{"id":38980,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:08","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1007\/"},"modified":"2022-03-24T09:12:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T07:12:39","slug":"wall-1007","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1007\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20220320-to-20220326"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1007","date_from":"20220320","date_to":"20220326","book":"Genesis","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"40143","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Genesis 31-35: The Weekly Video Summary and Overview ","post_title":"Genesis 31-35: The Weekly Video Summary and Overview","slug":"genesis-31-35-the-weekly-video-summary-and-overview","old_id":"40143","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1007","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/lzPk3nHDSmQ<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","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":"929 Whiteboard Library","tile_main_caption":"Genesis 31-35: The Weekly Video Summary and Overview","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lzPk3nHDSmQ","tile_external_link":"","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":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1007"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"103326","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Shemini: Energizing The Ultimate Source Of Energy ","post_title":"Shemini: Energizing The Ultimate Source Of Energy","slug":"shemini-energizing-the-ultimate-source-of-energy","old_id":"103326","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":70715,"post_title":"Judry Subar","slug":"judry-subar","old_id":"70715","first_name":"Judry ","last_name":"Subar","description":"Judry Subar, who lives in Potomac, Maryland, spent most of his professional career as a lawyer with the federal government in Washington, DC. Since his retirement, Jud has been involved in various writing and educational projects.","short_description":"Judry Subar spent most of his professional career as a lawyer with the federal government in Washington. Since his retirement, he has been involved in various writing and educational projects.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":70716,"alt":"","title":"judry subar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","medium_large-width":400,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","large-width":400,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","1536x1536-width":400,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","2048x2048-width":400,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","post_full_size-width":400,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","home_baner-width":400,"home_baner-height":400}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1007","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When we focus on the purposes of Shmita\u00a0 we facilitate the flow of spiritual power from earth to heaven and back again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

So many adjectives can be used to describe the act of eating: necessary, enjoyable, challenging, fraught, social, and on and on.\u00a0 We might be inclined to add \u201cearthly\u201d to the list; inhabitants of this world eat for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 Several references to eating in Parashat Shemini reinforce this perspective.\u00a0 We read in Leviticus 10:12-14 about priestly eating, the physical consumption of holy food by the sons of Aaron.\u00a0 And the end of the parasha identifies the sorts of meat we may eat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But Shemini refers not only to human eating but also to divine consumption.\u00a0 Verse 24 of chapter 9 tells us about the godly fire that consumed the sacrificial meat on the altar.\u00a0 And the beginning of the following chapter provides another example of divine consumption, telling of the celestial fire that consumed two of Aaron\u2019s sons because of some sort of excess fervor on their part in the way they approached service in the Tabernacle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does it mean for something in this world to be consumed by its creator?\u00a0 If, as physicists would have it, the amount of energy in any given system neither increases nor decreases, then we can imagine the spiritual energy in the universe remaining constant, whether that energy is drawn by humanity from on high or, on the other hand, is taken in by the divine from the holiness of an earthly sacrificial act or from the passionate soul of a priestly actor.\u00a0 Consider in this regard the Hasidic conception of the divine-human relationship, according to which some element of divinity is found in every being that makes up the cosmos.\u00a0 This understanding underscores the interdependence between humanity and divinity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As we encounter it halfway through the current Shmita year, Parashat Shemini\u2019s suggestion that we have the ability to energize the ultimate source of energy seems apt.\u00a0 Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that faith begins with a question from God, and that closeness to God is achieved within the dimension of time.\u00a0 The seven-year Shmita cycle maximizes the basic Jewish building block of time: the seven-day week.\u00a0 So when we focus on the apparent purposes of Shmita \u2013 providing for the destitute (Exodus 23:11), caring for animals (<\/span>ibid<\/span><\/i>.), and attending to the land (Leviticus 25:4) \u2013 we find ourselves providing a thundering answer to an ultimate question and thereby facilitating the flow of spiritual power from earth to heaven and back again.\u00a0\u00a0\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 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Ha'uma, Jerusalem, 30.3.22 - Register now!","post_main_content_content":"

The First Israel Tanach Conference will take place on Wednesday, 30 March (26 Adar II) at Binyanei Ha'umah in Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

See here for the incredibly rich and varied program, <\/a>including\u00a0lectures, learning, and music by some of Israel's leading musicians!<\/p>\r\n

If you are in Israel - don't miss it! Join the several thousand people already registered (click here for mandatory pre-registration<\/a>).<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102954,"alt":"","title":"-622dfce51ef2e--622dfce51ef2f929_Veidat 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","post_title":"Teraphim - What Were They?","slug":"teraphim-what-were-they","old_id":"103119","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. 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":"31","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ancient human-like idols that presaged the Golem\u2026. and Frankenstein\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> includes the curious story of Rachel stealing the \"<\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>\" from her paternal home. Though this term is mentioned fifteen times in the Hebrew Bible, its meaning and etymology remain a subject of traditional and contemporary academic debate. In general, <\/span>teraphim<\/em> <\/span>seem to have been some sort of portable household idols. They must have been small enough for Rachel to hide them under the \u201ccamel cushion\u201d on which she was sitting. However, in the story of<\/span> David's escape from Saul<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>teraphim<\/em> <\/span>seem to be the size and shape of a man, for David\u2019s wife Michal hid them in her bed, telling those searching for David that he was under the covers, sick. Whatever <\/span>teraphim<\/em> <\/span>were, they seem to have been part of Israelite culture, until they are said to have been\u00a0 <\/span>eradicated by King Josiah of Judah<\/span><\/a> in the 6<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE. Significantly, in what seems to be a reflection of Rachel\u2019s stealing the Biblical <\/span>teraphim,<\/span><\/i> Josephus<\/span><\/a> relates the story of a Parthian woman in the time of the Babylonian Exile. \u201cWhen she was led away captive, upon the death of her husband, she concealed the images of those gods which were their country gods\u2026Now it was the custom of that country to have the idols they worship in their own houses, and to carry them along with them when they go into a foreign land\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbinic sages elaborated on the description of <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> and how they were produced. According to<\/span> Midrash Tanhuma<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer<\/span><\/a>, , they were called <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>, because they were works of <\/span>toref<\/em> <\/span>(\u201cfilth\u201d). And how were they constructed? They would take a red firstborn male child, kill him, and sprinkle him with salt and spices. Then they would write a demon\u2019s name upon a gold tablet and place it beneath the child\u2019s tongue while performing certain magical rites. After this, they inserted the corpse into a recess in the wall and lit candles before it. They would then bow down before it, and it would speak to them in a whisper, as is stated in the<\/span> verse<\/span><\/a>: \u201cFor the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/i> spoke delusion.\u201d Rachel stole the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/i> to eradicate idolatry from her father\u2019s home (see<\/span> Rashi on Genesis 32:19<\/span><\/a> based on<\/span> Midrash Genesis Rabbah<\/span><\/a>). However, it is explicitly<\/span> written<\/span><\/a> that Jacob did not know that Rachel had stolen them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a> describes how a necromancer (<\/span>baal \u2018ov<\/span><\/em>) inquires about the future from a human skull. Significantly, in the early 1950\u2019s, archeologists discovered<\/span> plastered human skulls<\/span><\/a> which have been related to the Biblical <\/span>teraphim.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

It has been<\/span> suggested<\/span><\/a> that the Rabbinic legends about the Biblical <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> influenced the development of the legend of the<\/span> Golem<\/span><\/a>, the animated anthropomorphic being created by Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late-16th-century rabbi of Prague. And the Jewish Golem may have<\/span> inspired<\/span><\/a> Mary Shelly in creating her tale of <\/span>Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus<\/span><\/i> (1818).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Her BA is from Brandeis University, where she studied Psychology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Rachael is the rabbinic intern for the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Task Force on the Experience of Women in the Rabbinate. ","short_description":"Rachael Pass is a fourth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. 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In Genesis 31, we read the story of Rachel stealing her father\u2019s <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> while escaping from Laban with Jacob, Leah, and their whole family. When Laban realizes both Jacob and his <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> are gone, he chases after them and searches their whole caravan for the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>. Rachel cleverly hides them in a cushion and sits on them; when Laban comes to search her tent, she claims she is menstruating and cannot rise, successfully concealing the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> from her father.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many classic commentators focus on Rachel\u2019s reason for stealing the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>, concerned that the text could be read to understand that Rachel was worshipping idols. Rashi\u2019s classic claim is that she was attempting to wean Laban from idol worship, committing an act of \u201chonoring one\u2019s father and mother\u201d while simultaneously fleeing from him. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Radak\u2019s reading claims that the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> were objects that could have been useful to Laban in tracking the caravan as they fled; thus, Rachel stole the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> to protect the whereabouts of Jacob. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Modern feminist readers (myself included) love to see Rachel using her menstruation as a way to subvert her father\u2019s authority by not rising when he enters the room and by hiding his possessions from him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The exclusively male classic commentators focus on <\/span>why<\/span><\/em> Rachel stole the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>, incorporating her actions into the acceptable roles for women of their time. The modern scholars focus on <\/span>how<\/span><\/em> she concealed the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>: she uses her menstruation, the ultimate symbol of her femininity (and therefore her powerlessness among men), as a way to subvert male authority.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rachel stealing the idols represents her keeping a piece of her religious life from before her marriage. Whether or not she plans to use the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em>, having them is a way to hold onto her identity as separate from her husband. In hiding the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> under the guise of her period, the story hints to us that a piece of Rachel\u2019s way of life, continues throughout the generations of her descendants. In fact, the only two other times the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> appear in the possession of an Israelite throughout the rest of Tanach, is in association with Rachel\u2019s descendants: Michal, a Benjaminite, keeps <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> in her home, and Micah from Ephraim makes <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> in his. Rachel ensures that a piece of her life and her identity - separate from her relationship to Jacob - remains throughout the generations of her descendants. Her using her period as the way to hide the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> hints to us, the readers, to look at her descendants\u2019 connection to the <\/span>teraphim<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Her success in maintaining a remnant of her identity in her children is clear. From the sages, we hear of a tradition that <\/span>baneha shel Rachel, <\/span><\/em>Rachel's children,<\/span> will be the ones to defeat the descendants of Esau, that is, Amalek. It is also the children of Rachel who share her unique beauty, with the repetition of the Biblical description of beauty - <\/span>y\u2019fat to\u2019ar v\u2019yifat mar\u2019eh<\/span><\/em> - appearing among several of her descendants. Perhaps, the appearance of the <\/span>teraphim<\/span><\/em> among her descendants serve as a physical symbol of the inheritance of Rachel, a rare occurrence of a woman\u2019s legacy among our ancient ancestors.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103135,"alt":"","title":"-6236d930b60c4--6236d930b60c5gen31-woman legacy 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\u201cJacob went on his way, and the angels of God encountered him. \u00a0And when he saw them, Jacob said, \u2018this is God\u2019s camp.\u2019 And Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.\" (Genesis 32:2-4)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Jacob left his father-in-law Laban\u2019s house after 20 years of service, he sent human messengers to bring a peace offering to his brother in light of the harm Jacob had inflicted as a young man\u2014in stealing Esau\u2019s blessing and possibly in the mercenary exchange of Esau\u2019s birthright for stew. \u00a0But the Zohar describes it thusly: <\/span>\"<\/b>Once Laban departed from him, the Divine Presence connected with him, and holy legions came to surround him, and from these angels he sent messengers to Esau...\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words: when Jacob left Laban, the Divine Presence came to him and encircled him with holy servants--the same angels he then sent to Esau. Jacob didn\u2019t just receive angels, he also gave them. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s earlier dream of angels and a ladder didn\u2019t particularly change him; at Laban\u2019s, he was the same trickster he had been with Esau, setting up aggressive, proactive breeding procedures that gave him strong flocks, leaving feebler animals to his father-in-law\u2019s estate. \u00a0Then he packed up and left without warning\u2014as always, worrying about himself first. But, in Genesis 31, Laban chased after him for a proper goodbye. Maybe for the first time, someone told Jacob that he mattered to them. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The angels here didn\u2019t descend from heaven dramatically as in his dream; rather, they came through the camp. Jacob finally began to understand that a life of connection with the divine must touch every aspect of his world--most critically, his relationships.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It was only then that he was able to muster the courage to reach out to Esau in vulnerability, to make an offering for intimacy. To send him angels. And it was only after that that he would be ready to wrestle with God as an equal.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":95859,"alt":"","title":"sos8-angels","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"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":"Jacob\u2019s Vulnerability","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A mystical interpretation sees Jacob receiving - and giving - angels","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":95859,"alt":"","title":"sos8-angels","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/sos8-angels-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"509","name":"Angels","old_id":"909"}]},{"order":7,"id":"103165","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Laban: The Finale ","post_title":"Laban: The Finale","slug":"laban-the-finale","old_id":"103165","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":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He is good-hearted and well-intentioned to the very end\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

After his treaty with Jacob, Laban receives a final postscript at the beginning of chapter 32: \u201cEarly in the morning, Laban kissed his sons and daughters and bade them good-by; then Laban left on his journey homeward\u201d (verse 1). Why does the Torah give Laban this final passage? The story could have ended with the truce, and Jacob going on his way. Perhaps the Torah is giving Laban his due, and in doing so, Laban\u2019s true motivation is revealed. Remember, that Laban was a young man when he first appears in chapter 24. In one quick day, Laban loses his sister to a strange servant of a cousin he never met. Laban never sees Rebekah again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then, years later, his nephew shows up unannounced and wishes to marry his daughter. This time, Laban is prepared. He keeps Jacob around- agreeing to a seven-year plan proposed by Jacob. Then, when his oldest daughter is about to suffer utter humiliation, he makes a last-minute swap to protect her. Fearing his nephew will leave, he offers Rachel in return for another seven years of staying around. He does, however, allow Jacob to marry her right away. After the seven years, Jacob approaches Laban with intent to leave. Once again, with his family set to abandon him, Laban agrees to another delay. This time he allows Jacob to trick him out of his entire flock. Over the grumblings of his sons, Laban is willing to wait multiple fertility cycles-losing his flock in the process. Why? Time. The more he allows Jacob to take advantage of him, the longer his family stays intact.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But now this obsession with keeping his family together alienates them all. His sons grumble and his two daughters tell Jacob that they have nothing left in Haran. This is why Jacob notices that Laban is acting differently than when they first met, including when Laban switched his brides. Now Laban\u2019s obsession has become self-destructive. When Jacob slips away and Laban follows, God intervenes telling Laban enough is enough. He can no longer stand in the way of Jacob\u2019s journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Laban confronts Jacob \u201cThe daughters are my daughters, the children are my children...\u201d Like Laban\u2019s sister beforehand, Jacob wants to leave without a proper goodbye. In a last-ditch effort, Laban tries to delay them because of his idols. But, when he must choose between embarrassing his daughter, Rachel, and delaying the departure, he chooses to respect her wishes. Finally, Laban makes Jacob swear that he will not harm his daughters or take other wives. Laban\u2019s final wish is that they be protected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

His final act in Tanach is to kiss his family and go \u201cto his place.\u201d The last time we saw that phrase it was Abraham leaving \u201cto his place\u201d after arguing with God over Sodom. Then, Abraham finally separated from his nephew. Here too, Laban must put aside his personal feelings and allow Jacob to move on his journey.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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The Finale","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He is good-hearted and well-intentioned to the very end","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":103171,"alt":"","title":"-623738ca53cc0--623738ca53cc2gen32-bow respect 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","post_title":"Perfect","slug":"perfect","old_id":"103173","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44967,"post_title":"Abe Mezrich","slug":"abe-mezrich","old_id":"44967","first_name":"Abe ","last_name":"Mezrich ","description":"Abe Mezrich wants to know what our sacred texts say about our world right now. 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Learn more at www.abemezrich.com.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101452,"alt":"","title":"-61fd0e6c351e2--61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","width":1914,"height":1754,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-300x275.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-768x704.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":704,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-1024x938.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":938,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1408,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":1914,"2048x2048-height":1754,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-1200x1100.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1100,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-458x420.jpg","home_baner-width":458,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"32","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"No one in this story is complete \/ Everyone in this story is holy","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob, just named by the angel,
\r\nis damaged by the angel,
\r\nnow he walks with a limp.<\/p>\r\n

The angel, who has no name,
\r\ncannot win a battle
\r\nwith a struggling man.<\/p>\r\n

No one in this story is complete.<\/p>\r\n

Everyone in this story is holy.<\/p>\r\n

___
\r\nGenesis 32:25-33<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64970,"alt":"","title":"is6-holy-holy-holy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","width":428,"height":425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","medium_large-width":428,"medium_large-height":425,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","large-width":428,"large-height":425,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","1536x1536-width":428,"1536x1536-height":425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","2048x2048-width":428,"2048x2048-height":425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","post_full_size-width":428,"post_full_size-height":425,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-423x420.jpg","home_baner-width":423,"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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Perfect","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No one in this story is complete \/ Everyone in this story is holy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64970,"alt":"","title":"is6-holy-holy-holy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","width":428,"height":425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","medium_large-width":428,"medium_large-height":425,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","large-width":428,"large-height":425,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","1536x1536-width":428,"1536x1536-height":425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","2048x2048-width":428,"2048x2048-height":425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","post_full_size-width":428,"post_full_size-height":425,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy-423x420.jpg","home_baner-width":423,"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":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"32","chapter_main_number":"32","date":"20251013","wall_id":"32"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"}]},{"order":9,"id":"38601","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Jacob\u2019s Crazy Vow ","post_title":"Jacob\u2019s Crazy Vow","slug":"jacobs-crazy-vow","old_id":"38601","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38574,"post_title":"Rachel Bloch","slug":"rachel-bloch","old_id":"38574","first_name":"Rachel ","last_name":"Bloch ","description":"Rachel Bloch is an Information Architect living in Oakland, CA. 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\u201c 'But anyone with whom you find your <\/span>teraphim<\/em> <\/span>shall not remain alive! In the presence of our kinsmen, point out what I have of yours and take it.' Jacob, of course, did not know that Rachel had stolen them.\u201d (Gen 31:32) Despite the narrator\u2019s aside, how could Jacob have made such a statement? Rashi comments that this resulted in Rachel\u2019s early death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob makes this vow when his manipulative father-in-law shows up, having angrily pursued him. Jacob was afraid Laban would detain his wives and children by force if he knew they were leaving, while Laban claims that had he known, he would have sent them off with \u201cfestive music, timbrel and lyre.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Greetings with timbrels bring to mind another woman, whose life was forfeit due to a careless vow - Jephthah\u2019s unnamed daughter. Jephthah swore to sacrifice \u201cwhatever\u201d greeted him first, in exchange for a military victory. \u201cWhen Jephthah arrived at his home in Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him, with timbrel and dance!\u201d (Judges 11:34).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jacob\u2019s words, while careless and dangerous, are more like Solomon\u2019s pronouncement to \u201csplit the baby\u201d (I Kings 3:25) than Jephthah\u2019s vow. Laban does not object - though it is likely one of his children or grandchildren would be found with the stolen goods. Jacob voiced a challenge and Laban\u2019s agreement revealed Laban\u2019s true feelings. Jacob lets Laban search, and when the <\/span>teraphim<\/em> <\/span>are not found, Jacob lays down the law freeing himself of his troubled dealings with Laban.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by: Edwin Long: Jephthah's Vow, upon his return from defeating the Ammonites to greet his daughter, 1886 \/ wiki commons<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55758,"alt":"","title":"jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"Jacob\u2019s Crazy Vow","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u2026 did he unwittingly cause Rachel\u2019s untimely death?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55758,"alt":"","title":"jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long.jpg","2048x2048-width":1600,"2048x2048-height":900,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud11-jephthahs-vow-by-edwin-long-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"31","chapter_main_number":"31","date":"20251012","wall_id":"31"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"513","name":"Rachel","old_id":"913"},{"term_id":"535","name":"Vow","old_id":"935"}]},{"order":10,"id":"38757","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"2","name":"Jacob and Esau: A Fractured Reunion ","post_title":"Jacob and Esau: A Fractured Reunion","slug":"jacob-and-esau-a-fractured-reunion","old_id":"38757","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"33","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Esau saw that Jacob was still up to his old tricks, willing to sacrifice older family members for the sake of the younger, and the opportunity for reconciliation was squandered","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob and Esau were riven by a hatred of such intensity that there appeared no possibility of resolution. Esau's last recorded thought was murderous, <\/span>And Esau hated Jacob \u2026And Esau said to himself: 'when the days of mourning for my father arrive I will kill my brother Jacob\u2019<\/span><\/em> (27:41) However, after decades of separation the brothers were about to reunite. Perhaps there was hope.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Envoys sent by Jacob return and report, <\/span>we came to your brother Esau, and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men accompany him<\/span><\/em> (32:7). What the size of Esau's entourage meant, just four Hebrew words, was fraught with ambiguity. David Kimhi, siding with Rashi, interprets it ominously, as a mobilized army, a sign of Esau\u2019s lingering hatred. Conversely, Rashbam, Rashi's grandson, argues that its plain sense (<\/span>peshat<\/span><\/em>) connotes a reformed loving Esau, who, assembled an impressive delegation to greet Jacob much like honour guards greeting visiting dignitaries. Blinded to its deferential intent according to Rashbam, Jacob, anticipating combat, defensively divided his camp.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Contrasting perceptions ensue, suggested by the phrase <\/span>raising of the eyes<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> conveying internal as well as visual observations. Jacob <\/span>raised his eyes<\/span><\/em> sighting <\/span>Esau approaching with his four hundred men<\/span><\/em>, (33:1) corroborating the threat perceived previously. Jacob reacted aligning his family in order of increasing endearment, the older wife and children frontally exposed, the youngest shielded in the rear. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Esau emotionally rushed to embrace and kiss Jacob. Rapprochement was imminent. Esau, then <\/span>raising his eyes<\/span><\/em> saw Jacob\u2019s extended family and considerately inquired <\/span>Who are these with you<\/em> <\/span>(33:5). Yet, after being introduced Esau oddly repeated the question, puzzling all the commentators, <\/span>who is this camp with you that I just met<\/em> <\/span>(33:8)., The family\u2019s strategic array alerted Esau to Jacob\u2019s misguided suspicions. Offended, Esau\u2019s second question rhetorically addressed Jacob\u2019s distrust - what is the <\/span>meaning<\/em> <\/span>of your camp\u2019s arrangement? It also reminded Esau that Jacob was still up to his old tricks, willing to sacrifice older family members for the sake of the younger.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The opportunity for reconciliation was squandered. Heartbreakingly they depart estranged, going their separate ways. <\/span>Esau returned that day on his way to Seir And Jacob journeyed to Succoth<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>never to see each other again except, as is often the case in fragmented families, at a parent\u2019s funeral: <\/span>And Isaac died, ... and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him<\/em> <\/span>(35:29)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> History is stained with the carnage of conflicts provoked and sustained by miscommunications and misperceptions.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","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":"Jacob and Esau: A Fractured Reunion","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Esau saw that Jacob was still up to his old tricks, willing to sacrifice older family members for the sake of the younger, and the opportunity for reconciliation was squandered","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"33","date":"20251014","wall_id":"33"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"486","name":"Esau","old_id":"886"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":11,"id":"38870","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"The Red Tent: Prologue ","post_title":"The Red Tent: Prologue","slug":"the-red-tent-prologue","old_id":"38870","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38565,"post_title":"Anita Diamant","slug":"anita-diamant","old_id":"38565","first_name":"Anita ","last_name":"Diamant","description":"Anita Diamant is an award-winning journalist and the author of five best-selling novels including The Boston Girl and Day After Night. She has written six guidebooks to contemporary Jewish life, including The Jewish Wedding Now and Choosing a Jewish Life. She is the founding president of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center in Newton, Massachusetts (www.mayyimhayyim.org). Her website is www.anitadiamant.com","short_description":"Anita Diamant is an award-winning journalist and the author of five best-selling novels and six guidebooks to contemporary Jewish life,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38566,"alt":"","title":"anita diamant","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant.png","width":564,"height":729,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant-232x300.png","medium-width":232,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant.png","medium_large-width":564,"medium_large-height":729,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant.png","large-width":564,"large-height":729,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant.png","1536x1536-width":564,"1536x1536-height":729,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant.png","2048x2048-width":564,"2048x2048-height":729,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant.png","post_full_size-width":564,"post_full_size-height":729,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/anita-diamant-325x420.png","home_baner-width":325,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"34","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From the Prologue of The Red Tent","post_main_content_content":"

We have been lost to each other for so long.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My name means nothing to you, my memory is dust.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is not your fault, or mine. The chain connecting mother to daughter was broken and the word passed to the keeping of men, who had no way of knowing. That is why I became a footnote, my story a brief detour between the well-known history of my father Jacob, and the celebrated chronicle of Joseph, my brother<\/span>.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

On the rare occasions I was remembered, it was as a victim. Near the beginning of your holy book, there is a passage that seems to say I was raped and continues with the bloody tale of how my honor was avenged.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s a wonder a mother ever called a daughter Dina again. But some did. Maybe you guessed that there was more to me than the voiceless cipher in the text. Maybe you heard it in the music of my name. Dee-nah. The first vowel high and clear, as when a mother calls to her child at dusk; the second sound soft, for whispering secrets on pillows.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No one recalled my skill as a midwife or the songs I sang or the bread I baked for my insatiable brothers. Nothing remained except a few mangled details about those weeks in Shechem.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There was far more to tell. Had I been asked to speak of it, I would have begun with the story of the generation that raised me, which is the only place to begin. If you want to understand any woman you must first talk about her mother and then listen carefully. Stories about food show a strong connection. Wistful silences demonstrate unfinished business. The more a daughter knows of her mother\u2019s life \u2013 without flinching or whining \u2013 the stronger the daughter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: The Red Tent \u00a9 1997 St. Martin\u2019s Press<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Used with the permission of the author, www.anitadiamant.com<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38898,"alt":"","title":"Theredtentcover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","width":220,"height":333,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover-198x300.jpg","medium-width":198,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":333,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":333,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":333,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":333,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":333,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":333}},"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":"Prologue from: The Red Tent","tile_main_caption":"What if Dinah Had Gotten a Chance to Tell Her Side of the Story?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"a selection from the best-selling Biblical novel","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38898,"alt":"","title":"Theredtentcover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","width":220,"height":333,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover-198x300.jpg","medium-width":198,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","medium_large-width":220,"medium_large-height":333,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","large-width":220,"large-height":333,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","1536x1536-width":220,"1536x1536-height":333,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","2048x2048-width":220,"2048x2048-height":333,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","post_full_size-width":220,"post_full_size-height":333,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Theredtentcover.jpg","home_baner-width":220,"home_baner-height":333}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"34","date":"20251015","wall_id":"34"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"373","name":"Literature","old_id":"773"},{"term_id":"532","name":"Dinah","old_id":"932"}]},{"order":12,"id":"38982","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"With Whom Did Jacob do Battle? ","post_title":"With Whom Did Jacob do Battle?","slug":"with-whom-did-jacob-do-battle-2","old_id":"38982","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38140,"post_title":"Daniel Goodman","slug":"daniel-goodman","old_id":"38140","first_name":"Daniel ","last_name":"Goodman ","description":"Daniel Goodman is a dedicated writer, rabbi, and scholar. He is pursuing a Ph.D. at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and is studying English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. He has published in numerous academic and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, and in over a dozen literary journals. He received the Whizin Prize in Jewish Ethics in both 2014 and 2015, and his first edited book, Black Fire on White Fire: Essays in Honor of Rabbi Avi Weiss, was published by KTAV in 2017.\r\n","short_description":"Daniel Goodman is a dedicated writer, rabbi, and scholar. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38141,"alt":"","title":"daniel goodman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469.jpg","width":2180,"height":2858,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-229x300.jpg","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-768x1007.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1007,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-781x1024.jpg","large-width":781,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469.jpg","1536x1536-width":1172,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469.jpg","2048x2048-width":1562,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-915x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":915,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/daniel-goodman-e1534665731469-320x420.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1007","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

It is one of the most resonant moments of the entire biblical saga: Jacob, on his way to meet his brother Esau for the first time since fleeing from him many years ago, leaves his family and his camp in the middle of the night and encounters an unnamed figure\u2014an angel\u2014who wrestles with him until dawn. Jacob walks away from the encounter with a limp, but he gains a new name: Israel\u2014\u201che who wrestles with God\u201d\u2014the name which shall became the namesake for the people that will descend from his children.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This story may be one of the more memorable episodes in the entire Tanakh, but did it really happen? Maimonides, the great medieval halakhist and philosopher, startlingly maintains that it did not. According to Maimonides, human beings can only see angels in dreams, or in waking visions. Thus, according to Maimonides, the seminal story of Jacob wrestling with the angel was not an event that occurred in the external world; it only occurred within Jacob\u2019s mind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If so, responded Nachmanides, Maimonides\u2019 great medieval antagonist, how could Jacob have walked away from this \u201cdream\u201d with a limp? This vision was obviously no dream, Nachmanides responded; it was an event that took place in the external world, and had real, physical consequences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So? Was Jacob wrestling with the angel a tension-filled tussle in the darkness of the night? Or a no-holds-barred battle within the depths of the soul? The view you choose to take of this story\u2014reading it through the prism of Maimonides\u2019 realism, or through Nachmanides\u2019 literalism\u2014may be the reading of the Jewish tradition that most speaks to you: rationalism, or mysticism; both schools of thought, like Jacob and the angel, have always, and will always, continue to wrestle with each other within the limitless wrestling ring that is the universe of Torah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

(Cover art by Elisheva Horowitz, by courtesy of the artist)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","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":"With Whom Did Jacob do Battle?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A rationalist and a literalist wrestle with the text","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38778,"alt":"","title":"Yaakov and Eisav-G32","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32.jpg","width":1000,"height":764,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32-300x229.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":229,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32-768x587.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":587,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":764,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":764,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":764,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":764,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yaakov-and-Eisav-G32-550x420.jpg","home_baner-width":550,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1007"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"38864","color":"#eceffa","size":"1","name":"Dinah, the Silent Twelfth Child of Jacob ","post_title":"Dinah, the Silent Twelfth Child of Jacob","slug":"dinah-the-silent-twelfth-child-of-jacob","old_id":"38864","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38634,"post_title":"Rachel Barenblat","slug":"rachel-barenblat","old_id":"38634","first_name":"Rachel ","last_name":"Barenblat ","description":"Rabbi Rachel Barenblat has blogged since 2003 as the Velveteen Rabbi. A Founding Builder at Bayit: Your Jewish Home, and author of several poetry collections (including Texts to the Holy, Ben Yehuda Press 2018, and 70 faces: Torah poems, Phoenicia 2011) she serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in western Massachusetts, USA. ","short_description":"Rabbi Rachel Barenblat of Congregation Beth Israel in Western Massachusetts, blogs as the Velveteen Rabbi. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38635,"alt":"","title":"rachel barenblat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","width":328,"height":424,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237-232x300.png","medium-width":232,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","medium_large-width":328,"medium_large-height":424,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","large-width":328,"large-height":424,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","1536x1536-width":328,"1536x1536-height":424,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","2048x2048-width":328,"2048x2048-height":424,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","post_full_size-width":328,"post_full_size-height":424,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237-325x420.png","home_baner-width":325,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"34","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"How might have her story been different if Dinah been given a voice to speak out or talk back?","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 32 we read about Jacob\u2019s preparations prior to meeting Esau: \u201cThe same night Jacob arose, took his two wives, two maidservants, and his eleven children and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.\u201d Eleven children? Jacob had twelve children at this point -- eleven boys plus Dinah. The midrash claims eleven is written because Jacob hid Dinah in a box so Esau would not seek to marry her. Jacob was so afraid of his twin\u2019s animal appetites that he concealed Dinah in a coffin to keep her safe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That may seem ironic when we reach the very next story in our chapter: Dinah heads out to visit with the local ladies. Shechem, the son of the local prince, sees her, grabs her, and rapes her.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Throughout the ensuing narrative, Dinah never speaks. \u00a0Shechem, the rapist speaks, as does his father. Jacob\u2019s sons talk, as does Jacob. But Dinah\u2019s voice is entirely absent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Think of all the times and places in human history when women haven't been able to tell our stories. That silencing constricts freedom as surely as Jacob's box constricted Dinah. The people and the structures of power responsible for silencing us may think they're keeping us \"safe\" -- but we see from the Torah that keeping a woman hidden or silent offers no protection.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How might have her story been different if Dinah had participated wholly in the journeying of her family -- if, like her brothers, she had been able to walk freely in the open air -- if, like her brothers, she had been given a voice to speak out or talk back? How might our stories be different if every woman in the world were granted those freedoms as a matter of course? Tragically, Dinah's story challenges us with its very familiarity. A woman rendered invisible and silent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some of the structures which silence women today are invisible. Societal expectations, peer pressure, the desire to be liked, the fear that if we speak what's true for us we will be shunned or left alone -- not to mention the outrage and active silencing coming from men who don't like it when we get uppity. Around the world one in three women\u00a0has been abused, beaten, or coerced into sex. And most of these stories are never told, because girls are taught -- in ways both obvious and subtle -- that if we speak out, we will be punished further. We have learned that it is safer to remain silent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let\u2019s honor Dinah, the silent twelfth child of Jacob, by changing the world we live in so that it is no longer one in which this story could happen.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":103270,"alt":"","title":"-62396cb381b44--62396cb381b45gen34-blurry form silent 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the Silent Twelfth Child of Jacob","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How might have her story been different if Dinah been given a voice to speak out or talk back?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":2789,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","width":419,"height":521,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","medium_large-width":419,"medium_large-height":521,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","large-width":419,"large-height":521,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","1536x1536-width":419,"1536x1536-height":521,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","2048x2048-width":419,"2048x2048-height":521,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","post_full_size-width":419,"post_full_size-height":521,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/preview-3381.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"34","date":"20251015","wall_id":"34"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"532","name":"Dinah","old_id":"932"},{"term_id":"548","name":"Silence","old_id":"948"}]},{"order":14,"id":"38762","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"2","name":"Jacob and Esau's Reunion in Art ","post_title":"Jacob and Esau's Reunion in Art","slug":"jacob-and-esaus-reunion-in-art","old_id":"38762","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37927,"post_title":"Adapted from ALHATORAH.ORG","slug":"alhatorah-org","old_id":"37927","first_name":"Adapted from","last_name":"ALHATORAH.ORG","description":"ALHATORAH.ORG is a one-stop Tanakh study resource, providing the texts, tools, techniques, and technology to help scholars, educators, and laypersons make Torah come alive in the home, classroom, and synagogue. Enter the site to explore 2,500 years of Biblical interpretation and enjoy a rich, multi-dimensional, learning experience.\r\n","short_description":"ALHATORAH.ORG Re-envisioning the way Torah can be studied and taught","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37929,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_473208484","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","width":10000,"height":10000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_473208484-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"33","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ambivalences and ambiguities","post_main_content_content":"

The reunion of Jacob and Esau has been interpreted in contrasting ways by commentators and artists alike. The three paintings shown here, <\/span>The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau<\/em> <\/span>(1625-28) by Peter Paul Rubens, <\/span>Meeting of Jacob and Esau<\/span><\/em> (1844) by Francesco Hayez, and <\/span>Jacob and Esau<\/em> <\/span>(1878) by George Frederick Watts, all portray the same moment in the scene. Yet, they differ in how they illustrate the brothers' interaction, garb, and respective entourages. These choices reflect different readings of the relationship between the brothers and the motives for their actions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rubens paints Esau in full battle gear, his armed men standing right behind him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Hayez, in contrast, portrays him in everyday garb, coming alone to greet Jacob while his men wait at a distance. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

Watts' presentation is somewhere in the middle, depicting Esau with a sheath of arrows but without armor. In his image, neither brother is flanked by family or servants. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

These different portrayals present different understandings of Esau's intentions when coming to meet Jacob. Was he approaching with an army of 400 men intent on battle, as Jacob feared, or was he coming in peace with his men serving as an honor guard?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Adapted from: ALHATORAH.ORG
\r\n<\/span>For fuller analysis, see: <\/span>http:\/\/alhatorah.org\/Yaakov_and_Esav's_Reunion_in_Art<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","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":"Three Different Versions","tile_main_caption":"Jacob and Esau's Reunion in Art","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Ambivalences and ambiguities","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38765,"alt":"","title":"jacob esau-watts","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts.png","width":477,"height":506,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts-283x300.png","medium-width":283,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts.png","medium_large-width":477,"medium_large-height":506,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts.png","large-width":477,"large-height":506,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts.png","1536x1536-width":477,"1536x1536-height":506,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts.png","2048x2048-width":477,"2048x2048-height":506,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts.png","post_full_size-width":477,"post_full_size-height":506,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jacob-esau-watts-396x420.png","home_baner-width":396,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"33","date":"20251014","wall_id":"33"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"486","name":"Esau","old_id":"886"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"}]},{"order":15,"id":"38951","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Names of Suffering and of Hope ","post_title":"Names of Suffering and of Hope","slug":"names-of-suffering-and-of-hope","old_id":"38951","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38437,"post_title":"Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield","slug":"rachel-jacoby-rosenfield","old_id":"38437","first_name":"Rachel ","last_name":"Jacoby Rosenfield ","description":"Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield is Executive Vice President at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. Previously, she served as Director of Experiential Education at American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and as the founding Director of the Jewish Greening Fellowship. Rachel was a fellow in the national Selah Leadership Program, and the Muehlstein Fellowship for Jewish Professional Leadership, and a member of Advancing Women Professional\u2019s Action Learning Team for social justice professionals. She lives in Riverdale, NY, with her family.","short_description":"Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield is Executive Vice President at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38438,"alt":"","title":"Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","width":200,"height":179,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":179,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":179,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":179,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":179,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":179,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Rachel-Jacoby-Rosenfield-e1534961736337.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":179}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"35","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The twin acts of breathing life into being and naming are creative acts in the Divine image","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cDoes she look like a Maayan?\u201d I remember asking my husband minutes after the birth of our daughter. After 27 hours of hard labor, I urgently wished to know this little being. Settling on a name was a way of knowing her, shaping her, signaling through its meaning a connection to others I had loved and to a future I longed for.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I thought of this moment as I read about Rachel naming her newborn, Ben-oni, son of my suffering, with her dying breath. The name is painful in its honesty. At last she delivers the second of two children she has longed, prayed and begged for, but only at the moment of her death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The twin acts of breathing life into being and naming, action and speech, are creative acts in the Divine image.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So it is quite striking when, immediately after her death, Jacob renames their son Benjamin, son of my strength, perhaps attempting to rescue him from the burden of his name\u2019s meaning, attempting to reinterpret Rachel\u2019s creative act. Indeed Jacob is all too familiar with the strife a descriptive name at birth can engender. Through the name Benjamin, Jacob invokes a different fate, one of strength rooted in the reiteration of God\u2019s covenantal promise and his name change earlier in this chapter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rachel\u2019s creative acts, the birthing and naming and the suffering that surrounded them, cannot be fully resolved anymore than Jacob fully rises to meet the promise of his new name.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like Rachel, we create and live in the context of mortality. But in naming, we attempt to forge relationships, lend meaning and positively shape the future.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":96743,"alt":"","title":"ecc7-good name","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","width":950,"height":534,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","large-width":950,"large-height":534,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","1536x1536-width":950,"1536x1536-height":534,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","2048x2048-width":950,"2048x2048-height":534,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","post_full_size-width":950,"post_full_size-height":534,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"Names of Suffering and of Hope","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The twin acts of breathing life into being and naming are creative acts in the Divine image","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":96743,"alt":"","title":"ecc7-good name","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","width":950,"height":534,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","large-width":950,"large-height":534,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","1536x1536-width":950,"1536x1536-height":534,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","2048x2048-width":950,"2048x2048-height":534,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name.jpg","post_full_size-width":950,"post_full_size-height":534,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc7-good-name-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"35","chapter_main_number":"35","date":"20251016","wall_id":"35"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"551","name":"Names","old_id":"951"}]},{"order":16,"id":"38961","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Rachel\u2019s Reward ","post_title":"Rachel\u2019s Reward","slug":"rachels-reward","old_id":"38961","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37918,"post_title":"Shai Held","slug":"shai-held","old_id":"37918","first_name":" Shai ","last_name":"Held","description":"Rabbi Shai Held, theologian, scholar, and educator, is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas. 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Rachel starkly demands of her Jacob, \u201cGive me sons or I shall die\u201d (Genesis 30:1). In a painfully ironic twist, Rachel now dies in the very process of having one. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

With her last breath, Rachel names her son Ben-Oni, \u201cson of my misfortune\u201d (35:16-18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since Rachel\u2019s last words are filled with such sorrow, she becomes associated in the Jewish imagination with weeping and lament. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah invokes Rachel to express the grief felt by all mothers for their lost and exiled children. \u201cThus said the Lord: \u2018A cry is heard in Ramah\u2014wailing, bitter weeping\u2014Rachel weeping for her children. She refuses to be comforted for her children, who are gone\u2019\u201d (Jeremiah 31:15). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

God is moved by Rachel\u2019s tears that God promises to bring all the tears to an end: \u201cThus said the Lord: \u2018Restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from shedding tears; for there is a reward for your labor\u2019\u2014declares the Lord\u2014\u2018they shall return from the enemy\u2019s land. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does God mean when God tells Rachel that there is reward for her \u201clabor\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A midrash imagines Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses pleading with God concerning the sin of King Manasseh, who placed an idol in the Temple. Rachel steps forward and asks, \u201cMaster of the World, whose mercy is greater, Your mercy or the mercy of flesh and blood? You must admit that Your mercy is greater. Now, did I not bring my rival [i.e., her sister Leah\u2014S.H.] into my home?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rachel reminds God that she did not protest; she aided Leah, sharing with her the sign she had given Jacob to enable him to distinguish between the two of them. Now, she entreats God: \u201cYou, too, if Your children brought Your rival into Your house [i.e., brought an idol into the Temple\u2014S.H.] keep Your silence for them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

God is stirred by Rachel\u2019s words and tells her \u2018There is reward for your labor\u2019\u2014that is, for your righteousness, that you gave your sign to your sister\u2019\u201d (Rashi to Jeremiah 31:14) <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Imagine how powerful this is: Rachel is finally about to be with the man she has yearned for\u2014and yet, in order to prevent Leah\u2019s being disgraced, she lets her sister\u2019s needs trump her own. This is the kind of compassion that changes the divinely- guided course of Jewish history. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rachel\u2019s relations with Leah are not smooth, but Rachel nevertheless sees Leah\u2019s distress and responds accordingly. So great is compassion, Jewish theology tells us, that it has the power to break God\u2019s heart open.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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