{"id":46863,"date":"2018-07-09T17:41:15","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1026\/"},"modified":"2022-08-03T15:11:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T12:11:43","slug":"wall-1026","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1026\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20220731-to-20220806"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1026","date_from":"20220731","date_to":"20220806","book":"Numbers","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"106963","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Parashat Devarim\/Chazon, Erev Tisha B'Av: Rooting Ourselves In Space And Time ","post_title":"Parashat Devarim\/Chazon, Erev Tisha B'Av: Rooting Ourselves In Space And Time","slug":"parashat-devarim-chazon-erev-tisha-bav-rooting-ourselves-in-space-and-time","old_id":"106963","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":57315,"post_title":"Jesse Paikin","slug":"jesse-paikin","old_id":"57315","first_name":"Jesse ","last_name":"Paikin ","description":"Rabbi Jesse Paikin is a teacher, spiritual leader, and strategic consultant. Most recently, he held a Fellowship from the Jewish Emergent Network, through which he served as a rabbi at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, DC. He is currently a Masters candidate in Clinical Psychology, Education and Spirituality at Columbia University, and is a Research Fellow with M\u00b2, the Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. He\u2019s also the creator and host of the short-form explainer podcast, Shoot! ","short_description":"Rabbi Jesse Paikin is a teacher, spiritual leader, and strategic consultant. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":57316,"alt":"","title":"jessie paikin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","width":297,"height":446,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","medium_large-width":297,"medium_large-height":446,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","large-width":297,"large-height":446,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","1536x1536-width":297,"1536x1536-height":446,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","2048x2048-width":297,"2048x2048-height":446,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin.jpg","post_full_size-width":297,"post_full_size-height":446,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/jessie-paikin-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1026","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"On the confluence of the beginning of Deuteronomy, Tisha b\u2019Av, and the shmita year.","post_main_content_content":"

North Americans often suffer from the affliction of being uprooted from space and time. Out of a historical or philosophical perspective, some of us call ourselves \u201cpost-modern,\u201d literally self-labeling as \u201cnot of the now.\u201d Likewise, for professional advancement and personal fulfillment, we value our ability to live or work from wherever. Seeing \u201cremote\u201d on a job posting \u2013 supposedly a boon these days \u2013 is ironic, given that it also means \u201cremoved,\u201d \u201cunlikely,\u201d or \u201chaving very little connection or relationship.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is not true for everyone today, most especially those ancestrally of these lands, who have traditionally cultivated societies built upon deep kinship. But what of the rest of us? In my native Canada, we are getting better \u2013 or at least trying to get better \u2013 at acknowledging the history of having uprooted indigenous peoples from their intimacy with specific places. In these first acts of civil <\/span>teshuva<\/span><\/i>, we can also ask ourselves: what could it mean to belong to a particular place in a particular time?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This question already reverberates powerfully in the Jewish consciousness. There is a narrative harmony between parshat Devarim, the beginning of Deuteronomy, the land-based practice of shmita and the upcoming observance of Tisha b\u2019Av \u2013 the intense fast-day remembering our own people\u2019s uprooting from our ancestral home. In Devarim Moses offers a sweeping review of the Torah\u2019s events and teachings, beginning by locating us in space and time, as if to say: if you want to learn what it is to be a part of this people, it can\u2019t be remote and abstract. It must be rooted:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Aravah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab\u2026(Deut 1:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There\u2019s just one problem: As the midrash and Rashi observe, not only were the Israelites not actually \u201cin the wilderness\u201d at that point in the story (see Num. 36:13 and Deut. 1:5), the places Tophel and Laban don\u2019t exist anywhere in the Torah\u2019s own geography!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our rabbis reconcile this by suggesting that Tophel and Laban are not actual place names, but rather allusions to significant prior events in the Torah. So this historical reflection is not a dislocation, but rather a merging of space and time in a way that could make even Einstein scratch his head. It is as if the Torah is saying to us: You come from particular places and are located within particular stories. Despite your wandering in the wilderness, you do not belong to nowhere; you belong to some-where and some-time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Entering Tisha b\u2019Av in this time of shmita, we can ask ourselves: what is the message of thousands of years of lamenting our exile from Jerusalem \u2013 whether we understand it literally, spiritually, or both \u2013 if not that the past is present to us; that we are not meant to be remote, but that we can be close, connected, and related to each other and to the places that we call Home?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"A Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","tile_main_caption":"Parashat Devarim\/Chazon, Erev Tisha B'Av: Rooting Ourselves In Space And Time","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1026"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"494","name":"Shmita","old_id":"894"},{"term_id":"635","name":"Jerusalem","old_id":"1035"}]},{"order":2,"id":"46936","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Resident Alien (Ger Toshav) \u2013 Then and Now ","post_title":"Resident Alien (Ger Toshav) \u2013 Then and Now","slug":"resident-alien-ger-toshav-then-and-now","old_id":"46936","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":"126","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God\u2019s presence resides when we treat others equally","post_main_content_content":"

Our Chapter addresses the status of the g<\/em><\/span>er<\/span><\/em> (resident alien) in a way that seems remarkably relevant to our time: \u201c\u2026There shall be one law for you, whether resident alien or citizen of the country (<\/span>ezrach ha-aretz<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (Num. 9:14). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Steinsaltz commentary makes it clear that g<\/span>er<\/span><\/em> refers to those who are \u201cfrom other nations\u201d (<\/span>me-\u2018amim acherim<\/span><\/em>). According to the Midrash (Sifre to Numbers 9:1-- 4 71:1) the biblical phrase \u201cthere shall be one law for you\u201d means that \u201cthe g<\/em><\/span>er <\/span><\/em>is equal to the e<\/em><\/span>zrach<\/span><\/em> (\u201ccitizen\u201d) in respect to all the Mitzvot of the Torah\u201d. The rabbinic sages defined those non-Israelites who lived among Israelites in Israelite territory as g<\/em><\/span>er toshav<\/span><\/em> (\u201cresident alien\u201d) as distinguished from ge<\/em><\/span>r tzedeq<\/span><\/em> (full-fledged convert to Judaism). Maimonides ruled that the law of g<\/em><\/span>er toshav<\/span><\/em> was only in effect when the laws of the Jubilee Year were also in effect. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In modern times, after the resettlement of the Land of Israel by Jews, both Rav Abraham Isaac Kook and Rav Chaim Herzog, among others, maintained that the law of g<\/span>er t<\/span><\/em>oshav<\/em> should be applied in our time at least to some non-Jewish residents of Israel. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is worth noting that immediately following the law commanding the equal treatment of the <\/span>Ger<\/span><\/i> in our chapter (verse 14), we are told that the Shekhinah descended to dwell in the Mishkan: \u201cOn the day that the Mishkan was set up, the cloud covered the Mishkan, the Tent of the Witnessing; and in the evening it rested over the Mishkan in the likeness of fire until morning. It was always so: the cloud covered it, appearing as fire by night\u201d (15-16). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The contiguity of the law of the <\/span>Ger<\/span><\/em> to the dwelling of the Shekhinah in the Israelite camp suggests that when we regard as our equals those non-Jews who choose to live among us in peace, then God\u2019s Divine Presence too dwells among us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0by Kudryashova Vera\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46937,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1037781469","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469.jpg","width":4563,"height":3042,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Resident Alien (Ger Toshav) \u2013 Then and Now","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God\u2019s presence resides when we treat others equally","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46937,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1037781469","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469.jpg","width":4563,"height":3042,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1037781469-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"126","date":"20260222","wall_id":"126"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"433","name":"Other","old_id":"833"},{"term_id":"453","name":"Stranger","old_id":"853"}]},{"order":3,"id":"46934","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"When Do We Get A Second Chance (And When We Do Not) ","post_title":"When Do We Get A Second Chance (And When We Do Not)","slug":"when-do-we-get-a-second-chance-and-when-we-do-not","old_id":"46934","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"126","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The miracle of a second Passover","post_main_content_content":"

Pesach Sheni<\/span><\/em> \u2013 literally a 2nd Passover \u2013 about which we read in this chapter, addresses people who missed the first one, because when it was time to bring the offering, they were either \u201critually impure through contact with a dead body, or away on a distant journey\u201d (Numbers 9:1-12). This situation has never come up before, so it is not obvious what to do. After Moses inquires, God tells him that these people can prepare the same offering a month later, on the next full moon, the 14th of Iyar, to be known as <\/span>Pesach Sheni<\/span><\/i>, 2<\/span>nd<\/span> Pesach. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we google it, we\u2019ll find lots of comments how this means that \u2018it\u2019s never too late to rectify a past failing\u2019, and that this day \u2018represents the power to go back in time and redefine the past\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But for me, <\/span>Pesach Sheni<\/span><\/i> happens to be my father\u2019s <\/span>yahrzeit<\/span><\/em>. And there is nothing like a <\/span>yahrzeit<\/span><\/em> to remind us that try as we might, there is definitely not \u201calways\u201d a second chance, and our power to rectify the past is quite limited. In fact, the whole teaching seems to highlight exactly the opposite! If it was that simple and there was always a second chance, which by now, we should have known, the people would not have to ask Moses, who would not have to ask God who would not have to teach now something completely new.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After all, there is no 2<\/span>nd<\/span>- any-other-holiday. If we missed Yom Kippur, we can still do our own <\/span>t\u2019shuva<\/span><\/em> (repentance) any day, but that majestic fast day will only come back next fall; if we were unavailable during Sukkot or Hanukkah, of course, there is going to be another one, but not next month.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is also what the people and Moses knew very well, as I am painfully reminded each year: that second chances are super rare and hard to come by; and that while we pray and hope, beg and bargain for them, they are usually not readily available, but rather, extremely extraordinary. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Pesach Sheni and getting a second chance, is no less of a miracle than the first one was.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102010,"alt":"","title":"-620a5b967049e--620a5b967049fgen8-yizkor candle remember 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Do We Get A Second Chance (And When We Do Not)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The miracle of a second Passover","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102010,"alt":"","title":"-620a5b967049e--620a5b967049fgen8-yizkor candle remember 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to Wrong-Doing ","post_title":"Responding To Wrong-Doing","slug":"responding-to-wrong-doing","old_id":"47148","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"129","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Miriam and Aaron act badly. In the face of Moses marrying a Cushite woman (possibly a Nubian from his days in Egypt, possibly a reference to Zipporah as a Midianite), Miriam and Aaron speak out against him. Their claim originates as a family spat about their sister-in-law, but quickly devolves into an assertion that they too should be seen as prophets on the same level as their eminent brother. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

God hears their gripe, and responds immediately, summoning them all, making clear that there are none to equal Moses in the quality of his relationship to God and his capacity to hear the divine message \u201cplainly and not in riddles\u201d and to see God directly (8). Miriam is afflicted with a disfiguring skin disease (having appeared to criticize the skin of Moses\u2019 Cushite wife!) and God storms off, literally.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You might think that ends the matter. They sinned; God spoke and acted. End of story. But our Torah\u2019s telling is only warming up. The real action picks up at this point. Acknowledging their sin, Aaron does immediate teshuvah and confesses to his brother, pleading for compassion. Moses responds instantly with not only forgiveness, but with action on his sister\u2019s behalf: \u201cMoses cried out to the Lord, saying, \u2018God, please heal her please!\u2019(13) God responds with the world\u2019s first kal va-homer<\/em> (a type of legal argument called <\/span>a fortiori<\/span><\/em>) that she must at least remain in isolation for seven days. And during that time, we are told \u201cthe people did not march on until Miriam was readmitted (15).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the aftermath of clear sin, what is the Israelite expectation: <\/span>teshuvah<\/span><\/em> and consequences, forgiveness and compassion, solidarity restored. The one who commits error is expected to own their mistake and to bear the effects. Those afflicted find their way to forgiveness, even to the extent of advocating on behalf of those who wronged them. And God\u2019s grand response is to balance <\/span>din<\/span><\/em> (justice, consequences) with <\/span>rachamim<\/span><\/em> (compassion, forgiveness). And the people? Well, their love for Miriam cannot be erased by a single misjudgment. They wait until she can rejoin them, and only then do they resume their journey. Together.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As should we.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47149,"alt":"","title":"num12-Miriam","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","width":900,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam-300x129.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":129,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam-768x329.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":329,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","home_baner-width":900,"home_baner-height":386}},"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":"Responding To Wrong-Doing","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Teshuvah and consequences, forgiveness and compassion, solidarity restored","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47149,"alt":"","title":"num12-Miriam","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","width":900,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam-300x129.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":129,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam-768x329.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":329,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num12-Miriam.jpg","home_baner-width":900,"home_baner-height":386}},"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"129","date":"20260225","wall_id":"129"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"459","name":"Forgiveness","old_id":"859"},{"term_id":"620","name":"Aaron","old_id":"1020"},{"term_id":"640","name":"Miriam","old_id":"1040"},{"term_id":"699","name":"Teshuvah","old_id":"1099"}]},{"order":5,"id":"47023","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Saga Of Love And Hate, Good and Evil In The Wilderness ","post_title":"Saga Of Love And Hate, Good And Evil In The Wilderness","slug":"saga-of-love-and-hate-good-and-evil-in-the-wilderness","old_id":"47023","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34004,"post_title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","slug":"avivah-gottlieb-zornberg","old_id":"34004","first_name":"Avivah Gottlieb","last_name":"Zornberg","description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives in Jerusalem where she has been lecturing on Torah since 1980. She reads biblical narratives through the prism of midrash, literature, philosophy and particularly psychoanalysis.\r\nShe was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, where her father was a Rabbi and the head of the Rabbinical Court. She studied Torah with him from childhood. Her PhD in English Literature is from Cambridge University, England. She taught English literature at the Hebrew University before turning to teaching Torah. She now teaches throughout the Jewish world, at synagogues, universities, and psychoanalytic institutes.\r\nShe is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her latest book, Moses: A Human Life, was published by Yale University Press.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives and lectures on Torah in Jerusalem. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34006,"alt":"","title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","width":454,"height":359,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-300x237.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":237,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":359,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":359,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":359,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":359,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":359,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","home_baner-width":454,"home_baner-height":359}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"127","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ambivalent people who struggle with their own volatile relations with God, with Moses, and with themselves","post_main_content_content":"

At the beginning of the book, all the signs indicate that the people are preparing for imminent arrival in the Land of Israel. According to the midrash, this journey was to have been extremely brief: a three-day journey. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

At this moment, sin has not yet happened, the people have not yet been punished with years in the desert, and Moses still believes he will enter the land. Hence, Moses speaks innocently, unsuspectingly of desire and fulfillment. His sense of plenitude is reflected in his speech to Jethro:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses said to Chovav son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses\u2019 father-in-law, \u201cWe are traveling to the place... Come with us and we will be good to you; for God has promised goodness to Israel.\u201d And he replied, \u201cI will not go; but will return to my native land.\u201d He said, \u201cPlease do not leave us... if you come with us, the goodness that God grants to us we will extend [lit., \u201cdo good\u201d] to you\u201d (Num. 10:29-32). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Four times, Moses utters the word <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em>-<\/span><\/i>-good. But as though deaf to Moses\u2019 blandishments, Jethro simply says, \u201cI\u2019m going home\u201d and vanishes from the biblical record.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From this scene, we understand that the appeal to \u201cgoodness\u201d ultimately expresses a subjective sense of things. By repeating the word <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em> so often, Moses evokes an ecstatic sense of God\u2019s bounty. But Jethro does not share Moses\u2019 perspective, so he simply acts on his own desire and goes home.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cGoodness,\u201d then, lies in the eyes of the beholder. It is striking that in his infancy Moses is described as \u201cgood.\u201d (\u201cAnd his mother saw that he was good....\u201d [Exod. 2:2].) And at the Burning Bush, God promises to bring the people to \u201ca good and spacious land....\u201d (Exod. 3:8). The foundational experiences of Moses\u2019 life are permeated by a sense of <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the book of Numbers the words <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>ra<\/span><\/em>, good and evil, are used to express the subjective consciousness of \u201clove\u201d and \u201chate.\u201d Moses\u2019 eyes are trained on that good destination that beckons so alluringly. He is full of love. But since love is not always contagious, Jethro remains unaffected by Moses\u2019 enthusiasm.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here begins the saga of love and hate in the wilderness. Here begins the subjective narrative of an ambivalent people who, through a series of wilderness narratives, struggle with their own volatile relations with God, with Moses, and, ultimately, with themselves. In the end, their loves and hates will postpone for an entire generation their entry into the land.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"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":"Saga Of Love And Hate, Good And Evil In The Wilderness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Ambivalent people who struggle with their own volatile relations with God, with Moses, and with themselves","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":84019,"alt":"","title":"ps52-good evil","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","width":1920,"height":842,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-300x132.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-768x337.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":337,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1024x449.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":674,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":842,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-1200x526.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":526,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps52-good-evil-958x420.png","home_baner-width":958,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"127","date":"20260223","wall_id":"127"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"466","name":"Goodness","old_id":"866"},{"term_id":"598","name":"Israelites","old_id":"998"}]},{"order":6,"id":"106833","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Brackets Racket ","post_title":"The Brackets Racket","slug":"the-brackets-racket","old_id":"106833","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":"127","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Moses\u2019 mini-song: a sixth book? A story of sin? Or just a poetic flourish?\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

The drama building over the first ten chapters has reached its zenith. The people are counted. The camp is organized. The Levites load up the Mishkan. The trumpets have been fashioned and are ready to call out. The cloud lifts from the Mishkan and Moses invites his father-in-law to accompany the people for the home stretch (he declines). And then the dramatic song:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Advance, O God ! May Your enemies be scattered, and may Your foes flee before You! And when it halted, he would say: return, O God, You who are Israel\u2019s myriads of thousands!\u201d (verse 35-36).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These verses are bracketed by upside-down \u201cnuns\u201d [\u05e0] like parentheses. Why do these appear here? The Gemara in Tractate Shabbat 115-116 explains that this section is bracketed off because it should be considered its own book. The source is a verse in Proverbs 9:1 \u201cWith wisdom she built her house, she carved its seven pillars.\u201d The Torah only has five books. Where does the 7 come from? The Gemara answers that the seven books are- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers until the brackets, the bracket section, Numbers after the brackets and Deuteronomy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Alternatively, Rashi explains that this bracketed section does not belong here but is placed here to separate two punishments. Ramban disagrees with Rashi because the first \u201cpunishment\u201d seems to be missing. The next verse describes the people complaining, but nothing appears out of sorts in the verse before. Rashi explains that verse 33 \u201cThey marched from the mountain of God, they traveled for three days\u201d is really about the people removing themselves from God. This is more of a sin than a punishment, but nevertheless is the reason for the split.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This interpretation matches an earlier \u201cthree day\u201d removal. In Exodus 15:22: \u201cthey marched three days and found no water\u201d and then the people complained to Moshe. The homiletic interpretation there is that water is really Torah. Because the people went three days without it, they suffered. Here the people removed themselves from Mt. Sinai for three days and then complained. If water can be interpreted as Torah, Mt. Sinai can as well. However, verse 34 also does not seem to match the sinful behavior \u201cThe Ark traveled in front of them on that three days\u2019 journey to seek out a resting place for them.\u201d Why would the Ark move ahead if they were not supposed to move at all?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So what was the point of bracketing this off but not the Exodus story? It\u2019s possible that this is bracketed off simply for poetic effect. The only other time this appears in Tanach is in Psalms 107 for poetic reasons. Every other instance of unique lettering in the Torah concerns a poem or song: the Song of the Sea, Moses\u2019s final epic poem, etc. This is a mini-song by Moses, and one that is sung every time the Torah is returned to the Ark in Synagogue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":106836,"alt":"","title":"-62e6711989590--62e6711989591num10-brackets parentheses.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Brackets Racket","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Moses\u2019 mini-song: a sixth book? 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Or just a poetic flourish?\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":106836,"alt":"","title":"-62e6711989590--62e6711989591num10-brackets parentheses.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/07\/62e6711989590-62e6711989591num10-brackets-parentheses.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"Numbers","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"127","date":"20260223","wall_id":"127"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"802","name":"Song","old_id":"1202"}]},{"order":7,"id":"47029","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"God At The Center v. Caring For Others ","post_title":"God At The Center v. Caring For Others","slug":"god-at-the-center-v-caring-for-others","old_id":"47029","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46168,"post_title":"Jessica Fisher","slug":"jessica-fisher","old_id":"46168","first_name":"Jessica ","last_name":"Fisher ","description":"Jessica Fisher is in her final year of rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary where she is also pursuing an MA in Jewish Gender and Women's Studies. ","short_description":"Jessica Fisher is in her final year of rabbinical school at JTS where she is also pursuing an MA in Jewish Gender and Women's Studies. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46167,"alt":"","title":"jessica fisher","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","width":198,"height":230,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-276x300.jpg","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","medium_large-width":198,"medium_large-height":230,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","large-width":198,"large-height":230,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","1536x1536-width":198,"1536x1536-height":230,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","2048x2048-width":198,"2048x2048-height":230,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","post_full_size-width":198,"post_full_size-height":230,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/jessica-fisher-e1545510172550.jpg","home_baner-width":198,"home_baner-height":230}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"127","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Box or line? The formation of the Israelite camp expresses two very different ethics","post_main_content_content":"

While Exodus and Leviticus focus on laws, Numbers focuses on how these laws will be lived out, first in the wilderness and eventually in the land of Israel. It begins with urban planning required to start forming a society, including a census, zoning, and organizing the people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Palestinian Talmud records a debate about the formation in which the Israelites travelled (Eruvin 5:1). One rabbi explains that they moved in a box-like formation, divided by tribe, surrounding the Tent of Meeting, which embodied God\u2019s presence among the people. The second rabbi notes that in 10:25 the tribe of Dan is described as \u201c\u05de\u05d0\u05e1\u05e3 \u05dc\u05db\u05dc-\u05d4\u05de\u05d7\u05e0\u05d5\u05ea,\u201d \u201cthe one who gathered from all the camps.\u201d The commentator Chizkuni explains that \u201cgatherers\u201d meant that they helped anyone in the other tribes who fell behind from exhaustion. In order to be gatherers, they must have come last, so he suggests that the tribes travelled in a line, not a box. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We can look at these ideas as models for how we imagine our own communities. In the first model, there is a recognition of the centrality of God and Torah and of our responsibility to play a role in staying connected to tradition. The second model reflects a desire to ensure that everyone is cared for and no one is left behind. Although these are described as mutually exclusive models in the Talmud, our communities are strongest when we can do both at once, when we prioritize a love and care for our Judaism alongside a love and care for our neighbors.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":106871,"alt":"","title":"-62e683b9eb922--62e683b9eb923num10-box line.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png.png","width":1280,"height":1261,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-300x296.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":296,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-768x757.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":757,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-1024x1009.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1009,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1261,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1261,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-1200x1182.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1182,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-426x420.png","home_baner-width":426,"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":"God At The Center v. Caring For Others","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Box or line? The formation of the Israelite camp expresses two very different ethics","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":106871,"alt":"","title":"-62e683b9eb922--62e683b9eb923num10-box line.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png.png","width":1280,"height":1261,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-300x296.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":296,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-768x757.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":757,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-1024x1009.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1009,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1261,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1261,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-1200x1182.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1182,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2019\/01\/62e683b9eb922-62e683b9eb923num10-box-line.png-426x420.png","home_baner-width":426,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"127","date":"20260223","wall_id":"127"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"433","name":"Other","old_id":"833"},{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"598","name":"Israelites","old_id":"998"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"}]},{"order":8,"id":"47152","color":"#faeed8","size":"2","name":"Moses\u2019 Resume, Moses\u2019 Eulogy ","post_title":"Moses\u2019 Resume, Moses\u2019 Eulogy","slug":"moses-resume-moses-eulogy","old_id":"47152","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46658,"post_title":"Deborah Silver","slug":"deborah-silver","old_id":"46658","first_name":"Deborah ","last_name":"Silver ","description":"Rabbi Deborah Silver is the Rabbi of Shir Chadash in Metairie, New Orleans. She was ordained in 2010 by the Ziegler School at the American Jewish University, Los Angeles. Prior to rabbinical school she was educated at Cambridge University, England, after which she worked as an attorney at Mishcon de Reya, and at BPP Law School as an assistant professor, both in London. She hopes that her rabbinate embodies her deep love of Jewish learning - in all its varied forms - which has characterized her journey to date.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Deborah Silver is the Rabbi of Shir Chadash in Metairie, New Orleans.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46659,"alt":"","title":"deborah silver","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732.jpg","width":305,"height":324,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732.jpg","medium_large-width":305,"medium_large-height":324,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732.jpg","large-width":305,"large-height":324,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732.jpg","1536x1536-width":305,"1536x1536-height":324,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732.jpg","2048x2048-width":305,"2048x2048-height":324,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-e1546180915732.jpg","post_full_size-width":305,"post_full_size-height":324,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/deborah-silver-293x420.jpg","home_baner-width":293,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"129","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"An intimate portrayal of a great leader, by his boss","post_main_content_content":"

One of the challenges of Torah narrative is that it can be hard to keep track of who is on stage at any given moment. Here is an example:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent [of meeting] and called out \u201cAaron and Miriam!\u201d The two of them came forward\u2026 <\/span>(12:5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But we know from verse 4 and from back in Exodus<\/span> (29:42) that this spot was Moses and God\u2019s designated meeting place. So even though he says nothing in this scene, Moses was there.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is important because of what God is going to say: <\/span>When a prophet of the Lord arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the Lord <\/span>(12:6-8).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

These verses are a poem. They are a tightly worded \u2018menorah\u2019 (chiastic) structure with two different kinds of vision on the outside, the opposition between dreams and direct encounter the next layer in, and a declaration of Moses\u2019 faithfulness at the heart. God has moved out of the ordinary level of discourse to describe Moses in the best kind of elevated language Biblical Hebrew has to offer. There is a deeply personal quality to the poem, as if God is savoring the special connection God and Moses have.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of the Torah we find an echo of our text here: \"<\/span>Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses whom the Lord singled out face to face\u2026\"\u00a0<\/span>(<\/span>Deut. <\/span>34:10).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is followed by a sort of resume in prose - the wondrous acts, the signs, the wonders, the way that Moses displayed God\u2019s might and power. We can see how it would make sense to end the Torah on a high. But while impressive in its scope and accurate in terms of Moses\u2019 achievements, the end of the Torah lacks the intimacy that we find in our own chapter. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our tradition, it is a <\/span>mitzvah <\/span><\/i>to give a eulogy, generously to praise the good characteristics of the person who has left the world. This can also bring profound comfort to those who remain on earth, confirming what made their loved one special.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Everything that made Moses special to God is contained in the poem God recites in this chapter. God\u2019s words here are Moses\u2019 true eulogy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And in an act of consummate generosity and comfort, God delivers it while Moses is standing there to hear it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Y G Harrison\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47154,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1124306651","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651.jpg","width":5202,"height":3465,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"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":"Moses\u2019 Resume, Moses\u2019 Eulogy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"An intimate portrayal of a great leader, by his boss","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47154,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1124306651","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651.jpg","width":5202,"height":3465,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1124306651-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"129","date":"20260225","wall_id":"129"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"}]},{"order":9,"id":"47008","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"A Chapter of Thirst, Hunger and Complaints ","post_title":"A Chapter Of Thirst, Hunger And Complaints","slug":"a-chapter-of-thirst-hunger-and-complaints","old_id":"47008","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47016,"post_title":"Ilana Blumberg","slug":"ilana-blumberg","old_id":"47016","first_name":"Ilana ","last_name":"Blumberg ","description":"Ilana Blumberg is a prize-winning author and teacher. Her most recent book is the memoir, \"Open Your Hand: Teaching as a Jew, Teaching as an American\" (Rutgers UP, 2018). She directs the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar Ilan University and lives in Jerusalem with her family.","short_description":"Ilana Blumberg is a prize-winning author and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47017,"alt":"","title":"ilana blumberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","width":188,"height":249,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","medium_large-width":188,"medium_large-height":249,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","large-width":188,"large-height":249,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","1536x1536-width":188,"1536x1536-height":249,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","2048x2048-width":188,"2048x2048-height":249,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","post_full_size-width":188,"post_full_size-height":249,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","home_baner-width":188,"home_baner-height":249}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"128","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Primal needs, desires, emotions are our waystations in the desert","post_main_content_content":"

This is a chapter of pain that cannot, at the moment, be contained. The people are unhappy, complaining, and their unhappiness reaches God\u2019s ears. Then God becomes angry and the anger bursts into flame which eats at the edges of the camp. The people call out to Moses, who prays to God, and the fire subsides.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But just as in a family or a community or even in an individual\u2019s life, when things are not well -- one \u201cfire\u201d is put out and even as you are still breathing a sigh of relief, another \u201cfire\u201d has erupted -- here, too, the subsided flame does not bring real relief. It doesn\u2019t mean well-being, or peace, or a realigned balance. It\u2019s only a respite until the trouble resumes, in another round or another direction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The fire\u2019s ashes are still hot, so to speak, when the people of Israel beg for meat. They cry out for the foods of \u201chome,\u201d ironically Egypt, and they declare that their \u201csoul is dry.\u201d Thirst and hunger have taken them over. All of us know the force of those primal needs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the intensity of this scene, Moses, too, is drawn into the trouble which previously he found himself able to mediate and to quiet. God\u2019s anger at Israel is renewed, and this whole scene is \u201cra'<\/em>\u201d in Moses\u2019 eyes: the complaint, God\u2019s anger, the intensity of demand upon him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cRa'<\/em>,\u201d \u05e8\u05e2, evil \u2013 the word repeats four times in the first fifteen verses of this chapter. We hear a related sound in the description of the \u201cburning\u201d of God\u2019s fire in response to evil \u2013ba\u2019ar<\/em> \u2013 \u05d1\u05e2\u05e8 \u2013 the root repeating three times. Even Moses\u2019 angry plea to God, \u201cdid I carry this people in <\/span>pregnancy<\/span><\/em> that they should cry to me now for meat?\u201d -- he-anochi hariti<\/em> \u2013 \u05d4\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea\u05d9 \u05d4\u05d0\u05e0\u05db\u05d9-- repeats the sound of \u05f4ra<\/em>,\u05f4 suggesting that it\u2019s been trouble from the very start.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we dwell in this chapter for a moment before moving on to its resolution and to the long-term historical resolution of the journey through the desert, we are invited to recognize how difficult it is to sense \u201cra<\/em>\u201d at the heart of our relations. Primal needs, desires, emotions \u2013 the desire for meat, the desire for someone to feed us, for someone to take our children and raise them when what they ask seems too great or impossible, even the desire that Moses expresses, simply to die because the demands are too much \u2013 all these desires are our waystations in the desert, and God, Moses, and the people of Israel have been there before us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Eric Dufresne from Trois-Rivi\u00e8res, Canada [CC BY 2.0 (https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia 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Chapter Of Thirst, Hunger And Complaints","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Primal needs, desires, emotions are our waystations in the 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\u201cBut the men who had gone up with him said, \u2018We cannot attack that people, for it is stronger than we.\u2019 Thus they spread calumnies among the Israelites about the land they had scouted, saying, \u2018The country that we traversed and scouted is one that devours its settlers. All the people that we saw in it are men of great size; we saw the Nephilim there\u2014the Anakites are part of the Nephilim\u2014and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them\u2019\u201d (Num 13: 31-33).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The leaders who scouted out Canaan returned with a mixed report. The fruit in the Promised Land was big but so were the enemies. What good would abundance do if it could not be enjoyed in safety? This tremor of worry spread quickly through the camp, hampering the movement forward, resulting in tragedy. The people who were anxious about dying in the future were instead punished with death in the present for their betrayal of the mission.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They were told to report on what they saw but instead reported on what they felt, making calamitous and limiting judgments on their own capabilities. The text identifies the inhabitants of Canaan as men of great size using two Hebrew names; Anakites and Nephilim (giants and titans) both suggest humans of mythic proportions. In contrast, the Israelites saw themselves as lowly and small: \u201c\u2026and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\r\n

You can state what you think of yourself but cannot always be trusted when assuming what someone else thinks of you. They may have seen themselves as grasshoppers, but their enemies did not. In fact, the Israelites were completely wrong, as one of my students once observed. Moab when speaking to the elders of Midian about the Israelites compared them to one of the strongest animals in the ancient world: \u201cNow this horde will lick clean all that is about us as an ox licks up the grass of the field\u201d (Numbers 22:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes we see ourselves as weak and believe that others think of us the same way. But perhaps we\u2019re wrong. We usually look stronger than we deemed possible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: MyStocks\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47196,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088312105","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","width":5000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"We Looked Like Grasshoppers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How self-image influences our perceptions of others\u2019 perceptions of us","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47196,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088312105","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","width":5000,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1088312105-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"807","name":"Spies","old_id":"1207"},{"term_id":"808","name":"Strength","old_id":"1208"}]},{"order":12,"id":"47001","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Moses and A Mother\u2019s Love ","post_title":"Moses And A Mother\u2019s Love","slug":"moses-and-a-mothers-love","old_id":"47001","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34285,"post_title":"Tammy Jacobowitz","slug":"tammy-jacobowitz","old_id":"34285","first_name":"Tammy ","last_name":"Jacobowitz ","description":"Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz is the chair of the Tanakh department at the SAR High School in Riverdale, NY, and is the founding director of Makom Ba'Siach at SAR, an immersive adult education program for parents. 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And just like that, we have moved from the glorious period of preparation to persistent, limitless complaining. The early chapters of Numbers which chart the orderly, regal march of souls ready to enter the promised land quickly fall into a quagmire of complaints, crying and longing for the Egyptian past. The assault experienced by the reader -- what happened? why now? -- is paralleled by Moses\u2019 anguish. God is angry, and Moses is deeply distressed, and he turns to Him with a tumult of accusatory, embittered words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And Moses said to the LORD, \u201cWhy have You dealt ill with Your servant, and why have I not enjoyed Your favor, that You have laid the burden of all this people upon me?..\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people weigh him down, crushing his spirit. Moses experiences the people\u2019s unhappiness on a personal level; even more, he assumes that their complaining reflects God\u2019s direct rejection of him. After all, he speaks to the people for God, and to God for the people. Strung out from the demands of leading and mediating, he feels an absence of love from both ends: the people and God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is hard to say what exactly moves Moses to cry out to God, \u2018I can\u2019t do this anymore!\u2019 Is it the unvocalized murmurings? Crying at their tents? Or is it their request for meat in the middle of the desert? Perhaps the piling up of discontent - despite all his care and attentiveness to them-- pushes him to despair.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consider his metaphor. As he says to God -- am I their mother? Did I carry them, or birth them, that I should feel prepared, somehow, to provide for them no matter what comes?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mothers who carry babies in the womb (<\/span>rechem<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/i> are expected to extend mercy (<\/span>rachamim<\/span><\/em>), care, sustenance to their babies -- even in a world without resources. Motherhood so defined is an exercise in radical giving, even erasure of the self, in both literal and metaphoric senses. A tenuous arrangement, but held together.. until the complaining starts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For children, articulated complaints represent their burgeoning self-actualization, a healthy sense of separation from their parent. But for the parent, the experience can cut sharply into the effort of caregiving and evoke despair or a sense of futility. How could they fixate on what I did not provide, against the landscape of so much giving? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In response, God embraces Moses, the strung-out parent, back into the love narrative: \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do it all alone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67903,"alt":"","title":"is49-comfort","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Moses And A Mother\u2019s Love","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Moses, the strung-out parent, skirts despair, but God knows how to nurse him back","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67903,"alt":"","title":"is49-comfort","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"128","date":"20260224","wall_id":"128"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"607","name":"Comfort","old_id":"1007"}]},{"order":13,"id":"47198","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Unsung Hero ","post_title":"Unsung Hero","slug":"unsung-hero","old_id":"47198","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46672,"post_title":"Judith Hauptman","slug":"judith-hauptman","old_id":"46672","first_name":"Judith ","last_name":"Hauptman","description":"Rabbi Judith Hauptman is the E. Billi Ivry Professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture (Emerita) at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. Her research focuses on the history of the text of the Talmud and on teasing women's history out of rabbinic texts. She is the author of three books and numerous articles. In 2004, she established Ohel Ayalah, a free, walk-in High Holiday service for Jews in their 20s and 30s. Hundreds attend each year.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Judith Hauptman is professor emerita of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at JTS.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46673,"alt":"","title":"judith hauptman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952.jpg","width":347,"height":483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952.jpg","medium_large-width":347,"medium_large-height":483,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952.jpg","large-width":347,"large-height":483,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952.jpg","1536x1536-width":347,"1536x1536-height":483,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952.jpg","2048x2048-width":347,"2048x2048-height":483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952.jpg","post_full_size-width":347,"post_full_size-height":483,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/judith-hauptman-e1546203014952-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We need to give Caleb his due","post_main_content_content":"

When the scouts returned from their reconnaissance trip to the Promised Land, they said to Moses: \u201c. . . we came to the land you sent us to. It does indeed flow with milk and honey. However, the people who inhabit the country are powerful . . . \u201c (vv. 27-29). The Torah then relates (v. 30) that Caleb hushed the people before Moses, saying, \u201cLet us by all means go up.\u201d But the other scouts refused to be persuaded by Caleb and responded, \u201cWe cannot attack that people for it is stronger than we\u201d (v. 31).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbis of the Tosefta, a companion volume to the Mishnah, interpret these verses a little differently.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joshua said, \u201cWe came to the land you sent us to.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Caleb said, \u201cLet us by all means go up, and we shall gain possession of it.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The scouts said, \u201cHowever, the people who inhabit the country are powerful.\u201d (Tosefta Sotah 9:2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ancient rabbis are claiming that it was not eleven scouts (all but Caleb) who said, \u201cwe came to the land you sent us to,\u201d but Joshua alone who said that the land is flowing with milk and honey. These rabbis also claim that it was the other ten scouts, not including Caleb or Joshua, who went on to say, \u201cHowever, the people there are powerful.\u201d In this reading, ten scouts refused to go up to the land, whereas two implored the others to continue the journey.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why did these ancient rabbis introduce Joshua into a text that makes absolutely no mention of him? Why do they portray him as acting as nobly as Caleb? Probably because they wanted to shine a positive light on Moses\u2019 successor. They thus portray Joshua, like Caleb, as someone with great faith in God and no fear of the people, even though this is not what the verses of Chapter 13 are saying. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The aggrandizement of Joshua, however, leads to the diminution of Caleb. He becomes merely a sidekick of Joshua, rather than the hero the verses suggest that he is. The plain sense meaning of the Torah is that Caleb grasped the \u201cpower of one,\u201d that he understood that the other scouts were misguided, foresaw the dire consequences of their stance, and bravely tried to change their minds. True he did not succeed. But he made a valiant attempt. We should therefore return Caleb to his rightful place in Jewish history. No longer should he be an unsung hero.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47277,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Dore","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","width":476,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-333x420.jpg","home_baner-width":333,"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":"Unsung Hero","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We need to give Caleb his due","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47277,"alt":"","title":"Num13-Dore","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","width":476,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num13-Dore-333x420.jpg","home_baner-width":333,"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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"392","name":"Hero","old_id":"792"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"},{"term_id":"809","name":"Caleb","old_id":"1209"}]},{"order":14,"id":"47202","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Can We Challenge God\u2019s Judgement? ","post_title":"Can We Challenge God\u2019s Judgement?","slug":"can-we-challenge-gods-judgement","old_id":"47202","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"130","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Even God can\u2019t decide for you who you are, what you\u2019ll be, where you go...","post_main_content_content":"

Last summer I had the amazing opportunity to do chaplaincy training at Bellevue Hospital in NYC, the first public hospital in the US. During a Sunday shift, all alone in the 800 beds facility, the phone rang: the psych patients on the 18th floor are bored and want a little spiritual something. Would I please come up?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people in the room are Christian, Chinese, Muslim, Used-to-be-Jewish and of no religion at all. I have no idea what they are expecting, and anyway, I can\u2019t do anything but tell them my people\u2019s stories, specifically, about that week\u2019s Torah portion. I share briefly the story of the spies (Numbers 13). I ask them what they think about checking up on God, if God promises you a Land of milk and honey, should you be a true believer, who trusts God, or still send someone to check once again what\u2019s going on before schlepping 2 million people in?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Their vote is unanimous: definitely check again. But, I try to push-back, it\u2019s God\u2019s Land! What if God sends you? \u201cAh\u201d, they wave me off with a sad smile, not knowing they are in essence quoting Or Hachayim and others, \u201chere we all hear God telling us all sorts of things all the time. Even God can\u2019t decide for you who you are, what you\u2019ll be, where you go... You do. God gives you options, good and bad. You need to figure things out for yourself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThese men did good\u201d, they summarize confidently, and I think, this story will never look the same.<\/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":"Can We Challenge God\u2019s Judgement?","tile_main_caption":"Even God can\u2019t decide for you who you are, what you\u2019ll be, where you go... You do. God gives you options, good and bad. You need to figure things out for yourself","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","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":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"130","date":"20260226","wall_id":"130"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"376","name":"Choice","old_id":"776"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"}]}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/46863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}