{"id":53495,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:24","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1040\/"},"modified":"2022-11-11T12:40:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T10:40:51","slug":"wall-1040","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1040\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20221106-to-20221112"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"1040","date_from":"20221106","date_to":"20221112","book":"Joshua","books_group":"Prophets","date":"","chapter":"","chapter_main_number":"","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"98473","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"The Akedah Project ","post_title":"The Akedah Project","slug":"the-akedah-project-2","old_id":"98473","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1171","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"<p class=\"\">The Akedah Project explores the story of the Binding of Isaac (\u201c<em>akedah<\/em>\u201d means \u201cbinding\u201d in Hebrew), which is one of the most confounding narratives in the Bible. Scholars, rabbis, artists, teachers, poets, and readers have tried to make sense of this story for millennia, which has given us a range of lenses through which we can read it, even as we bring the new questions, ideas, and perspectives that come with every new generation of readers.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"\">We have invited some of the most prominent scholars, teachers, thinkers, activists, and artists to investigate and present the story in their own way.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"\">Here you will find more than 30 videos, each offering coming to the Akedah from a different angle. If you like what you see here, The Akedah Project is just the beginning. We believe that a plurality of voices can be brought together to explore the vast canon of Jewish literature. Tradition tells us that the Torah has \u201cseventy faces,\u201d and we look forward to exploring them with you.<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jewishlive.org\/isaac\">Click here for the full collection of videos at the Akedah Project<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80067,"alt":"","title":"akedahproject","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","width":1200,"height":628,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-300x157.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-768x402.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":402,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1024x536.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":628,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":628,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1200x628.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":628,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-803x420.jpg","home_baner-width":803,"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":"Parashat Vayera","tile_main_caption":"The Akedah Project","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Music, art, videos, more!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80067,"alt":"","title":"akedahproject","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","width":1200,"height":628,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-300x157.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-768x402.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":402,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1024x536.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":628,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":628,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1200x628.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":628,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-803x420.jpg","home_baner-width":803,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Nehemiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1171"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"36985","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"What\u2019s the Real Reason Sarah Laughed? ","post_title":"What\u2019s the Real Reason Sarah Laughed?","slug":"whats-the-real-reason-sarah-laughed","old_id":"36985","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33942,"post_title":"Hagit Bartuv","slug":"hagit-bartuv","old_id":"33942","first_name":"Hagit","last_name":"Bartuv","description":"Hagit Bartuv is the project and content leader of the Srigim initiative on Israeli moshavim whose goal is to enrich moshavim with more Jewish-Israeli culture.  In 2013, as a modern Orthodox woman, she challenged the conversion court in Israel after she refused to accept their demand that she send her adopted child to an ultra-Orthodox pre-school. In the end, the court ruled in her favor and agreed to convert the child even though he would be educated in a secular preschool.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Hagit Bartuv is the project and content leader of the Srigim initiative on Israeli moshavim","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33944,"alt":"","title":"\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea \u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","width":335,"height":335,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","medium_large-width":335,"medium_large-height":335,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","large-width":335,"large-height":335,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","1536x1536-width":335,"1536x1536-height":335,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","2048x2048-width":335,"2048x2048-height":335,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","post_full_size-width":335,"post_full_size-height":335,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/\u05d7\u05d2\u05d9\u05ea-\u05d1\u05e8\u05d8\u05d5\u05d1.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":335}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"18","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To return to the place in a woman\u2019s soul where motherhood is born","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!\" (Genesis 18:10). Why was this bit of news necessary?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine that you received such a message: that what you had hoped for, and had cried for, and was upset about, and lost your temper about, and despaired of, is about to happen in the face of all logic and nature. What would you feel, what kind of emotional turmoil would you find yourself in? And of what is the benefit of Sarah entering this tension of excitement and anxiety and hope and preparation for disappointment and joy and distrust? Every fertility doctor will tell you that this emotional intensity is not what it takes to get pregnant. If Sarah had become pregnant without this news, it would have been clear to her and to Abraham and to the entire world that this was a miracle from God. \u00a0So why did God take the trouble to deliver this news?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When God delivered the news to Abraham and Sarah overhead it, she laughed; for what else could she do in this emotional frenzy?! \u00a0It is surprising, then, that God called her to task for laughing and demanded that she explain her laughter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps the reason is that God wanted to open in Sarah's heart a place to continue yearning for a child, a place that had already been closed up and sealed, so that she could make room for this miraculous pregnancy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Sarah laughed and God insisted on discussing this laughter with her, maybe God wanted to force her to ask herself: really, why did I laugh? Perhaps God wanted to compel her to examine the complex emotions that such news engenders and thus enable her? Perhaps God wanted to help her to believe in life once again.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":94002,"alt":"","title":"job10-mother baby 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God: A Lesson In Advocacy\u00a0 ","post_title":"Challenging God: A Lesson In Advocacy\u00a0","slug":"challenging-god-a-lesson-in-advocacy","old_id":"102491","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":101758,"post_title":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam","slug":"naomi-bromberg-bar-yam","old_id":"101758","first_name":"Naomi ","last_name":"Bromberg Bar-Yam ","description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","short_description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101760,"alt":"","title":"-62028435af471--62028435af472Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","width":361,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":449,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":449,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":449,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"18","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Abraham modeled the call to accountability, justice and mercy from both people and God. Now it is our turn.\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story of Abraham and God\u2019s conversation about the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:17-33) has much to teach us about the responsibility of decision makers to hear diverse voices, and for those voices to rise and be heard.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In verses 17-19, God is deciding the fate of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and considers whether to hide this plan from Abraham through whom the world will be blessed. In today\u2019s parlance, Abraham is a stakeholder. God, who has ultimate authority and power, grants him a seat at the table, knowing that Abraham will speak out for justice and mercy, indeed, because of it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those in positions of authority and power are obligated to invite to the table stakeholders with multiple voices, particularly those who will raise just objections, lest decisions be made in an echo chamber.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In verses 20-21, God hears the cries of those treated unjustly, and investigates before executing the plan. The voices of the wronged matter. They have the obligation to raise their voices, to cry out, to share their stories as widely as they are able. Leaders and deciders have the obligation to investigate, to seek out the stories and hear the cries.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In verses<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">23-26,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abraham challenges God to be the God of justice and to save the city for the sake of 50, 45, 30, 20, 10 just people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like Abraham, we stakeholders must use our seat at the table to hold those in authority accountable to the justice and values they champion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story of Sodom and Gomorrah does not end well, but that is for another drash. This poignant and brief passage lays out for us the responsibilities of the parties involved in any effort to advocate for justice:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those with authority and responsibility to implement just and equitable policies must ensure that stakeholders with opposing and sometimes uncomfortable positions are at the table. They must also listen for and hear the cries of those most affected.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The innocent, wronged, marginalized, must raise their voices, tell their stories, cry out.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advocates, both individuals and organizations, must be the stakeholders who hold authorities accountable to justice and other values we espouse.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this passage Abraham modeled the pursuit of justice for Moses, Isaiah, Martin Luther King Jr, and many others in advocating accountability, justice and mercy from both people and God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now it is our turn.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames, James Tissot,\u00a0 c. 1900 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102492,"alt":"","title":"-621cd6f6a5726--621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames, James Tissot.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","width":1000,"height":719,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-300x216.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":216,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-768x552.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","large-width":1000,"large-height":719,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":719,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":719,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":719,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-584x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":584,"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":"Challenging God: A Lesson In Advocacy\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Abraham modeled the call to accountability, justice and mercy from both people and God. Now it is our turn.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102492,"alt":"","title":"-621cd6f6a5726--621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames, James Tissot.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","width":1000,"height":719,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-300x216.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":216,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-768x552.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","large-width":1000,"large-height":719,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":719,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":719,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":719,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/621cd6f6a5726-621cd6f6a5728gen18-Abraham-Sees-Sodom-in-Flames-James-Tissot.jpeg-584x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":584,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"18","date":"20250923","wall_id":"18"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"}]},{"order":4,"id":"37195","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Looking Back at Lot's Wife ","post_title":"Looking Back at Lot's Wife","slug":"looking-back-at-lots-wife","old_id":"37195","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37187,"post_title":"Rebecca Newberger Goldstein","slug":"rebecca-newberger-goldstein","old_id":"37187","first_name":"Rebecca","last_name":"Newberger Goldstein","description":"Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a philosopher and a novelist. She received her PhD in philosophy from Princeton, and is the author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction.  She has received numerous awards, including both a Guggenheim and a MacArthur Fellowship. in 2015 she received the National Humanities Medal for \"bringing philosophy into conversation with culture.\"","short_description":"Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a philosopher and a novelist.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37190,"alt":"","title":"rebecca n goldstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","width":265,"height":328,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691-242x300.png","medium-width":242,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","medium_large-width":265,"medium_large-height":328,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","large-width":265,"large-height":328,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","1536x1536-width":265,"1536x1536-height":328,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","2048x2048-width":265,"2048x2048-height":328,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","post_full_size-width":265,"post_full_size-height":328,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-315x420.png","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"19","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"She was turned into salt either because God couldn\u2019t forgive her this desire . . . or because He could","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rabbi David Kimchi (a thirteenth-century exegete known by the acronym Radak) points out that in Genesis it is sulfur and fire that are said to have rained down on Sodom. But in Deuteronomy, when Moses, before dying, warns the children of Israel not to repeat the sins of the past, he speaks of sulfur and salt as having been poured onto the doomed city. In the course of explaining the discrepancy, Radak says that in fact all the people of Sodom became pillars of salt. The outcome of the physical devastation wrought upon Sodom was that the place itself became sulfur, while the people became salt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence\u2014at least if one follows Radak\u2014it seems that Lot\u2019s wife was not the spectacular aberration I had always thought. Her fate was continuous with those who had been left behind. Suddenly I felt the whole story of Lot\u2019s wife shifting.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She was told not to look and she looked, says the Bible. And her punishment came swift and horrible, added my teacher, following the traditional interpretation I, too, had thought inevitable. But I read the story differently now: <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She looked back to see if her two firstborn daughters were following, and she saw that they weren\u2019t and what had become of them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In such a moment of grief one knows only one desire: to follow after one\u2019s child, to experience what she\u2019s experienced, to be one with her in every aspect of suffering. Only to be one with her. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it was for this desire that she was turned into a pillar of salt. She was turned into salt either because God couldn\u2019t forgive her this desire . . . or because he could.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Excerpted and reprinted with permission from the essay \u201cLooking Back at Lot\u2019s Wife,\u201d in: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reading-Genesis-Beginnings-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/0567251268\/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_i=0567251268&amp;pd_rd_r=88MHCTXN3G8429HT2XDY&amp;pd_rd_w=DxhWN&amp;pd_rd_wg=ou3xK&amp;psc=1&amp;refRID=88MHCTXN3G8429HT2XDY&amp;dpID=510Tqy-DuzL&amp;preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&amp;dpSrc=detail#reader_0567251268\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reading Genesis Beginnings<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Beth Kissileff, editor, Bloomsbury, 2016, p. 113).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61050,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-grief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-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":"Looking Back at Lot's Wife","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"She was turned into salt either because God couldn\u2019t forgive her this desire . . . or because He could","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61050,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-grief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"19","date":"20250924","wall_id":"19"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"459","name":"Forgiveness","old_id":"859"}]},{"order":5,"id":"37313","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Why is Abraham Complicit in Cruelty? ","post_title":"Why is Abraham Complicit in Cruelty?","slug":"why-is-abraham-complicit-in-cruelty","old_id":"37313","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34267,"post_title":"Danya Ruttenberg","slug":"danya-ruttenberg","old_id":"34267","first_name":"Danya","last_name":"Ruttenberg ","description":"Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is the author of Nurture the Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop, Desperation, Wonder, and Radical Amazement of Parenting, a National Jewish Book Award finalist and PJ Library Parents' Choice selection, and six other books, including the Sami Rohr Prize-nominated Surprised By God. She has been named by Newsweek as one of ten \u201crabbis to watch,\u201d and the Forward one of the top 50 most influential women rabbis, and currently serves as Rabbi-in-Residence at Avodah.","short_description":"Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is the author of seven books and currently serves as Rabbi-in-Residence at Avodah","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34270,"alt":"","title":"Danya-Ruttenberg2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":667,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":667,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":667,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":667,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Danya-Ruttenberg2-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Could it be the abusive model of parenting he learned from his father?","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"Cast out that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac!\u201d (Genesis 21:10)<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hagar is an enslaved woman with no means, and her name literally means, \"stranger;\" Sarah would rather imperil the lives of a vulnerable woman and child than share the inheritance that is legitimately his. Abraham balks, but God tells him to heed her and Hagar and Ishmael are sent out into the ruthless desert. There is no justice here. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abraham is silent and obedient. \u00a0Where is the man who bravely confronted the Holy One a few short chapters earlier and demanded compassion for the vulnerable? And in Genesis 22, God commands Abraham to bind Isaac to the altar and slit his throat, and he is again ready to simply follow instructions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Met with the chance to demand mercy for the people of Sodom, Abraham is a prophet fighting for the people. Met with the chance to demand even simple justice for his own children, and he is mute, inert. Complicit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reason why, I think, goes back to Abraham\u2019s own father, Terah. The midrash tells us that the young Abraham one day smashed the idols that his father made (Genesis Rabbah 38:11). Terah, furious, took him to the politically powerful Nimrod and the two men threw him into a fiery furnace, to be burned alive\u2014he survived only through divine intervention. \u00a0This is the abusive model of parenting that Abraham learned\u2014that children are not to be protected. Justice doesn\u2019t apply to them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even when Abraham set out to the Promised Land, he couldn't extract himself from the patterns he had learned as a child. He didn\u2019t have a model of fathering that involves love, caring or compassion, and so when asked to behave without mercy to his own sons, he doesn't comprehend that things could go a different way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our obligation is to try to become as clear as possible on on the ways in which we may have been thrown in the fire, and to acknowledge that, even if we did get out\u2014we may not be as unscathed as we might think we are. Knowing where we're burned enables us to be careful as we move forward, to try to bring healing, rather than suffering, down the generational lines.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":37331,"alt":"","title":"hagar-abraham","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","width":629,"height":209,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","medium_large-width":629,"medium_large-height":209,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","large-width":629,"large-height":209,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","1536x1536-width":629,"1536x1536-height":209,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","2048x2048-width":629,"2048x2048-height":209,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","post_full_size-width":629,"post_full_size-height":209,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","home_baner-width":629,"home_baner-height":209}},"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":"Why is Abraham Complicit in Cruelty?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Could it be the abusive model of parenting he learned from his father?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37331,"alt":"","title":"hagar-abraham","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","width":629,"height":209,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham-300x100.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":100,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","medium_large-width":629,"medium_large-height":209,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","large-width":629,"large-height":209,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","1536x1536-width":629,"1536x1536-height":209,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","2048x2048-width":629,"2048x2048-height":209,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","post_full_size-width":629,"post_full_size-height":209,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-abraham.jpg","home_baner-width":629,"home_baner-height":209}},"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":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"}]},{"order":6,"id":"37325","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Is Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations? ","post_title":"Is Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations?","slug":"is-divine-election-based-on-moral-considerations","old_id":"37325","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37274,"post_title":"Tomer Persico","slug":"tomer-persico","old_id":"37274","first_name":"Tomer ","last_name":"Persico","description":"Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and teaches at the department for Comparative Religion in Tel-Aviv University. He is a social activist for freedom of religion in Israel and has published works on techniques of meditation in the Jewish tradition (past and present).\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and teaches at the department for Comparative Religion in Tel-Aviv University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37277,"alt":"","title":"tomer persico","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","width":125,"height":102,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","thumbnail-width":125,"thumbnail-height":102,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","medium-width":125,"medium-height":102,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","medium_large-width":125,"medium_large-height":102,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","large-width":125,"large-height":102,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","1536x1536-width":125,"1536x1536-height":102,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","2048x2048-width":125,"2048x2048-height":102,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","post_full_size-width":125,"post_full_size-height":102,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","home_baner-width":125,"home_baner-height":102}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Reflections on Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The reader of the stories of Hagar\u2019s expulsion (Genesis Chapter 16 and here in Chapter 21) is impressed by a repeating pattern: various family developments cause Sarah to expel Hagar in the desert. There, an angel of God finds her and rescues her from death and promises her greatness and protection. This Divine intervention is perceived by us as carrying a moral valence: the good God helps the needy Hagar and promises her a bright future, as compensation or as a consolation prize for her grief. In my opinion, however, this interpretation is incorrect.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we look at the stories of the Bible, it seems that indeed, \u00a0although the characters God chooses share certain features in common, it is not something related to a just reward or punishment. God simply chooses the lowly and weak: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Saul, David - all lowly in one form or another. However, their election did not come as compensation for something bad that had happened to them. In fact, often they are chosen even though they themselves do rather bad things (David is a prime example of this). Divine election in the Bible has no direct relationship to morality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Election that is driven by moral considerations is something we encounter later. For example, in the words of Jesus what is called the Sermon on the Mount in the Christian Bible (\"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land\" which is found in Matthew 5:3) or in midrashim of the Sages (for example, the midrash on the diminution of the moon relative to the sun, in Tractate Chullin 60b). \u00a0In those instances, there is a close connection between the conclusions that are drawn and God\u2019s will to provide some type of compensation or reward. In the words of Ethics of the Fathers (5:23), \u201caccording to the effort\/pain is the reward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What becomes evident here is a cultural shift that is expressed in the perception of God's actions: from the view that at least part of God's greatness is his ability to choose \"out of nothing\" without any reason or logic, to the view that sees a moral basis for election not only as a necessity, but as a virtue, a virtue that the Supreme Judge can appropriately boast.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And yet, at this time, these two concepts compete with one another, and even today it is happening around the relationship between Isaac and Ishmael, i.e. Jews and Arabs. On the one hand, there is the concept that claims that \"God promised us\" the entire country and the \"Arabs\" should move out of the way. \u00a0And on the other hand, there is a claim that, without meeting moral standards, the Divine election is invalid or irrelevant. Ask yourself how you perceive Divine election: Is it an order without a justification, or a call and even a moral demand?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102634,"alt":"","title":"-6223cd1dddb4e--6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass tree book 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Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Reflections on Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102634,"alt":"","title":"-6223cd1dddb4e--6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass tree book 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Akeidah (Binding of Isaac): A Secular Interpretation ","post_title":"The Akeidah (Binding of Isaac): A Secular Interpretation","slug":"the-akeidah-binding-of-isaac-a-secular-interpretation","old_id":"37540","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37441,"post_title":"A. B. Yehoshua","slug":"a-b-yehoshua","old_id":"37441","first_name":"Abraham B.","last_name":"Yehoshua","description":"Abraham B. Yehoshua is an Israeli novelist, essayist, and playwright, published as A. B. Yehoshua. The New York Times called him the \"Israeli Faulkner.\"\r\n\r\n","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37442,"alt":"","title":"abyehoshua","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"22","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Staging a drama to insure continuity - whether it makes sense or not","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The common ground of all Jewish identities are several foundational stories that have shed their obvious historical signs of time and place and have become myths. These myths have become the components of the infrastructure of both religious and secular Jewish consciousness and identity, and have effectively preserved the identity of many Jews over thousands of years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I dare to say that the myth of the Akedah (\u201cThe Binding of Isaac\u201d) is more important to Jewish consciousness than the myth of crucifixion to Christians. For although the myth of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion is a cornerstone in the religious consciousness of Christians, the myth of the Akedah is of great importance and meaning both in the religious realm and in the Jewish national realm.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The heart of the story raises serious moral problems, and here I do not have much new to add. If I were a religious person, that is, someone who believed in the existence of Divine Providence, and in the existence of a God who actually spoke to Abraham, the story of the Akedah would have been morally damaging to my religious faith. Abraham's behavior is morally egregious. The opening sentence: \"God put Abraham to the test\" (Genesis 22:1) softens the cruelty of God, for there was no intention here to carry out the inexplicable slaughter of Isaac but only a test of the power of Abraham's faith. God clearly signifies here that he can be absolutely unjust. \u00a0And without regard to Abraham's actual response, the very willingness of God to subject Abraham to such a test is a sign of a moral flaw.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abraham's moral fault is more severe than God\u2019s. Without advancing arguments, questions, or objections, Abraham is willing to fulfill a completely inscrutable and unjust divine command. And in order to prove the extent of his faith and trust in God, Abraham is prepared to abandon logic and sense of natural justice and to actually kill an innocent human being.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It seems to me that it is possible to partially salvage the morality of this story by understanding it from a purely secular perspective that asserts that there is no God, and that Abraham's actions are completely autonomous. That is, he made them based on his own calculations and out of his own free will.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At a mature age, Abraham left his father Terah\u2019s house for the sake of a new faith. Now, at the end of his life, and after he finally had a son from his wife Sarah, he could well imagine that his son might do to him what he had done to his father. How could Abraham ensure that such a thing did not happen to his son?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abraham tries to ensure the continuity of his new faith by engraving it in the chain of generations that will be born of his descendants. He thus stages a drama through which he will try to ensure the continuity of his faith in his son Isaac. \u00a0In other words, he wants to embed in Isaac the continuity of his faith in the One God not only intellectually but in an existential way. It is as if he says to Isaac: \u201cWhether or not you like this God of mine, whether this belief system makes sense to you or not, you must ensure its continuity and accept it, for all your existence and life have been given to you by virtue of it. If you do not believe in my faith, you will die out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to this secular interpretation, Abraham did not intend to kill Isaac at first, but only to threaten him and frighten him. Thus, Abraham is innocent of murderous intent or blind obedience to a \"divine\" command to commit murder. But he is not exempt from the fear of Isaac. Indeed, the concept of \"Isaac\u2019s fear\/terror\" (see Genesis 31:42) is a dominant concept born from the story of the Akedah and is found in our prayers and in our medieval religious poetry. This is the case even if he did not intend to kill but only threaten Isaac. And it, too, is morally problematic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(This essay is a summary of a longer article by the same title which can be found in Hebrew at<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.929.org.il\/page\/22\/post\/678\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">www.929.org.il\/page\/22\/post\/678<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":87308,"alt":"","title":"ps94-bind bound chain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","width":1280,"height":1121,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-300x263.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":263,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-768x673.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":673,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1024x897.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":897,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1121,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1121,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1200x1051.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1051,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-480x420.png","home_baner-width":480,"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 Akeidah (Binding of Isaac): A Secular Interpretation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Staging a drama to insure continuity - whether it makes sense or not","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":87308,"alt":"","title":"ps94-bind bound chain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","width":1280,"height":1121,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-300x263.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":263,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-768x673.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":673,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1024x897.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":897,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1121,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1121,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1200x1051.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1051,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-480x420.png","home_baner-width":480,"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":"22","chapter_main_number":"22","date":"20250929","wall_id":"22"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"}]},{"order":8,"id":"37584","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies ","post_title":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies","slug":"the-akeidah-in-art-4-studies","old_id":"37584","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37128,"post_title":"Anne Gordon","slug":"anne-gordon","old_id":"37128","first_name":"Anne","last_name":"Gordon","description":"Anne Gordon is the deputy Ops & Blogs editor at The Times of Israel, and a co-founder of Chochmat Nashim. She holds a BA in History & Philosophy and an MA in Judaic Studies from Harvard University, and after nearly a decade of beit midrash study in Israel and the US, she is a graduate of the Drisha Scholars Circle. Anne began teaching in 1991, and has taught widely since then, in the US and Israel.","short_description":"Anne Gordon is the deputy Ops & Blogs editor at The Times of Israel, and a co-founder of Chochmat Nashim.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37129,"alt":"","title":"Anne Gordon","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","width":873,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-300x247.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":247,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-768x633.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":633,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","large-width":873,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","1536x1536-width":873,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","2048x2048-width":873,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","post_full_size-width":873,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-509x420.jpg","home_baner-width":509,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"22","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Rembrandt and Caravaggio on the Ultimate Sacrifice","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, when there is so much to say, the best path is to say nothing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story of the binding of Isaac may be one such case.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The narrative is one of the most poignant in any literature, the very notion that an elderly father must raise his hand against his beloved son, one whom he had awaited for more decades than most people live, in whom lay the unactualized promise of myriad descendants, whom he loved dearly, namely, Isaac.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indeed, biblical commentators, theologians, and philosophers throughout the ages have tackled the many burning questions of this story. How could God ask Abraham to do this? How could Abraham be so willing? What did Isaac know about the enterprise -- and if he knew about it, was he as passive as the text suggests? Where was Sarah (on the assumption that she would never have let Abraham undertake this sacrifice of her son had she but known about it)? Soren Kierkegaard\u2019s poetic Fear and Trembling (pub. 1843) is a study of the Akedah. The Netziv (R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, 1816-1893) explores the multiple meanings of what it means to be \u201ctested\u201d by the Divine, and the process of refinement that surpasses the not incidental accomplishment of passing God\u2019s test. And the Midrash, particularly Bereishit Rabbah, goes out of its way to blame the Satan -- inserting him in conversation with not only Abraham, but also God, to provide some manner of explanation for what otherwise seems incomprehensible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the underlying truth is incomprehensible and pathos are unbearable, words often fail.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, the fine arts can capture what cannot be discussed -- the powerful emotions that emerge from line and color.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, Rembrandt\u2019s \u201cSacrifice of Isaac\u201d -- it hangs in St. Petersburg\u2019s Hermitage in a tucked away corner, and if you round that corner and stand before the 6-foot tall work, you may find that the poignancy of the moment he depicts hits you full force, in no small part because of Rembrandt\u2019s masterful interplay of light and dark.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-37590\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah1-Rembrandt-Hermitage-204x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"204\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And Caravaggio, whose two studies of the scene convey -- to this viewer -- the mix of Abraham\u2019s hesitation, determination, and consternation. Note also the differences in the three angels of these classical works. And Isaac\u2019s presence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-37591\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah3-Caravaggio-1-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAbraham and the Sacrifice of His Son Isaac\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><br \/>\r\n<img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-37592\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-300x231.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"231\" \/><br \/>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it is another work of Rembrandt\u2019s -- this time, a small sketch -- that best captures what may be most impossible to convey in the biblical text. Housed at Museum Bredius in the Netherlands, \u201cAbraham Taking Isaac to the Sacrificial Altar\u201d shifts the focus from Abraham\u2019s manner of heeding God\u2019s decree to the relationship between Abraham and Isaac -- on a path where all that matters passes from father to son and back again without words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><br \/>\r\n<img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-37593\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah2-Rembrandt-Netherlands-PRE-300x267.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"267\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>The artworks presented here can be found at (listed respectively):<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hermitagemuseum.org\/wps\/wcm\/connect\/e92a6b1c-9ca5-4fed-8624-4283de99af7a\/WOA_IMAGE_1.jpg?MOD=AJPERES&amp;24157b0d-d373-4a62-b52a-a76408ec1ef8\">Rembrandt's Sacrifice, Hermitage<\/a><br \/>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sacrifice_of_Isaac_(Caravaggio)#\/media\/File:Sacrifice_of_Isaac-Caravaggio_(c._1603).jpg\">Caravaggio I<\/a><br \/>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sacrifice_of_Isaac_(Caravaggio)#\/media\/File:Sacrifice_of_Isaac-Caravaggio_(Uffizi).jpg\">Caravaggio II<\/a><br \/>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/en.museumbredius.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/03\/t12-rembrandt.jpg\">Rembrandt sketch<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Rembrandt and Caravaggio on the Ultimate Sacrifice","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37592,"alt":"","title":"Akedah4-Caravaggio-2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","width":1279,"height":986,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-300x231.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":231,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-768x592.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":592,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-1024x789.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":789,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1279,"1536x1536-height":986,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1279,"2048x2048-height":986,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-1200x925.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":925,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-545x420.jpg","home_baner-width":545,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"22","chapter_main_number":"22","date":"20250929","wall_id":"22"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":9,"id":"53630","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Joshua Asks: WWMD?   ","post_title":"Joshua Asks: WWMD?","slug":"joshua-asks-wwmd","old_id":"53630","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":50595,"post_title":"Sam Blumberg","slug":"sam-blumberg","old_id":"50595","first_name":"Sam ","last_name":"Blumberg ","description":"Sam Blumberg is a Jewish educator and rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Newton, MA. A graduate of the Pardes Educators Program and former middle school Jewish Studies teacher, Sam currently serves as Student Rabbi at Temple Sinai in Brookline, MA and Rabbinic Intern at Congregation Betenu in Amherst, NH. He lives in Waltham, MA with his wife and two young children.","short_description":"Sam Blumberg is a Jewish educator and rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Newton, MA.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":50596,"alt":"","title":"sam blumberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","width":297,"height":353,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg-252x300.jpg","medium-width":252,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","medium_large-width":297,"medium_large-height":353,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","large-width":297,"large-height":353,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":297,"1536x1536-height":353,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":297,"2048x2048-height":353,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":297,"post_full_size-height":353,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/sam-blumberg.jpg","home_baner-width":297,"home_baner-height":353}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"196","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Gibeonites? An oath is an oath...","post_main_content_content":"<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYehoshua ben Perachia says: Make for yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every person favorably.\u201d (Pirkei Avot 1:6)<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here they stand before Joshua, with their tumbledown clothes, their splintered wineskins, their crumbs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis is all that\u2019s left,\u201d they say, \u201cfrom our long journey. We\u2019ve heard about you. About your God. We will work for you. All we want,\u201d they say, \u201cis peace.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joshua\u2014 skeptical, cautious\u2014 surveys the scene. \u201cWhat would Moses do?\u201d he asks himself, attempting to exhibit strength while continuing to fight off his virulent bout of \u201cImpostor\u2019s Syndrome\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOK,\u201d Joshua says, finally, with more than a trace of trepidation in his voice. \u201cWe take you at your word. We will make peace with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stunned, thrilled, the Gibeonites returned home\u2014 indeed a short journey\u2014 to tell the others, and to feast. \u201cWe are safe,\u201d said one to another. \u201cWe need not fear the fate of Jericho and Ai.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For three days the Gibeonites reveled and made merry. For three days they ate their fill, drank, indulged.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the third day, Joshua and the Israelites set out\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At first, they only heard. It started with a faint hum. Then it grew to a buzz. Then commotion. Finally, Joshua and his people arrived at the camp and saw the Gibeonites in their glee. Here they stood, the same people who only days earlier looked like they were on the brink.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Internal, infernal rage threatened to swallow Joshua, though he knew he couldn\u2019t show it. Slowly, nervously, Joshua\u2019s men turned to him: \u201cWhat next, Joshua? What are we going to do to them? They deceived us!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAn oath is an oath,\u201d said Joshua. \u201cAn oath is an oath\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53631,"alt":"","title":"josh9-wwmd","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","width":231,"height":92,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd-150x92.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":92,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":92,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":92,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":92,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":92,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":92,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","post_full_size-width":231,"post_full_size-height":92,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":92}},"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":"Joshua Asks: WWMD?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Gibeonites? An oath is an oath...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53631,"alt":"","title":"josh9-wwmd","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","width":231,"height":92,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd-150x92.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":92,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","medium-width":231,"medium-height":92,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":92,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":92,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":92,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":92,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","post_full_size-width":231,"post_full_size-height":92,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/josh9-wwmd.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":92}},"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":"9","chapter_main_number":"196","date":"20260531","wall_id":"196"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"409","name":"Peace","old_id":"809"},{"term_id":"608","name":"Promise","old_id":"1008"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"},{"term_id":"860","name":"Gibeonites","old_id":"1260"}]},{"order":10,"id":"53638","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Object Of The Gibeonite Ruse   ","post_title":"The Object Of The Gibeonite Ruse","slug":"the-object-of-the-gibeonite-ruse","old_id":"53638","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":53309,"post_title":"Michael Hattin","slug":"michael-hattin","old_id":"53309","first_name":"Michael ","last_name":"Hattin ","description":"Rabbi Michael Hattin teaches Tanakh at Pardes in Jerusalem and serves as the Director of the Beit Midrash for the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. He studied for rabbinic ordination at Yeshivat Har Etzion and holds a professional degree in architecture from the University of Toronto. Michael is the author of Passages: Text and Transformation in the Parasha (2012), and Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land (Koren, 2015). He lives in Alon Shevut with his wife Rivka and their five children.","short_description":"Rabbi Michael Hattin teaches Tanakh at Pardes in Jerusalem and serves as the Director of the Beit Midrash for the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":53310,"alt":"","title":"Michael Hattin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin.jpg","width":2237,"height":3362,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin.jpg","2048x2048-width":1363,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Michael-Hattin-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"196","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hint: It wasn\u2019t to protect themselves against the Israelites","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fearing for their lives, the Gibeonites realized that military resistance to the Israelites would be futile and attempted to preserve their cities through guile. What is more puzzling is Joshua\u2019s initial surprise at the Gibeonites\u2019 conduct. After all, if the threat of death was indeed suspended over them as ominously as they said, isn\u2019t their duplicity perfectly intelligible? <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joshua\u2019s bewilderment provides indirect support for the rabbinic tradition first mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud and adopted by many of the later authorities:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joshua sent three proclamations to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, before the people of Israel entered the land. The first stated: \u201cWhosoever wants to leave, let him do so.\u201d The second stated: \u201cWhosoever wants to conclude peace, let him do so.\u201d The third stated: \u201cWhosoever wants to wage war, let him do so. The Girgashites decided to evacuate... to Africa, the Gibeonites concluded peace, and the other thirty-one kings of Canaan waged war and were defeated\u201d (Y. Shevi\u2019it 6:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If in fact the Gibeonites had been offered the possibility of surrendering peacefully, why did they risk arousing the wrath of their vanquishers by securing their survival through deception? <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recall that the narrative of the Gibeonites is introduced by the assertion that all of the Canaanite kings had decided to battle Israel as one (Josh. 9:1-2). Recall, also, that the verses in chapter 11 pointedly indicate that only the Gibeonites, of all of the land's inhabitants, sued for peace. Finally, note that in the aftermath of the Gibeonite treaty struck with Israel, the southern kings launched a punitive assault against the towns of Gibeon (10:1-5), which was ultimately repelled by an unexpected Israelite counterattack. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The implication of these citations is clear: The greatest impediment to the adoption by the Gibeonites of more honest methods was the unified Canaanite front that opposed any compromise with the Israelites. The town of Gibeon was forced to adopt subterfuge in order to avoid arousing the ire of the other Canaanite kings who would have opposed such an overture of peace. The Gibeonites thus sent their emissaries secretly and in disguise. Once they were in possession of the precious Israelite pledge of support, they discarded the pretense. The Canaanite attack was indeed forthcoming, but so was the Israelite defense. Had the Gibeonites sued for peace openly, they would have been attacked and overwhelmed by their countrymen long before Joshua and the Israelites might have come to their aid. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">from: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joshua: The Challenge of the Promised Land <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Jerusalem: Koren, 2015); chapter: \u201cThe Duplicity of the Gibeonites\u201d <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53639,"alt":"","title":"jo9-giv'on 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Object of the Gibeonite Ruse","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Hint: It wasn\u2019t to protect themselves against the Israelites","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53639,"alt":"","title":"jo9-giv'on 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Truth Commitment   ","post_title":"Honor, Truth Commitment","slug":"honor-truth-commitment","old_id":"53709","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":"197","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We are called to be the nation that is true to its word, however inconvenient","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of Joshua 9, we left the clan of the Gibeonites in a state of servitude to the people of Israel. Rather than face near certain extinction (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cherem<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), the Gibeonites pretended to wander from far away and placed themselves under the sworn protection of the Israelites. Apparently, having sworn by God\u2019s name, the Israelites felt bound by the oaths, even though derived under false pretenses. As for the Gibeonites, now condemned to perform menial tasks (wood cutting and water drawing) on behalf of the Israelites and eventually in the service of the Temple in Jerusalem, they still must have felt tremendous relief. Their deception had worked; they were allowed to live. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And now that strategy is put to the test. Kings of five southern city-states mobilized to wage war against the newcomers, but selected the weaker members of this emerging alliance. They determined to attack Gibeon. In the invitation of the King of Jerusalem to his fellow monarchs: \u201cCome up and help me defeat Gibeon; for it has come to terms with Joshua and the Israelites (10:4).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facing this assault from the Amorite kings, the Gibeonites sent a frantic message to Joshua at Gilgal: Do not fail your servants, come up quickly and aid us and deliver us (10:6).\u201d Remarkably, Joshua and the Israelites, under instruction from God, honor their plea, and rush to defend their new allies from this attack.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why did they do that? Couldn\u2019t they have let the Amorites wipe out the Gibeonites and taken care of the whole issue for them? After all, the Gibeonites had deceived their way into this alliance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But they did not stand by. Recognizing that the fledgling nation Israel would only be able to live up to its mission if it were known as the people whose word is their bond, the Israelites realize that they must fulfill their promises, honor their oaths. Otherwise, Israel would just be one more power drunk nation, seeking its own gain as a worthy ultimate goal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Joshua\u2019s Israel isn\u2019t meant to be just another mendacious country. Its justification, and ours, is to live up to a higher standard. We are called to be the nation that is true to its word, however inconvenient. By demonstrating the strongest possible integrity, we hold out the promise that humanity can surpass its own limits, that we can show humanity how to fashion a world of honor, truth, and commitment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53710,"alt":"","title":"jo10-handshake","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake.jpg","width":1280,"height":930,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-300x218.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-768x558.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":558,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-1024x744.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":744,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":930,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":930,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-1200x872.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":872,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-578x420.jpg","home_baner-width":578,"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":"Honor, Truth Commitment","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We are called to be the nation that is true to its word, however inconvenient","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53710,"alt":"","title":"jo10-handshake","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake.jpg","width":1280,"height":930,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-300x218.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-768x558.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":558,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-1024x744.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":744,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":930,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":930,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-1200x872.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":872,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo10-handshake-578x420.jpg","home_baner-width":578,"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":"10","chapter_main_number":"197","date":"20260601","wall_id":"197"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"463","name":"Truth","old_id":"863"},{"term_id":"528","name":"Honesty","old_id":"928"}]},{"order":12,"id":"109033","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Martial Miracles   ","post_title":"Martial Miracles","slug":"martial-miracles","old_id":"109033","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":"197","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Or: did Joshua invent daylight savings time?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frustrated in their attempt to defeat the Israelites, five kings in Canaan decide to take out their frustrations on the Gibeonites for making peace with the Israelites. Reminiscent of the battle of the five kings and four kings at the time of Abraham, this battle drags the Israelites into a local Canaanite dispute. Joshua brings reinforcements to attack the five kings and defeats them with the help of two miracles. The first is a hailstorm- reminiscent of the plague of hail. The second is actually the opposite of a plague in Egypt. This time, instead of God enveloping the land with darkness, Joshua requests that the sun stay in the sky longer to aid in the battle. Why is the sun staying in the sky so important? If God matches the hail plague a darkness plague would have been perfect to give the Israelites cover to attack.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The answer to this question may be at the end of the chapter. The five kings flee the battle scene and all hide in a cave. Joshua finds out and orders the cave shut until the battle is complete. Once the five city-states are routed, Joshua opens the cave and brings out the defeated rulers. The kings hide in the cave because they feel they can slip away into the darkness. At the beginning of the chapter they thought they could avoid the Israelites by attacking an ally, trying to secretly avoid the Israelites. The message of the sun is that there is nowhere to hide. Try to defeat us by attacking our friends instead? We will find you. Try to flee to the darkness of a cave? We will find you. Try to flee the battlefield? We will find you. Joshua records this message in an epic poem:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On that occasion, when the LORD routed the Amorites before the Israelites, Joshua addressed the LORD; he said in the presence of the Israelites:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cStand still, O sun, at Gibeon,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O moon, in the Valley of Aijalon!\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the sun stood still<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And the moon halted,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While a nation wreaked judgment on its foes<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014as is written in the Book of Jashar. Thus the sun halted in midheaven, and did not press on to set, for a whole day (verses 12-13).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is the Book of Jashar? Rashi explains that this is the book of Genesis. Verse 13 does not mean that Joshua recorded this in a new book. Instead, it is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jacob. Jacob blesses Joseph that \u201cThe fame of his descendants will fill the nations.\u201d That incident happens when Joseph\u2019s descendant Joshua halts the sun. Ralbag gives the straightforward answer that it was a book of epic poems that was lost in the expulsion. This is most likely a book related to the book of the wars of God mentioned in the Torah.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":83851,"alt":"","title":"ps50-sun","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun.png","width":1920,"height":1396,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-300x218.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-768x558.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":558,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-1024x745.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":745,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1117,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1396,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-1200x873.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":873,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-578x420.png","home_baner-width":578,"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":"Martial Miracles","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Or: did Joshua invent daylight savings time?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":83851,"alt":"","title":"ps50-sun","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun.png","width":1920,"height":1396,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-300x218.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":218,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-768x558.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":558,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-1024x745.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":745,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1117,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1396,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-1200x873.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":873,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/ps50-sun-578x420.png","home_baner-width":578,"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":"10","chapter_main_number":"197","date":"20260601","wall_id":"197"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"471","name":"Miracle","old_id":"871"},{"term_id":"806","name":"Joshua","old_id":"1206"}]},{"order":13,"id":"53736","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"More Hardening Of Hearts  ","post_title":"More Hardening Of Hearts","slug":"more-hardening-of-hearts","old_id":"53736","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34237,"post_title":"Marcelle Hohl","slug":"marcelle-hohl","old_id":"34237","first_name":"Marcelle ","last_name":"Hohl","description":"Marcelle Hohl is a second year Rabbinical student at JTS in New York, where she has also completed an MA in Jewish Studies with a concentration in Bible. Originally from S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, she has studied at Pardes, the Conservative Yeshiva, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. She is fluent in English, Hebrew, Portuguese, German, Spanish, and French.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Marcelle Hohl is a second year Rabbinical student at JTS in New York","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34238,"alt":"","title":"Marcelle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","width":833,"height":849,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-294x300.jpg","medium-width":294,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-768x783.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":783,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","large-width":833,"large-height":849,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","1536x1536-width":833,"1536x1536-height":849,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","2048x2048-width":833,"2048x2048-height":849,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle.jpg","post_full_size-width":833,"post_full_size-height":849,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marcelle-412x420.jpg","home_baner-width":412,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"198","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Destroying the engines of war","post_main_content_content":"<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"For it was the LORD\u2019s doing to stiffen their hearts to give battle to Israel, in order that they might be proscribed without quarter and wiped out, as the LORD had commanded Moses\" (Joshua 11:20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our chapter, God hardens the hearts of the Canaanite kings, so that they will wage war against the Israelites, and be utterly destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What does it mean, \u201cto harden one\u2019s heart\u201d? In the Torah, this \u201cheart hardening\u201d seems to be God\u2019s standard procedure to get tyrants overthrown. It teaches us that oppression and corruption ultimately do not pay, and lead up to defeat and destruction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We remember that, long before hardening the hearts of the Canaanite rulers, God hardens the heart of Pharaoh, so that the plagues can take place, and the Israelites can leave Egypt. Pharaoh irreducibly made himself prisoner of a reality from which he could not escape; his worldview became petrified, and he himself became a slave to his addiction to power, which led to his defeat.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the time of their conquest by Joshua and the Israelites, the Canaanites had been ruled by kings whose conduct were as despicable as Pharaoh\u2019s. However, their whole situation had aggravating circumstances in relation to Egypt\u2019s. Pharaoh was a recent despot, and his people suffered the consequences of his lack of repentance; but they did not deserve to be wiped out of the face of the earth. The Canaanites, through their exposure to the evil ways of their rulers over generations, had gradually become more and more corrupt, hence irredeemable. The hardness of their hearts was too ingrained to be reversed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God hardens the hearts of tyrants by exposing them to an evil inclination, to which they become enslaved. However, there are always ways out of defilement. When the Hebrews in Egypt reach their lowest level of degradation, this is when they cry out to God for help. The corruption of Egypt had certainly contaminated them; yet, from the depths of their abasement, they find their voice to call out for physical redemption \u2013 and their spiritual redemption ensues as a consequence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The hardness of a tyrant\u2019s heart is contagious. If it is not checked, it will spread out to the hearts of its subjects and model their behavior, thus creating systemic evil, which will be only eradicated by utter destruction.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53737,"alt":"","title":"jo11-hard-heart","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","width":330,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","medium_large-width":330,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","large-width":330,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","1536x1536-width":330,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","2048x2048-width":330,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","post_full_size-width":330,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","home_baner-width":330,"home_baner-height":190}},"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":"More Hardening Of Hearts","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Addiction to power is the downfall of tyranny","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53737,"alt":"","title":"jo11-hard-heart","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","width":330,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart-300x173.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","medium_large-width":330,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","large-width":330,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","1536x1536-width":330,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","2048x2048-width":330,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","post_full_size-width":330,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo11-hard-heart.png","home_baner-width":330,"home_baner-height":190}},"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":"11","chapter_main_number":"198","date":"20260602","wall_id":"198"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"460","name":"Evil","old_id":"860"},{"term_id":"619","name":"Free Will","old_id":"1019"}]},{"order":14,"id":"53827","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"What\u2019s In A Name?  ","post_title":"What\u2019s In A Name?","slug":"whats-in-a-name-3","old_id":"53827","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":"199","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Onomastics, toponyms, and other insights into ancient geography","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From here through chapter 19, the Book of Joshua contains a vast assortment of place names. This presents an opportunity to introduce the subject of \u201conomastics,\u201d as the study of proper nouns is called. In each such chapter, we will select one place name and elaborate on it. To assist us, we shall consult one of the published works of Yoel Elitzur, an Israeli Bible scholar, who specializes in this area.*<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This chapter contains the names of thirty-one places whose kings were defeated by Joshua and which were going to be distributed among the Israelites as their ancestral inheritance. However, before listing their names, the book takes a retrospective glance at a slightly earlier era, recalling the Israelite victory over Sihon, King of Cheshbon (v. 2). Let us see how the name and location of Cheshbon were preserved.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First of all, we need to take note of the fact that a book called <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Onomasticon<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was written in the early 4<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century CE by Eusebius, a Christian Bible scholar, who had the advantage of living in the Land of Israel (Caesarea). Calling it by the Greek name <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Essebon<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (classical authors had trouble pronouncing guttural consonants like <em>c<\/em><\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">het<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), he located the city in the mountains about 20 miles east of Jericho. Moving to the mid-7<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century, we should also acknowledge the contribution of the conquering Muslims, who kept most of the biblical place names, albeit giving them an Arabic flavor. Cheshbon became <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chisban<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and is situated about 20 kilometers southwest of Amman. It is called by that very name by Eshtor HaParchi, the first Jewish traveler (14<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century) to record biblical onomastics in his book <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kaftor VaFerach<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It remains anyone\u2019s guess (do you have one?) whether the name is connected to the idea of thinking or reckoning, both of which, in Hebrew, use the root <em>ch-sh-b<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*For this chapter: <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ancient Toponyms in the Land of Israel, Preservation and History<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (HEBREW; Jerusalem, 2012), 288-294.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lea, Philip Date: 1692 Location: Holy Land, Israel, Palestine \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53819,"alt":"","title":"jo12-canaan","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","width":735,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan-300x244.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":244,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","medium_large-width":735,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","large-width":735,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","1536x1536-width":735,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","2048x2048-width":735,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","post_full_size-width":735,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan-515x420.jpg","home_baner-width":515,"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":"What\u2019s In A Name?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Onomastics, toponyms, and other insights into ancient geography","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53819,"alt":"","title":"jo12-canaan","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","width":735,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan-300x244.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":244,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","medium_large-width":735,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","large-width":735,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","1536x1536-width":735,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","2048x2048-width":735,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan.jpg","post_full_size-width":735,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo12-canaan-515x420.jpg","home_baner-width":515,"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":"12","chapter_main_number":"199","date":"20260603","wall_id":"199"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew 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","post_title":"The Rumors of Canaan's Demise...","slug":"the-rumors-of-canaans-demise","old_id":"53849","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta,  the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees,  and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta,  the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"200","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We learn that the conquest was never complete. And perhaps for good reason","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A moment before you begin reading chapter 13, you can't help but wonder what's left to talk about. Chapter 11 finished with Joshua taking \"all of the land, in accordance with all God spoke to Moses\" and giving it as an inheritance to the tribes, after which \" the land fell quiet from wars.\" As a finishing flourish, chapter 12 adds a victory song listing all of the vanquished kings. The inheritance of the land has gone off without a hitch, following all of God's instructions perfectly. It all seems a little too good to be true. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And it is.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After reading the first verse of chapter 13, you realize that the rumors of Canaan's demise have, apparently, been greatly exaggerated. Large swaths of land remain which have been unconquered. What is more, even within conquered areas, not all cities were inherited by the people through active settlement.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nor was this a new problem. Even in the conquest of the lands of Sihon and Og, some of the native peoples were left to live amongst the Jews. Despite all the commandments, all the prohibitions, and all of the warnings of the detrimental influence and dangerous liability the continued existence of a native population would pose, and despite the plain meaning of many verses which seemed to say otherwise, the real fell short of the absolute Divine ideal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps this was out of laziness, or a lack of absolute commitment to God. We do witness, in our day and age, religious societies that sanctify death, and educate for the divine approval of genocide. But if I believe that, on the whole, the Torah teaches a way of life whose \"paths are paths of pleasantness, and all whose ways are peace,\" I can readily understand that good Jews make bad killers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Certainly, this \u201cfailure\u201d has a price. The warnings God gave about the ways that the native peoples will lead us astray religiously and threaten us militarily are all realized, again and again. But that doesn't mean we're the type of people that could follow through with genocide. Or even that we should be. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extermination of Canaanites by Henry F. Philippoteaux. John Clark Ridpath, Universal history 1897 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":53850,"alt":"","title":"jo13-canaanites","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites.jpg","width":2912,"height":2306,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-300x238.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":238,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-768x608.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":608,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-1024x811.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":811,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1216,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1622,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-1200x950.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":950,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-530x420.jpg","home_baner-width":530,"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 Rumors of Canaan's Demise...","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We learn that the conquest was never complete. And perhaps for good reason","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":53850,"alt":"","title":"jo13-canaanites","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites.jpg","width":2912,"height":2306,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-300x238.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":238,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-768x608.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":608,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-1024x811.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":811,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1216,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1622,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-1200x950.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":950,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/jo13-canaanites-530x420.jpg","home_baner-width":530,"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":"13","chapter_main_number":"200","date":"20260604","wall_id":"200"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"430","name":"Land of Israel","old_id":"830"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"862","name":"Genocide","old_id":"1262"}]},{"order":16,"id":"53840","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Joshua\u2019s Last War  ","post_title":"Joshua\u2019s Last War","slug":"joshuas-last-war","old_id":"53840","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":"200","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And its commemoration to this day","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the beginning of our chapter we are told: \u201cJoshua was now old, advanced in years\u2026\u201d (13:1). The rest of his days seem to have been devoted to allotting portions of the Promised Land to the various Israelite tribes (chapters 13-22). Joshua dies, \u201ca very old man\u201d (23:2) at the age of 110 (24:29). In comparison, Moses was \u201c120 years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated\u201d (Deuteronomy 24:7). Despite Joshua\u2019s advanced age, after having defeated 31 kings (12:24), according to the medieval Samaritan Chronicle (see Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, \u201cWar with the Armenians\u201d), Joshua waged one last war.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">King Shobach (compare 2 Samuel 10:16 and I Chronicles 19:16) is said to have united 45 kings of Persia and Media, who were joined, quite surprisingly, by Japheth, one of the sons of Noah! These kings send a letter to Joshua, addressing him as \u201cYou, Wolf of the Desert\u201d. They inform him that in 30 days they will attack, each king with 60,000 warriors. <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joshua replies in equally bellicose terms: \u201cIn the Name of the Lord, the God of Israel, who saps the strength of the iniquitous warrior ... He breaks up the assemblies of marauding transgressors, and He gathers together in council the pious and the just scattered abroad \u2026 God is the Lord of war! From me, Joshua, the servant of God, and from the holy and chosen congregation to the impious nations \u2026 No peace unto you, saith my God! Know that ye acted foolishly to awaken the slumbering lion, to rouse up the lion's whelp, to excite his wrath ... Be ye prepared to meet me, for within a week I shall be with you to slay your warriors to a man \u2026\" <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite the enemy\u2019s use of witchcraft, which is initially successful, ultimately Joshua is victorious with an Israelite army of just 12,000 troops. Joshua is assisted by the priest Phinehas, who arrives just in the nick of time, trumpets blaring. Despite the obviously anachronistic and decidedly imaginative nature of this Samaritan tradition, it is reflected in medieval Jewish sources about Joshua (see Legends cited above).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we approach the Pesach holiday, it may be recalled that the first Passover in the Promised Land was celebrated by Joshua immediately after leading the Israelites\u2019 crossing of the Jordan and before beginning the Conquest of Canaan (5:10-12). Significantly, the Samaritans [Shomronim], who preserved the tradition of Joshua\u2019s Last War, have continued to celebrate their Passover by sacrificing the Paschal lamb, as in Biblical and Second Temple times, but at their sanctuary at Mount Gerizim, near Shechem (Nablus). 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