{"id":63150,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:32","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1063\/"},"modified":"2023-04-21T15:39:55","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T12:39:55","slug":"wall-1063","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1063\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20230416-to-20230422"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1063","date_from":"20230416","date_to":"20230422","book":"II Kings","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"73699","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Tazria: Naaman The Aramean Leper ","post_title":"Tazria: Naaman The Aramean Leper","slug":"tazria-naaman-the-aramean-leper","old_id":"73699","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46171,"post_title":"Avner Moriah","slug":"avner-moriah","old_id":"46171","first_name":"Avner ","last_name":"Moriah ","description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who has addressed a wide range of Jewish and Israeli themes during the four decades of his artistic journey. Currently, Avner is completing a singular artistic and spiritual feat of illuminating the entire Chumash. The unique illuminated books contain hundreds of original drawings that offer a profound, provocative and humorous perspective. \r\nFor the entire weekly portion series, visit: https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha\r\nFor more of his work visit: https:\/\/avnermoriah.com\/\r\n","short_description":"Avner Moriah is a prolific Israel artist who is illuminating the entire Chumash.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":46173,"alt":"","title":"avner moriah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","width":1387,"height":1425,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-292x300.jpg","medium-width":292,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-768x789.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":789,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-997x1024.jpg","large-width":997,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","1536x1536-width":1387,"1536x1536-height":1425,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679.jpg","2048x2048-width":1387,"2048x2048-height":1425,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-1168x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1168,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/avner-moriah-e1545511134679-409x420.jpg","home_baner-width":409,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1093","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And the prophet Elisha's miraculous cure\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Tazria\u2019 <\/em>describes various skin diseases called tsara\u2019at<\/em>, and tells us that the priests were required to determine the nature of the affliction, the degree of the sufferer\u2019s uncleanness, and the duration of the quarantine.<\/p>\r\n

Avner Moriah\u2019s painting does not relate directly to the parasha<\/em>, but rather to the haftarah<\/em>, found in 2 Kings, which deals with tsara\u2019at<\/em>. We see an apparently naked, white-skinned, bearded man immersed to the waist in water and a second, darker-skinned, man pouring water over his head. Two brown strips of land running parallel to the blue water accent the narrowness of the Jordan River, pictured here with flowers in the foreground. The three blue mountains hint at the land of Aram.<\/p>\r\n

The white-skinned individual is Naaman, a captain in the army of Aram, who was a leper. Hearing from a captive Israelite slave girl that a great Israelite prophet named Elisha could heal him, Naaman traveled to Elisha\u2019s home bearing gifts. The prophet did not come out to meet him but sent a messenger with instructions: \u201cGo and bathe seven times in the Jordan and your flesh shall be restored and you shall be clean\u201d (2 Kings 5:10). Naaman at first refused, declaring that there were even larger and better rivers in Aram, but he finally agreed and immersed himself in the Jordan, whereupon he was healed. Interestingly, the artist\u2019s image of this scene is similar to a Piero della Francesca Renaissance rendition of a baptism.<\/p>\r\n

Gratefully, Naaman said to Elisha: \u201cNow I know that there is no God in the whole world except in Israel! So please accept a gift from your servant\u201d (2 Kings 5:15). Elisha refused the gift and they parted ways. However, as Naaman was leaving, Elisha\u2019s servant Gehazi ran after him, saying that he was sent to ask for the gifts for two youths that had just arrived from the hill country of Ephraim, and Naaman gave him the gifts that the prophet had refused. When Elisha discovered Gehazi\u2019s perfidy he declared: \u201cSurely, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever and as [Gehazi] left his presence, he was snow white with leprosy\u201d (2 Kings 5:27).<\/p>\r\n

This story of Naaman does not deal with the many different diseases mentioned in Tazria\u2019 <\/em>and Elisha\u2019s role is not like that of the priests, but it does illustrate the essence of uncleanness and impurity. Naaman was a leper and, despite the fact that he was an enemy, Elisha cured him. Naaman then experienced the greatness of the God of Israel and of His prophet, who was able to accomplish what the priests of Aram could not. Elisha did not diagnose Naaman\u2019s disease or see to it that he was isolated to keep the Israelite camp clean and holy. He simply cured him, and in so doing gave a convincing demonstration of the spiritual holiness of Israel.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73713,"alt":"","title":"27 Tazria","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria.jpg","width":1992,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-768x964.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":964,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-816x1024.jpg","large-width":816,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria.jpg","1536x1536-width":1224,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria.jpg","2048x2048-width":1632,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-956x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":956,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"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":"The Chapter Illustrated","tile_main_caption":"Tazria: Naaman The Aramean Leper","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And the prophet Elisha's miraculous cure","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73713,"alt":"","title":"27 Tazria","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria.jpg","width":1992,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-768x964.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":964,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-816x1024.jpg","large-width":816,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria.jpg","1536x1536-width":1224,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria.jpg","2048x2048-width":1632,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-956x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":956,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/27-Tazria-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"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":"Ezekiel","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1093"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"755","name":"Leprosy","old_id":"1155"}]},{"order":2,"id":"45067","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Blood Of Purification ","post_title":"Blood Of Purification","slug":"blood-of-purification","old_id":"45067","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44687,"post_title":"Tamar Kamionkowski","slug":"tamar-kamionkowski","old_id":"44687","first_name":"Tamar","last_name":"Kamionkowski ","description":"Dr. Tamar Kamionkowski serves as professor of biblical studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she has trained rabbis for over 20 years. She holds a B.A from Oberlin College, an M.T.S from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D in Near Eastern and Judaic studies from Brandeis University. Tamar is the author of Leviticus: A Wisdom Commentary (Liturgical Press, 2018), Gender Reversal and Cosmic Chaos: Studies in the Book of Ezekiel (Sheffield Academic Press, 2003) and co-editor of Bodies, Embodiment and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures (T&T Clark, 2010).","short_description":"Dr. Tamar Kamionkowski is professor of biblical studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she has trained rabbis for over 20 years.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":44688,"alt":"","title":"tamar kamionkowski","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","width":287,"height":292,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-208x300.jpg","medium-width":208,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","medium_large-width":287,"medium_large-height":292,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","large-width":287,"large-height":292,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","1536x1536-width":287,"1536x1536-height":292,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","2048x2048-width":287,"2048x2048-height":292,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-e1543326019699.jpg","post_full_size-width":287,"post_full_size-height":292,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/tamar-kamionkowski-292x420.jpg","home_baner-width":292,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"102","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A feminist reading of the woman\u2019s rituals surrounding childbirth","post_main_content_content":"

Leviticus 12 addresses the ritual impurities that follow childbirth. Although it is the shortest chapter in Leviticus, it raises a variety of questions that have stumped scholars for years. As a feminist reader, I notice a few aspects of the text that are often overlooked.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For example, the text tells us that when a woman is in her postpartum ritual impurity, she may not enter the Sanctuary or come in contact with sacred items. This implies that at any other time, she may enter the Sanctuary and handle sacred items. I may be stating the obvious, but there is often the assumption that the world of the Sanctuary was restricted to men. This is not true. In fact, post-menopausal women may have had the easiest and most routine access to the Divine space!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Leviticus 12 also introduces a phrase that never appears elsewhere in the Bible: d\u2019mai tohorah<\/em>, usually translated as \u201cblood of purification.\u201d After women give birth, they enter into two different stages of ritual impurity. The first stage is compared to the impurity of a menstruant while the second stage is called the period of d\u2019mai tohorah<\/em>. When she completes the waiting time for each stage, she is no longer ritually impure. But, she is not required to launder her clothes or to bathe, as is the prescription for just about every other ritual impurity. Why doesn\u2019t she bathe (what we have come to know as immersing in a mikveh)? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

I suggest that there is something unique about a woman\u2019s discharge after birth. A woman begins with bleeding for a few days, and then over the course of several weeks her discharge begins to lighten in color until it is almost clear with no trace of red. No other discharge shifts from blood red to clear. Perhaps there was a belief that a woman\u2019s own body ritually purifies itself, that the female body transforms the blood into a clear discharge. This would explain why the blood of purification is never used in any other setting and it would explain why the parturient was not required to bathe!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image by Aggie11 \/ shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":41227,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_521912170","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","width":1000,"height":888,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-300x266.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":266,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-768x682.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":682,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":888,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":888,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":888,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":888,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-473x420.jpg","home_baner-width":473,"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":"Blood Of Purification","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A feminist reading of the woman\u2019s rituals surrounding childbirth","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":41227,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_521912170","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","width":1000,"height":888,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-300x266.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":266,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-768x682.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":682,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":888,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":888,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":888,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":888,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_521912170-473x420.jpg","home_baner-width":473,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Leviticus","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"102","date":"20260119","wall_id":"102"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"740","name":"Blood","old_id":"1140"},{"term_id":"742","name":"Purity","old_id":"1142"}]},{"order":3,"id":"45081","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Is Giving Birth A Dirty Sin? ","post_title":"Is Giving Birth A Dirty Sin?","slug":"is-giving-birth-a-dirty-sin","old_id":"45081","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":"102","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A surprising - even humorous - rabbinic answer","post_main_content_content":"

It's a hard chapter to read. Almost every one of chapter 12's eight short verses says something that evokes reactions from puzzlement to discomfort to outrage. To grapple with these challenges, we need to listen most carefully to something which is not said.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's students ask him one of the most troubling questions the chapter demands that we ask. What has this poor woman done to deserve this? Impurity? A sin offering? She should get a prize, a medal of bravery, a certificate of honor! A woman who gives birth fulfills mankind's first, and ultimate, commandment, one of the highest expressions of <\/span>imitatio dei<\/span><\/i>. In partnership with God, she has become a creator. For this she brings a sin offering?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What Rabbi Shimon answers might bring a knowing smile to anyone who has witnessed or experienced childbirth. Her sin is taking an oath that she won't keep, an oath heard from time to time in the throes of labor, sometimes accompanied by an accusing glare at the husband- \"I will never, EVER, do this again!\" (Nidda 31b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It's hard to imagine Rabbi Shimon wasn't himself smiling when he said it, but it's what he isn't saying that is truly profound.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The mother's sacrifice is a particular type of <\/span>chatat<\/span><\/em> called an \"<\/span>oleh veyored<\/span><\/em>\", meaning, a korban <\/em>which offers a variety of payment plans depending on financial ability. When the Torah introduced it in chapter 5, we learned that it is brought for two basic reasons: a false oath, or touching something impure. Which one of those would you think best fits the situation of the woman who has just given birth? If you read the chapter 12, the answer is completely obvious. The woman becomes impure immediately after birth, and the korban is said to \"atone for her, and purify her from the source of her blood.\" Clearly, her sin is impurity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Shimon <\/span>refuses<\/b> to read the Torah as a text which considers the impurity that accompanies childbirth to be sinful. He <\/span>chooses<\/b> instead to hear in God's word a rich humor informed by human experience. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is he wrong?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102500,"alt":"","title":"-621cdfd04d037--621cdfd04d038gen18-lol 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36150,"alt":"","title":"Shai Secunda","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","width":1202,"height":1287,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-956x1024.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","1536x1536-width":1202,"1536x1536-height":1287,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599.jpg","2048x2048-width":1202,"2048x2048-height":1287,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-1121x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1121,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Shai-Secunda-e1532842797599-392x420.jpg","home_baner-width":392,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"105","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The text lingers lovingly over the messy details","post_main_content_content":"

Leviticus 15 ends a section about bodily impurities that began with the messiness of birth (Leviticus 12), continued with flesh-eating diseases (Leviticus 13-14) and now concludes with a discussion of regular and irregular genital discharges. These chapters seem to be anything other than attractive, yet a surprising Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 19:14) urges readers to discover their God-given beauty. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash first admits that even the rabbis of the Talmudic age dreaded having to give sermons on the Sabbaths when these \u201cugly\u201d chapters were read:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shim\u02bfon b. R. Yitz\u1e25aq explained the verse \u201cHis head is finest gold, his locks are curled and black as a raven (ke\u02bforev<\/em>)\u201d (Song of Songs 5:11) as referring to portions of the Torah. Even though they seem as if they are ugly (kheurot<\/em>), as if they are too black to speak of in public \u2013 for example the laws of discharge and skin diseases\u2026<\/p>\r\n

Yet by ever so slightly playing with the Hebrew word for the ugly non-kosher bird, raven \u2013 \u2018<\/em><\/span>orev<\/span><\/em> \u2013 so that reads as <\/span>\u2018arev<\/span><\/em> \u2013 pleasant, the Midrash argues that what humans perceive as ugly is actually pleasant to God:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Holy One blessed is He said: \u201cThey are pleasing (<\/span>\u02bfarevot<\/span><\/em>) to me.\u201d This is what is said: \u201cThen the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing (<\/span>\u02bfarvah<\/span><\/em>) to the Lord\u201d (Malachi 2.15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Midrash demonstrates this from the chiastic arrangement of Leviticus 15 \u00a0- A] irregular male discharges, B] regular male discharges, B\u2019] regular female discharges, and A\u2019] irregular female discharges - which instead of condensing the rules of male and female irregular discharges into a more compact text, unhurriedly, almost lovingly, lingers over the messy details:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You should know that this really is the case, since the biblical portion dealing with male and female gonorrheans were not said [by God] as one, rather this one by itself and that one by itself: \u201cWhen any man has a discharge issuing from his member\u201d (Leviticus 15:2); \u201cWhen a woman has had a [irregular] discharge of blood\u201d (Leviticus 15:25). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The message of this Midrash is crucial for Torah study, and for life. Even those things which appear ugly and devoid of beauty, in fact pulsate with divine splendor. We only need to know how to look. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":106081,"alt":"","title":"-62bd7871091ce--62bd7871091cflev15-bird reflection ugly 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","short_description":"Dr. Julie Lieber is a Jewish educator, and is the Director of the Pardes-Kevah Teaching Fellowship.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":40789,"alt":"","title":"Julie Lieber","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688.jpg","width":627,"height":680,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688-277x300.jpg","medium-width":277,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688.jpg","medium_large-width":627,"medium_large-height":680,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688.jpg","large-width":627,"large-height":680,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688.jpg","1536x1536-width":627,"1536x1536-height":680,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688.jpg","2048x2048-width":627,"2048x2048-height":680,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688.jpg","post_full_size-width":627,"post_full_size-height":680,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Julie-Lieber-e1537820405688-387x420.jpg","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"311","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sometimes succession is harder than starting from scratch","post_main_content_content":"

Our rabbis tell us, \u201c<\/span>Kol Hatchalot Kashot<\/span><\/em>\u201d (All beginnings are hard).\u201d I would argue that even harder than beginnings are transitions. Standing at a starting point, all options are open and the possibilities seem endless. (Just ask those involved in the Silicon Valley startup industry). However, when one enters at a point of transition, one inherits history, baggage and everything else that comes with having a past.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Succession and transition, especially when one follows a successful and well-liked leader, are particularly challenging. In 2 Kings Chapter 2 we see such a struggle with succession. Elijah the prophet has served as the messenger of God for as long as the Israelites can remember. They have relied on his voice, his miracles and his style of communication for decades \u2013 even if they have not always heeded his voice. And now the time has come for Elijah to end his tenure as prophet.\u00a0 Elisha, his successor, senses his master\u2019s imminent departure and refuses to leave Elijah\u2019s side, repeatedly hushing the people who try to speak to him about this impending loss. He can\u2019t bear to even acknowledge what is about to take place.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sensing Elisha\u2019s state of mind, Elijah presents him with a \u201cgenie moment.\u201d Elijah is prepared to grant Elisha one wish before he departs. Elisha asks for twice the spirit of Elijah to rest on him. What precisely this means is a matter of considerable debate, but it seems clear that his request revolves around wanting the spirit of Elijah to remain with him and in some capacity continue to play a role in Elisha\u2019s prophetic life as he takes over.\u00a0 Like many new leaders, who follow a beloved and charismatic figure, Elisha is scared. Yet, his solution is to resist the change altogether by in some way hoping Elijah\u2019s spirit will continue in him as he takes on this new leadership role.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What would it have looked like if Elisha had instead asked for strength to help him be his own, new type of prophetic leader? Ron Heifetz, one of the experts on adaptive leadership, teaches us, \u201cWhat people resist is not change per se, but loss.\u201d What would Elisha\u2019s prophetic tenure have looked like if instead of trying to replicate Elijah he had done the work of fully acknowledging and confronting this loss? Perhaps that would have made it less of a traumatic transition and more of a new beginning, ripe with endless opportunities and possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Transitions, by Ben Schachter, courtesy of the 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From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"311","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When rejection is the highest form of acceptance","post_main_content_content":"

On the final journey Elijah and his disciple Elisha, we see an intriguing feature of their relationship, present since they first met.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As they travel to the place was God will take up Elijah to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah three times urges Elisha, \u201cstay here, because for the Lord has sent me on to\u2026\u201d Elijah enjoins his student to stop following him. Yet three times, Elisha replies by swearing, \u201cAs the Lord live and as you live, I will not leave you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This echoes their initial encounter. God had told Elijah to appoint Elisha as his successor. Elijah threw his cloak over Elisha, who said \u201cLet me kiss my mother and father goodbye and I will follow you.\u201d (I Kings 19:20) Yet Elijah replied, \u201cGo back. What have I done to you?\u201d Here too the prophet appears to tell the disciple not to follow him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why would he do this? Perhaps because when the master seems, with an air of mystery, to reject students, the urge to follow him becomes all the stronger. I recall hearing somewhere, \u201cthe teacher is never so alluring, as when he turns away,\u201d though I couldn\u2019t find this quote.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This turning away may also enable the disciple to become an independent person. The power of the master\u2019s spiritual example can mould the student to the extent that he or she becomes an imitation of the teacher, rather than a unique individual. Indeed, as Rabbi Alex Israel notes, although Elisha was Elijah\u2019s close disciple, he was very different from him in personality and style. Whereas Elijah was isolated and solitary, Elisha is depicted as sociable and frequently surrounded by people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Elchanan Samet argues that Elijah\u2019s attempts to turn away Elisha aim to test the latter\u2019s commitment. After Elisha has thrice refused to go back, Elijah knows for sure that this is his worthy successor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Samet supports this with a beautiful intertextual reading. He points out that Elijah\u2019s initial urging of Elisha to \u201creturn here\u201d echo the words of Abraham\u2019s instructions to his servants on the way to the Akedah to proceed no further. However, after Elisha has proven his dedication, the verse recounts that the \u201ctwo of them went on,\u201d recalling the language the Torah uses to describe Abraham and Isaac continuing on together to Mount Moriah. With this reference, the author signals Elisha\u2019s transformation from Elijah\u2019s servant into his spiritual son and heir.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image by Ben 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She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34251,"alt":"","title":"Sarah R","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","width":2824,"height":4246,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","2048x2048-width":1362,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"312","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Harsh, sarcastic, but likes that old time music that soothes the soul","post_main_content_content":"

Elisha is often seen as the \u201cpeople\u2019s prophet,\u201d in contrast to his predecessor, Elijah. For Elijah, God is first and foremost, and communication with the people often involves literal or metaphorical fire and brimstone. Elisha tends towards a softer approach, roaming the countryside and helping the common people in mundane though miraculous ways.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, when he first takes over from Elijah, Elisha displays a harshness reminiscent of his teacher; for instance, when he sends a couple of bears after some kids who mocked him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Less fatal, but more biting in the figurative sense, is Elisha\u2019s response when asked to advise the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Elisha said to the king of Israel, \u201cWhat have you to do with me? Go to your father\u2019s prophets or your mother\u2019s prophets\u201d (3:13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Remarkably, the king keeps his head; instead of responding angrily, he simply says \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d Commentaries suggest he meant \u201cDon\u2019t bring up something (my parents\u2019 idolatry) that might arouse harsh judgment when we\u2019re in danger!\u201d Perhaps there is also something more basic here, along the lines of the contemporary phrasing: \u201cDon\u2019t go there!\u201d Don\u2019t talk about my parents and their mistakes; I\u2019m trying to come to you for help!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whether partly due to the reproach in that sharp \u201cDon\u2019t\u201d or purely because of the involvement of the king of Judah (as Elisha claims in verse 14), Elisha then prepares himself to receive the prophetic answers requested.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cNow then, get me a musician.\u201d (v. 15)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why music? To calm down, because he was angry and anger interferes with prophecy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Several things are striking here: One is the awareness of music\u2019s power to soothe the soul (even older than rock and roll) \u2013 but of course we knew that, and we knew from David and Saul that the Prophets knew it too. What is particularly remarkable in this moment is not that music will help Elisha, but that he realizes and admits he needs it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It can be hard to recognize one\u2019s own psychological state, to anticipate its potential negative effects, to understand what will help, or to ask for that help. Elisha, to his credit, does all of that.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Radak suggests that actually, Elisha was in a bad mood \u2013 and therefore missing his prophetic connection \u2013 even before this encounter, ever since he lost his teacher. In that light, we can perhaps better understand Elisha\u2019s harsh moments, in the throes of mourning the man he called \u201cfather, father! Israel\u2019s chariots and horsemen\u201d (2:12). (We might also wonder whether that negativity contributed to the bear incident \u2013 though it seems there must be more to it.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We might imagine Elisha stuck in a cycle: His prophetic predecessor was gone, he was depressed and unable to access his own prophecy, which only sent his mood further downhill, which led to his biting reaction to the king of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But ultimately, he broke the cycle by seeking the help he needed to move forward and become the people\u2019s prophet Providence provided.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Elisha the Prophet, by vebelfetzer (CC 3.0).<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63276,"alt":"","title":"2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","width":800,"height":1060,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-226x300.jpg","medium-width":226,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-768x1018.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1018,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-773x1024.jpg","large-width":773,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1060,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1060,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1060,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-317x420.jpg","home_baner-width":317,"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":"Elisha, The People\u2019s Prophet","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Harsh, sarcastic, but likes that old time music that soothes the soul","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63276,"alt":"","title":"2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","width":800,"height":1060,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-226x300.jpg","medium-width":226,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-768x1018.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1018,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-773x1024.jpg","large-width":773,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1060,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1060,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1060,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings3-elisha_the_prophet_by_vebelfetzer_d3ftdi6-317x420.jpg","home_baner-width":317,"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":"II Kings","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"312","date":"20261109","wall_id":"312"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"512","name":"Music","old_id":"912"},{"term_id":"527","name":"Anger","old_id":"927"},{"term_id":"931","name":"Elisha","old_id":"1331"}]},{"order":9,"id":"63247","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"The Melody Of Prophecy ","post_title":"The Melody Of Prophecy","slug":"the-melody-of-prophecy","old_id":"63247","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44909,"post_title":"Ben Freed","slug":"ben-freed","old_id":"44909","first_name":"Ben ","last_name":"Freed ","description":"Ben Freed is a third-year Rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.\r\nBen grew up primarily in Ann Arbor, Mich. and studied journalism at the University of Texas. Before rabbinical school, Ben worked as a news reporter, yoga instructor, Uber driver, and Bar Mitzvah DJ as well as the education director of Camp Tel Yehudah\u2014the senior leadership camp of Young Judaea, a pluralist Zionist youth movement. A recipient of the Gladstein Fellowship, Ben has held internships at a number of congregations in America and Israel.\r\n","short_description":"Ben Freed is a third-year Rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":44910,"alt":"","title":"ben freed","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed.jpg","width":2000,"height":2400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed-768x922.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":922,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed-853x1024.jpg","large-width":853,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed.jpg","2048x2048-width":1707,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed-1000x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/ben-freed-350x420.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"312","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Speech is the quill of the heart, and song is the quill of the soul","post_main_content_content":"

How can we prepare ourselves to hear God\u2019s voice?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For many of the Biblical prophets, their connection with God is something that is seemingly thrust upon them. In II Kings Chapter 3, Elisha shows us a different paradigm, a man of God who is not arrested by a divine call but rather seeks to bring the presence of God to him. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel might say he is a \u201cMan in Search of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So what can we learn from Elisha\u2019s searching? What tools does he use to access the Divine voice? When Elisha seeks the word of God\u2014this is his first attempt at prophecy after the disappearance of Elijah\u2014he does not consult scrolls of wisdom, he does not wander out into the desert, and he does not cry out to the heavens. Elisha\u2019s method of bringing the \u201chand of God\u201d onto him is one that is recognizable to many in our day and age who have sought spiritual connection: \u201cNow then, get me a musician.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The musician then plays and, \u201cThe hand of God came upon him.\u201d But what sort of song was it that allowed Elisha to hear the word of God? What music inspires prophecy?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Most early commentators imagine that the musician sang a happy song. A number of collections of Midrash quote this verse in support of the aphorism, \u201cThe divine presence does not rest upon a person unless they are in a state of joy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Ba\u2019al Shem Tov, the founder of European Hasidism has a different take on the situation. He acknowledges the power of music to open the Gates of Heaven and finds a parallel in the power of tears, \u201cfor the Gates do not open except with tears.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The common thread here is that connection to God is achieved through an intense emotional response to music. Through the power of melody, music can peel us open in a way that allows us to listen for God\u2019s still small voice. As the first Chabad Rabbi, Shneur Zalman of Liadi said, \u201cspeech is the quill of the heart, and song is the quill of the soul.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today, find one song that brings out your truest emotions and give yourself time to smile, to laugh, or to cry. And in that moment, listen for the voice of God.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61168,"alt":"","title":"2sam23-quill","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill.png","width":640,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-150x300.png","medium-width":150,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-512x1024.png","medium_large-width":512,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-512x1024.png","large-width":512,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill.png","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill.png","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-600x1200.png","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-210x420.png","home_baner-width":210,"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 Melody Of Prophecy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Speech is the quill of the heart, and song is the quill of the soul","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61168,"alt":"","title":"2sam23-quill","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill.png","width":640,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-150x300.png","medium-width":150,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-512x1024.png","medium_large-width":512,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-512x1024.png","large-width":512,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill.png","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill.png","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-600x1200.png","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam23-quill-210x420.png","home_baner-width":210,"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":"II Kings","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"312","date":"20261109","wall_id":"312"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"512","name":"Music","old_id":"912"},{"term_id":"616","name":"Spirit","old_id":"1016"}]},{"order":10,"id":"114138","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Mesha\u2019s Rebellion ","post_title":"Mesha\u2019s Rebellion","slug":"meshas-rebellion","old_id":"114138","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":"312","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"As described in Moabite, on the Mesha Stele\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 3 follows a similar structure to I Kings 22. The king of Israel, this time Jehoram the son of Ahab, calls on the king of Judah, still Jehoshaphat, to battle against Moab. This time Jehoshaphat brings along his ally, Aram. Jehoram was not as evil as his father and grandfather, but he still followed in the ways of Jeroboam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mesha was the king of Moab who was a subject of Ahab. When Ahab died, Mesha rebelled against Israel. The repeat from chapter 22, and other similar stories throughout Kings shows this was a regular practice. One nation would conquer another and make that nation its vassal. Sometime later, for one reason or another, the vassal would rebel and assert its independence. Then the cycle would continue.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What makes chapter 3 unique is that the background of this story appears on a stone tablet found in Jordan called the Meshe Stele (pictured here with the author). The Stele is written in ancient Canaanite script in the Moabite language. It is one of the few archeological artifacts that reference a story in the Tanach, including character names. The relevant part reads:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Omri was king of Israel, and oppressed Moab during many days, and Chemosh was angry with his aggressions. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days, he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire upon him and his house, and Israel said, I shall destroy it forever. Now Omri took the land of Madeba, and occupied it in his day, and in the days of his son, forty years. And Chemosh had mercy on it in my time. And I built Baal-meon and made therein the ditch, and I built Kiriathaim.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of Chapter 3, Mesha sacrifices either his son or the son of the king of Edom in the city of Kirchareshet. That\u2019s when the tide turns and Israel flees the battle. In the Stele, Mesha describes it thus:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I assaulted the wall and captured it, and killed all the warriors of the city for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and Moab, and I removed from it all the spoil, and offered it before Chemosh in Kirjath.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is possible that this references the end of chapter 3. While it makes sense that the depiction of the battle would be different from the point of view of Moab and of Israel in Kings, it is quite extraordinary that many of the details line up between the two. The Meshe Stele can be viewed in the Near Eastern wing of the Louvre museum in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: courtesy of the author.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Elisha\u2019s miracle of the oil jug is highly reminiscent of Elijah\u2019s miracle with the widow of Tzarafat (I Kings 17:11). The differences between their miracles are significant:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. Whereas Elisha's sole motive is to provide for the widow's welfare, in Elijah's story, the widow is there to assist him, to sustain him as he hides from King Ahab.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Elisha does not test the widow. By contrast, Elijah challenges the widow from Tzarafat.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Elisha does not benefit from the miracle he performs; his is a thoroughly altruistic gesture. Elijah benefits from his miracle.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Precisely because of its parallelism with Elijah, our story leads to a study of contrasts between Elisha and Elijah. Here is a prophet who offers support rather than criticism, whose demeanor is that of kindness and assistance rather than confrontation and accusation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    What are the sources of the differences between the two prophets?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Elisha may represent an alternative tactical approach. If one wishes to draw the nation to Judaism, what is the more effective educational method: The stick or the carrot? Confrontation or encouragement?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Elijah's strategy sought to pressure the people into affirming their religious commitment openly, and to forcefully demonstrate God's supremacy. By contrast, Elisha practices kindness and generates miracles which allow the average Israelite to realize that \"there is a prophet in Israel\" (II Kings 5:8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Lastly, the difference between Elijah and Elisha may be a function of the times in which they live and serve. Elijah operates during the reign of King Ahab, when the kingdom enjoys economic prosperity and wields international influence and power. Elisha's era is plagued by Aram's domination of the northern kingdom as well as bouts of famine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Whereas Elijah may feel it necessary to rebuke Israel for its waywardness, presenting a dour and sobering counterbalance in heady times and challenging the leadership in a fortunate era, Elisha senses that during difficult times, such an approach is deeply unjustified. When the nation is under siege, relief, inspiration, and encouragement are needed. There will be times in which Elisha too will play his part in the divine punishment of the house of Omri, but to the largest extent possible Elisha dedicates his role as prophet to offering hope and healing, highlighting God's special connection with His people, through the miracles he performs and the assistance he offers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind,<\/em> Maggid Books, 2019, Elisha: Prophet of Miracles\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63310,"alt":"","title":"Alex Israel - 2_kings_cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","width":1711,"height":1821,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-768x817.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":817,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-962x1024.jpg","large-width":962,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1443,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1711,"2048x2048-height":1821,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-1128x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1128,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Alex-Israel-2_kings_cover-395x420.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"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":"Excerpts from: II Kings - In A Whirlwind","tile_main_caption":"Elisha v. 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    Image:\u00a0 Elisha, by Ben Schachter, courtesy of the artist, based on \"The Prophet Elisha, from Prophets and Sibyls\" by Francesco Rosselli \/\u00a0 CC0 1.0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63400,"alt":"","title":"2kings6-elisha","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha.jpg","width":1234,"height":1591,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-233x300.jpg","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-768x990.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":990,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-794x1024.jpg","large-width":794,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha.jpg","1536x1536-width":1191,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha.jpg","2048x2048-width":1234,"2048x2048-height":1591,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-931x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":931,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-326x420.jpg","home_baner-width":326,"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":"Elisha","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63400,"alt":"","title":"2kings6-elisha","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha.jpg","width":1234,"height":1591,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-233x300.jpg","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-768x990.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":990,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-794x1024.jpg","large-width":794,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha.jpg","1536x1536-width":1191,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha.jpg","2048x2048-width":1234,"2048x2048-height":1591,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-931x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":931,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-elisha-326x420.jpg","home_baner-width":326,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1063"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"63292","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"A Three-Step Course In Miracles ","post_title":"A Three-Step Course In Miracles","slug":"a-three-step-course-in-miracles","old_id":"63292","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. 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Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"313","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Help yourself, lean on your community, and open yourself to help from God","post_main_content_content":"

    A widow asks for Elisha the Prophet\u2019s help in saving herself and her children. Her deceased husband has left behind huge debts, and his creditors are threatening to enslave the widow\u2019s children to pay off the debt. We\u2019ve already seen Elisha\u2019s disposition to facilitate God\u2019s miracles, most recently at the Jordan River and the spring of Jericho. Those were large-scale miracles witnessed by entire communities seemingly to engender unity and faith-building. But now we are seeing a very different miracle-maker, working on a personal level and imparting some valuable lessons about helping ourselves and seeking God\u2019s help.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Step one: identify what you have to work with and see what you can do for yourself to pave the way for God\u2019s help.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

    Elisha could have delivered a flashy public miracle to save this widow, but instead he asks her \u201cWhat do you have in your house (4:2)?\u201d He lays out an important part of solution- finding:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Step two: seek help from your community and know that you don\u2019t have to do this all on your own.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

    The widow responds that she has a small container of oil, so Elisha instructs her to go to all her neighbors and ask to borrow all the vessels they have.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Finally, Elisha tells the woman, go into your house with the borrowed vessels, close the door behind you and pour from your small pot of oil into your borrowed vessels until there are no vessels left. Elisha declares that she will then have enough oil to sell to pay off the debts and support her family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Step three: allow God in and remain modest about the help received.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

    But why behind closed doors? Our sages speak of the power of hidden miracles and Rashi declares, \u201cIt brings honour to the miracle if it happens in private (4:4).\u201d It\u2019s also a tenet of tzedakah \u2013 the Jewish idea of charity - that help should be given to the destitute in a manner that preserves their dignity. So, it is fitting that this miracle occur in private, for both the respect of the miracle and its benefactor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But perhaps the most important lesson from this story is, as Ramban (Bereishit 6:19) teaches, that \u201c<\/span>this is the manner of all miracles in Torah and Prophets<\/span>, that man does that which he can perform, and the rest is left to God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63293,"alt":"","title":"2kings4-flames","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames.jpg","width":1920,"height":1276,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-768x510.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":510,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1021,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1276,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-1200x798.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":798,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"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 Three-Step Course In Miracles","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Help yourself, lean on your community, and open yourself to help from God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63293,"alt":"","title":"2kings4-flames","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames.jpg","width":1920,"height":1276,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-768x510.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":510,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-1024x681.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":681,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1021,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1276,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-1200x798.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":798,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-flames-632x420.jpg","home_baner-width":632,"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":"II Kings","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"313","date":"20261110","wall_id":"313"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"471","name":"Miracle","old_id":"871"},{"term_id":"931","name":"Elisha","old_id":"1331"}]},{"order":14,"id":"63301","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"The Prophet Elisha And Positive Psychology ","post_title":"The Prophet Elisha And Positive Psychology","slug":"the-prophet-elisha-and-positive-psychology","old_id":"63301","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":58418,"post_title":"Naomi (Jaffe) Eini","slug":"naomi-jaffe-eini","old_id":"58418","first_name":"Naomi (Jaffe)","last_name":"Eini","description":"Naomi (Jaffe) Eini is an educational psychologist, lecturer and workshop facilitator, and author of the book, \"Journey To The Real World\" (Hebrew). She is a graduate of Mandel School For Educational Leadership, works at Midreshet Lindenbaum, and is writing a doctorate in psychology at Bar Ilan University.","short_description":"Naomi (Jaffe) Eini is an educational psychologist, lecturer and workshop facilitator, and doctoral candidate in psychology.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":58420,"alt":"","title":"naomi eini","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","width":960,"height":1135,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-768x908.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":908,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-866x1024.jpg","large-width":866,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":1135,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":1135,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1135,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/naomi-eini-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"313","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Word for word, Elisha offers the widow spiritual healing, and a path to abundance","post_main_content_content":"

    I am especially taken by today\u2019s chapter, because of the principles of positive psychology it contains. These were pointed out to me by Rachel Ettun, a family therapist and spiritual caregiver, founder of Haverut and a facilitator at Kolot \u2013 a pluralistic Beit Midrash for the study of Judaism.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    By definition, any kind of therapy is based on: presence, empathic listening, identifying the source of the pain, empowering the client and recruiting them to help themselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    All these elements are concentrated in just four verses:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    A certain woman, the wife of one of the disciples of the prophets, cried out to Elisha: \u201cYour servant my husband is dead, and you know how your servant revered the LORD. And now a creditor is coming to seize my two children as slaves.\u201d Elisha said to her, \u201cWhat can I do for you? Tell me, what have you in the house?\u201d She replied, \u201cYour maidservant has nothing at all in the house, except a jug of oil.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cGo,\u201d he said, \u201cand borrow vessels outside, from all your neighbors, empty vessels, as many as you can. Then go in and shut the door behind you and your children, and pour [oil] into all those vessels, removing each one as it is filled.\u201d (II Kings, 4:1-4)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    A wife of one of the disciples of the prophets had become widowed, and because of extreme financial hardship, her children were in danger of being taken to slavery. In her distress, she calls out for help.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Elisha asks:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201c<\/span>What\u201d \u2013 <\/b>What are you asking and crying out about?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Not every painful issue becomes a cry for help. A person cries out when one difficulty is compounded with others giving rise to existential questions. Her husband had been a God-fearing person so, over and above the emotional and financial issues, there is a cry for help on a theological level of why righteous people suffer.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201c<\/span>Can I do\u201d \u2013 <\/b>The prophet promises not only to speak, but to be active.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cFor you\u201d <\/b>\u2013 the client is you. Not your sons and not the creditors. I am seeing you.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cTell me, what have you\u201d<\/b> \u2013 in terms of positive psychology, Elisha diverts the therapy focus from what is missing to what there is, to the strong points.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cAt home\u201d<\/b> \u2013 The solution will be found in your home: in the physical building, in your family, your heart or your soul.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    A miracle then occurs. From her position of \u201c<\/span>I have nothing\u201d<\/b>, she discovers the <\/span>\u201coil\u201d<\/b> which symbolizes warmth, creation, anointing, holiness and even destruction. And in psychological terms - a potential waiting to be realized.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    When the potential - the basis for functioning and growth will be found, then\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cborrow vessels from outside\u201d <\/b>\u2013 share your difficulties with others and you will receive <\/span>\u201cvessels\u201d <\/b>\u2013 advice and \u201c<\/span>empty\u201d<\/b> \u2013 containment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    And then \u2013 look inwards, and with your sons, <\/span>\u201cremoving each one as it is filled\u201d \u2013 <\/b>you will find abundance within yourself and will be able to help others.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Jars of Clay, Matthew Kennedy (https:\/\/mattiejk.wordpress.com)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63302,"alt":"","title":"2kings4-jars-of-clay","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay.jpg","width":1400,"height":715,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-300x153.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":153,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-768x392.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":392,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-1024x523.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":523,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay.jpg","1536x1536-width":1400,"1536x1536-height":715,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay.jpg","2048x2048-width":1400,"2048x2048-height":715,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-1200x613.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":613,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-822x420.jpg","home_baner-width":822,"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 Prophet Elisha And Positive Psychology","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Word for word, Elisha offers the widow spiritual healing, and a path to abundance","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63302,"alt":"","title":"2kings4-jars-of-clay","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay.jpg","width":1400,"height":715,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-300x153.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":153,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-768x392.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":392,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-1024x523.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":523,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay.jpg","1536x1536-width":1400,"1536x1536-height":715,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay.jpg","2048x2048-width":1400,"2048x2048-height":715,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-1200x613.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":613,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings4-jars-of-clay-822x420.jpg","home_baner-width":822,"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":"II Kings","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"313","date":"20261110","wall_id":"313"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"498","name":"Abundance","old_id":"898"},{"term_id":"931","name":"Elisha","old_id":"1331"}]},{"order":15,"id":"63104","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"When Is Leprosy Not Leprosy? ","post_title":"When Is Leprosy Not Leprosy?","slug":"when-is-leprosy-not-leprosy","old_id":"63104","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. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. 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":"314","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A little biblical dermatology","post_main_content_content":"

    5:3 \u201cAnd she said to her mistress, \u2018Would that my master might come before the prophet who is in Samaria. Then he could cure him of his skin-blanch.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\r\n

    The Hebrew tsara\u2019at <\/em>is traditionally translated as \u201cleprosy,\u201d but the leading symptom mentioned in this narrative and elsewhere is a complete lack of pigmentation, whereas leprosy involves lesions and lumps in the skin and sometimes a slightly paler color but not the ghastly whiteness of which the biblical texts speak. This, then, is a disfiguring skin disease that remains unidentified, and hence the present translation, here and elsewhere, coins a name not to be found in dermatological manuals that refers to the whiteness.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

    From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"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":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"When Is Leprosy Not Leprosy?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A little biblical dermatology","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"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":"II Kings","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"314","date":"20261111","wall_id":"314"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"582","name":"Healing","old_id":"982"}]},{"order":16,"id":"63337","color":"#eceffa","size":"1","name":"Elisha and Some Prophetic Shenanigans ","post_title":"Elisha and Some Prophetic Shenanigans","slug":"elisha-and-some-prophetic-shenanigans","old_id":"63337","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":"314","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What do we look for in a prophet: oratory, or activism?","post_main_content_content":"

    In this chapter, Elisha performed a major miracle and a series of minor wonders that actually make us wonder what prophecy is really all about.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Elisha startled Naaman by suggesting that Naaman cure his leprosy by bathing in the Jordan. Naaman was offended because he saw the Jordan as inferior to the rivers of his homeland, Aram. (This is reminiscent of Mark Twain who thought the Jordan would eclipse the Mississippi and was flabbergasted to discover that he could stand on one side of it and spit across to the other.) However, after acceding to the prophet\u2019s instruction, \u201chis flesh became like a little boy\u2019s, and he was clean\u201d (14). Removing leprosy (or, for that matter, initiating it) is something the Torah associates with Moses (see Exodus 4:6-7) and can rightfully be regarded as major-league prophetic ability.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The force of this miracle, however, seems to be blunted by a succession of relatively minor deeds\u2014related to us over the course of this chapter and the next\u2014that cast Elisha more as a magician than a man of God. First, he sees through Gehazi\u2019s attempt to cover up his unauthorized shakedown of Naaman (5:25 ff.); then, he enables a prophetic trainee to reattach a lost axe head to its shaft (6:6-7); next, he blinds the Assyrian posse pursuing him and leads them straight into captivity in Samaria (6:18 ff.), and, finally, he contrives to learn of a royal plot to assassinate him in time to have it frustrated by trapping its executioner in a doorway (6:32).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Where are the passionate words of rebuke and consolation we have come to expect from prophets? Indeed, what manner of prophet was Elisha\u2014or, for that matter, his master, Elijah? This is an opportunity to draw a distinction between prophets, like Samuel, Nathan, Gad, Elijah, and Eisha, who were dispatched to undertake particular missions\u2014commonly social or political in nature, on account of which they are sometimes called \u201capostolic\u201d prophets\u2014and those, like Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, whose assignments were more culturally or religiously based and therefore required more oratory than activism.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Elisha refusing the gifts of Naaman, by Pieter de Grebber, 1637 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63339,"alt":"","title":"2kings5-Elisha - Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber.jpg","width":1280,"height":803,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber-300x188.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":188,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber-768x482.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":482,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber-1024x642.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":642,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":803,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":803,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber-1200x753.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":753,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings5-Elisha-Pieter_Fransz._de_Grebber-669x420.jpg","home_baner-width":669,"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":"Elisha and Some Prophetic Shenanigans","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What do we look for in a prophet: oratory, or activism?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63339,"alt":"","title":"2kings5-Elisha - 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    The sixth chapter of the Second Book of Kings is fantastical in so many ways. There is an ax handle that floats, an individual who is unable to see at first, \u201cthe hills all around Elisha covered with horses and chariots of fire,\u201d (v.17)\u00a0 and an army that is blinded and then allowed to see again. There is also the scene later in the chapter, while not wondrous but not what the reader might expect, when prisoners of war are treated well, given a feast, and allowed to return to their homes. The outcome of this magnanimous action by the King of Israel under the sage advice of Elisha was that, \u201cthe Aramean bands stopped invading the Land of Israel.\u201d(v.23)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The phrase <\/span>Chariots of Fire<\/span><\/i> (v.17) is also the name of the 1982 Academy Award winning film. The movie focuses on Harold Abrahamson and Eric Liddell and the 1924 Olympics. The title of the movie was taken from the popular British hymn, <\/span>Jerusalem, <\/span><\/i>\u00a0which is sung at the end of the film. The hymn was inspired by William Blake\u2019s poem,\u00a0 <\/span>And did those feet in ancient time. <\/span><\/i>In Blake\u2019s poem we read, \u201cBring me my Chariot of fire!\u201d Blake had a long engagement with the Bible in his poetry and art work. \u201cChariots of fire,\u201d he borrowed from two places in II Kings - Chapter 2 verse 11 , and our Chapter 6 verse 17. <\/span>Another film that can help us understand this chapter better is Woody Allen\u2019s <\/span>Crimes and Misdemeanors <\/span><\/i>where blindness and sight are a leitmotif.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    One could say that sight and blindness are also at play in the transition from summer to fall. What do I mean by that?\u00a0 Summer is coming to a close and in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere green leaves are changing to a rainbow of colors. But what are their true colors? It is easy to assume that green is their real color. In truth the green hides the true colors of the leaves. That is to say most of the year we are blind to their essence. During summer leaves produce chlorophyll that help\u00a0 create energy from the sunlight which in turn gives leaves their green color. In the fall, as daylight shortens and it gets colder, the tree stops the production of chlorophyll which allows for the true color of the leaves to emerge.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In many ways this is a metaphor for the work we do during the <\/span>Yamim Noraim, <\/span><\/i>High Holiday,<\/span> season. During this month of Elul as we prepare for the holidays<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> as well as on <\/span>Rosh Hashanah<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Yom Kippur <\/span><\/i>themselves<\/span>,<\/span><\/i> and the ten days in between, part of our work is to examine who we are and let our true vibrant colors emerge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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    \u201cSo we cooked my son and ate him\u201d (v. 29)\u2014a passing moment in the cycles of kingship that leaves little room for moral judgment. Famine in besieged Samaria has led Israel to cannibalism. When the woman who coaxes this mother into surrendering her child for their survival hides her own, the mother seeks justice. It is not the women but the leaders who have blood on their hands. The culture of economic disparity, political corruption, and religious malfeasance under which these women live cuts to the present.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Sybrina Fulton is running for Miami-Dade County Commissioner. It took her son, Trayvon Martin, being shot down in order for her to stand up. With the other Mothers of the Movement she told the 2016 Democratic National Convention that she did not want the spotlight. She will now do everything she can \u201cto focus some of this light on the pain of a path out of the darkness.\u201d Grief rallies them to lift up the bereaved and take action in the quest for public safety, compassion, and equality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The king of Israel enacts his thoughts and prayers by rending his clothes and blaming Elisha. God\u2019s apparent disloyalty permeates this chapter and its accompanying passages. He seems well on the side of the Syrians as he cures their commander Na\u2019aman of leprosy and spares them becoming prisoners of war in Samaria. Elisha\u2019s servant Gehazi and the lepers who plunder the abandoned Aramaean camp might be forgiven for trying to make ends meet when the country is at war.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But it is the mothers who call BS on the turmoil over which the king of Israel presides.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    • A land in which leaders consider the people\u2019s depravity to be no fault of their own and allow children\u2019s lives to become a deflated currency within their economy of corruption.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    • A tug of war between those who uphold the law as a code for social justice and those who manipulate it to serve their own power and hypocrisy.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    • Kings and presidents scapegoating their prophets and critics.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

      The conditions have a familiar ring.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Israel and Judah\u2019s elite terrorized their own kingdoms by neglecting a covenant with God that obliged them to look after the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the aliens. It was an agreement that even required them to give the land a rest every seventh year.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Samaria fell around 721 BCE and Jerusalem was razed another hundred and thirty or so years later. America, you have been warned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The mothers are marching.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Image: Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin\u2019s parents, photo by David Shankbone, 2012 \/ CC 3.0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63397,"alt":"","title":"2kings6-martin and fulton","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","width":646,"height":621,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton-300x288.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":288,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","medium_large-width":646,"medium_large-height":621,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","large-width":646,"large-height":621,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","1536x1536-width":646,"1536x1536-height":621,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","2048x2048-width":646,"2048x2048-height":621,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","post_full_size-width":646,"post_full_size-height":621,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton-437x420.jpg","home_baner-width":437,"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":"Mother Of The Movement","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A window into the violent ramifications of social disparity in biblical times and in our own","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":63397,"alt":"","title":"2kings6-martin and fulton","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","width":646,"height":621,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton-300x288.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":288,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","medium_large-width":646,"medium_large-height":621,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","large-width":646,"large-height":621,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","1536x1536-width":646,"1536x1536-height":621,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","2048x2048-width":646,"2048x2048-height":621,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton.jpg","post_full_size-width":646,"post_full_size-height":621,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings6-martin-and-fulton-437x420.jpg","home_baner-width":437,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"6","chapter_main_number":"315","date":"20261112","wall_id":"315"},"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\/63150"}],"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=63150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}