{"id":53035,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1039\/"},"modified":"2022-11-04T08:11:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-04T06:11:34","slug":"wall-1039","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1039\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20221030-to-20221105"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1039","date_from":"20221030","date_to":"20221105","book":"Joshua","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"36267","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Leaving Aram ","post_title":"Leaving Aram","slug":"leaving-aram","old_id":"36267","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34247,"post_title":"Robert Salehrabi","slug":"robert-salehrabi","old_id":"34247","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Salehrabi ","description":"Dr. Robert Salehrabi is an endodontist in private practice. He escaped from Iran along with his brother in 1985. His mother and sister left the following year, followed by his father who was smuggled out last. Robert lives with his wife and three children in Denver, CO. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Robert Salehrabi is an endodontist in in Denver, CO. He escaped from Iran along with his brother in 1985. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34266,"alt":"","title":"robert s","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/robert-s.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"12","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"I too left my land, my birthplace, my father\u2019s house. Like Abraham our father, I escaped from Aram Naharaim.","post_main_content_content":"

I too left my land, my birthplace, my father\u2019s house. Like Abraham our father, I escaped from Aram Naharaim.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It was September of 1985, and I was filled with anxiety. In just a number of days Shay, my fifteen year old brother, and I (then eighteen) would leave our parents, our sister, our community, and our birthplace Tehran. This was not going to be an easy journey physically or emotionally, we were leaving Iran, our family\u2019s home for the past 2,500 years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My mind was racing: what if we are caught by the Iranians? What if the truck breaks down in the desert, or worse if it is in an accident in an isolated location? What will happen if the smuggler hands us over? Even if we arrive safely, how am I going to adjust to life in a new country, live in a completely different culture? Nonetheless I knew, that if I wanted to evade the Iranian army, if I wanted to live a free Jewish future I needed to leave my land, my birthplace, my father\u2019s house.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tehran is in Northern Iran, and our plan was to cross the Southern border into Pakistan. Goodbye mom, Bye-bye dad, time to fly southeast to Zahedan. Upon arrival we followed the smuggler, without a word or gestures, through the airport to his car. There were two other Jewish boys in the car already, quite a relief. \u00a0The four of us were driven into a tiny village and left in a home. Our smuggler returned some two hours later with a pickup truck. We jumped into the bed and drove east, toward Pakistan. At some point the truck veered off the road into the desert, driving right through the roadless desert.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At around 10 PM, we entered a mountainous region, we were handed over to four motorcycles who drove us through the mountain pointing out the distant lights of the Iranian bases. After some six or so hours we stopped. One of the drivers pointed to a ditch, and said \u201cthere is the border, we have made into Pakistan.\u201d \u201cNo way\u201d I responded, \u201cwhere is the wall, the fence, the security guards?\u201d We drove two or so more miles, and were transferred into the truck of the Pakistani smugglers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After some thirty-six hours, after multiple exchanges we were in Pakistan. Not quite the promised land, but, the watermelon that I ate in a remote village near the border a couple of hours later tasted to me like it came straight from Eden.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story is not just mine, and Shay\u2019s, it is the story of thousands of young Persian Jewish boys, who left behind their beautiful home and crossed the desert into Pakistan, or the hills into Turkey, who followed God\u2019s call to Abraham of <\/span>Lech Lecha<\/span><\/em>, \u201cgo forth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102212,"alt":"","title":"-62120c2b8e90a--62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep desert.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1278,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1022,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1278,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/07\/62120c2b8e90a-62120c2b8e90bgen12-jeep-desert.jpg-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":"My Own Private Lech-Lecha","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"I too left my land, my birthplace, my father\u2019s house. 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We Muslims revere the Prophet Abraham: \"Ibrahim Abuna,\" Abraham our Father. For us, he is the father of all prophets. For that reason we mention his name in all five daily prayers. As everyone knows, he was born and lived much of his life in present-day Iraq, and called to cease the worship of statues and stars, and believe solely in the one God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nimrod, the king of Iraq, commanded that our Prophet Abraham of blessed memory, be burned, but God saved him from the furnace. King Nimrod released him, and Abraham left Iraq for the holy blessed soil of the Holy Land (Israel-Palestine). His wife Sarah accompanied him on the journey.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From there Abraham went down to Egypt, and there confronted Pharaoh who tried to molest Sarah. God saved Sarah from Pharaoh, who released the two of them, and gave Sarah Hagar as a handmaiden. The three of them then returned to the Holy Land.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since Abraham was old, and Sarah was beyond child-bearing years, Sarah allowed Abraham to marry Hagar. When Hagar became pregnant and gave birth to a son named Ishmael, Sarah became jealous of Hagar. God commanded Abraham our Father to take Hagar and her son Ishmael to the desert. There he left them, because God wanted to bless Ishmael and make him the leader of a very great nation. Abraham our Father fulfilled God's wishes. He would visit them frequently there in the desert, concerning himself with their well-being, until he died and was buried in Hebron.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/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":"Abraham Father of Us All","tile_main_caption":"We Muslims revere the Prophet Abraham: \"Ibrahim Abuna,\" Abraham our Father. For us, he is the father of all prophets.","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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"16","date":"20250921","wall_id":"16"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"446","name":"Islam","old_id":"846"}]},{"order":3,"id":"71019","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Abraham's Spiritual Pilgrimage ","post_title":"Abraham's Spiritual Pilgrimage","slug":"abrahams-spiritual-pilgrimage","old_id":"71019","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":69185,"post_title":"Elliott Rabin","slug":"elliott-rabin","old_id":"69185","first_name":"Elliott ","last_name":"Rabin","description":"Elliott Rabin is Director of Thought Leadership at Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, where he edits Prizmah's magazine HaYidion, writes, produces podcasts and manages research projects. He formerly served as Director of Educational Programs for RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day School Network and Director of Education for the 92nd Street Y\u2019s Makor\/Steinhardt Center. and served as Assistant Editor at Harper\u2019s Magazine. He is the author of two books on Tanakh: The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility (JPS, March 2020), and Understanding the Hebrew Bible: A Reader\u2019s Guide (Ktav). \r\nPhoto by: Adele Rabin","short_description":"Elliott Rabin is Director of Thought Leadership at Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":69187,"alt":"","title":"Elliott Rabin.Photo by Adele Rabin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin.jpg","width":3293,"height":2957,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-300x269.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":269,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-768x690.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":690,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-1024x920.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1379,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1839,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-1200x1078.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1078,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-468x420.jpg","home_baner-width":468,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"15","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A Lifelong Journey","post_main_content_content":"

The narrative of Abraham is not a journey story culminating in his arrival at a specific location. Abraham has already arrived. His story is about what happens <\/span>after<\/span><\/i> he gets there, the struggles and conflicts he needs to confront in the very place he is. Whereas Aeneas must continually escape to fulfill his mission, Abraham must ultimately stay put. Yes, he often needs to leave his home, but only for short periods, and always with the goal of returning as soon as possible. His spiritual journey revolves around his familial tent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are other ways to view the spiritual side of Abraham\u2019s story. For one, Abraham may be a pilgrim even after he has completed his pilgrimage. Such a pilgrimage is not just a one-shot or a multiple-site venture; it is a life-changing experience that lives with the pilgrim the rest of his or her life. After a pilgrimage, a pilgrim always remains a pilgrim. Abraham\u2019s life is marked by having traveled away from his home at God\u2019s command. Because of the formative experience of departing from his homeland, and also because he never returns to his original home, Abraham is forever a pilgrim. Even as he settles down, somewhat, with his wife and family, he knows that this settling is only provisional, since his \u201coffspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs\u201d (15:13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The second spiritual perspective is embodied in the view of the ancient rabbis, who considered the episodes in his story as tests from God (Avot 5:4). God gives Abraham challenges to see to what degree he can rise to meet them. The prolonged attainment of God\u2019s promises constitutes yet another form of test. These delays<\/span> also provide a sense of journey to the episodes: Abraham is moving toward a time and place when he will have a son, his offspring will produce a nation, and the nation will settle on the land. Even if Abraham himself will not witness all of these promises fulfilled, his story is propelled forward like a pilgrimage in the sense that he is traveling his whole life toward receiving God\u2019s beneficence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps, then, Abraham is best viewed as a pilgrim in time even more than a pilgrim in space. He undergoes more than episodic adventures, his saga leads toward goals promised by God, and that larger vision imbues his story with spiritual depth. Abraham needs to keep the unseen promises in his mind so that God\u2019s tests and the familial imbroglios that beset him do not lead him to despair. To the rabbis, Abraham the righteous test-taker is a spiritual archetype, a model for emulation. Our challenge as his heirs is to recognize the tests we face, confront them as best we can, and accept that they come from God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from<\/em> <\/span>The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility <\/span>by Elliott Rabin by permission of the Jewish Publication Society. \u00a92020 by Elliott Rabin.<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69430,"alt":"","title":"BiblicalHero","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","width":3200,"height":2372,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-768x569.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":569,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1024x759.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1518,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1200x890.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":890,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-567x420.jpg","home_baner-width":567,"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":"Abraham's Spiritual Pilgrimage","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A Lifelong Journey","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69430,"alt":"","title":"BiblicalHero","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","width":3200,"height":2372,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-768x569.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":569,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1024x759.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1518,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1200x890.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":890,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-567x420.jpg","home_baner-width":567,"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":"Genesis","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"15","date":"20250918","wall_id":"15"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"}]},{"order":4,"id":"36706","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Original Handmaid's Tale: Take I ","post_title":"The Original Handmaid's Tale: Take I","slug":"the-original-handmaids-tale-take-i","old_id":"36706","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36147,"post_title":"Aaron Koller","slug":"aaron-koller","old_id":"36147","first_name":"Aaron","last_name":"Koller","description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of the Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS\/University of Nebraska Press in 2020); he is also the author of numerous studies in Semitic philology. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. 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\u2026 Sarai called Hagar in after breakfast, in a manner the teenager had never seen before. Normally imposing, regal, commanding, Sarai was now tentative, almost deferential. It made Hagar feel strangely sure of herself to see her mistress so unsure. The feeling got stronger when she heard was Sarai wanted from her: Hagar was to try to have a child with Abram. There was a fine line between serving someone and doing something that person couldn\u2019t do alone, and Hagar knew she had just crossed it. She felt a tingling feeling, a sense that she had, for the first time in her life, just a bit of power.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That feeling disappeared that night. She had long dreamed of what a relationship with a man would be like, and this was not it. No one asked her what she wanted, no one was attentive to her needs. The fact that this was her first time with a man was on no one\u2019s mind. She was ushered in by Sarai, and ushered out a few minutes later, also by Sarai. She felt confused. She felt used. She felt abused.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar had never really thought that her body was her own, but she thought that had limits. Her hands, her legs, even her head \u2013 those were all in the control of others. But she had imagined that being a mother would be something all her own, or to be shared with a partner of her choosing or done alone. But now even that was taken from her. She was to be a reproductive machine with no identity of her own, a vessel for her master\u2019s seed and her mistress\u2019s child. The most wondrous of live-giving experiences was stripped of its beauty, and Hagar was turned into a machine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As she felt the stirrings of life within her, Hagar felt empowered and betrayed. She <\/span>was<\/span><\/em> Atum, creating life from her body, but she was not even Hagar. The child growing within her \u2013 <\/span>her<\/span><\/em> child! \u2013 would not be hers. She would have to serve her own child, never hearing him call her \u201cMut,\u201d never being allowed to hug him before bed or kiss him when he got back from a trip. This was all too much to bear.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar began to make comments to Sarai that she knew she would regret. \u201cAre you looking forward to being a mother?\u201d \u201cWill all your friends be so happy that you\u2019re finally having a baby?\u201d \u201cSo, what will you name my child?\u201d Sarai was silent, always silent. Hagar felt terrible, but it was the only weapon she had.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then the beatings began. \u2026<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":36809,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088812106","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106.jpg","width":4684,"height":6504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-737x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":737,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-737x1024.jpg","large-width":737,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106.jpg","1536x1536-width":1106,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106.jpg","2048x2048-width":1475,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-864x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"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 Original Handmaid's Tale: Take I","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Everything was taken from her to create life for others","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":36809,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088812106","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106.jpg","width":4684,"height":6504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-737x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":737,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-737x1024.jpg","large-width":737,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106.jpg","1536x1536-width":1106,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106.jpg","2048x2048-width":1475,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-864x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812106-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"16","date":"20250921","wall_id":"16"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"445","name":"Fiction","old_id":"845"}]},{"order":5,"id":"36708","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Original Handmaid's Tale: Take II ","post_title":"The Original Handmaid's Tale: Take II","slug":"the-original-handmaids-tale-take-ii","old_id":"36708","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34235,"post_title":"Marc Gitler","slug":"marc-gitler","old_id":"34235","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Gitler","description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, a recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and earned an MPA from NYU . 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Head down Abraham slowly approaches the tent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham: Hagar can I come in?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar: yes you may. Asking, that is ironic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham: Hagar, I am so so sorry, I never...<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar, Interrupting: Don\u2019t call me that. My name is Asheyet, that is the name my parents gave me, a princess of Egypt. I responded to Hagar, because I had to act like a ger<\/em>, like a stranger to myself to continue with all the oppression I went through.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham: I am sorry Asheyet, I just didn\u2019t know, I didn\u2019t understand until I watched tonight. Until I saw June\u2019s pain. It was a different time, there were different rules and regulations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar: But you were so kind to strangers who showed up at your door. So merciful to the wicked of Sodom, so ahead of your time, where was your intuition, your prescience with me?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham: You are right. All too often we are compassionate to those at a distance, and so cruel to those closest. We just wanted a son. We left our homeland, followed God\u2019s promises. But nothing happened. Sarah just thought that when you came into our lives it was God\u2019s way of finally granting us a son. And then it worked, we named the son \u201cYishmael,\u201d believing that it had worked that God had granted us the child. I am so so sorry, that you were just a tool for us to realize our dreams, and sorrier that more than 3,000 years have passed before I realized our error: when women don\u2019t control their bodies, then they are not equal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hagar: I suffered and endured, but I listened to God. The child was named \u201cYishmael,\u201d but not due to your cries, or Sarah\u2019s tears but because God heard <\/span>my suffering<\/b>. I listened to the angel and went back and absorbed the suffering. Was it worth it, that is not for today, and anyway I see Sally Hemmings is at my door.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":36811,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088812118","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118.jpg","width":4809,"height":6692,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-736x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":736,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-736x1024.jpg","large-width":736,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118.jpg","1536x1536-width":1104,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118.jpg","2048x2048-width":1472,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-862x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":862,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"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 Original Handmaid's Tale: Take II - A Look Back","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Blessed be the fruit?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":36811,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1088812118","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118.jpg","width":4809,"height":6692,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-216x300.jpg","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-736x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":736,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-736x1024.jpg","large-width":736,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118.jpg","1536x1536-width":1104,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118.jpg","2048x2048-width":1472,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-862x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":862,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_1088812118-302x420.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"16","chapter_main_number":"16","date":"20250921","wall_id":"16"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"445","name":"Fiction","old_id":"845"}]},{"order":6,"id":"53503","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"A User\u2019s Guide To The Book of Joshua ","post_title":"A User\u2019s Guide To The Book of Joshua","slug":"a-users-guide-to-the-book-of-joshua","old_id":"53503","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":"195","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Joshua\u2019s covenant of inclusion reveals an anti-despotic subtext","post_main_content_content":"

There are two broad ways to read the Book of Joshua. One is to treat it as a primarily historical text, assuming that events occurred pretty much as they are reported here. The challenge to the first approach is that big archaeological and historical evidence don\u2019t mesh with the assertions of the book (the fall of Jericho, the capture of the entire land, the elimination of the Canaanites \u2013 all of which are contradicted by the evidence and by other biblical books). But there is an even larger challenge to this mode of reading: the widespread slaughter of innocents evokes moral repugnance among readers who take seriously the biblical demand for one law, for justice, for compassion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A better mode of reading is to assume that the Book of Joshua is intended to be a didactic text, intended to teach truths using stories that read like history but are aiming at something bigger. To read the Book of Joshua in this mode is to look for wisdom, insights, and lessons, understanding that the stories that carry the book are not literal descriptions but provide the canvas on which wisdom can present itself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I can only make it through the Book of Joshua using this second, more inclusive approach (one that accords with ancient and medieval commentaries, as well as more recent archaeological findings). Read through that lens, the Book offers us guidance and wisdom we can use to this day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 8 ends with a Covenant Ceremony at Shechem. Joshua builds an altar on Mount Ebal, and on that site, facing Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, are gathered \u201cAll Israel \u2013 stranger and citizen alike (Joshua 8:33).\u201d Notice the clear insistence that \u201call Israel\u201d includes not only the citizens, but also the stranger. Ancient Israel is meant, even at this foundational moment, to be maximally inclusive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That same point is repeated and expanded: The entire Book of the Teaching (the whole Chumash according to Ramban, only the 613 Commandments according to Rav Saadia Gaon) were recited aloud in the \u201cpresence of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the strangers who accompanied them (Joshua 8:35).\u201d Note again: the assembly of Israel isn\u2019t complete if it doesn\u2019t include men, women, children, and strangers. More maximal inclusion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There, I would propose, is the divine aspect of this biblical book. Even in the midst of conquest, Israel is meant to include us all: Jews, non-Jews, all genders, all ages. Everyone participates because the entire point of this conquest is to set up a people unlike the surrounding despotisms: a place where everyone counts, where everyone participates, where all are welcome. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53504,"alt":"","title":"jo8-manual","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual.jpg","width":960,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A User\u2019s Guide To The Book of Joshua","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Joshua\u2019s covenant of inclusion reveals an anti-despotic subtext","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53504,"alt":"","title":"jo8-manual","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual.jpg","width":960,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo8-manual-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"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":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"195","date":"20260528","wall_id":"195"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"372","name":"Wisdom","old_id":"772"},{"term_id":"395","name":"Covenant","old_id":"795"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"712","name":"Inclusion","old_id":"1112"}]},{"order":7,"id":"53161","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"History And Memory In Monuments ","post_title":"History And Memory In Monuments","slug":"history-and-memory-in-monuments","old_id":"53161","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":52762,"post_title":"Rebecca Pollack","slug":"rebecca-pollack","old_id":"52762","first_name":"Rebecca ","last_name":"Pollack ","description":"Rebecca Pollack is a doctoral candidate in art history at the CUNY Graduate Center. Rebecca teaches architectural history at the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College and art history at Stern College for Woman. She currently holds a fellowship from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. ","short_description":"Rebecca Pollack is a doctoral candidate in art history at the CUNY Graduate Center. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52765,"alt":"","title":"rebecca pollack","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack.jpg","width":1757,"height":2284,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack-231x300.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack-768x998.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":998,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack-788x1024.jpg","large-width":788,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack.jpg","1536x1536-width":1182,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack.jpg","2048x2048-width":1575,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack-923x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":923,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/rebecca-pollack-323x420.jpg","home_baner-width":323,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"191","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\"What is the meaning of these stones for you?\" - And to us?","post_main_content_content":"

Throughout history victorious nations mark their achievements through architectural monuments, and the Jewish people are no different. Upon entering the Land, Joshua constructs a monument from twelve stones to mark the achievement of crossing the Jordan River.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This shall serve as a symbol among you: in time to come, when your children ask, \u2018What is the meaning of these stones for you?\u2019 you shall tell them, \u2018The waters of the Jordan were cut off because of the Ark of the Lord\u2019s Covenant; when it passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.\u2019 And so these stones shall serve the people of Israel as a memorial for all time.\u201d (Joshua 4:6-7)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The text tells us that Joshua created a monument to commemorate a specific historical moment, that marked the nation\u2019s inaugural moment of conquest and developing the land into a great country; a sentiment to live on in the collective memory of future Israelites.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This tension between memory and history is pertinent in discussions of memorials and monuments. Nation-building memorials in particular affirm the greatness of a nation\u2019s birth, glorify war, and importantly concretize a certain historical moment into the nation\u2019s collective memory. Further, and importantly for this text, they often form a specific perspective and one that promotes an indigenous reading. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here Joshua is doing just that, reading the memorial formally, i.e. how the text describes the physical attributes. The twelve stones represent the twelve tribes, but the choice to use stones is significant. Stones come from the ground<\/span>, so rocks and other earthen materials are a way to connect disparate landscapes, symbolically linking two district geographic locations. Here the use of the stones is a way to visually and conceptually link the people to the land and mark their reclaiming of it. Further, the text makes no mention of carving, shaping or altering the stones in any way, so we can assume they were assembled in their natural state, which could be read as a statement about indigeneity and the Jewish people\u2019s right to this place. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

This symbolic association of rocks and geography is found in another instance of monument building recounted in the Bible. There are two instances in Jacob\u2019s life when he builds monuments: first, after his dream on his way to Laban\u2019s house (Genesis 28:18) , and second with Laban marking the separation between their households (Genesis 31: 51). In both of these instances Jacob uses stones to monumentalize geographical changes in his life and declare his connection to disparate landscapes. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Additionally, in the 20<\/span>th<\/span> Century, Jewish communities used stones to form memorials to the Shoah. The stones serve as metonyms for unrecovered graves, but in addition often symbolize the geography of the Shoah itself and the subsequent dispersal of European Jewry and culture. Just as with Joshua marking the Israelites\u2019 entrance into the land of Israel with stones, in the twentieth century Jews use the medium to signify the contemporary return of the Jewish people to Israel. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53162,"alt":"","title":"jo4-river stones","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","width":350,"height":197,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","medium_large-width":350,"medium_large-height":197,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","large-width":350,"large-height":197,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","1536x1536-width":350,"1536x1536-height":197,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","2048x2048-width":350,"2048x2048-height":197,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","post_full_size-width":350,"post_full_size-height":197,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":197}},"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":"Submerged Memories 3","tile_main_caption":"History And Memory In Monuments","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\"What is the meaning of these stones for you?\" - And to us?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53162,"alt":"","title":"jo4-river stones","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","width":350,"height":197,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","medium_large-width":350,"medium_large-height":197,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","large-width":350,"large-height":197,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","1536x1536-width":350,"1536x1536-height":197,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","2048x2048-width":350,"2048x2048-height":197,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","post_full_size-width":350,"post_full_size-height":197,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo4-river-stones.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":197}},"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":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"191","date":"20260524","wall_id":"191"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"405","name":"Memory","old_id":"805"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"647","name":"Return","old_id":"1047"}]},{"order":8,"id":"108894","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Everybody Must Get Stones! ","post_title":"Everybody Must Get Stones!","slug":"everybody-must-get-stones","old_id":"108894","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":"191","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From the river, that is. And 12 to be exact. But why?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In the middle of chapter 3 there is a verse that seems out of place: \u201cNow select twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe\u201d (verse 12). The text does not explain what should be done with these twelve people, and the story simply continues. It is not until chapter 4 that their job is revealed:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Select twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and instruct them as follows: \u2018Pick up twelve stones from the spot exactly in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests\u2019 feet are standing; take them along with you and deposit them in the place where you will spend the night\u2019 (verses 2-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The chapter emphasizes that these stones are to be taken from the actual feet of the priests in the river. What are these twelve stones?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At first, they seem like they could be the stones that Moses commands back in Deuteronomy:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As soon as you have crossed the Jordan into the land that your God is giving you, you shall set up large stones. Coat them with plaster and inscribe upon them all the words of this Teaching (Deut. 27:2-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But there are some differences. Joshua does not command anything beyond simply taking the stones as a sign. He does not instruct the people to inscribe anything on the stones. The stones also are kept in the camp and not brought to Mt. Ebal or accompanied by a sacrificial ceremony, as they are supposed to be in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy also does not mention twelve stones or that they should be taken from the river.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi believes Joshua is doing exactly what Moses instructed, it just is not mentioned in the text. The problem with Rashi beyond the differences mentioned above is following through with the command of Moses seems to take place in chapter 8 at Mt. Ebal. That is also well after the people cross the Jordan. It is possible that Joshua is simply borrowing the idea from Moses, and using it here to continue the theme in chapter 3 of the priestly carriers of the Ark. This is why he instructs each tribe to take stones from the very spot where the priests stood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This Jordan crossing souvenir is meant as a reminder for each tribe that the nation did not do this on their own. God was with them from the very beginning and God will continue to be with the people in the new land, even if it will not be as obvious all the time as the splitting of the Jordan river.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":108896,"alt":"","title":"-635bc7fccea4f--635bc7fccea50jo4-stones rocks river.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-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":"Everybody Must Get Stones!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From the river, that is. And 12 to be exact. But why?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":108896,"alt":"","title":"-635bc7fccea4f--635bc7fccea50jo4-stones rocks river.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635bc7fccea4f-635bc7fccea50jo4-stones-rocks-river.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"191","date":"20260524","wall_id":"191"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"}]},{"order":9,"id":"53342","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Power, Settlement, Dedication ","post_title":"Power, Settlement, Dedication","slug":"power-settlement-dedication","old_id":"53342","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":52866,"post_title":"Shani Abramowitz","slug":"shani-abramowitz","old_id":"52866","first_name":"Shani ","last_name":"Abramowitz ","description":"Shani Abramowitz is a poet, community organizer, and Jewish educator. Originally from the Chicago-area, Shani is in her third year of rabbinical school at JTS, and currently works as a rabbinic organizer at the New Israel Fund. ","short_description":"Shani Abramowitz is a poet, community organizer, and Jewish educator.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52867,"alt":"","title":"shani abramowitz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","width":139,"height":156,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz-139x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":139,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","medium-width":139,"medium-height":156,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","medium_large-width":139,"medium_large-height":156,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","large-width":139,"large-height":156,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","1536x1536-width":139,"1536x1536-height":156,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","2048x2048-width":139,"2048x2048-height":156,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","post_full_size-width":139,"post_full_size-height":156,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/shani-abramowitz.jpg","home_baner-width":139,"home_baner-height":156}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"192","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A profound commitment, harkening back to the promise of Abraham and to when we became a free people","post_main_content_content":"

When we arrive in the fifth chapter of the book of Joshua, we are meeting a nation and a leader who are in transformation. The Jewish people have just crossed the Jordan River, and we are confronted with some of the very first experiences of power, settlement, and dedication.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the second verse of this chapter, Joshua is commanded to provide a \u201c<\/em><\/span>second\u201d circumcision <\/span><\/em>to all of the Israelite men. So, Joshua follows God\u2019s command, and \u201cre\u201d-circumcises all of the men at <\/span>Giv\u2019at Ha\u2019aralot,<\/em> <\/span>literally translated as <\/span>Foreskin Hill<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

The text goes on to explain why exactly this is necessary:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAll the people who had come out of Egypt, all the males of military age, had died during the desert wanderings after leaving Egypt. Now, whereas all the people who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, none of the people born after the exodus, during the desert wanderings, had been circumcised.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Further in the chapter, in verse 11, we read of the very first <\/span>Korban Pesach<\/span><\/em> (Passover sacrifice) that is offered in the Land of Israel. Having just crossed the Jordan, the Israelites are almost immediately required to celebrate Pesach, the paradigmatic origin story of the Jewish transition from oppression to freedom.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The <\/span>Korban Pesach<\/span><\/em> gives us a communal lens through which we can thank God for bringing us to the place of our freedom. And we can see here, how this moment, of having just entered the Land of Israel, is not dissimilar from the Exodus from Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 5 is particularly poignant because it offers two distinct, and sacred, paradigms for re-committing to God: one that is achieved through the flesh, and one that is achieved through a communal celebration and meal. In both instances, the Jewish people are making a profound commitment, one that harkens back to the promise of Abraham and simultaneously to that moment in which we became a free people, ready to express our national will, that makes a great claim on the unfolding project of the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These two paradigms for re-committing to God may, and perhaps must, also serve as an important cautionary tale about confronting some of the earliest moments of conquest, war, and nationalism. We read this chapter and must remember that in making a physical, bodily oath, and while sitting with the community offering praise and thanks for our redemption and safe passage from Egypt, the community affirms that it is committed to something larger than itself, a form of accountability that sees the role of the Divine working in concert with the political will and actions of the people. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

We must read this chapter and understand the deep warning embedded within it: that the power, conquest, and national identity that the Jewish people are about to achieve, depends entirely upon God.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53345,"alt":"","title":"jo5-gilgal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","width":900,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal-300x129.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":129,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal-768x329.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":329,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.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":"Power, Settlement, Dedication","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A profound commitment, harkening back to the promise of Abraham and to when we became a free people","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53345,"alt":"","title":"jo5-gilgal","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","width":900,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal-300x129.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":129,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal-768x329.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":329,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","large-width":900,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo5-gilgal.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":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"192","date":"20260525","wall_id":"192"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"395","name":"Covenant","old_id":"795"},{"term_id":"549","name":"Circumcision","old_id":"949"},{"term_id":"597","name":"Pesach","old_id":"997"}]},{"order":10,"id":"53350","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Not Your Parents\u2019 Miracles\u2026 ","post_title":"Not Your Parents\u2019 Miracles\u2026","slug":"not-your-parents-miracles","old_id":"53350","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"192","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But re-enactments of the familiar create a sense of stability that the Israelites need","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 5 of Joshua, an angel appears to Joshua and tells him \u201cRemove your shoes from upon your feet, for the place upon which you stand is holy.\u201d The language used for this directive is identical to that used by God to Moses at the burning bush. This seeming replication of events is the third in the short span of time since Joshua took on the mantle of leadership. In chapter 2 Joshua dispatched two spies from Shittim to observe and report back on the land of Jericho. Though the outcome was quite different from when Moses sent spies into the Land of Canaan, the methodology is familiar. And in Chapter 3, we read about the miracle of the splitting of the Jordan River, again, very familiar to the miracle experienced by the Israelites at the Red Sea.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Throughout the latter chapters of Deuteronomy the Israelites are reminded that Moses will soon die and there will never again be a leader like Moses: they need to accept Joshua as their new leader. And yet, the early days of Joshua\u2019s rule are replete with reminders of Moses\u2019 rule, and one might think that these three replications of encounters, practices and miracles from Moses\u2019 leadership could risk sabotaging the efforts to move the Israelites forward with new leadership.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Joshua understood, and God enabled the leadership practice that if your predecessor was well-loved and demonstrably effective, a new leader who waltzes in (even if appointed by God) and starts upsetting the status quo, creates unease and distrust in followers. These re-enactments of the familiar create a sense of stability that the Israelites need at this time. Good leaders, like Joshua, introduce change incrementally, as leader-follower trust builds.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But, of course, the Israelites who witnessed the splitting of the Jordan River, were a different generation than those who crossed the Red Sea. The familiarity of the two events could not have been tangible to the followers of Joshua. And yet, the duplication of events suggests that God was counting on this generation\u2019s internalization of their parents\u2019 and grandparents\u2019 experiences. Perhaps this is a hint to the now-emerging theories of epigenetic inheritance that suggest that traumatic experiences affect DNA and are passed on to future generations. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

If so, then Joshua\u2019s generation of Israelites, and all future generations to come, have indeed in some genetic way as well as spiritually, lived the miracles experienced by Moses\u2019 generation. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Gustave Dore, The Appearance of the Angel to Joshua \/ public 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She made aliyah from La Jolla, California with her family during Operation Protective Edge in July 2014 after driving across America. Her work has appeared in Kveller.com, The Jewish Journal, The Forward, Jweekly, and aish.com.","short_description":"Jessica Levine Kupferberg is a writer and former litigation attorney. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52897,"alt":"","title":"jessica levine kupferberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg.jpg","width":921,"height":921,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg.jpg","large-width":921,"large-height":921,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":921,"1536x1536-height":921,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":921,"2048x2048-height":921,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":921,"post_full_size-height":921,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jessica-levine-kupferberg-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"193","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A quiet offense \/ Deafens a city's \u00a0\/ Walled defense","post_main_content_content":"

Sure<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>When you hear \"Jericho\"<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You think: Horns.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But listen closer<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For in silence<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Born<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A victory --<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A meticulous dance<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Blasts of silence<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A priestly prance;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Round six times<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In six days' time<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Only horns' cries heard<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Not clamor or chime<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Not voice nor shout<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To God's rules: Adhere!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And dare not flout!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Direction's clear<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Instead, to unnerve,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A quiet offense<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Deafens a city's <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Walled defense. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

A tension--<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A Battle of Wills round walls<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Six times around, a people stalls:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>At last: Day Seven!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Like a bride<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Seven circuits--<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Then finally:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The people cried!<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A sabbath, restless<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Holy work to do<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A conquering promise<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>If they follow through:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The battle plan of God. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not shiny: Dull<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Not trumpets: Rams<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>No need to ram--<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Walls sink to land<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Destruction wrought<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Raw, unbuilt<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Fearful, festered <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Walled pride spilt<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Mercy: None<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>-- Well, just for one<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The walls, no match<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For the Divine plan spun<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The fires catch<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>It has begun but <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Spoils: Spoilt <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A warning hums<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Hope lies hanging<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The future thrums<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>First battle fought<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Adherence, won?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But the true land battles<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Have just begun:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The fallibility of Man.<\/span><\/p>\r\n


\r\n<\/span>Image: <\/span>Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1794-1872), The Battle of Jericho \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53415,"alt":"","title":"jo6-jericho-horns","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","width":710,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns-300x254.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","medium_large-width":710,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","large-width":710,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","1536x1536-width":710,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","2048x2048-width":710,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","post_full_size-width":710,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns-497x420.png","home_baner-width":497,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Featured Poem","tile_main_caption":"A Conquering Promise","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A quiet offense \/ Deafens a city's \u00a0\/ Walled defense","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53415,"alt":"","title":"jo6-jericho-horns","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","width":710,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns-300x254.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","medium_large-width":710,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","large-width":710,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","1536x1536-width":710,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","2048x2048-width":710,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns.png","post_full_size-width":710,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-jericho-horns-497x420.png","home_baner-width":497,"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":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"6","chapter_main_number":"193","date":"20260526","wall_id":"193"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"370","name":"Divine\/human","old_id":"770"},{"term_id":"859","name":"Jericho","old_id":"1259"}]},{"order":12,"id":"53455","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Destruction, Conquest and Music ","post_title":"Destruction, Conquest And Music","slug":"destruction-conquest-and-music","old_id":"53455","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34235,"post_title":"Marc Gitler","slug":"marc-gitler","old_id":"34235","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Gitler","description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, a recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and earned an MPA from NYU . The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. He used to work for 929 North America.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, founder of Fast for Feast, lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34236,"alt":"","title":"Marc Gitler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","width":407,"height":407,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","medium_large-width":407,"medium_large-height":407,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","large-width":407,"large-height":407,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","1536x1536-width":407,"1536x1536-height":407,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","2048x2048-width":407,"2048x2048-height":407,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","post_full_size-width":407,"post_full_size-height":407,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","home_baner-width":407,"home_baner-height":407}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"193","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Life and death, kindness and cruelty, beauty and repulsiveness are often mixed up together","post_main_content_content":"

The late great Irish poet John O\u2019Donohue wrote at length about the idea of beauty, contrasting it with glamour or attractiveness. Amongst his ideal expressions of beauty is music. Music, he wrote \u201cwould remain our incredible gift to creation. For there is no other sound on earth to compare with the beauty and depth of music.\u201d In an interview with Krista Tippet, O\u2019Donohue said \u201cmusic is what language would love to be, if it could.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So why is there so much music in our chapter?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A chapter that sees a great structure fall, and the killing every man woman and child in Jericho, other than Rahab\u2019s family, is complicated by the sounds of the shofar. \u00a0Yes, the shofar was used in the desert to organize the camp to war, and later to warn people of impending danger. In our tale, the shofar is sounded to announce the arrival of God and the Israelites in Canaan, just as the shofar was blasted at coronations of our ancient kings, and still today on Rosh Hashanah when we \u201ccoronate\u201d God as our king. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

But at its core the shofar is a musical instrument. It was sounded on holidays, and to mark the jubilee, often accompanied by other instruments. It is the first instrument mentioned in Psalm 150 \u201cpraise him with the blast of the horn, praise him with the harp and lyre.\u201d This instrument in our chapter is not bringing joy, and certainly not beauty, but rather the all-powerful God and the scourge of war to our enemies.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why is music the instrument that brings down walls, allowing for the extermination of every living thing in the city? Many of the narratives in the book of Joshua, a book that is so challenging 3,000+ years later, raise difficult questions, and I don\u2019t have good answers. I do know that life is messy; that life and death, kindness and cruelty, beauty and repulsiveness are too often mixed up together. Sometimes they are so tightly coiled that it is hard to discern if an act is kindness or cruelty. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jericho\u2019s shofar blasting begins the conquest of Canaan, and with it the fulfillment of God\u2019s promise to the patriarchs, but tragically that conquest is intertwined with the unspeakable horrors of war. <\/span>
\r\n<\/span> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: \u00a0Jacob Steinhardt, woodcut, \u201cJoshua\u2019s Conquest of Jericho,\u201d 1953, <\/span>courtesy of Yosefa Bar-On Steinhardt<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53456,"alt":"","title":"jo6-shofarot2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","width":246,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2-185x300.jpg","medium-width":185,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","medium_large-width":246,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","large-width":246,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","1536x1536-width":246,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","2048x2048-width":246,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","post_full_size-width":246,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","home_baner-width":246,"home_baner-height":400}},"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":"Destruction, Conquest And Music","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Life and death, kindness and cruelty, beauty and repulsiveness are often mixed up together","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53456,"alt":"","title":"jo6-shofarot2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","width":246,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2-185x300.jpg","medium-width":185,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","medium_large-width":246,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","large-width":246,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","1536x1536-width":246,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","2048x2048-width":246,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","post_full_size-width":246,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo6-shofarot2.jpg","home_baner-width":246,"home_baner-height":400}},"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":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"6","chapter_main_number":"193","date":"20260526","wall_id":"193"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"367","name":"Questions\/Answers","old_id":"767"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"512","name":"Music","old_id":"912"},{"term_id":"650","name":"Shofar","old_id":"1050"}]},{"order":13,"id":"53458","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"All Israel are Responsible for Each Other \u2013 Then and Now ","post_title":"All Israel Are Responsible For Each Other \u2013 Then And Now","slug":"all-israel-are-responsible-for-each-other-then-and-now","old_id":"53458","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":"194","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Israelite version of \u201cone for all, and all for one\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter describes the sin and punishment of Achan for taking for himself from the spoils of Jericho that had been consecrated to the \u201ctreasury of the Lord\u201d (Joshua 6:19). Not only is Achan stoned to death, but his sin is said to have caused the catastrophic failure of the Israelites to conquer the city of Ai (Joshua 7:1-12, 25). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

This sin of one individual Israelite, that resulted in the collective punishment of all the people, seems to have provided the biblical basis for the principle that \u201cAll Israel are Responsible for Each Other\u201d (<\/span>kol yisrael \u2018areyvim zeh ba-zeh<\/span><\/em> - see Talmud Bavli Shevu\u2019ot 39a). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to another Talmudic tradition (Sanhedrin 43b-44a), Achan was already a hardened criminal prior to the conquest of Jericho. He is said to have surreptitiously taken for himself consecrated spoils already several times in the days of Moses. Moreover, he violated the Sabbath, had prohibited sexual relations with a betrothed woman and surgically effaced the sign of his circumcision (epispasm), all of which are capital crimes according to the halakhah. Worst of all, Achan is said to have taken an idol from the spoils of Jericho for his own idolatrous use! <\/span><\/p>\r\n

When God informed Joshua that \u201cIsrael has sinned\u201d (Joshua 7:11), he asked Him: Master of the Universe! Who is it who has sinned? God replied to Joshua: \u00a0Am I an informer?! To find out the identity of the sinner, go and cast lots. To narrow the possibilities, Joshua first consulted the breastplate of the High Priest, which normally had twelve shining jewels representing the twelve tribes of Israel. But because the sinner was from the tribe of Judah, that jewel had now become dim. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Joshua then cast lots among those from Judah, the lot fell on Achan (See Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 38). Subsequently, Achan was executed in accordance with the Rabbinic rules for capital punishment (see Mishnah Sanhedrin 6:2). When Achan was nearing the place of stoning, Joshua said to him: \u201cMy son, pay honor to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession to Him. Tell me what you have done; do not hold anything back from me.\u201d\u00a0 Achan answered Joshua, \u201cIt is true, I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did: I saw among the spoil a fine Shinar mantle, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, and I coveted them and took them. They are buried in the ground in my tent, with the silver under it\u201d (Joshua 7:19-21). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Significantly, Achan\u2019s confession made atonement for his sins. From this we learn that everyone who makes confession before death is rewarded with a place in the world to come. And so indeed, it is the story of Achan, the repentant sinner in the days of Joshua, that provides the basis for the rule we continue to live by to this day that \u201cAll Israel are Responsible for Each Other\u201d.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53463,"alt":"","title":"jo7-all for one","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","width":589,"height":252,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one-300x128.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":128,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","medium_large-width":589,"medium_large-height":252,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","large-width":589,"large-height":252,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","1536x1536-width":589,"1536x1536-height":252,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","2048x2048-width":589,"2048x2048-height":252,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","post_full_size-width":589,"post_full_size-height":252,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","home_baner-width":589,"home_baner-height":252}},"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":"All Israel Are Responsible For Each Other \u2013 Then And Now","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Israelite version of \u201cone for all, and all for one\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53463,"alt":"","title":"jo7-all for one","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","width":589,"height":252,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one-300x128.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":128,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","medium_large-width":589,"medium_large-height":252,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","large-width":589,"large-height":252,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","1536x1536-width":589,"1536x1536-height":252,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","2048x2048-width":589,"2048x2048-height":252,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","post_full_size-width":589,"post_full_size-height":252,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-all-for-one.jpg","home_baner-width":589,"home_baner-height":252}},"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":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"7","chapter_main_number":"194","date":"20260527","wall_id":"194"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"400","name":"Sin","old_id":"800"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"799","name":"confession","old_id":"1199"},{"term_id":"825","name":"Atonement","old_id":"1225"}]},{"order":14,"id":"53471","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Spoils of War\u2026 Spoil Wars ","post_title":"Spoils of War\u2026 Spoil Wars","slug":"spoils-of-war-spoil-wars","old_id":"53471","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"194","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But there still may be an Opening of Hope","post_main_content_content":"

Taking spoils is generally permitted by the Torah. Indeed, we are bidden to \"enjoy the spoils of your enemy which the Lord your God gives you\" (Deut. 20:14). This enjoyment was practiced by the Israelites throughout the Biblical period, with a handful of notable prohibitions - one of which was Jericho. Their failure to observe this prohibition led to a most striking consequence: The very next military foray, at the city of Ai, projected to be a simple mission (7:3), failed, with the attendant deaths of 36 of the participating soldiers, because someone had sinned, took the spoils, and then tried to cover it up.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A lottery identified the guilty party as member of the tribe of Judah named Achan (18), who confessed to his crime. Joshua, who had warned the people against the possible contamination by spoils (<\/span>`achartem<\/span><\/em>, 6:18), accused Achan of having done just that (`<\/em><\/span>achartanu<\/span><\/em>, v.25). Achan was stoned to death, and the spoils were destroyed. The description of illegal spoils as a contaminant, however, has a curious epilogue. When the genealogy of the tribe of Judah is delineated in the Book of Chronicles, the name of the person who violated the ban against spoils is rendered as Achar, rather than Achan (1 Ch. 2:7), signifying that he had been completely redefined by this incident.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another postscript, of sorts, attaches to the name that was given to the site at which the ill-gotten booty was burned: The people called it the \u201cValley of Contamination\u201d (`<\/em><\/span>emek `achor<\/span><\/em>, v. 26). According to the Prophet Hosea, that name was eventually going to be transformed into \u201cThe Gateway to Hope\u201d (Hosea 2:17), in Hebrew: <\/span>Petah Tikvah<\/span><\/i>, and indeed it was, when early Zionist pioneers founded a settlement by that name in 1878.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53472,"alt":"","title":"jo7-achan_spoils","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils.jpg","width":451,"height":620,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils-218x300.jpg","medium-width":218,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils.jpg","medium_large-width":451,"medium_large-height":620,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils.jpg","large-width":451,"large-height":620,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils.jpg","1536x1536-width":451,"1536x1536-height":620,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils.jpg","2048x2048-width":451,"2048x2048-height":620,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils.jpg","post_full_size-width":451,"post_full_size-height":620,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-achan_spoils-306x420.jpg","home_baner-width":306,"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":"Spoils 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Teaching Moment ","post_title":"Achan\u2019s Teaching Moment","slug":"achans-teaching-moment","old_id":"53474","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":52019,"post_title":"Chesky Kopel","slug":"chesky-kopel","old_id":"52019","first_name":"Chesky ","last_name":"Kopel ","description":"Chesky Kopel is antitrust lawyer, husband, and father living in Philadelphia.","short_description":"Chesky Kopel is antitrust lawyer, husband, and father living in Philadelphia.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52046,"alt":"","title":"chesky 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lesson for the ages, from 17th century England to 20th century US and Israel","post_main_content_content":"

Achan sinned in a moment of weakness. Apparently acting alone, he plundered gold, silver, and a Babylonian robe in the heat of the battle for Jericho, stashing these treasures in his tent. However, his personal sin brought tragic consequences for his whole nation. The Israelites were subsequently routed in the battle of Ai, losing 36 soldiers and their sense of invincibility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The example of Achan showed later generations the great moral danger of plundering during wartime, exploiting political violence for personal gain. As<\/span> related<\/span><\/a> by journalist Tzvi Lavi, during the Six-Day War in 1967, a commander of a unit of Israeli paratrooper reservists named Chaim Tzippori reportedly gathered his soldiers next to the ancient city of Jericho, took out a Tanakh and read from the story of Achan. Tzippori then instructed the soldiers to place any plunder they seized on the ground in front of him, or else risk a military tribunal. An astonishing amount of plundered property gathered before Tzippori.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Achan has also been wielded symbolically to condemn wars instigated for national enrichment. In a 1656 political scandal explored by historian Blair Worden, the ruler of the English Commonwealth, \u201cLord Protector\u201d Oliver Cromwell was publicly compared to Achan. Following an embarrassing military defeat at the hands of the Spanish military on the island of Hispaniola (today Haiti and the Dominican Republic), English Puritans including Cromwell and his detractors cast about to identify the sin for which England was punished. Cromwell critic Sir Henry Vane invoked the Achan story and charged that the defeat\u2014their modern-day Ai\u2014arose from the \u201cself-interest and private gain\u201d that drove Cromwell to seize power in the aftermath of the English Civil Wars. Cromwell\u2019s public response did not even deny the accusation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Similarly, in the height of the second U.S. war in Iraq, amid popular speculation that President George W. Bush pursued conflict with Saddam Hussein to benefit financially from Iraqi oil, an Achan charge was made on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. On the morning of July 9, 2003, the elected House chaplain, a Catholic priest named Daniel P. Coughlin, delivered a prayer invoking the lessons of \u201cthe conquest of Jericho and the sin of Achan,\u201d and expressing hope that, \u201cwe, as individual citizens or in any corporate way, never excuse ourselves from honesty and integrity\u201d in the ongoing war. Coughlin\u2019s veiled indictment went virtually unnoticed. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Images: George W Bush, 2005, White House photo by Eric Draper \/ wikimedia<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> \u00a0<\/span>Oliver Cromwell by Samuel Cooper, 1656 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53475,"alt":"","title":"jo7-cromwell-bush","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Achan\u2019s Teaching Moment","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A lesson for the ages, from 17th century England to 20th century US and Israel","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53475,"alt":"","title":"jo7-cromwell-bush","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo7-cromwell-bush-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Joshua","chapter":"7","chapter_main_number":"194","date":"20260527","wall_id":"194"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"}]}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"date":"20190411","chapter":"","chapter_main_number":"","static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/53035"}],"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=53035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}