{"id":55193,"date":"2018-07-09T17:42:44","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-220\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T10:45:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T08:45:48","slug":"wall-220","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-220\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Judges-9"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"220","date":"20260702","book":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"54887","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Judges Chapter 9 - Read by Jonathan Roumie ","post_title":"Judges Chapter 9 - Read by Jonathan Roumie","slug":"judges-chapter-9-read-by-jonathan-roumie","old_id":"54887","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","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":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Judges 9","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"read by Jonathan Roumie","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_Judges_Chapter_9_read_by_Jonathan_Roumie","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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"109727","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Was Abimelech A Judge? ","post_title":"Was Abimelech A Judge?","slug":"was-abimelech-a-judge","old_id":"109727","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":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He wasn\u2019t really very\u2026 judicious\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

One of seventy sons, Abimelech killed his brothers and then was appointed leader of the people of Shechem and a band of hooligans. But is Abimelech a Judge? He does not conquer an enemy of the Israelites. Although the people of Shechem appoint him as a ruler over them, it does not seem like he even ruled over the city. The word used to describe his \u201creign\u201d is \u201c<\/span>vayasar<\/span><\/i>\u201d (verse 22). Rashi interprets this as \u201che ruled as a prince.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But Ralbag is not as convinced. He says the text does not use the word \u201cJudge\u201d for a reason. <\/span>Vayasar <\/span><\/i>implies that Abimelech held sway on his own accord and definitely did not rule over all of Israel. The word does not appear anywhere else in the book of Judges. The text is also ambiguous as to whether it was the Israelite inhabitants of Shechem that appointed him as their leader or if it was the Canaanite inhabitants. The people are referred to as \u201cba\u2019alei Shechem.\u201d This may have a double meaning. They were both the inhabitants of Shechem, but also the Baal worshipers of Shechem. Beside verse 22, the word Israel appears only at the very end, after Abimelech is crushed by the millstone. \u201cWhen the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone went home\u201d (verse 55). This cryptic verse could mean that the people discussed in the chapter were Israelites, or it could mean that the people of Israel were finally rid of this mafia boss and could return to their homes safely.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If Abimelech was not a true judge, then why include his story? One possibility is to highlight the lawlessness of the time. Focusing on Abimelech and his band of outlaws gives some of the flavor of what it was like to live in Israel at the time of the Judges. Roving gangs could hold sway over groups of cities, and the people had no recourse. Another is to show again that Yerubaal (Gideon) was correct that kings are bad news because the children of a ruler can be tainted. Yerubaal was a courageous ruler who helped lead the Israelites out from under Midianite control. He persuaded the people to leave Baal and destroyed houses of worship. His son did the opposite. He led a gang of thugs to terrorize the countryside. He partnered with the local inhabitants of Shechem, profited from the idol centers, and killed Yerubaal\u2019s entire family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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She is the author of 12 books. Her forthcoming book is The Book of Esther: Power, Fate and Fragility in Exile (Maggid\/OU).","short_description":"Dr. Erica Brown is Director of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership at The George Washington University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39526,"alt":"","title":"erica brown","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","width":154,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","medium-width":154,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","medium_large-width":154,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","large-width":154,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","1536x1536-width":154,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","2048x2048-width":154,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","post_full_size-width":154,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/erica-brown-e1536180373903.jpg","home_baner-width":154,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Bad leaders fills the vacuum when good leaders don\u2019t step up","post_main_content_content":"

In a striking and curious parable about leadership in Judges 9, a nominating committee of trees seeks a ruler. They go to three fine species: the olive, the fig and the vine. Each rejects leadership.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Once the trees went to anoint a king over themselves. They said to the olive tree, \u201cReign over us.\u2019 But the olive tree replied, \u2018Have I, through whom God and men are honored, stopped yielding my rich oil, that I should go and wave about the trees? So the trees said to the fig tree, \u2018You come and reign over us.\u2019 But the fig tree replied...So the trees said to the vine, \u201cYou come and reign over us.\u201d But the vine replied...Then all the trees said to the thornbush, \u201cYou come and reign over us.\u201d And the thornbush said to the trees, \u201cIf you are acting honorably in anointing me king over you, come and take shelter in my shade, but if not, may fire issue from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!\u201d (Judges 9:8-15)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It's clear that each tree believes it nobility and distinction lies in what it produces \u2013 a product of honor, sweetness or happiness, and that leadership is just \u201cto wave above the trees.\u201d To sway is to flip-flop, to go with the wind, to not take a position, to not move forward.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The nominating committee is ineffectual because they don\u2019t persuade individual candidates. They simply move to the next candidate. They eventually turn to a bramble that has no shade (but promises that it does!), no roots and no fruit. The bramble agrees on one condition. It must be appointed honorably and not just as a last ditch-effort to put someone in place. Otherwise, the bramble will do what brambles are good at: setting other trees on fire. Bad leadership destroys.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nogah Hareuveni in <\/span>Tree and Shrub in Our Biblical Heritage<\/span><\/em> makes the case that this bramble, the <\/span>atad<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> is not a rolling tumbleweed but a tree called the <\/span>Ziziphus Spinachristi<\/span><\/em>, brought to Israel by way of Africa. Although the tree offers much shade and height, it is known to be harmful to fruit trees because it chokes them from the roots. Leaders may look good, but they can destroy ecosystems beneath the surface.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The message of the parable couldn\u2019t be clearer. Bad leaders fills the vacuum when good leaders don\u2019t step up. Often we\u2019d rather have bad leaders than no leaders so that we have someone else to blame for our troubles and someone else to make our communal decisions. Giving up that autonomy, the parable teaches, has a steep price because when leadership gets really bad, good leaders are afraid to step in and take responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

[For a full treatment of this parable, see Erica Brown \u2018Where have All the Leaders Gone?\u201d in <\/span>Rav Shalom Banayikh<\/em> <\/span>(Ktav, 2012)]<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55561,"alt":"","title":"jud9-seussian tree","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","width":609,"height":759,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","medium_large-width":609,"medium_large-height":759,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","large-width":609,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","1536x1536-width":609,"1536x1536-height":759,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","2048x2048-width":609,"2048x2048-height":759,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","post_full_size-width":609,"post_full_size-height":759,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"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":"Dr. Seuss\u2019s Torah On Leadership","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Bad leaders fills the vacuum when good leaders don\u2019t step up","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55561,"alt":"","title":"jud9-seussian tree","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","width":609,"height":759,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","medium_large-width":609,"medium_large-height":759,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","large-width":609,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","1536x1536-width":609,"1536x1536-height":759,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","2048x2048-width":609,"2048x2048-height":759,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree.jpg","post_full_size-width":609,"post_full_size-height":759,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-seussian-tree-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"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":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"704","name":"Parable","old_id":"1104"}]},{"order":4,"id":"55596","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Parables \u2013 Biblical And Rabbinic ","post_title":"Parables \u2013 Biblical And Rabbinic","slug":"parables-biblical-and-rabbinic","old_id":"55596","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":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From Yotam to Yohanan Ben Zakkai - the pedagogy of the \u201cmashal\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter tells how Abimelech seizes power in Shechem by killing off his rival brothers, except for Yotam, who escapes to Mount Gerizim from where he shouts down to the people below the following suggestive story. The trees once went out to anoint a king to rule over them. After having approached first the olive tree and then the fig tree, they said to the vine, \u201cCome and reign over us\u201d. The vine replied: \u2018Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?\u201d So finally, the trees said to the bramble: \u201cReign over us.\u201d And it was only the lowly, thorny bramble that agreed to be king of the trees (Judges 9:9-15). The \u201cmoral\u201d (nimshal<\/em>) of Yotam\u2019s parable (mashal<\/em>) is that those willing to accept authority and to even violently pursue power, like Abimelech, tend to impose corrupt rule, leading eventually to their own destruction and the suffering of those who accept their domination (verses 16-56).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the first of several biblical parables. These include the story of the poor man who raised a single lamb that a wealthy neighbor took to set before a guest (2 Samuel 12:1-4), which illustrates the sin David committed with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife and the story of the farmer whose work succeeds in proper order (Isaiah 28:24-29), as God carries out his wonderful plan with magnificent wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Significantly, \u201cMashal<\/em>\u201d becomes one of the \u201cThirty-Two Rules by which the Torah may be Interpreted\u201d, which is exemplified by Yotam\u2019s parable (see Midrash Sheloshim u-Shetayim Middot<\/em>, Chapter 2). Indeed, parables comprise a significant genre of rabbinic pedagogy. Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai is said to have studied parables and fables together with Mi\u1e33ra, Mishnah, Halakah and Aggadah (Talmud Bavli Bava Batra 134a). And Rabbi Meir\u2019s lectures were composed of one third Halakhah, one third Aggadah and one third parables. But of his three hundred \u201cfox fables\u201d, only three were preserved by others (Sanhedrin 38b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One Talmudic parable (Sanhedrin 91a-b) tells of a king who -- like a modern-day detective -- re-enacts how a lame man and a blind man cooperate to reach the high-hanging fruit in the royal garden. The perceptive king places the lame man on the shoulders of the blind man, thus judging them as one. This parable illustrates how, in the Day of Judgement, God will reunite the body and the soul, separated at death, which together are held responsible for human sin.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A rabbinic tradition (Song of Songs Rabbah 1:1) underscores -- by means of another parable -- the exegetical seriousness of such midrashic metaphor (mashal<\/em>), which may sometimes seem unnecessarily imaginative. There is a parable about a king who lost a gold coin in his palace. Does he not find it by the light of a candle bought for only an Issar (a small bronze coin)?! Similarly, this parable should not be of little value in your eyes. For by means of parables one may \u201cstand on\u201d (i.e. understands) words of Torah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: <\/span>The 46th emblem from Johann Theodor de Bry's <\/span>Emblemata saecularia<\/span><\/em> (1596), the Blind Man and the Lame \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55597,"alt":"","title":"jud9-parable","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","width":651,"height":851,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable-229x300.jpg","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","medium_large-width":651,"medium_large-height":851,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","large-width":651,"large-height":851,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","1536x1536-width":651,"1536x1536-height":851,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","2048x2048-width":651,"2048x2048-height":851,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","post_full_size-width":651,"post_full_size-height":851,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable-321x420.jpg","home_baner-width":321,"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":"Parables \u2013 Biblical And Rabbinic","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From Yotam to Yohanan Ben Zakkai - the pedagogy of the \u201cmashal\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55597,"alt":"","title":"jud9-parable","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","width":651,"height":851,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable-229x300.jpg","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","medium_large-width":651,"medium_large-height":851,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","large-width":651,"large-height":851,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","1536x1536-width":651,"1536x1536-height":851,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","2048x2048-width":651,"2048x2048-height":851,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable.jpg","post_full_size-width":651,"post_full_size-height":851,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-parable-321x420.jpg","home_baner-width":321,"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":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"704","name":"Parable","old_id":"1104"}]},{"order":5,"id":"55563","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Yotam\u2019s Parable is a Cartoon, Not an Op-Ed ","post_title":"Yotam\u2019s Parable is a Cartoon, Not an Op-Ed","slug":"yotams-parable-is-a-cartoon-not-an-op-ed","old_id":"55563","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":52019,"post_title":"Chesky Kopel","slug":"chesky-kopel","old_id":"52019","first_name":"Chesky ","last_name":"Kopel ","description":"Chesky Kopel is antitrust lawyer, husband, and father living in Philadelphia.","short_description":"Chesky Kopel is antitrust lawyer, husband, and father living in Philadelphia.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":52046,"alt":"","title":"chesky kopel.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","width":191,"height":220,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","medium-width":191,"medium-height":220,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","medium_large-width":191,"medium_large-height":220,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","large-width":191,"large-height":220,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","1536x1536-width":191,"1536x1536-height":220,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","2048x2048-width":191,"2048x2048-height":220,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","post_full_size-width":191,"post_full_size-height":220,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/chesky-kopel.jpg.png","home_baner-width":191,"home_baner-height":220}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Yotam\u2019s parable is routinely invoked to compare almost any politician, of any ideology, to a worthless bramble, with the same lack of success","post_main_content_content":"

The upshot of Yotam\u2019s parable to the people of Shekhem appears to be this: All the good, sincere, talented people have declined to enter the realm of politics and to lead the people of Israel to a brighter future. Instead, we are left with the lowly bramble Avimelekh, a man with nothing to offer but his own conviction that he must have power, and his word that any alternative to his own leadership puts the people at grave risk.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The assembled listeners, in thrall to Avimelekh, apparently don\u2019t follow Yotam\u2019s allegory. We know this from the way that Yotam must proceed to explain the allegory to them, identifying Avimelekh as the bramble. They still don\u2019t buy it. Yotam flees and is never (biblically) heard from again, while Avimelekh reigns as king for three years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yotam\u2019s parable was not well-designed to convert his opponents. Rather than give some sense of why Avimelekh is especially dangerous or of what alternatives the people have, Yotam simply sketches a caricature of his brother as the most worthless tree. This argumentative style is recognizable to us today as a cartoon or meme, shared among those who already agree, rather than as an op-ed that attempts to persuade. Accordingly, the people of Shekhem were not moved, and Yotam spoiled his opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The malleability of this cartoonish message is on full display in contemporary Israeli politics, as Yotam\u2019s parable is routinely invoked to compare almost any politician, of any ideology, to the bramble Avimelekh.<\/span> At least<\/span><\/a> two<\/span><\/a> Haaretz<\/span><\/i> authors have used it against the Netanyahu administration,<\/span> another<\/span><\/a> used it against the Labor Party leadership in 2009, and<\/span> another<\/span><\/a> used it against the Labor leadership in 2019. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In 2006, peace activist Uri Avnery used the parable to<\/span> express his skepticism<\/span><\/a> about the incoming prime minister Ehud Olmert. And in 2005, in a passionate Knesset floor colloquy involving members of multiple parties, Rabbi Yitzchak Cohen of the Shas Party (most recently the Deputy Minister of Finance)<\/span> read Yotam\u2019s parable aloud and accused<\/span><\/a> the Ariel Sharon administration (then of the Kadima Party) of \u201ctaking shelter in the shade of the bramble.\u201d Presumably, no one\u2019s opponents were convinced.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After all, it didn\u2019t work the first time, either. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55565,"alt":"","title":"jud9-news","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news.png","width":1280,"height":1102,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-300x258.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":258,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-768x661.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":661,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-1024x882.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":882,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1102,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1102,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-1200x1033.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1033,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-488x420.png","home_baner-width":488,"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":"Yotam\u2019s Parable is a Cartoon, Not an Op-Ed","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Yotam\u2019s parable is routinely invoked to compare almost any politician, of any ideology, to a worthless bramble, with the same lack of success","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55565,"alt":"","title":"jud9-news","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news.png","width":1280,"height":1102,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-300x258.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":258,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-768x661.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":661,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-1024x882.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":882,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1102,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1102,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-1200x1033.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1033,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-news-488x420.png","home_baner-width":488,"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":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"704","name":"Parable","old_id":"1104"}]},{"order":6,"id":"55564","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Bible On Site: Jotam's Curse - 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Acrimony, Discord and Comeuppance","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with AnaRina Heymann and Shawn Zelig Aster","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/vmMFVasj6DA","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":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":7,"id":"55606","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Joseph, Jacob, And Abimelech: Intertextual Connections ","post_title":"Joseph, Jacob, And Abimelech: Intertextual Connections","slug":"joseph-jacob-and-abimelech-intertextual-connections","old_id":"55606","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34245,"post_title":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger","slug":"rachel-sharansky-danziger","old_id":"34245","first_name":"Rachel Sharansky","last_name":"Danziger","description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born writer and speaker who blogs about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. She currently lives in Boston, where she teaches about storytelling in the bible and the subversive depths of Hebrew words.\r\n","short_description":"Rachel Sharansky Danziger is a Jerusalem-born Boston-based writer and speaker about Judaism, parenting, and life in Israel. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34246,"alt":"","title":"RSDanziger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","width":1171,"height":1769,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":678,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-678x1024.jpg","large-width":678,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","1536x1536-width":1017,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger.jpg","2048x2048-width":1171,"2048x2048-height":1769,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-794x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":794,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/RSDanziger-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He comes to quite a different end","post_main_content_content":"

From the moment Abimelech \u201cwent to Shechem unto his mother's brethren,\u201d his actions kept alluding to stories from the past.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like Joseph before him, Abimelech traveled to Shechem with his father\u2019s other sons in mind. But while Joseph went to see if his brothers were well, Abimelech set out to bring about his brothers\u2019 death. In both cases, the question of dominion (expressed through the Hebrew root m.sh.l) was at the heart of the situation: Joseph\u2019s brothers thought that he wished to have dominion over them, and Abimelech wanted to kill his brothers so that he alone could have dominion over others. But while both journeys led to violent confrontations, Jacob\u2019s sons didn\u2019t kill each other, and were reunited and reconciled to each other in the end.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But Joseph and his brothers are not the only ghosts haunting this story. Abimelech, after all, didn\u2019t actually set out to find his brothers. He more closely resembles Jacob, who traveled to seek his own maternal uncle. But Jacob traveled to avoid a violent confrontation with his brother Esau; Abimelech traveled with his brothers\u2019 death in mind. Upon meeting his uncles, Abimelech used a soon-to-be-proved-empty platitude to convince them: \u201cremember,\u201d he said, \u201cthat I am your bone and your flesh.\u201d In Jacob\u2019s journey it was the uncle, Laban, who used the same expression: \"Surely thou art my bone and my flesh.\u201d (Genesis 29:14) Laban then went on to exploit and cheat his nephew; Abimelech belied his words by murdering his kin. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The intertextual connections don\u2019t end here. Abimelech ended his relationship with his brothers by murdering them \u201cupon one stone.\u201d This gruesome image stands in stark contrast with Jacob\u2019s usage of a stone to end his relationship with Laban. After a tense confrontation, Jacob \u201ctook a stone, and set it up for a pillar.\u201d (Genesis 31:45) His family piled other stones about it, and they made the heap into a witness that (in Laban\u2019s words) \u201cI will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.\u201d(Genesis 31:52)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is appropriate that Abimelech, who used a stone to kill his \u2018bone and flesh\u2019, was defeated when a millstone crushed his skull. It is also appropriate that Jacob, the man who used a stone to diffuse a potentially violent family altercation, died surrounded by his children. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Hebrew, the word for stone is a combination of the words \u201cfather\u201d and \u201cson\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Gustave Dore, Death of Abimelech<\/em>, 1866 \/ 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Parable As Lovely As A Tree ","post_title":"A Parable As Lovely As A Tree","slug":"a-parable-as-lovely-as-a-tree","old_id":"55603","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":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Followed by shadows of irony in the mountains","post_main_content_content":"

Joyce Kilmer (who, incidentally, was killed while serving in the American army during World War I), famously wrote: \u201cI think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.\u201d \u00a0In our chapter, Yotam, youngest and sole surviving son of Gideon, disparaged his fellow Shechemites for choosing his half-brother Avimelekh to be their king. The instrument he employed was a parable about \u201cthe trees of the forest who sought themselves a king\u201d (v.8 ff.).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We read that the olive tree declines to rule lest it cease producing its respected oil (9), the fig tree declines lest it cease to produce its succulent fruit (11), and the vine declines lest it interrupt the production of its delightful wine (13). Finally, out of frustration, the trees turn to the lowly bramble bush, which consents to rule over them providing they can all take refuge in its meager shadow; otherwise, it threatens to ignite the entire forest (15). \u00a0The moral of the parable, as Yotam related it, is that Avimelekh was unworthy of their respect. They would be unable to take refuge in his meager shadow in which case he will ignite them and they would be consumed by one another\u2019s flame (20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the continuation of the story, something akin to a civil war broke out between Avimelekh and his patrons\u2014fulfilling Yotam\u2019s augury of a conflagration that consumed both sides. After Shechem reconciled with Avimelekh, seeing him as a lesser threat than their hired gun, Gaal ben Eved (literally, \u201cloathsome son of a slave\u201d), Avimelekh set an ambush for Gaal in the neighboring hills. As Gaal spotted the ambush, the mayor of Shechem, Zevul, reassured him that he was mistaken, claiming that \u201cthe shadow of the mountain appears to you as people\u201d (36).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Recall that in Yotam\u2019s parable the shadow of the bramble signified Avimelekh\u2019s protection and it was meant sarcastically. How ironic that Zevul used that very figure of speech (deliberately?) to protect Avimelekh.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Photo from: Neot Kedumim Park<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55604,"alt":"","title":"jud9-atad","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","width":700,"height":466,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","medium_large-width":700,"medium_large-height":466,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","large-width":700,"large-height":466,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","1536x1536-width":700,"1536x1536-height":466,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","2048x2048-width":700,"2048x2048-height":466,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","post_full_size-width":700,"post_full_size-height":466,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Parable As Lovely As A Tree","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Followed by shadows of irony in the mountains","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55604,"alt":"","title":"jud9-atad","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","width":700,"height":466,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","medium_large-width":700,"medium_large-height":466,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","large-width":700,"large-height":466,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","1536x1536-width":700,"1536x1536-height":466,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","2048x2048-width":700,"2048x2048-height":466,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad.jpg","post_full_size-width":700,"post_full_size-height":466,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-atad-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"704","name":"Parable","old_id":"1104"}]},{"order":9,"id":"55592","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Horrifying Tale With A Satisfying Conclusion? ","post_title":"A Horrifying Tale With A Satisfying Conclusion?","slug":"a-horrifying-tale-with-a-satisfying-conclusion","old_id":"55592","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":55228,"post_title":"Guy Austrian","slug":"guy-austrian","old_id":"55228","first_name":"Guy ","last_name":"Austrian ","description":"Rabbi Guy Austrian serves as spiritual leader of the Fort Tryon Jewish Center, an independent traditional egalitarian community in Washington Heights-Inwood, NYC. He completed his studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary with rabbinic ordination and an M.A. in Liturgy. He lives in Washington Heights with his spouse Rabbi Jill Jacobs and their children. \r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Guy Austrian serves as spiritual leader of the Fort Tryon Jewish Center in Washington Heights-Inwood, NYC. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":55229,"alt":"","title":"guy austrian","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/guy-austrian-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What goes around comes around - but it\u2019s just another circle in the cycle of violence","post_main_content_content":"

The rise and fall of the bandit-prince Avimelech, told in Judges 9, seems to be a classic tale of \u201cwhat goes around comes around.\u201d But it raises a question: is what comes around really much better than what went around in the first place?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Avimelech, disgracing the good name of his late father Gideon (a.k.a. Jeruba\u2019al), convinces the men of Shechem to support him as he kills all but one of his 70 brothers on one bloody chopping block and becomes warlord of the town. The surviving brother, Yotam, condemns Shechem to suffer at the hands of Avimelech, who indeed slaughters them all with great brutality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet it\u2019s not just the Shechemites who get what\u2019s coming to them\u2014it\u2019s Avimelech too. His murderous rampage is finally halted when he lays siege to a tower full of civilians: \u201cA woman dropped an upper millstone on Avimelech\u2019s head and cracked his skull\u201d (9:53). As a midrash points out, this is like the saying in Ecclesiastes 10:8: \u201cOne who digs a pit will fall into it\u201d\u2014Avimelech, who killed his brothers on one stone, is himself killed by a stone (Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayera 28:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He\u2019s killed, in fact, by a woman, much to his embarrassment (9:54). The millstone is a domestic item associated with women, as when Moses threatens Pharaoh with the tenth plague, \u201cfrom the first-born of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the first-born of the slave girl who is behind the millstones\u201d (Ex. 11:5). The foolish men of Shechem are finally saved by a humble woman with a woman\u2019s weapon.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So it\u2019s tempting to see this horrifying tale come to a satisfying conclusion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But in rabbinic literature, the verb for cracking Avimelech\u2019s skull (<\/span>vataritz<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/i> lives on, as a prooftext to explain what a tool called a <\/span>meritzah<\/em> <\/span>is for. The Mishnah in Shekalim 8:2 asks: If you find an object lying on the path that leads back from a mikveh (for immersing utensils), can you assume it has been immersed and is ritually pure?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The point is debated, but all agree that if the object is a <\/span>meritzah<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> it is always impure, because it is used in cemeteries. What is a <\/span>meritzah<\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/i> Explains Maimonides: it\u2019s a tool for crushing bones. How does he know? From \u201c<\/span>vataritz<\/span><\/em>,\u201d<\/span><\/i> what the woman did to Avimelech\u2019s skull.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The suggestion is that a tool associated with death can never lose its taint of impurity. Even in necessary self-defense, even against a murderous villain: the victory can never be pure, the celebration can never be joyous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It would seem that \u201cwhat goes around, comes around\u201d is not a circle, but a cycle; not a triumph, but a trap.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":55593,"alt":"","title":"jud9-fist","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","width":1280,"height":908,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-300x213.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-768x545.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":545,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-1024x726.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":726,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":908,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":908,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-1200x851.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":851,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-592x420.png","home_baner-width":592,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Horrifying Tale With A Satisfying Conclusion?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What goes around comes around - but it\u2019s just another circle in the cycle of violence","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":55593,"alt":"","title":"jud9-fist","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","width":1280,"height":908,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-300x213.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":213,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-768x545.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":545,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-1024x726.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":726,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":908,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":908,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-1200x851.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":851,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud9-fist-592x420.png","home_baner-width":592,"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":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"460","name":"Evil","old_id":"860"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":10,"id":"55549","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Once Upon A Time In The Land Of Israel ","post_title":"Once Upon A Time In The Land Of Israel","slug":"once-upon-a-time-in-the-land-of-israel","old_id":"55549","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. 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Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"220","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A parable in form and content","post_main_content_content":"

9:8 \u201cOnce upon a time the trees went to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree \u2018Reign over us.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Hebrew formula <\/span>hayoh hayah<\/em> <\/span>signals the beginning of a parable. The attempts of some scholars to scan it as formal verse are unconvincing, but its rhythmic character and its use of stylized repetition, with the three-plus-one folktale structure, set it apart formally from the surrounding narrative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible, <\/span><\/i>vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. 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Rabbi Trump has been involved in many community wide projects including being hub coordinator of the Shabbos Project in the Five Towns-Far Rockaway the Five Towns Drug Awareness panel. Rabbi Trump teaches Halacha at the Shulamith High School for girls. He and his wife, Malka, and children live in Lawrence.","short_description":"Rabbi Ya\u2019akov Trump serves as the Associate Rabbi of the Young Israel of Lawrence Cedarhurst. 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    \r\n\t
  1. Who\u2019s the guilty party?<\/em>According to the Parable of Jotham (verses 7-21) - it seems everybody is. The people: for their demand for a king, and for their bad judgment in accepting an unworthy leader. The worthy leaders: for refusing to rule. And the unworthy ones, who rush to rule, doing great damage along the way.<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Avimelech son of Gideon.<\/em> Gideon doesn\u2019t want the kingship, but Avimelech pushes for it. Gideon\u2019s leadership, and his wars, are for the good of the people, but the opposite is the case with Avimelech. But there are also certain similarities between father and son. They both use military stratagems, including attacks by night, and the use of personal example. Avimelech says (verse 48): \u201cWhat you saw me do\u2014quick, do the same!\u201d; echoing Gideon\u2019s words (7:17): \u201c\u2018Watch me,\u2019 he said, \u2018and do the same. When I get to the outposts of the camp, do exactly as I do.\u2019\u201d What do you think this means?<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Imagination and reality.<\/em> Zebul the collaborator convinces Gaal the rebel that he is seeing things: \u201cGaal saw the army and said to Zebul, \u2018That\u2019s an army marching down from the hilltops!\u2019 But Zebul said to him, \u2018The shadows of the hills look to you like men\u2019\u201d (verse 36).<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Sowing salt.<\/em> That\u2019s what Avimelech does to the city of Shechem (verse 45). Not clear whether this is efficacious, but it represents a curse on the city, that it should be laid waste forever.<\/li>\r\n\t
  5. The shame of dying at the hands of a woman.<\/em> That\u2019s what Avimelech was feeling when he said to his arms bearer: \u201cDraw your dagger and finish me off, that they may not say of me, \u2018A woman killed him!\u2019\u201d (verse 54). Those may have been Sisera\u2019s dying emotions as well (see chs. 4, 5).<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Judges 9","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Judges","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"220","date":"20260702","wall_id":"220"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/55193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}