{"id":64607,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-336\/"},"modified":"2023-05-21T15:38:38","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T12:38:38","slug":"wall-336","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-336\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Isaiah-2"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"336","date":"20261213","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"64612","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 2 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 2","slug":"jps-audio-bible-isaiah-chapter-2","old_id":"64612","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":"336","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":"Isaiah Chapter 2","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_Isaiah_Chapter_2","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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"64766","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Listening To The Prophets with Rabbi Abby Sosland- Isaiah 2 ","post_title":"Listening To The Prophets with Rabbi Abby Sosland- Isaiah 2","slug":"listening-to-the-prophets-with-rabbi-abby-sosland-isaiah-2","old_id":"64766","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":56624,"post_title":"Abby Sosland","slug":"abby-sosland","old_id":"56624","first_name":"Abby ","last_name":"Sosland","description":"Rabbi Abby Sosland is a spiritual advisor, writer, and educator, based at The Leffell School in Westchester, New York. 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In the days to come, The Mount of the LORD\u2019s House shall stand firm above the mountains And tower above the hills; And all the nations shall gaze on it with joy (verse 2).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The chapter opens with a positive vision of the future, where Jerusalem and the Temple will reign supreme. Isaiah focuses on the mountain itself being placed firmly above all other mountains and towering above all other hills. The temple mount is not a very tall mountain, and is not even the tallest mountain around it. This is most likely a symbolic idea that everyone will look to the temple mount as a place of honor and awe. Although, there is always the possibility that this could be taken literally and that God will raise the Temple mount high above the surrounding areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This image also brings to mind a famous midrash about Mt. Sinai. God searched for the perfect mountain to give the Torah. All the tall green mountains pushed to the front to claim that they were the ideal locations for the giving of the Torah. Mt. Sinai, the humble, small bare mountain stayed silent. God took note of the humble mountain and decided to select Mt. Sinai as the location for giving the Torah. Such a mountain set the best example for the great message of the Torah. As a reward, God beautified the mountain with greenery and flowers. The Temple mount, although smaller than the surrounding mountains, and not particularly resplendent, will receive a similar treatment to Mt. Sinai.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of the chapter, Isaiah continues with the theme when discussing the idolaters and enemies of God.\u00a0 After the famous line of beating swords to plowshares, God turns his wrath on the false gods and idolaters:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And men shall enter caverns in the rock And hollows in the ground\u2014Before the terror of the LORD\u2026 And they shall enter the clefts in the rocks And the crevices in the cliffs, Before the terror of the LORD\u2026 (verses 19,21).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If the Temple Mount is exalted and made high, then it makes sense that the enemies of God would find themselves in the exact opposite place. This is why Isaiah uses the image of the idolaters scurrying away into caves and crevices deep inside the ground.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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At The End Of Days","post_title":"Jerusalem At The End Of Days","slug":"jerusalem-at-the-end-of-days-2","old_id":"115082","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Isaiah\u2019s vision of Jerusalem as a spiritual lighthouse\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a>, Isaiah\u2019s second prophecy, is an often-cited prophetic vision of Jerusalem as the imperial capital of all the nations of the world at the end of days. This vision begins:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the days to come, the Mount of the Lord\u2019s House shall stand firm above the mountains and be lifted above the hills; and all the nations shall gaze on it with joy. And the many peoples shall go and say: \u2018Come, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; that He may instruct us in His ways, and that we may walk in His paths\u2019. For instruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbinic sages pondered just how the Temple \u201cshall stand firm above the mountains\u201d. According to<\/span> Midrash Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana<\/span><\/a>, Rabbi Pinhas said in the name of Rabbi Reuven: In the future the Holy One will bring Sinai, Tabor and Carmel together to build the Temple on their collective summits. For Scripture says: \u201cIn the days to come, the Mount of the Lord\u2019s House shall stand firm above the mountains\u201d. Rabbi Huna responded: \u201cIs that all you have to add on this verse?!\u201d. Rather, the Temple shall sing out and the other mountains shall respond, as suggested by this and the parallel verse in<\/span> Micah 4:1<\/span><\/a>, which state that the Temple \u201cshall be lifted (<\/span>nissa\u2019<\/span><\/em>) above the hills\u201d. And the word \u201c<\/span>nissa\u2019<\/span><\/em>\u201d, indicates that the hills shall \u201clift\u201d up their voices in song. Rabbi Hoshaia in the name of Rabbi Afes chimed in that in the future Jerusalem shall become a beacon for the nations of the world and they shall walk by its light, as it<\/span> says<\/span><\/a>: \u201cAnd nations shall walk by Your light\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This midrash may be a reflection of two of the \u201cseven wonders of the world\u201d, the<\/span> Colossus of Rhodes<\/span><\/a> and the<\/span> Pharos of Alexandria<\/span><\/a>, each of which was a legendary gigantic structure that served as a lighthouse to guide incoming ships.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Significantly, what the nations proclaim in Isaiah\u2019s vision of Jerusalem at the End of Days, \u201cCome, let us go up to the Mount of the Lord\u2026that we may walk in His paths\u201d is graphically depicted on the<\/span> cover<\/span><\/a> of the 17 volumes of the <\/span>Encyclopedia Judaica<\/span><\/em> (1971-1972).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78268,"alt":"","title":"mic4-lighthouse","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","width":793,"height":1173,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-692x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":692,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-692x1024.jpg","large-width":692,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","1536x1536-width":793,"1536x1536-height":1173,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","2048x2048-width":793,"2048x2048-height":1173,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","post_full_size-width":793,"post_full_size-height":1173,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-284x420.jpg","home_baner-width":284,"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":"Jerusalem At The End Of Days","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Isaiah\u2019s vision of Jerusalem as a spiritual lighthouse","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78268,"alt":"","title":"mic4-lighthouse","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","width":793,"height":1173,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-692x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":692,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-692x1024.jpg","large-width":692,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","1536x1536-width":793,"1536x1536-height":1173,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","2048x2048-width":793,"2048x2048-height":1173,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse.jpg","post_full_size-width":793,"post_full_size-height":1173,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/mic4-lighthouse-284x420.jpg","home_baner-width":284,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"635","name":"Jerusalem","old_id":"1035"},{"term_id":"778","name":"Temple","old_id":"1178"}]},{"order":5,"id":"64802","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Prophets of Today: Marc Benioff ","post_title":"Prophets of Today: Marc Benioff","slug":"prophets-of-today-marc-benioff","old_id":"64802","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38986,"post_title":"Philip Stein","slug":"philip-stein","old_id":"38986","first_name":"Philip ","last_name":"Stein ","description":"Philip Stein is the founder and managing partner of Philip Stein & Associates Ltd., the largest U.S. accounting firm in Israel. Philip made Aliyah 39 years ago with his wife Judy. Philip is a regular blogger and has a Podcast called \u201cFrom the Midwest to the Middle East\u201d which is followed by thousands of listeners.","short_description":"Philip Stein is an accountant and the founder and managing partner of Philip Stein & Associates Ltd.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38987,"alt":"","title":"philip stein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-e1535624473455.jpg","width":724,"height":688,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-e1535624473455-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-e1535624473455-300x285.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":285,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-768x513.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":513,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-1024x684.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":684,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-e1535624473455.jpg","1536x1536-width":724,"1536x1536-height":688,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-e1535624473455.jpg","2048x2048-width":724,"2048x2048-height":688,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-1200x801.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":801,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/philip-stein-e1535624473455-442x420.jpg","home_baner-width":442,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Founder of Salesforce - Serving stakeholders, not only shareholders","post_main_content_content":"

Marc Benioff is the founder of Sales Force but more importantly he is an advocate that companies must serve many sectors of societies. His newest expression is not only to serve shareholders but also stakeholders. Stakeholders can be a company\u2019s employees, customers, neighbors and members of the wider community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He started a program called 1-1-1, which my firm has adopted. His company gives 1% of its profits, 1% of his employees time to volunteer work and 1% of his company\u2019s products.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He is truly a prophet for social justice and tikkun olam, by harnessing the power commercial enterprises for social good.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

photo: Marc Benioff, by Rory Cellan, 2015 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64803,"alt":"","title":"Marc_Benioff_2015","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","width":800,"height":1148,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-209x300.jpg","medium-width":209,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-714x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":714,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-714x1024.jpg","large-width":714,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1148,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1148,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1148,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-293x420.jpg","home_baner-width":293,"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":"Prophets Of Today","tile_main_caption":"Marc Benioff ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Founder of Salesforce - Serving stakeholders, not only shareholders","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64803,"alt":"","title":"Marc_Benioff_2015","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","width":800,"height":1148,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-209x300.jpg","medium-width":209,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-714x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":714,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-714x1024.jpg","large-width":714,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1148,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1148,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1148,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Marc_Benioff_2015-293x420.jpg","home_baner-width":293,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"327","name":"Today's Prophets","old_id":"727"},{"term_id":"440","name":"Wealth\/money","old_id":"840"},{"term_id":"592","name":"Economy","old_id":"992"}]},{"order":6,"id":"64781","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Isaiah in Heschel\u2019s House of Study ","post_title":"Isaiah in Heschel\u2019s House of Study","slug":"isaiah-in-heschels-house-of-study","old_id":"64781","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64462,"post_title":"Analia Bortz","slug":"analia-bortz","old_id":"64462","first_name":"Analia ","last_name":"Bortz ","description":"Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz is a medical doctor with postdoctoral studies in Bioethics. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64463,"alt":"","title":"analia bortz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","width":225,"height":225,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","medium_large-width":225,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","large-width":225,"large-height":225,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","1536x1536-width":225,"1536x1536-height":225,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","2048x2048-width":225,"2048x2048-height":225,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","post_full_size-width":225,"post_full_size-height":225,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","home_baner-width":225,"home_baner-height":225}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Dialogue will transform swords into plowshares","post_main_content_content":"

I imagine the prophet Isaiah sitting in the last row at the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who is conveying to his class the concept of \u201cRadical Amazement\u201d. Isaiah looks through his notes, raises his hand and says, \u201cI know of Radical Amazement, it\u2019s in my book, chapter 2.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The vision of Isaiah 2 transports\u00a0 the audience towards the \u201cdays to come\u201d, a messianic era preceded by the majestic \u201cMount of the Lord\u2019s House\u201d from where the teachings of Torah will have emerged: \u201cThe instructions of Torah will come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is there more than one Torah? Besides the different academic developments that point out the many biblical texts anchored in various traditions, this question addresses the distinctive ways we receive our Torah, seeing it through the lenses that portray the endless possibilities of interpretations. So is there more than one Torah? Is there more than one Zion?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The vision of Isaiah leaves room for interpretation. As Rashi explains on Isaiah 2:3, <\/span>El Beit Elohey Yaakov<\/span><\/em>, The House of the God of Jacob, is not about Jacob as an individual. Jacob called it <\/span>Beit El<\/em> <\/span>(the House of God), Abraham called it <\/span>Adonai Yireh<\/em> <\/span>(God will see)<\/span> and Isaac called it <\/span>sadeh<\/span><\/i> (field). The presence of God in our patriarchs\u2019 lives was characterized by different dimensions of understanding. God appears in different modes and we, as seekers, constantly look for God\u2019s presence, in a dynamic process of approaching our relationship with the divine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The interpretation of Torah allows us to maintain a dynamic process and not to petrify the Book as a piece in a museum, dry and closed to fresh understandings. In the marketplace of ideas, individual elucidations contribute to the ecosystem of narratives, together enriching the variety of thoughts that make up the collective narrative. Together, we constitute the body of the collective narrative of the Jewish people by adding our views with fresh eyes to the ocean of possibilities. We might be sympathetic to other ideas, or we might disagree with them, but we should certainly embrace disagreement as a springboard for the higher purpose of learning from each other and with each other.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah is alive and well, God is alive and well, once we give room for respectful conversation. In the disagreement we might find the path to new interpretations. Dialogue and mutual understanding will transform swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I imagine Isaiah sitting in Heschel\u2019s Beit Midrash, and the twentieth century <\/span>Rebbe<\/em> <\/span>smiling with awe as the prophet raised his hand.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Abraham Joshua Heschel wall mural \/ Heschel School, New York (photo by Jeremy Benstein, 2017).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64782,"alt":"","title":"heschel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","width":1782,"height":1899,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-768x818.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":818,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-961x1024.jpg","large-width":961,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1441,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1782,"2048x2048-height":1899,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-1126x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1126,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-394x420.jpg","home_baner-width":394,"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":"Isaiah in Heschel\u2019s House of Study","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Dialogue will transform swords into plowshares","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64782,"alt":"","title":"heschel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","width":1782,"height":1899,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-768x818.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":818,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-961x1024.jpg","large-width":961,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1441,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1782,"2048x2048-height":1899,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-1126x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1126,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-394x420.jpg","home_baner-width":394,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"656","name":"Heschel","old_id":"1056"},{"term_id":"782","name":"Wonder","old_id":"1182"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":7,"id":"64787","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Absurdity of War ","post_title":"The Absurdity Of War","slug":"the-absurdity-of-war","old_id":"64787","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36147,"post_title":"Aaron Koller","slug":"aaron-koller","old_id":"36147","first_name":"Aaron","last_name":"Koller","description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of the Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS\/University of Nebraska Press in 2020); he is also the author of numerous studies in Semitic philology. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. He lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Shira Hecht-Koller, and their children.","short_description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, and chair of the Department of Jewish Studies there.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36148,"alt":"","title":"AJ Koller headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In the absence of a recognized judicial authority, we resort to mutual destruction\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

It is one of the most famous prophetic lines of the entire Hebrew Bible: \u201cFor instruction (<\/span>torah<\/span><\/em>) shall come forth from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. \u2026 [The many nations] shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks \/ A nation will not take up sword against nation, and they will never again know war.\u201d The first part is recited in congregations every time the Torah scroll is taken out. The second part is inscribed on the \u201cIsaiah Wall\u201d across from the United Nations. But putting aside the question of attribution \u2013 virtually the same prophecy appears in Micah 4 \u2013 and the fact that no one anymore knows what a plowshare is, what exactly does Isaiah have in mind?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The key is to realize that the \u201cinstruction\u201d is not religious. It is wise, diplomatic, international guidance: \u201cThus He will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples.\u201d The reason there will be no more war is because there will be a Wise Judge, whose rulings issued from Jerusalem will undercut any reasons for war.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a profound question about international relations raised here. If my neighbor and I have a border dispute, we do not (usually) arrange our weapons and our friends and shoot it out until one of us gives in. There are, in any civil society, peaceful ways of resolving such disputes, involving courts and judgments. So why, if two countries have a dispute, is this \u201cnaturally\u201d resolved through the slaughter of thousands or millions of innocent young people sent out to massacre each other until one side\u2019s leader decides it\u2019s too much? The only real answer to this question is that there is no agreed-upon court, so in the absence of a judicial authority, we resort to mutual destruction as a method of solving problems.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here is where the prophetic vision comes in. What if we can convince the \u201cmany nations\u201d that there is such an authority, an unbiased and wise Judge whose rulings will obviate the need for war? Instruction will come forth from Zion! If this can be accomplished, the nations will beat their swords into plowshares for the simple reason that they will no longer be needed. Despite the presence of this quote outside the UN, we are still awaiting a world in which this is the case. But Isaiah\u2019s vision may guide us in realizing the need for such an authority, and the absurdity of war as a method of arbitration.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Let Us Beat Swords Into Plowshares<\/em>, bronze sculpture created by Soviet artist Evgeny Vuchetich and presented to the United Nations in December 1959 by the Government of the USSR \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64788,"alt":"","title":"is2-russian 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Absurdity Of War","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the absence of a recognized judicial authority, we resort to mutual destruction\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64788,"alt":"","title":"is2-russian 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34236,"alt":"","title":"Marc Gitler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","width":407,"height":407,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","medium_large-width":407,"medium_large-height":407,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","large-width":407,"large-height":407,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","1536x1536-width":407,"1536x1536-height":407,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","2048x2048-width":407,"2048x2048-height":407,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","post_full_size-width":407,"post_full_size-height":407,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","home_baner-width":407,"home_baner-height":407}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"No going back - or forward - to Eden","post_main_content_content":"

Towards the end of the previous chapter Isaiah yearns for the restoration of the judges and counselors of the past. In his vision, restoring honored men, and women in our times, to such positions will allow Jerusalem to revert to a city of righteousness. Yet, a reading of the previous prophetic books raises major questions regarding Isaiah\u2019s nostalgia. Was David such a great and honest judge when he slept with Bathsheba, or took a census, or choose for all of Israel to suffer during a plague? Solomon was the wisest of judges, but was his oppressive national forced labor (mas<\/em>), ala Pharaoh\u2019s, the hallmark of justice?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah\u2019s belief in a just past is coupled with his vision of the harmonic future in our chapter. His utopian image of the end of days when all nations will stream to Jerusalem for life lessons from God, and then beat their weapons into ploughshares is glorious, but sadly has never worked in practice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nearly one hundred years ago Leon Trotsky described his vision of the Soviet Socialist Republic:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"The human species, the coagulated <\/span>Homo sapiens<\/span><\/em>, will once more enter into a state of radical transformation, and, in his own hands, will become an object of the most complicated methods of artificial selection and psychophysical training. \u2026 The average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. And above this ridge new peaks will rise<\/span>.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet within a decade the Soviets would be crossbreeding people with apes to create invincible humans and establishing camps for dissidents that would turn into the gulags, where millions of Russians were murdered. While many other attempted utopias, whether in literature or reality, didn\u2019t result in such horrors, the grand visions are lovely, but always seem to fail.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The two fiery swords still guard Eden, not only keeping out Adam and Eve, but also telling us that humanity should attempt to achieve small incremental advances (such as those described by Michael Shermer in his book <\/span>Bend the Arc<\/span><\/i>) then dream of, or even worse try to implement, collective visions of perfected paradises.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Thomas Cole, \u201cExpulsion from the Garden of Eden\u201d 1828 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64773,"alt":"","title":"Is2-eden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","width":799,"height":579,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-300x217.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":217,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-768x557.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":557,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","large-width":799,"large-height":579,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","1536x1536-width":799,"1536x1536-height":579,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","2048x2048-width":799,"2048x2048-height":579,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","post_full_size-width":799,"post_full_size-height":579,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-580x420.jpg","home_baner-width":580,"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":"Nostalgia Plus Utopian Thinking Spells Problems","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No going back - or forward - to Eden","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64773,"alt":"","title":"Is2-eden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","width":799,"height":579,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-300x217.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":217,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-768x557.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":557,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","large-width":799,"large-height":579,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","1536x1536-width":799,"1536x1536-height":579,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","2048x2048-width":799,"2048x2048-height":579,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden.jpg","post_full_size-width":799,"post_full_size-height":579,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Is2-eden-580x420.jpg","home_baner-width":580,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"674","name":"Eden","old_id":"1074"},{"term_id":"810","name":"Nostalgia","old_id":"1210"},{"term_id":"837","name":"Judges","old_id":"1237"}]},{"order":9,"id":"64784","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Making Warfare Obsolete ","post_title":"Making Warfare Obsolete","slug":"making-warfare-obsolete","old_id":"64784","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","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 in 1974. 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","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But isn\u2019t there \u201ca time for peace - and a time for war?\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

Isaiah 2 is unevenly divided between verses forecasting a glorious future time of peace, tranquility, and universal Torah-learning (v. 1-4,) on the one hand, and statements describing an inglorious present, in which idolatry, materialism, and human arrogance will be threatened with obliteration by God\u2019s wrath (v. 5-22,) on the other.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Among the opening verses of the chapter, is found one of the most iconic and well-known texts in all of the Bible: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus He will judge among the nations and arbitrate for the many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Similar terminology appears in Mica 4:3, but the verse is typically associated with its Isaiah source.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The popular appeal of Isaiah 2:4 is reflected in its <\/span>having been put to music<\/span><\/a>, as well as being literally \u201cwritten in stone,\u201d on a portion of the United Nations building in New York, NY, known as \u201cThe Isaiah Wall\u201d (see cover image).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verse asserts that warfare between nations, whereby so many soldiers and civilians worldwide have been regularly killed or injured, as well as homes, institutions, cities and the countryside destroyed, will eventually become obsolete. Stockpiles of weapons, which in the past were associated at best with \u201cmutual deterrence,\u201d will be repurposed for peaceful ends. Consequently, not only will wars no longer be waged, but also the weaponry by which wars have been fought, will simply cease to exist, beyond perhaps a museum that wishes to provide its visitors with a glimpse of humanity\u2019s bloodthirsty and barbaric past. It is interesting to consider whether those living in that future era will have any interest in revisiting civilization\u2019s horrific past, to see how civilization once so violently sorted out its disagreements.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, another biblical verse suggests that war is eternally part-and-parcel of human life as much as planting, building walls, and gathering stones: \u201cA time for loving and a time for hating; a time for <\/span>war<\/span> and a time for <\/span>peace\u201d<\/span> (Ecclesiastes 3:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A means of reconciling Isaiah 2:4 with Ecclesiastes 3:8 would be to insist that while warfare is regrettably still very much with us now, in the Messianic future it simply will no longer be, and many of the couplets in Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 will have to be reformulated in light of the new reality that will overtake the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Isaiah Wall, across the street from the United Nations building, New York \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64785,"alt":"","title":"is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"Making Warfare Obsolete","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But isn\u2019t there \u201ca time for peace - and a time for war?\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64785,"alt":"","title":"is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-vv3-4-Isaiah_Wall-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"409","name":"Peace","old_id":"809"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"}]},{"order":10,"id":"64796","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Swords Into Plowshares ","post_title":"Swords Into Plowshares","slug":"swords-into-plowshares","old_id":"64796","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":60755,"post_title":"Katja Vehlow","slug":"katja-vehlow","old_id":"60755","first_name":"Katja ","last_name":"Vehlow ","description":"Dr. Katja Vehlow is a rabbinical student at JTS in New York City. 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The book of Isaiah describes the turbulence leading to the Assyrian invasions of the northern kingdom and eventually Judah, events that the eighth-century BCE prophet might have experienced during his lifetime. But before Isaiah gets started, this chapter offers us a compelling vision of peace. At its heart is God\u2019s own city, Jerusalem, the center of wisdom \u2013 \u201cfor instruction shall come forth from Zion, God\u2019s word from Jerusalem,\u201d (3) words sung in many communities as the Torah scroll is wrapped before it is returned to the ark.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is followed almost immediately by another powerful passage, one that proved to be so meaningful that it is repeated throughout the Tanakh (cf. Joel 4:10, Micah 4:3 et al.): \u201cAnd they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war\u201d (4).\u00a0 Expressing a yearning for peace and a life of plenty, the phrase \u201cswords into plowshares\u201d reveals the glaring absence of the same in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is not a new observation: some medieval Jewish commentators liked to point out that that the presence of suffering in the world indicated that the messiah had in fact not yet come, a not-so-subtle jab at their Christian neighbors. More recently, the phrase inspired Leo Tolstoy\u2019s novella <\/span>Kreutzer Sonata<\/span><\/em>, the 1980s anti-nuclear armament peace movements in Germany and many artists: from the spiritual <\/span>Down by the Riverside<\/span><\/em> to Michael Jackson\u2019s <\/span>Heal the World<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In 2000, the Jewish theologians who had convened to affirm the new relationship between Jews and Christians, stressing common ground while affirming theological differences between the two, chose this quote to conclude their statement, known as <\/span>Dabru Emet<\/span><\/em> (Speak the Truth). In their eyes, Isaiah\u2019s words served as an inspiration \u201cthat s<\/span>eparately and together, we must work to bring justice and peace to our world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah\u2019s vision might seem overly optimistic, and perhaps na\u00efve. Then, as today, we are far away from living in a peaceful world filled with peace. At the same time, the words \u201cswords to plowshares\u201d leave no doubt that even in these envisioned perfect days, the work is not done. The swords did not turn into plushy beds to lounge in, but into plowshares. This is, in all its dreaminess, a realistic vision. Working a plough remains hard work, even with the aid of a twenty-first century tractor. Isaiah\u2019s vision then also reminds us that a perfect time is a time where every person can enjoy the fruits of their labor, a labor that is not destructive, forced labor but rather nourishing and sustaining.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64797,"alt":"","title":"is2-mural","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","width":500,"height":374,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":374,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":374,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":374,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":374,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":374,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-mural.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":374}},"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":"Swords 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Universal Vision ","post_title":"Isaiah\u2019s Universal Vision","slug":"isaiahs-universal-vision","old_id":"64799","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64460,"post_title":"Vincent Calabrese","slug":"vincent-calabrese","old_id":"64460","first_name":"Vincent ","last_name":"Calabrese ","description":"Vincent Calabrese is a doctoral student in Jewish thought at the University of Toronto and a rabbinical student at the Hadar Institute","short_description":"Vincent Calabrese is a doctoral student in Jewish thought at the University of Toronto and a rabbinical student at the Hadar Institute","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64461,"alt":"","title":"vincent 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may be part of current reality, but it is not part of redemption","post_main_content_content":"

The second chapter of Isaiah contains the first eschatological vision to be found in the Hebrew Bible. Its opening verses \u2014 which speak of a time when \u201cinstruction shall come forth from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem\u201d; of a day in which universal justice reigns; and finally of the moment in which \u201cNation shall not take up sword against nation\u201d and we \u201cshall never again know war\u201d \u2014 are, justly, among the most famous uttered by any of Israel\u2019s prophets (Isaiah 2:3-4). In order to better understand the depth and power of this prophecy, there are two sources to which it will be helpful to turn: the promises which God made to Abraham in Genesis, and the conquest narratives from the Book of Judges.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Genesis, God\u2019s promise to Abraham was twofold. One side concerned the unique, eternal bond between God and Abraham\u2019s progeny, who are to be numerous as the stars in the sky. But the other, no less central, was the pledge that Abraham would be the \u201cfather of a multitude of nations\u201d (Genesis 17:5) \u2014 that one day \u201call the families of the earth will bless themselves by you\u201d (Genesis 12:3). Isaiah\u2019s startling universalism, then, is not an innovation but gives new detail to the ancient promise of God to Abraham, and firmly grounds the particular covenantal life of the Jews in the context of the family of nations. Although the Torah is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob, it was for the sake of the salvation of the whole world that it was given to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

More troubling, but no less crucial, for understanding this prophecy is Judges. In the third chapter of that book, we read of \u201cthe nations that the LORD left so that he might test by them all the Israelites who had not known any of the wars of Canaan, so that succeeding generations of Israelites might <\/span>be made to experience war<\/em> <\/span>\u2026 to learn whether they would obey the commandments which the LORD had enjoined upon their fathers through Moses\u201d (Judges 3:1-4) The italicized language here closely parallels that of Isaiah \u2014compare Judges\u2019 <\/span>lelamdam mil\u1e25ama<\/span><\/em> (literally \u201cto teach them war\u201d) to Isaiah\u2019s <\/span>lo yilmedu od mil\u1e25ama<\/span><\/em> (\u201cthey shall never again know war\u201d) \u2014 and it is reasonable to suppose that the literary connection is not accidental.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The passage from Judges suggests that, despite the universalistic <\/span>telos<\/span><\/em> discussed above, there may be times when division, conflict, and even war may be necessary to further the cause of Torah. Isaiah\u2019s prophecy does not necessarily reject this idea as such \u2014 but it does insist that such dynamics have no place in the act of redemption. There may be times which are right for war, but we can never forget that the very presence of division and conflict provide proof that we are not living in \u201cthe days to come\u201d (Isaiah 2:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Swords Into Plowshares, Lee Lawrie, gilded intaglio carving, Rockefeller Center (19 West 50th Street entrance of 630 Fifth Avenue), 1937.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64800,"alt":"","title":"is2-rockefeller","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","width":445,"height":298,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","medium_large-width":445,"medium_large-height":298,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","large-width":445,"large-height":298,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","1536x1536-width":445,"1536x1536-height":298,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","2048x2048-width":445,"2048x2048-height":298,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","post_full_size-width":445,"post_full_size-height":298,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","home_baner-width":445,"home_baner-height":298}},"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":"Isaiah\u2019s Universal Vision","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"War may be part of current reality, but it is not part of redemption","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64800,"alt":"","title":"is2-rockefeller","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","width":445,"height":298,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","medium_large-width":445,"medium_large-height":298,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","large-width":445,"large-height":298,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","1536x1536-width":445,"1536x1536-height":298,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","2048x2048-width":445,"2048x2048-height":298,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","post_full_size-width":445,"post_full_size-height":298,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-rockefeller.jpg","home_baner-width":445,"home_baner-height":298}},"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"409","name":"Peace","old_id":"809"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"837","name":"Judges","old_id":"1237"}]},{"order":12,"id":"64778","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jerusalem \u2013 Then, Now And In The Future ","post_title":"Jerusalem \u2013 Then, Now And In The Future","slug":"jerusalem-then-now-and-in-the-future","old_id":"64778","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Spiritual high point, and center","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter begins with one of the most familiar prophecies of Isaiah: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

It shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains\u2026and all the nations shall flow to it and many people shall come, and say: \u2018Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord\u2026For out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem\u201d (2:2-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the early midrashic work, Sifre Devarim (Pisqa\u2019 1, see also Rashi to Zechariah 9:1), Rabbi Yosi ben Dormasqita\u2019, who was from Damascus, declares that in the future Jerusalem will extend to Damascus, and that the Israelite exiles would return to find there a resting place. This he learns by citing two verses: \u201cDamascus is His [God\u2019s] resting-place\u201d (Zechariah 9:1) and \u201cIt shall come to pass in the end of days\u2026many people shall come\u2026\u201d (Isaiah 2:2-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A later midrashic text, Pesiqta de-Rav Kahana (Qumi \u2018Ori -- 21:4), preserves an even more dramatic depiction of Jerusalem in the End of Days: In the future, God will bring together three mountains, Sinai, Tabor and Lebanon, to rebuild on their summits the Temple in Jerusalem. The proof-text cited is our verse: \u201cIt shall come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains\u201d (Isaiah 2:2). This Midrash goes on to claim that, in the future, this rebuilt Temple shall sing, and the mountains shall respond. Moreover, Jerusalem will serve as a beacon for the nations of the world for them to walk in its light, as it says: \u201cNations shall walk in Your light\u201d (Isaiah 60:3). For Israel may be likened to oil in the lamp of the Lord. God says to Israel: My children! Since My light is your light and your light is My light, let us go together to give light to Zion, as it says: \u201cArise, My light [Qumi \u2018Ori], for your light has come\u201d (Isaiah 60:1).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Midrash Pesiqta Rabbati (40) further notes that the Jerusalem Temple was in the \u201cLand of Moriah\u201d (see Genesis 22:2, 2 Chronicles 3:1), which it interprets to mean \u201cthe Land from which Hora\u2019ah [\u201cInstruction\u201d, i.e. Torah] goes forth, as it says: \u201cFor out of Zion shall go forth Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem\u201d (Isaiah 2:3). Significantly, it is this verse that is recited, to our day, as part of the ceremony of taking the Torah Scroll from the Ark in order to read from it aloud. This practice may be related to Talmud Bavli Baba Batra 21a, which states that the verse \u201cFor Torah shall come forth from Zion\u2026\u201d was the biblical basis for the directive that teachers of children should be appointed in Jerusalem. This would seem to have been enacted so that on-going generations of Jews, young and old, may continue to proclaim \u201cthe word of the Lord from Jerusalem\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image:\u00a0 James Tissot, Reconstruction of the Temple of Herod, 1890 \/ Brooklyn Museum<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64779,"alt":"","title":"is2-temple","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple.jpg","width":1536,"height":836,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-300x163.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":163,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-768x418.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":418,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-1024x557.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":557,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":836,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":836,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-1200x653.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":653,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-772x420.jpg","home_baner-width":772,"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":"Jerusalem \u2013 Then, Now And In The Future","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Spiritual high point, and center","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64779,"alt":"","title":"is2-temple","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple.jpg","width":1536,"height":836,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-300x163.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":163,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-768x418.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":418,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-1024x557.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":557,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":836,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple.jpg","2048x2048-width":1536,"2048x2048-height":836,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-1200x653.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":653,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-temple-772x420.jpg","home_baner-width":772,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"500","name":"Messiah","old_id":"900"},{"term_id":"635","name":"Jerusalem","old_id":"1035"}]},{"order":13,"id":"115064","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah2 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah2","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isaiah2","old_id":"115064","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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","post_title":"Don't Stop!","slug":"dont-stop","old_id":"64793","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Don\u2019t stop after beating the swords
\r\ninto plowshares, don\u2019t stop! Go on beating
\r\nand make musical instruments out of them.
\r\nWhoever wants to make war again
\r\nwill have to turn them into plowshares first.<\/p>\r\n

-Yehudah Amichai \/ wikipedia<\/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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Don\u2019t stop after beating the swords into plowshares, don\u2019t stop! Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them. Whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into plowshares first.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"by Yehudah Amichai","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"409","name":"Peace","old_id":"809"},{"term_id":"877","name":"Amichai","old_id":"1277"}]},{"order":15,"id":"64790","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Bilu ","post_title":"The Bilu","slug":"the-bilu","old_id":"64790","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u201cO House of Jacob! Come, let us walk!\u201d","post_main_content_content":"

The 1880\u2019s saw a dramatic increase in pogroms and anti-Semitic laws introduced by the Russian Tsars against the Jews, aiming at \u201ca third of the Jews migrating away, one third - dying of hunger and one third \u2013 getting baptized\u201d. Many laws were directed at limiting where Jews could live; forcing them to be drafted into army service, reduction of their quota in academic institutions which left many jobless; encouragement of the neighboring towns to riot and attack them, and more.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Jews reacted to these pressures in various ways: some joined the Russian parties, integrated into the culture around them and assimilated (some of that accounts for the huge immigration wave from Russia to Israel in recent decades), others left for South and North America, while still others opted for the Zionist movement and a life in the Land of Israel, in what became known as \u201cThe First Aliya\u201d. Their innovation was a desire to live on the Land and specialize in agriculture, as opposed to previous waves of immigration who often went for religious reasons and to die there.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the most famous group in this wave of immigration was known as Bilu. Bilu was an acronym from a verse from this chapter (2:5): <\/span>Beit Yaakov lechu ve\u2019nelcha<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cO House of Jacob! Come, let us walk\u201d. They called for political, national and economic renewal of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, along with the renewal of the Hebrew language. Like other songs and slogans of that era, these early Zionists removed the end of the verse from their name: \u201cBe\u2019or Hashem \u2013 by the light of God\u201d, wishing to go by their own powers and no one else, God included.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first group arrived at Jaffa port on July 6, 1882. Wishing to work the Land, they went to Mikveh Yisrael, an agricultural school founded in 1870. They were a group of 14 students, among them one woman. Therefore, when they rented their two-bedroom apartment, they divided it \u201cfairly\u201d: one room for the 13 men and the other room, for the one woman. Their life in Mikveh Yisrael was extremely difficult and challenging, and in November of that year, they moved to Rishon LeZion and try their luck there.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By 1884 there were close to 50 Bilu pioneers in the Land. Life continued to be hard as initially, crops were limited, and their neighbors complained about them because they were \u201cway too secular.\u201d Some established Gedera, then a semi-cooperative moshava and now a town, just east of Ashdod, while others scattered to different places and even left the country.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The \u201cFirst Aliya\u201d (1881-1904) included 55,000 immigrants of which the Bilu pioneers were but a tiny fraction. Nevertheless, they made at least one of Isaiah\u2019s verses (or part thereof) very famous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You can listen to Bilu\u2019s anthem and read its words here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: The symbol of the Bilu on a window of the synagogue of Gedera, photo by Tamar Hayardeni \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64791,"alt":"","title":"is2-bilu","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","width":650,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu-300x277.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":277,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","medium_large-width":650,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","large-width":650,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","1536x1536-width":650,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","2048x2048-width":650,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","post_full_size-width":650,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu-455x420.jpg","home_baner-width":455,"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 Bilu","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u201cO House of Jacob! Come, let us walk!\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64791,"alt":"","title":"is2-bilu","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","width":650,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu-300x277.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":277,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","medium_large-width":650,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","large-width":650,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","1536x1536-width":650,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","2048x2048-width":650,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu.jpg","post_full_size-width":650,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bilu-455x420.jpg","home_baner-width":455,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"},{"term_id":"638","name":"Zionism","old_id":"1038"}]},{"order":16,"id":"64805","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Prophecy Against the King ","post_title":"Prophecy Against The King","slug":"prophecy-against-the-king","old_id":"64805","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64700,"post_title":"Yaakov Jaffe","slug":"yaakov-jaffe","old_id":"64700","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Jaffe ","description":"Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe is Dean of Judaic Studies at the Maimonides School in Brookline, and is the Rabbi of the Maimonides Kehillah there. He is the author of Isaiah and his Contemporaries, now available from Kodesh Press at: https:\/\/kodeshpress.com\/product\/isaiah-and-his-contemporaries","short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe is Dean of Judaic Studies at the Maimonides School in Brookline, and is the Rabbi of the Maimonides Kehillah there. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64701,"alt":"","title":"yaakov-jaffe","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Uzziah is not mentioned by name - but who else had horses, treasures and idols?","post_main_content_content":"

Though not mentioned by name or title anywhere in the chapter, it is the king and his arrogance and misdeeds that are the focus of the 2<\/span>nd<\/span> chapter. The core idea of the chapter is God\u2019s greatness, contrasted with the smallness of humanity, an idea that is conveyed through the two refrains that each appear three times in the chapter (2:9, 11, 17 \u2013 the haughty person will be lowered; 2:10, 19, 21 \u2013 humanity will hide when awestruck by God\u2019s grandeur).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This prophecy lists many examples of things that exalt God, mostly selected because of their impressive size: the cedars of Lebanon, the oaks of the Bashan, the tall mountains, boats of Tarshish, and towers and walls (2:12-16). Towers and walls are especially selected because the King\u2019s vast military and economic successes were captured in his tumbling the walls of his enemies and his constructing many towers across his kingdom (2 Chronicles 26:6-9).\u00a0 The prophet slyly tells the king: you may think highly of yourself because of your control over walls and towers \u2013 but the Almighty is far greater than they, and so you should lower yourself and cower in humility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The start of the prophecy also deftly implicates the king without mentioning his name.\u00a0 An unnamed individual is excoriated for having no end to his horses, treasurers, and idols (2:7-8), the very same things that are associated with a king (1 Kings 10:18-11:1), which the king is warned not to amass (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). The implication is clear: the king is taking the nation in the wrong direction, and he must change his ways.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Kingdom of Judah lived at a time of great prosperity \u2013 indeed, Uzziah achieves wealth and territorial expansion that none of his successors would achieve \u2013 while serving as king for more than five decades. It was an opportunity for the king to direct the nation towards study of Torah teaching (2:3), and pursuit of a legacy of justice (2:4). But instead, the king modeled for the people the living of a self-centered life without a recognition of God in the picture, and so he leads the people in the wrong direction.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64806,"alt":"","title":"is2-horsemen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen.png","width":922,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-216x300.png","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-738x1024.png","medium_large-width":738,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-738x1024.png","large-width":738,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen.png","1536x1536-width":922,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen.png","2048x2048-width":922,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-864x1200.png","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-303x420.png","home_baner-width":303,"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":"Prophecy Against The King","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Uzziah is not mentioned by name - but who else had horses, treasures and idols?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64806,"alt":"","title":"is2-horsemen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen.png","width":922,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-216x300.png","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-738x1024.png","medium_large-width":738,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-738x1024.png","large-width":738,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen.png","1536x1536-width":922,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen.png","2048x2048-width":922,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-864x1200.png","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-horsemen-303x420.png","home_baner-width":303,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"568","name":"Judah","old_id":"968"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"}]},{"order":17,"id":"64775","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Flying Foxes And Bats ","post_title":"Flying Foxes And Bats","slug":"flying-foxes-and-bats","old_id":"64775","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Weird animals as gods - but why these weird animals?\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

Our chapter, replete with its own mini-introduction (1-2), addresses the eschatological future (<\/span>acharit hayamim<\/span><\/em>) in which people will abandon their arrogant and idolatrous ways and adopt a posture of humble obedience to God. A representative verse is v. 20:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"On that day, men shall fling away, to the flying foxes (<\/span>lachpor-perot<\/span><\/em>) and the bats, the idols of silver and the idols of gold which they made for worshiping.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The general sense of the verse\u2014according to the principal medieval exegetes\u2014is that people will abandon even their most precious idols because they will realize that they are of no avail. Their interpretation, however, does not account for the specific examples cited in the verse.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To better appreciate Mabim\u2019s commentary*, we first need to observe that the translation of <\/span>lachpor-perot<\/span><\/em> (read as a compound word) as \u201cflying foxes\u201d follows the Jewish Publication Society\u2019s 1978 edition, while its own 1917 edition (reading <\/span>lachpor<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>perot<\/span><\/em> separately) utilizes \u201cmoles.\u201d The former is roughly equivalent to Ibn Ezra\u2019s understanding, while the latter is Rashi\u2019s. Malbim, here, follows Rashi. Here is what he said:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Ancient idolaters imputed divinity to living creatures of the land, desert, sea, and air, even to the disgusting vermin that live underground, such as moles and bats\u2026 which they believed to have dominion over ditches and caves in which they dwelt. It was their custom to devote their worship to these creatures whenever they wanted to derive some benefit from the places they dominated. For instance, when sailing, they would worship Dagon [a fish god], when plowing\u2014an ox, and when thy sought refuge in ditches and caves, they would worship images of moles and bats.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the basis of this assertion, [the prophet] says that after idols will be completely eliminated\u2026 even when entering ditches and caves on account of the fear of God [v. 21], not only will they will not replace the idols of these vermin anew, but even the precious silver and gold idols they had made previously will be cast away and no longer worshiped. And what will be the cause of this rejection? \u201cBefore the terror of the LORD and His dread majesty, when He comes forth to overawe the earth\u201d (21).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By explaining the significance of the moles and bats as symbols of authority, Malbim\u2019s commentary enables us to expand the ancient concept of imputing divinity or dominion to lowly vermin into the inclination to \u201cworship\u201d machinery or technology. Modern man is too sophisticated to engage in coarse, primitive idolatry, but has easily segued into tacit submission to the operation of machines and computers, giving them priority over his service to God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*For the significance of Malbim\u2019s commentary to the Book of Isaiah,<\/span> see our introduction to chapter 1.<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64776,"alt":"","title":"is2-bats","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats.png","width":1280,"height":754,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-300x177.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-768x452.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":452,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-1024x603.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":603,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":754,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":754,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-1200x707.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":707,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-713x420.png","home_baner-width":713,"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":"Flying Foxes And Bats","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Weird animals as gods - but why these weird animals?\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64776,"alt":"","title":"is2-bats","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats.png","width":1280,"height":754,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-300x177.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-768x452.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":452,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-1024x603.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":603,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":754,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":754,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-1200x707.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":707,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is2-bats-713x420.png","home_baner-width":713,"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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"},{"term_id":"500","name":"Messiah","old_id":"900"},{"term_id":"660","name":"Animals","old_id":"1060"}]},{"order":18,"id":"64626","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 2 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 2","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-isaiah-2","old_id":"64626","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. 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\u201cThe Purpose of the Mishkan\u201d<\/a> by David Galpert: Explore texts on the Tabernacle.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cUsing Weapons\u201d<\/a> by Ari Saks: Sources on violence and religion.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Isaiah 2","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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":19,"id":"64770","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 2 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 2","slug":"points-to-ponder-isaiah-2","old_id":"64770","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Torah for everyone<\/em>. In the end, everyone will say, \u201cCome, let us go up\u2026\u201d - everyone will want to hear, everyone will want to follow God\u2019s ways. It\u2019s just that, in the meantime, \u201cO House of Jacob! Come, let us walk By the light of the LORD\u201d (verse 5) - because even that is not happening...<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Swords and ploughshares<\/em>. The vision of peace is not quiet on the borders, but the total forswearing of all fighting and weapons, and redirecting all human energy and resources from destruction to growth.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Echoes of earlier law and lore<\/em>. When we read verse 7, we are reminded of the law of the king, that sought to limit the king\u2019s power, wealth and authority: \u201cMoreover, he shall not keep many horses\u2026 And he shall not have many wives, lest his heart go astray; nor shall he amass silver and gold to excess\u2026Thus he will not act haughtily toward his fellows\u201d (Deut 17). Likewise, this reminds of the stories of Solomon, the ancestor of Uzziah, who amassed gold and horses, and built a wealthy kingdom. The wealthiest - that was torn apart in a huge rift immediately following his death.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Man as God<\/em>. The prophecy touches on the deepest meanings of idolatry: the human worship of the products of our own hands (verse 8). Humans worshiping ourselves. The human becoming the \u201cother gods.\u201d That\u2019s the problem. And so, in order to deal with this, we have to deal with human hubris. <\/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":"Isaiah 2","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":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"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\/64607"}],"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=64607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}