repentance and recovery","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66818,"alt":"","title":"is36-hezekiah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","width":622,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah-300x289.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":289,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","medium_large-width":622,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","large-width":622,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":622,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":622,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":622,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is36-hezekiah-435x420.jpg","home_baner-width":435,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"925","date":"20290315","wall_id":"925"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"101019","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"A Jewish Story ","post_title":"A Jewish Story","slug":"a-jewish-story","old_id":"101019","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":92960,"post_title":"Calev Ben-Dor","slug":"calev-ben-dor","old_id":"92960","first_name":"Calev ","last_name":"Ben-Dor ","description":"Having grown up in London, Calev Ben-Dor now lives in Jerusalem with his family. He writes and teaches about Israel and Judaism and is involved in a Whatsapp facilitated 929 learning group with members from across the world.","short_description":"Calev Ben-Dor lives in Jerusalem and writes and teaches about Israel and Judaism.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92962,"alt":"","title":"calev ben dor","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","width":428,"height":414,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1-300x290.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":290,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","medium_large-width":428,"medium_large-height":414,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","large-width":428,"large-height":414,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":428,"1536x1536-height":414,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":428,"2048x2048-height":414,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":428,"post_full_size-height":414,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","home_baner-width":428,"home_baner-height":414}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"925","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A 16 year-old student makes an epochal archeological discovery\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The son of Ottoman Jews, who would be subsequently adopted by evangelical Christians, Jacob Eliahu (1864\u20131932) was not your average 16-year-old.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Interested in archeology and with an aptitude for languages, (of which he would speak five fluently), Jacob and his friend decided in 1880 to explore the Siloam Pool, starting in different directions with the aim of meeting one another.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The tunnel \u2013 643 meters long and cut clean through limestone \u2013 had been explored in 1838 by the American biblical scholar Edward Robinson, and later in 1865 by Charles Warren who first suggested it may have been dug by King Hezekiah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That tunnel is described in verse 30 of Chapter 32 of Chronicles II \u201c<\/span>It was Hezekiah who stopped up the spring of water of Upper Gihon, leading it downward west of the City of David; Hezekiah prospered in all that he did.<\/span><\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

The King was preparing for a siege by the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib, one that ended when a plague swept through the Assyrian camp, saving the city from destruction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Feeling his way in the dark, Jacob realized that the chisel marks had changed and were now going from left to right. Feeling around the walls, he thought his fingers detected an inscription in the stone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That inscription consisted of six lines of remarkably distinct lettering in Hebrew, and reads as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cand this is the story of the tunnel . . . while the men wielded the pickaxes, each man towards his fellow and while there were still three cubits to go there was heard a man\u2019s voice calling to his fellow for there was a fissure in the rock on the right and [on the left]. And on the day it was broken through, the hewers struck [the rock] each man towards his fellow, axe against axe. And the water flowed from the spring towards the pool for one thousand and two hundred cubits. And a hundred cubits was the height of the rock above the heads of the hewers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his <\/span>Jerusalem: A Biography<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> Simon Sebag Montefiore terms the discovery a miniature history, \u201cthe first we have of ordinary Jews getting a job done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe full 180 words constitute the longest, continuous ancient classical Hebrew inscription we know of\u2026 And its subject, unlike the stones of Babylon and Assyria, Egypt or even little Moab, is not the deeds and renown of the ruler, nor the invincibility of their gods\u2026 It celebrates, rather, the triumph of regular Jews, workmen \u2013 pickaxe-swingers. It is not meant for monumental public view, but for those who, some-day, might happen upon it, wading through the sloppy watercourse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As we approach the end of this 929 Bible cycle, it\u2019s fascinating to be exposed to what Montefiore terms \u201ca kind of ante anti-Bible; something left for posterity, but with the casual spontaneity of someone scrawling graffiti, yet unlike graffiti, cut into the rock in perfect, large (three-quarters of an inch) Hebrew letters. All of which\u201d Montefiore announces, \u201ccertainly makes it a Jewish story, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Copy of the inscription in its original location inside Hezekiah's Tunnel (Siloam), 2010, Tamar Hayardeni \/ wikpedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101020,"alt":"","title":"2chron32-siloam hezekiah inscription","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","width":800,"height":739,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-300x277.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":277,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-768x709.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":709,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":739,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":739,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":739,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":739,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-455x420.jpg","home_baner-width":455,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Jewish Story","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A 16 year-old student makes an epochal archeological discovery","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":101020,"alt":"","title":"2chron32-siloam hezekiah inscription","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","width":800,"height":739,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-300x277.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":277,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-768x709.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":709,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":739,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":739,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":739,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":739,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/2chron32-siloam-hezekiah-inscription-455x420.jpg","home_baner-width":455,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"II Chronicles","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"925","date":"20290315","wall_id":"925"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/100671"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}