{"id":63892,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-326\/"},"modified":"2023-05-07T08:05:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T05:05:35","slug":"wall-326","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-326\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-II Kings-17"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"326","date":"20261129","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"63709","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - 2 Kings Chapter 17 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - 2 Kings Chapter 17","slug":"jps-audio-bible-2-kings-chapter-17","old_id":"63709","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"326","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"2 Kings Chapter 17","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_2_Kings_Chapter_17","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"114658","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Ten Tribes Of Israel ","post_title":"Ten Tribes Of Israel","slug":"ten-tribes-of-israel","old_id":"114658","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":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The rise and fall of the Northern Kingdom\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

There are six fast days. Four of those fast days commemorate events directly connected to the destruction of the Temples (a fifth, <\/span>Ta\u2019anit Esther<\/span><\/em>,<\/span> before Purim, concerns exiles from Judah). On Tisha Ba\u2019av, we read from the Book of Lamentations about the destruction of the First Temple. There are <\/span>kinot<\/span><\/em>, traditional elegiac poetry and chants, that<\/span> commemorate the destruction of the Temples, the death of Talmudic figures, pogroms, crusades, and the Holocaust.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are no <\/span>kinot<\/em> <\/span>or fast days about the North. Even the name Jewish (<\/span>yehudi<\/span><\/em>) comes from the people from Judah (<\/span>Yehudah<\/span><\/em>), and not Israel\/Israelites. The North comprised a majority of the Israelite population in antiquity. It comprised ten of the twelve tribes. And yet, it is all gone. There are theories that the Hebrew communities in India and Ethiopia may be descendants of some of the lost tribes, but besides that, it is a mystery.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The text explains that the king of Assyria came in and moved all the tribes around into various places in the Assyrian empire. The Assyrians then brought in others to live in the land. When lions attacked, the Assyrians imported exiled priests from the North. These priests tried to teach the Samaritans (<\/span>shomronim<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>named after Shomron<\/em>\/Samaria, the former capital of the North) how to be Israelites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The North was created because of the sins of Solomon, the son of David and the builder of the Temple. The hope was that the North could live alongside the south in separate yet religiously united countries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you heed all that I command you\u2026keeping My laws and commandments as My servant David did, then I will be with you and I will build for you a lasting dynasty\u2026I hereby give Israel to you\u201d (I Kings 11:38).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeroboam put an end to that idea almost immediately. His Golden Calves remained an albatross around the neck of every king of the North. The North was exactly what the Israelites wanted. They wanted kings to be just like the other nations- warring, haphazard, and focused on local religions. The people of the North worshiped every god they could get their hands on. God\u2019s prophets tried to sway them back to the right path, but it was to no avail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The South, Judah, did not fare much better. In between some righteous kings, there were plenty of other bad apples. Yet, God did not (yet) wipe out the south because of the House of David. The irony of Solomon\u2019s punishment was that it was really punishment for the North. The South had David\u2019s legacy as protection. The North had no one. There was no lasting dynasty. The last kings of the North all came to power by assassinating their predecessors. The only continuity the North had were the Golden Calves. Perhaps the North was one big warning for the Southern Kingdom. Ignore God and you will be lost to the pages of history.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Assyrian soldier, using a dagger, about to behead a prisoner from the city of Lachish. dating to the reign of Sennacherib, 700-692 BCE. From the South-West Palace at Nineveh, modern-day Iraq, British Museum, London.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But not in the way you might think\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

We find a litany of transgressions committed by the Jewish king (vs 2-5,) the residents of Israel (vs. 7-17, 21-2) and Judah (v. 19,) and the people who were resettled in the Promised Land by the Assyrians (vs.25-34). The latter are referred to in Jewish tradition as <\/span>gerei arayot<\/span><\/em>, lit. \u201cconverts due to lions\u201d. Why?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When they first settled there, they did not worship the LORD; so the LORD sent lions against them which killed some of them. They said to the king of Assyria: \u2018The nations which you deported and resettled in the towns of Samaria, do not know the rules of the God of the land; therefore He has let lions loose against them which are killing them\u2026\u2019 (17:25-26).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It does not come as a surprise that these individuals are considered to both believe in God as well as other deities:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But they did not obey; they continued their former practices. Those nations worshiped the LORD, but they also served their idols. To this day their children and their children\u2019s children do as their ancestors did (verses 40-41).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After all, their conversion was because of the duress caused by indiscriminate lion attacks, orchestrated by God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is interesting that lion attacks were not considered simply a function of the density of the lion and human population in Israel as they probably would today, but rather an act of God. It is reminiscent of the following comment made in the Talmud:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Trajan sought to execute Luleyanus and Pappas in Laodicea, he said to them: If you are from the nation of Chanania, Mishael, and Azaria (<\/span>Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego<\/span><\/em>) let your God come and save you from my hand, just as He saved Chanania, Mishael, and Azaria from the hand of Nebuchadnezzar (<\/span>see Daniel 3<\/span>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They said to him: Chananiah, Mishael, and Azaria were full-fledged righteous people, and they were worthy that a miracle be performed for them, and Nebuchadnezzar was a legitimate king and it is fitting that a miracle be performed through him. But this wicked man is a commoner,\u00a0 and it is not fitting that a miracle be performed through him. And we have been condemned to destruction by God. And if you do not kill us, God has many other executioners; God has many bears and lions in His world that can hurt us and kill us (Ta\u2019anit 18b).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just as the Egyptians, Amalekites, Assyrians, Babylonians, and the Romans were considered implements in God\u2019s arsenal, predatory animals were also viewed as divine surrogates, carrying out God\u2019s will whenever they turned against human beings. Leviticus 26:6 ties together these two elements: \u201cI will give the land respite from vicious beasts, and no sword shall cross your land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77398,"alt":"","title":"amos3-lion","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"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":"Lionizing Converts","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But not in the way you might think","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77398,"alt":"","title":"amos3-lion","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos3-lion-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"579","name":"Convert","old_id":"979"},{"term_id":"660","name":"Animals","old_id":"1060"},{"term_id":"863","name":"Samaritans","old_id":"1263"}]},{"order":4,"id":"64271","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Squandering Opportunities Is A Grave Offense ","post_title":"Squandering Opportunities Is A Grave Offense","slug":"squandering-opportunities-is-a-grave-offense","old_id":"64271","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hoshea may have opened the door, but he didn\u2019t lead the people over the threshold","post_main_content_content":"

In 17:2 we learn of Hoshea\u2019s ascension to the throne, and like many underperforming kings before him we read that \u201che was evil in God\u2019s eyes\u201d, but this time there\u2019s a qualifier: \u201cbut not like the kings of Israel that came before him.\u201d Our sages explain that many generations before Hoshea, King Jeroboam, in his quest to make the Israelites worship at his own shrines, set guards along the road to prevent travelling to Jerusalem for worship. No king after Jeroboam acted to change the status quo until Hoshea, who removed those guards and granted free access to Jerusalem and the Temple.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The notion of travelling to the Temple for those outside of Jerusalem was a new and unnatural idea to the people, and they did not rush to do so. Although Temple worship was a requirement for the Jewish people, failure to do so because they were prevented from it meant they were not held responsible. But, as Eleanor Roosevelt said, \u201cwith freedom comes responsibility.\u201d Now the people were free to fulfil their obligation but chose not to do so. And that, as it turns out, was as close to unforgiveable as God was willing to tolerate, and consequently the people were condemned to be exiled.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps even more serious than the people\u2019s failure to seize an opportunity to fulfill their duty was Hoshea\u2019s failure to order them to do so. Me\u2019am Lo\u2019ez offers this explanation. Yes, Hoshea opened the roads and that was a great thing, but his obligation was to go further. He had the wherewithal to then order, or at the very least encourage the people to raise themselves up and begin to fulfil their new responsibility. Instead, he in essence opened the door but didn\u2019t show the people how to cross the threshold, and that was a failure of his leadership.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As it says in Pirkei Avot (2:16), \u201c<\/span>It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to absolve yourself from it.\u201d Hoshea may or may not have succeeded in leading the people back to Jerusalem had he tried, but as a leader in the position he held, it was incumbent on him to at least make the attempt. Instead he stopped short, and squandered not only an opportunity to lead but an opportunity to fully realize his own potential.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64274,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-threshold","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-300x200.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-768x512.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-1024x683.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-1200x800.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-630x420.png","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Squandering Opportunities Is A Grave Offense","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Hoshea may have opened the door, but he didn\u2019t lead the people over the threshold","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64274,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-threshold","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-300x200.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-768x512.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-1024x683.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-1200x800.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-threshold-630x420.png","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"460","name":"Evil","old_id":"860"},{"term_id":"466","name":"Goodness","old_id":"866"}]},{"order":5,"id":"64268","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"From Samaria to Samaritans ","post_title":"From Samaria To Samaritans","slug":"from-samaria-to-samaritans","old_id":"64268","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":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Converts, yes - but was their conversion sincere?","post_main_content_content":"

After a three-year siege, Samaria fell to the Assyrian king Shalmaneser. Our chapter records its fall in the following words:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria. He deported the Israelites to Assyria and settled them in Halah, at the [River] Habor, at the River Gozan, and in the towns of Media. (17:6)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Following their characteristic practice of transferring populations (which diversified their empire while punishing rebellious tributaries), the Assyrians then took people who were indigenous to those locations and resettled them in Samaria, where \u201cthey did not worship the LORD; so the LORD sent lions against them which killed some of them\u201d (25). Their interpretation of this event was that they \u201cdo not know the rules of the God of the land\u201d (26), whereupon the king had some of the land\u2019s former priests returned there to instruct them in those \u201crules.\u201d The result was a syncretistic form of worship described as: \u201cThey worshiped the LORD, while serving their own gods according to the practices of the nations from which they had been deported\u201d (33).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These, then, were the people who came to be known, during the Second Temple period, as Samaritans, as in the New Testament\u2019s \u201cGood Samaritan,\u201d after whom a famous law is named that provides legal protection to someone who provides assistance to a person who is injured or in danger. Their descendants, still bearing that designation, live in Nablus, in proximity to ancient Samaria, and worship in a temple atop Mt. Gerizim.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Sages of the Talmud, however, were wont to refer to them as Kutheans (<\/span>Kutiyim<\/span><\/em>) on account of their place of origin (24), and debated whether their worship of the LORD was a sincere religious conversion (<\/span>gerei tzedek<\/span><\/em>) or stimulated by fear. Their conclusion was that they were <\/span>gerei arayot<\/span><\/em>\u2014converts on account of the lions\u2014and not to be regarded as Jewish.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Samaritans' Passover pilgrimage on Mount Gerizim, West Bank, 2006 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64269,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-Samaritans","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","width":800,"height":531,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-768x510.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":510,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":531,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":531,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":531,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":531,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-633x420.jpg","home_baner-width":633,"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":"From Samaria To Samaritans","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Converts, yes - but was their conversion sincere?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64269,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-Samaritans","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","width":800,"height":531,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-768x510.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":510,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":531,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":531,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":531,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":531,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-Samaritans-633x420.jpg","home_baner-width":633,"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":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"579","name":"Convert","old_id":"979"},{"term_id":"863","name":"Samaritans","old_id":"1263"}]},{"order":6,"id":"64265","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"The Ten Lost Tribes ","post_title":"The Ten Lost Tribes","slug":"the-ten-lost-tribes","old_id":"64265","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Legend - or reality?","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter includes the tragic exile of the ten northern tribes of Israel to Assyria in the mid-8<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE: \u201c\u2026So Israel was carried away out of their own land to Assyria, unto this day\u201d (II Kings 17:23, see also I Chronicles 5:26).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The specific notice that the Israelite tribes were exiled to Assyria \u201cunto this day\u201d led to the development of the wide-spread legend of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The 1<\/span>st<\/span> century CE Jewish historian, Josephus, (Jewish Antiquities Book XI.133) states as a fact that \"the ten tribes are beyond the Euphrates till now and are an immense multitude and not to be estimated in numbers\". The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 10:3, cf. Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 110b) records a difference of opinion between Rabbi Akiba who contends that the Ten Tribes shall not return again, and Rabbi Eliezer who says: Just as the day grows dark but then becomes light again, so too the Ten Tribes \u201cgrew dark\u201d (i.e. were exiled), but will \u201cgrow light again\u201d (i.e. will return and have a place in the world to come). According to a number of Midrashic sources (Genesis Rabbah 73:6 and parallels) the Ten Tribes were exiled to beyond the legendary river Sambatyon, beyond the darkness. But they shall be gathered and come to Jerusalem in the end of Days (Tanhuma Buber Shelah, Addition 6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Throughout the Middle Ages, reports of contacts with the Ten Lost Tribes continued to proliferate. In the 9th century, the Jewish traveler, Eldad ha-Dani, claimed not only to be a member of the tribe of Dan, but that he had communicated with four of the ten tribes. The 12th century Jewish traveler, Benjamin of Tudela, preserves a long description of the Ten Tribes.\u00a0 According to him the Jews of Persia stated that in the town of Nishapur dwelt the four tribes of Dan, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, who were then governed \u201cby their own prince, Rabbi Joseph Amarkala the Levite\u201d. In the early 16<\/span>th<\/span> century, the Jewish adventurer, David Reuveni, claimed to be the brother of Joseph, the king of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh who were settled in Khaybar in Arabia, which was identified with Habor, mentioned in II Kings 17:6.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the 17<\/span>th<\/span> century, Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel of Amsterdam, in his book Mikve Israel (Hope of Israel, London, 1652) cites reports of South American Indian tribes, practicing some Jewish rituals, who allegedly were descendants of the tribes of Reuben and Levi. He employed this legend in pleading successfully for the readmission of Jews into England during Oliver Cromwell\u2019s regime.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since the 17<\/span>th<\/span> century, various scholars have asserted that the American Indians are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Most particularly, Mordecai M. Noah, the most influential Jew in 19<\/span>th<\/span> century America, an ardent utopian and Zionist, wrote an entire book on this subject \u201cDiscourse on the Evidences of the American Indians being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel\u201d (1837).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Aaron Ben Hayyim, Grodno, 1836, Map of The Tribes of Israel \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64266,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-tribes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","width":521,"height":514,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes-300x296.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":296,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","medium_large-width":521,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","large-width":521,"large-height":514,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","1536x1536-width":521,"1536x1536-height":514,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","2048x2048-width":521,"2048x2048-height":514,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","post_full_size-width":521,"post_full_size-height":514,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes-426x420.jpg","home_baner-width":426,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Ten Lost Tribes","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Legend - or reality?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64266,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-tribes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","width":521,"height":514,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes-300x296.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":296,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","medium_large-width":521,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","large-width":521,"large-height":514,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","1536x1536-width":521,"1536x1536-height":514,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","2048x2048-width":521,"2048x2048-height":514,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes.jpg","post_full_size-width":521,"post_full_size-height":514,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-tribes-426x420.jpg","home_baner-width":426,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"792","name":"Tribes","old_id":"1192"}]},{"order":7,"id":"64276","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Who Gets The Blame And Who The Credit? ","post_title":"Who Gets The Blame And Who The Credit?","slug":"who-gets-the-blame-and-who-the-credit","old_id":"64276","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34250,"post_title":"Sarah Rudolph","slug":"sarah-rudolph","old_id":"34250","first_name":"Sarah ","last_name":"Rudolph","description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor. 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":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sometimes it\u2019s complicated...","post_main_content_content":"

Throughout the years of the two Jewish kingdoms, we hear about the rulers of the northern kingdom who followed in the footsteps of its founder, Jeroboam. Time and again, we hear that he \u2013 and they \u2013 caused others to sin (e.g. I Kings 14:16) by maintaining golden calves for local worship to replace required pilgrimages to the Holy Temple in the other kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When a king finally rises who resists the lure of that precedent, however, we discover some complexities regarding both blame and credit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let\u2019s not get too excited; Hoshea son of Elah also \u201cdid what was displeasing to the LORD.\u201d But his sins were \u201cnot as much as the kings of Israel who preceded him\u201d (17:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Classical commentaries turn to midrashic tradition to explain in what way he wasn\u2019t quite as evil as his predecessors: he removed the guards who had previously ensured no one could make those pilgrimages.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the Talmudic passage (Gittin 88a) these commentators are quoting, however, the question isn\u2019t \u201cwhat was less bad about Hoshea?\u201d but \u201cWhy, if he was less bad, was the kingdom lost in his day?\u201d For the very next verse emphasizes that it was against him that King Shalmaneser of Assyria marched \u2013 the beginning of the end for the Kingdom of Israel. The Talmud explains this juxtaposition by saying he removed the guards: the biblical commentators point out that this concession was a point in the king\u2019s favor, but the Talmud itself is more interested in what it said about his people \u2013 because they still didn\u2019t go on those pilgrimages.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whose fault was it really, all those years that the northern Jews avoided the Temple? We are told it was the fault of Jeroboam, and of his successors \u2013 until the day Hoshea son of Elah stopped the trend and revealed that somewhere along the way, the people gave in, not just in action but in spirit. Once the people demonstrated they didn\u2019t care to worship God even when no one was stopping them, their fate was sealed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So maybe Hoshea son of Elah wasn\u2019t as bad as his predecessors because he didn\u2019t \u201chave\u201d to be; by then, the people were fully capable of sinning on their own.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the flip side, Rashi claims he only removed the guards because the golden calves (intended as alternatives to the Temple) had been lost during the first waves of exile to Assyria \u2013 which implies we shouldn\u2019t give the king too much credit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Who was to blame for the years of inertia? Jeroboam \u2013 at first. Who gets credit for allowing the people to go back to the Temple? King Hoshea \u2013 sort of.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When we tell ourselves we couldn\u2019t help doing something we shouldn\u2019t \u2013 could we, though? Should that blame we ascribe to others, or circumstances, really fall on us?\u00a0<\/span>When we tell ourselves we\u2019ve done a great thing \u2013 is it really us? How much of the credit do we really deserve, and how much is due to others, or circumstances?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes, it\u2019s complicated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Neo-Assyrian Black Limestone Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, Nimrud, 825 BCE, photo:\u00a0 Gary Todd (public domain)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64277,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-shalmaneser","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","width":627,"height":427,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser-300x204.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":204,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","medium_large-width":627,"medium_large-height":427,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","large-width":627,"large-height":427,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","1536x1536-width":627,"1536x1536-height":427,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","2048x2048-width":627,"2048x2048-height":427,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","post_full_size-width":627,"post_full_size-height":427,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser-617x420.jpg","home_baner-width":617,"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":"Who Gets The Blame And Who The Credit?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Sometimes it\u2019s complicated...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64277,"alt":"","title":"2kings17-shalmaneser","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","width":627,"height":427,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser-300x204.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":204,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","medium_large-width":627,"medium_large-height":427,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","large-width":627,"large-height":427,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","1536x1536-width":627,"1536x1536-height":427,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","2048x2048-width":627,"2048x2048-height":427,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser.jpg","post_full_size-width":627,"post_full_size-height":427,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings17-shalmaneser-617x420.jpg","home_baner-width":617,"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":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"}]},{"order":8,"id":"64262","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Exile ","post_title":"Exile","slug":"exile","old_id":"64262","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We yearn for home, in exile from the king\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

When darkness reigns, in exile from the light;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>When gray devours every speck of white<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>On all our prison walls; when in the night,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Vast hordes of wings are heard, prepared to fight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Against the regal throne concealed from sight,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>We yearn for home, in exile from the king. \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For we, the former subjects of the king,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Who in the royal palace used to light<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Bright candles in the throne-room built of white<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And iridescent gems, have lost our sight,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Our candles and our names, yet try to fight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Forgetfulness by dreaming in the night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Each night we dream our exile ends; each night<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>We dream we glimpse the royal throne, our sight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Returned at last, as royal counselors fight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The storm-winds of the night, and crown the king,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>His daughter and his queen; we dream a light<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Embraces us and bathes the palace white.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But we awake to days dyed gray no white<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Can bleach; to hungry bats we try to fight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>As they attack our eyes; to failing light<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>That oozes from a moonless, starless night.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And in our dungeon, we neglect the king<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Who knows the way that could revive our sight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Have any royal counselors kept their sight?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And do they go on searching through the night<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>For maps that could retrieve our missing king,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>His scattered family and his ring?\u00a0 Bring light<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To those who seek the king, who bow to white<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Though darkness reigns, who will not cease to fight.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When will our exile end?\u00a0 For who can fight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To consecrate the palace of the king<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>If eyes are blind, incapable of sight,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>If hands are weak, if skin is leprous-white?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Our ears detect the coming wing of night<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>That swarms with bats; how dare we sing of light?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

O king whose throne lies hidden, grant us sight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And strength to fight the taloned wing of night<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>With royal swords of white and sacred light.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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17:6 \u201cIn the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and exiled Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the towns of Media.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This was a general imperial policy of the Assyrians. They removed the native population of a conquered territory -- though it is not clear whether in fact the entire Israelite population was exiled, as is implied here -- and replaced it with people from the existing empire in order to make the territory an Assyrian province. The sundry groups enumerated in verse 24 who are brought to Samara are all inhabitants of territories conquered by the Assyrians, and so the verb \u201cexiled\u201d is properly applied to their displacement from their native lands to Samaria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/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":"The Assyrian Exile","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Israel on its way to becoming an Assyrian province","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":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"64197","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Removed From God\u2019s Watchful Gaze ","post_title":"Removed From God\u2019s Watchful Gaze","slug":"removed-from-gods-watchful-gaze","old_id":"64197","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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The phrase \u201c[God] removed Israel from before His face\" (II Kings 17:18, 20, 23) is unique to our chapter. Is this harsh expression similar to that of God's \"hidden face,\" (Deut 31:17-18, 32:20) the imagery which connotes divine punishment and withdrawal of protection? Or is it simply a metaphor for exile, not of God's withdrawal but rather of Israel's banishment from God? We would like to offer a third understanding. The Land of Israel itself is where God's presence is most manifest. Ejection from the land is tantamount to banishment from God's domain. We may recall the description of God's continual gaze, focused on the Land of Israel: \u201cBut the land into which you go to possess it, is...a land which the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year\u201d (Deut. 11:10-12).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As such, the Land of Israel and God's presence are synonymous. This is expressed in the following manner by Maimonides:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cA person should always dwell in the Land of Israel, even in a city where most of the residents are gentiles, rather than live outside of the Land in a city where most of the residents are Jewish. For anyone who leaves the Land is considered as if he worships idols, as it says (I Sam. 26:19): \"For they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave to the inheritance of the Lord, saying, 'Go serve other gods.'\" (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 5:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verse cited from Samuel quotes the young outlaw, David, as he is banished from Israel's borders by King Saul. In this verse, he views the Land of Israel as \"the inheritance of the Lord,\" and his banishment from the kingdom as equivalent to serving a foreign god. If we may return to its implication for our chapter, exile is not merely a geographical displacement. The people of Israel have betrayed God's covenant. In response, their exile is not merely ejection from their historic homeland and from self-governance; it is an act of being ousted from association with God and His watchful eye. This has already been spelled out in God's warning to Solomon, expressed earlier in Kings:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut if you turn aside from following Me, you or your children, and do not keep My commandments and my statutes that I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the face of the land that I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of my sight [lit., face], and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And this house will become a heap of ruins\u201d (I Kings 9:6-9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Alex Israel, II Kings: In a Whirlwind<\/em>, Maggid Books, 2019, The Exile and Fall of Samaria\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":"Removed From God\u2019s Watchful Gaze","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The theological side of exile","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_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}},"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":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"430","name":"Land of Israel","old_id":"830"},{"term_id":"432","name":"Exile","old_id":"832"}]},{"order":13,"id":"63761","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- 2 Kings 17 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- 2 Kings 17","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-2-kings-17","old_id":"63761","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cBabylonian and Persian Exile\u201d<\/a> by Jeremy Wexler: Compare and contrast these two major exiles in Jewish history.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cPrison Reform and Jewish Thought\u201d<\/a> by Ricki Heicklen: Sources about incarceration.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - 2 Kings 17","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"64195","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - 2 Kings 17 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - 2 Kings 17","slug":"points-to-ponder-2-kings-17","old_id":"64195","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"326","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Hoshea is not to blame.<\/em> He was actually not too bad, relatively speaking: \u201cHe did what was displeasing to the LORD, though not as much as the kings of Israel who preceded him\u201d (2). Who was to blame? Everybody before him, in a sort of cumulative way - both the responsibility, and the punishment.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Respect<\/em>. They held on for three years against the Assyrian siege - without a king.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. A historic moment.<\/em> Samaria was destroyed in the year 721 BCE, after the Assyrian siege of two and a half years. Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria, began the siege but died after only a few months. His successor Sargon finished the work of conquering Samaria and exiling its inhabitants.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Addiction<\/em>. That\u2019s how the depth of the sin is described in verse 17: \u201cThey consigned their sons and daughters to the fire; they practiced augury and divination, and gave themselves over [<\/span>vayitmakru, <\/span><\/i>mod Heb, addiction] to what was displeasing to the LORD and vexed Him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. The Samaritans<\/em>. There is still a Samaritan community in Samaria (and in Holon). They find the story that\u2019s told in this chapter insulting. Their own narrative is different. According to them, they are the original Israelites, who never went anywhere, who stayed and loyally preserved the Torah, and the holy place (Mt. Gerizim), from then until now.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"2 Kings 17","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"II Kings","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"326","date":"20261129","wall_id":"326"},"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\/63892"}],"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=63892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}