{"id":64608,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:52","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1067\/"},"modified":"2023-05-19T13:47:57","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T10:47:57","slug":"wall-1067","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1067\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20230514-to-20230520"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1067","date_from":"20230514","date_to":"20230520","book":"Isaiah","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"46308","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"The Journey To ","post_title":"The Journey To","slug":"the-journey-to","old_id":"46308","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. 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She reads biblical narratives through the prism of midrash, literature, philosophy and particularly psychoanalysis.\r\nShe was born in London and grew up in Glasgow, where her father was a Rabbi and the head of the Rabbinical Court. She studied Torah with him from childhood. Her PhD in English Literature is from Cambridge University, England. She taught English literature at the Hebrew University before turning to teaching Torah. She now teaches throughout the Jewish world, at synagogues, universities, and psychoanalytic institutes.\r\nShe is the author of five critically acclaimed books. Her latest book, Moses: A Human Life, was published by Yale University Press.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg lives and lectures on Torah in Jerusalem. She is the author of five critically acclaimed books. ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34006,"alt":"","title":"Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","width":454,"height":359,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg-300x237.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":237,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":359,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":359,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":359,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":359,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":359,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avivah-Gottlieb-Zornberg.jpg","home_baner-width":454,"home_baner-height":359}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"118","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Indicating both continuity and rupture, the book yields an implicit narrative of catastrophe.","post_main_content_content":"

The book begins with a census of the people. With ceremonious precision, the masses are tallied and choreographed for the march into the Land of Israel. Entry into the Land is imminent; the people the people are arrayed for battle. At the beginning of the book, this is the immediate future of the narrative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The name of the book, therefore\u2014in English (Numbers), in Latin <\/span>(Numeri), <\/span><\/i>in Greek <\/span>(Arithmoi)\u2014<\/span><\/i>conveys <\/span>just this memory of a moment of preparation for the fulfillment of God's grand narrative. The people are counted twice, once in chapter 1, and once toward the the end, in chapter 26. These two moments are thirty-eight years apart; and both, ironically, are in preparation for the imminent wars of conquest of the Land of Israel. Between these two moments, a whole generation dies. What separates the two moments of counting is a total shift in population. The double census lends the Hebrew name a sinister cast. A book that begins in optimism shifts its meanings as the original generation is condemned to die in the wilderness for their sins. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The double census intimates a great failure: an entire generation, with all its expectations, with the presence of God it its midst, has vanished into the sands. The book of Numbers is a narrative of great sadness, in which the <\/span>midbar<\/span><\/em>, the wilderness, swallows up all of the aspirations of a generation--people who experienced the Exodus, the Revelation at Sinai, and the creation of a sanctuary for God. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As a collective, of course, the people of Israel continues. It is constituted by the young (under twenty) of the previous generation and by the new generation. In terms of sheer numbers, there has been no loss. Strikingly, however, there is no mention of births. In a sense, the apparent continuity only serves to emphasize the terror that is encompassed in this narrative. The living presence of <\/span>numbers<\/span><\/em> is transformed in the second census into the record of <\/span>absences<\/span><\/i>. The tale of numbers, therefore, indicates both continuity and rupture, yielding an implicit narrative of catastrophe. In this sense, the book is well named Numbers, as though to indicate the tragic irony of altered expectations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Valentin Drull\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46345,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_228394381","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","width":4167,"height":4157,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-768x766.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":766,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1024x1022.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1022,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1532,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2043,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1200x1197.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1197,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-421x420.jpg","home_baner-width":421,"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 Deeper Meaning of Numbers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Indicating both continuity and rupture, the book yields an implicit narrative of catastrophe.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46345,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_228394381","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","width":4167,"height":4157,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-768x766.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":766,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1024x1022.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1022,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1532,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":2043,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-1200x1197.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1197,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_228394381-421x420.jpg","home_baner-width":421,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"118","date":"20260210","wall_id":"118"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"689","name":"Census","old_id":"1089"},{"term_id":"788","name":"Desert","old_id":"1188"},{"term_id":"789","name":"Numbers","old_id":"1189"}]},{"order":3,"id":"46299","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Belonging Is More Profound Than Being ","post_title":"Belonging Is More Profound Than Being","slug":"belonging-is-more-profound-than-being","old_id":"46299","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46249,"post_title":"Gil Troy","slug":"gil-troy","old_id":"46249","first_name":"Gil ","last_name":"Troy ","description":"Gil Troy is a Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University, has written ten books on the American presidency. A Jerusalem resident, Gil's latest book The Zionist Ideas, updates Arthur Hertzberg\u2019s classic The Zionist Idea. 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In 1973, in his Pulitzer-Prize winning history, <\/span>The Americans: The Democratic Experience<\/span><\/i>, Daniel Boorstin incorporated a beautiful teaching that essentially contrasted modern Americans with the Children of Israel in Numbers, chapter 1. Boorstin appreciated the delightfully democratic impulse behind our constant counting: X percent of Americans belong here! Do this! Believe that! Americans rejected the Old World\u2019s \u201cinvidious distinctions,\u201d rooted in class snobbery, Boorstin explained. \u201cNumbers were neutral.\u201d The \u201cnumbering of people (one person, one vote)\u201d symbolized democratic equality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As an objective historian assessing pros and cons, Boorstin also identified the damage \u201cstatistical communities\u201d caused. Obsessively slotting individuals into categories made membership so passive the relationship risked becoming meaningless. \u00a0These \u201csupermarket of statistics\u201d offered no \u201cmoral guide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Having coined the phrase \u201cpseudo-events\u201d to identify PR stunts staged just to get media coverage, Boorstin essentially, presciently, warned against pseudo-communities too. \u00a0Decades later, our lives are filled with superficial associations: Facebook \u201cfriends\u201d we\u2019ve never met, trends that define us simply by clicking or \u201cliking.\u201d We don\u2019t even notice that a \u201cvirtual community\u201d is an oxymoron \u2013 even as many American Jews seek a Jewish community with no red lines, no meaningful boundaries or definitions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By contrast, unlike our hollowed-out communities, <\/span>Numbers <\/span><\/i>begins with a powerful moral process of community-building. The children of Israel are not mere numbers. They are not just counted passively, logged into a statistical community. They \u2013 we \u2013 are challenged to count, because in this community you only count by standing up for one another.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Far beyond being tabulated in a census, and even more profound than ponying up a shekel to be counted, Verse 45 proclaims the children of Israel \u201cwere counted according to their fathers' houses, from twenty years and upward, all who were fit to go out to the army.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Those who contribute count: creating meaningful communities not statistical communities.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Boorstin and <\/span>Bamidbar<\/span><\/i> help correct the common mistranslation of verse 2, which is often rendered as: \u201ctake the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel.\u201d \u00a0The Hebrew proclaims: \u201cSe\u2019u et rosh kol eidat b\u2019nai yisrael<\/em>.\u201d The first word -- \u201cSin-Aleph-Vav <\/em>-- is related to carrying, lifting up, leading, marrying \u2013 transcending through committing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah \u2013 and Reb Boorstin -- teach that belonging is more profound than being. True belonging entails investing, embracing, truly joining. 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Impossible Journey ","post_title":"The Impossible Journey","slug":"the-impossible-journey","old_id":"46270","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39525,"post_title":"Erica Brown","slug":"erica-brown","old_id":"39525","first_name":"Erica ","last_name":"Brown","description":"Dr. Erica Brown is associate professor at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University and director of its Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership. 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When the Tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the Tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up; any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death. The Israelites shall encamp troop by troop, each man with his division and each under his standard. The Levites, however, shall camp around the Tabernacle of the Pact, that wrath may not strike the Israelite community; the Levites shall stand guard around the Tabernacle of the Pact (Num 1: 51-53).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does one prepare for the wilderness, a place of anxiety and romance, independence and intense dependence? A review of the word \u201c<\/span>midbar<\/span><\/i>\u201d in a Concordance offers us a range of biblical verses that speak of primal love and terror in a wasteland of flash floods, vicious animals, deep darkness and despair. One cannot ever completely prepare for it. Readers of the Book of Numbers will understand the book better if wilderness is studied as an actual character. The natural world the Israelites face was harsh and unforgiving. It makes and breaks people. One scholar notes that there is not one recorded birth in its pages but plenty of deaths, thousands in fact.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

T.\u00a0<\/span>S. Eliot\u2019s \u201cWaste Land\u201d helps us imagine the hardships of such a place: \u201c\u2026I was neither\/Living nor dead, and I knew nothing\/Looking into the heart of light, the silence.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The first ten chapters of Numbers put mechanisms in place to manage this wilderness. Numbers opens with a census to determine a credible army for protection. The camp is divided by tribe and flag with a strategic formation with every pause in the trek. Organization accompanied by intense vigilance was needed to fight the chaos of the wilderness. Discipline of this magnitude is captured magnificently by Amitav Gosh in his historical fiction, <\/span>The Glass Palace<\/span><\/em>, about British rubber plantations tended by in Burma before the Second World War: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis is my little empire...I made it. I took it from the jungle and molded it into what I wanted it to be. Now that it\u2019s mine, I take good care of it. There\u2019s law, there\u2019s order, everything is well run. Looking at it you would think that everything here is tame, domesticated, that all the parts have been fitted carefully together. But it\u2019s when you try to make the whole machine work that you discover that every bit of it is fighting back. It has nothing to do with me or with rights and wrongs. I could make this the best run little kingdom in the world and it would still fight back. It\u2019s nature; the nature that made these trees and the nature that made us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The fight to conquer nature was constant so their sources of spiritual inspiration needed to be. It is for this reason that the <\/span>Mishkan<\/span><\/i>, the Tabernacle, lay at the center of the camp, the beating heart of the wilderness venture. On its altar were the tears and the joys of this impossible journey. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Where is your spiritual center when chaos surrounds you?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Israel Encamped Roundabout the Tabernacle in the Wilderness of Sinai<\/a>,\u00a0<\/i>John W. Kelchner (c. 1843-1939).<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46347,"alt":"","title":"Num1-Kelchner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","width":591,"height":362,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner-300x184.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","medium_large-width":591,"medium_large-height":362,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","large-width":591,"large-height":362,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","1536x1536-width":591,"1536x1536-height":362,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","2048x2048-width":591,"2048x2048-height":362,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","post_full_size-width":591,"post_full_size-height":362,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","home_baner-width":591,"home_baner-height":362}},"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 Impossible Journey","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"How does one prepare for the wilderness, a place of anxiety and romance, independence and intense dependence?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46347,"alt":"","title":"Num1-Kelchner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","width":591,"height":362,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner-300x184.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":184,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","medium_large-width":591,"medium_large-height":362,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","large-width":591,"large-height":362,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","1536x1536-width":591,"1536x1536-height":362,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","2048x2048-width":591,"2048x2048-height":362,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","post_full_size-width":591,"post_full_size-height":362,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Num1-Kelchner.jpg","home_baner-width":591,"home_baner-height":362}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"118","date":"20260210","wall_id":"118"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"788","name":"Desert","old_id":"1188"},{"term_id":"790","name":"Wandering","old_id":"1190"}]},{"order":5,"id":"46459","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"A Desert Invitation ","post_title":"A Desert Invitation","slug":"a-desert-invitation","old_id":"46459","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"118","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To take a leap of love and create meaning out of the seeming barrenness","post_main_content_content":"

Usually, new books like to start with a hook, something to draw the reader in to the story. The book of Numbers makes no such attempt, flooding us with a long list of statistics to begin the tales of our journey from Sinai to the shores of the promised land. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

A page turner it's not. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why? Why doesn't the Torah try to make more of an attempt to sell itself, to tempt the reader inside? Doesn't it want to be meaningful for people's lives?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The answer lies in the desert. The Torah was given in the desert, the Torah was given as a desert, sometimes seeming barren of meaning. This barrenness can be its great strength, allowing the space for anyone and everyone to come and find themselves within it. As the Midrash puts it, as the desert is free and open to all, so too is the Torah free for all to partake from.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But to do that, the Midrash continues, you need to make yourself 'hefker'- you need to realize that to see the Torah as something that's trying to sell itself would mean that the choice would be ours to evaluate- is it worth it to buy it, or not? That kind of calculus can only cheapen the Torah. The reason to partake in Torah can't be based on that kind of evaluation- in the end it will never last. It needs to be a leap of love. That's what the desert demands. \"Thus says the Lord, I have remembered for you the lovingkindness of your youth, the love of our newlywed days, when you walked after me in the desert...\" (Jeremiah 2:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And when you enter the desert with love, you start to do what the children of Israel start doing in chapter 1. You start to make order, to create meaning out of the barrenness, and that's when you begin to understand that there's richness there that you never imagined. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

That's the opportunity the desert affords, and that's the invitation that participating in the 929 project extends. As Jeremiah says later- - \"there is a reward for your work, says God.\" In the end, you'll get your just desserts. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

illustration: Angie Yeoh\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":46460,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_591756005","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005.jpg","width":5472,"height":3648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Desert Invitation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"To take a leap of love and create meaning out of the seeming barrenness","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":46460,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_591756005","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005.jpg","width":5472,"height":3648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/shutterstock_591756005-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"118","date":"20260210","wall_id":"118"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"381","name":"love","old_id":"781"},{"term_id":"788","name":"Desert","old_id":"1188"}]},{"order":6,"id":"114938","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Isaiah, Man Of Vision, Prophet To Kings ","post_title":"Isaiah, Man Of Vision, Prophet To Kings","slug":"isaiah-man-of-vision-prophet-to-kings","old_id":"114938","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"335","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The beginning of long-form prophecy\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The prophecies of (<\/span>chazon<\/span><\/em>)<\/span> Isaiah son of Amoz <\/span>who prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah (verse 1).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah is the first book of the later prophets, and this introductory verse provides important context for the prophet. Isaiah appeared at the end of the book of II Kings during the reign of Hezekiah, but this verse explains that his prophecies spanned the reigns of four kings of Judah. The midrash adds that Isaiah was killed by Manassas (Menashe), which would add a fifth king.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi explains that these are the four kings that Isaiah outlived. His prophetic visions began when Uzziah was stricken with leprosy, and it lasted until he was killed by Manassas. The book is mostly long-form poetic type prophecies with some narrative sprinkled in. Ibn Ezra explains that Isaiah\u2019s father Amoz is mentioned to explain that Isaiah was a member of the royal family. His father Amoz was the brother of Amatziah, the king before Uzziah. This would have provided him with a lot of access to the royal court. Isaiah also prophesied about other nations, so many commentators explain that this was not his first prophecy and that the book is not in chronological order.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This introductory verse also sets up the general type of prophecies with the word \u201cchazon.\u201d What does the word \u201cchazon\u201d mean? The literal translation is \u201ca vision.\u201d The word first appears in the beginning of the book of Samuel, in the only time the word appears outside the latter prophets:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Young Samuel was in the service of the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; prophecy (<\/span>chazon<\/span><\/em>) was not widespread (verse 3:1).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There the word is used to mean prophecy in general. Samuel\u2019s first prophecy is at night possibly in a dream state, so it is possible that all of Isaiah\u2019s visions come in the same dream-like state. Chazon is from the same root as <\/span>chazzan<\/span><\/em>- the cantor, leader in a synagogue service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a bit of anachronistic irony here as well. Isaiah\u2019s prophecy in this chapter is all about how God looks at the Temple sacrifices as worthless if they have no meaning behind them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2018What need have I of all your sacrifices?\u2019 says the LORD. \u2018I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, And suet of fatlings, And blood of bulls; And I have no delight In lambs and he-goats\u2019 (verse 11).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God prefers devotion to empty actions. God prefers the heartfelt prayer of the <\/span>chazzan <\/span><\/i>over the empty actions of the sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: by Ben Schachter<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66335,"alt":"","title":"IsaiahProphet","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","width":885,"height":1120,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-237x300.jpg","medium-width":237,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-768x972.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":972,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-809x1024.jpg","large-width":809,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","1536x1536-width":885,"1536x1536-height":1120,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","2048x2048-width":885,"2048x2048-height":1120,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","post_full_size-width":885,"post_full_size-height":1120,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-332x420.jpg","home_baner-width":332,"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, Man Of Vision, Prophet To Kings","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The beginning of long-form prophecy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66335,"alt":"","title":"IsaiahProphet","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","width":885,"height":1120,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-237x300.jpg","medium-width":237,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-768x972.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":972,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-809x1024.jpg","large-width":809,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","1536x1536-width":885,"1536x1536-height":1120,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","2048x2048-width":885,"2048x2048-height":1120,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","post_full_size-width":885,"post_full_size-height":1120,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-332x420.jpg","home_baner-width":332,"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":"1","chapter_main_number":"335","date":"20261210","wall_id":"335"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"387","name":"Sacrifice","old_id":"787"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":7,"id":"64640","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"An Approach To The Book Of Isaiah: Meet Malbim ","post_title":"An Approach To The Book Of Isaiah: Meet Malbim","slug":"an-approach-to-the-book-of-isaiah-meet-malbim","old_id":"64640","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":"335","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Addressing questions of style and relevance","post_main_content_content":"

My comments on the Book of Isaiah will be informed chiefly by a talmudic proposition.\u00a0<\/span>In considering the pervasiveness of prophecy throughout the biblical period, as opposed to the relative paucity of prophets represented in literature, the Talmud (Megillah 14a) states:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many prophets served Israel, as many as twice the number [of Jews] who left Egypt. However, a prophecy that is necessary for posterity was recorded, while a prophecy that is not necessary for posterity was not recorded.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our challenge, then, is to identify those elements within the Book of Isaiah that still maintain their relevance. Complicating the task is the poetic nature of most of the book, which poses analytical challenges of its own. Fortunately, for our endeavor, the commentary of Malbim addresses both perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

M<\/b>eir <\/span>L<\/b>eib <\/span>B<\/b>en <\/span>Y<\/b>ehiel <\/span>M<\/b>ichel Weiser (1809-1879) served communities in Poland, Germany, and Rumania, in a career that was marked by an uncompromising individualism that put him at considerable odds with the nascent Liberal (Reform) movement and, at one point, even led to his incarceration by the Rumanian authorities on a trumped up charge of blasphemy against Christianity. (His release from prison was negotiated by Sir Moses Montefiore).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim occupied a singular position in respect of Bible studies. Rejecting the view of Ibn Ezra and Radak that parallel lines of biblical poetry are completely synonymous (a=b), Malbim argued that even synonyms retain their distinct individuality and the relationship between the parallel lines is \u201ca, and b even more so,\u201d a position adopted increasingly by modern scholars as demonstrated by James Kugel in <\/span>The Idea of Biblical Poetry<\/span><\/em> (1981; on Malbim, see p. 288 ff.).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Portrait of Malbim, published in HaRil Maimon, Sarei Hameah, Mossad HaRav Kook, 1961 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64641,"alt":"","title":"is1-malbim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","width":800,"height":1074,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-223x300.jpg","medium-width":223,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-763x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":763,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-763x1024.jpg","large-width":763,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1074,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1074,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1074,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-313x420.jpg","home_baner-width":313,"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":"Conceptual 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complex work, spanning centuries\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Isaiah takes its name from the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, who lived in Jerusalem in the second half of the eighth century BCE. Not much is known of Isaiah\u2019s background, and nothing is known of his birth or death. It is clear from some of the stories within the book that he traveled in elite circles, including regular conversations with kings, most importantly Hezekiah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah lived through a turbulent era in the history of Israel. The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727) explicitly wanted to create an Assyrian empire throughout the Near East and set out to do so by military means. In 722-720 the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. This \u201cexile of the Ten Tribes\u201d had both long-term and short-term implications for Jewish history. In the long term, the idea of finding the lost tribes has occupied thinkers from then until now. In the short term, it left the small country of Judah relatively isolated within the expanding Assyrian empire. When a new king, Sennacherib, ascended the Assyrian throne in 705, Hezekiah took the opportunity to rebel, along with a number of neighbors. The resulting Assyrian military campaign of 701 was a climactic episode in Isaiah\u2019s career and in the history of Judah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah played a formidable role in that story, and prophecies related to those events take up a lot of space in the book. The narrative of the planned Assyrian assault itself is narrated in great detail in chapters 36-39 (chapters found also in much the same form in the book of Kings). Jerusalem and Hezekiah survived that assault, and this may well have solidified Isaiah\u2019s reputation as a prophet; it certainly solidified the notions of a holy city, protected by God, and the sanctity of the Davidic line of kings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It has long been noted that the second part of the book, beginning immediately after that narrative, in chapter 40, has nothing to do with the events of the first part of the book. Here the historical background is entirely different: the empires mentioned are the Babylonians and (up-and-coming) Persians; Cyrus the Great (reigned 539-530) is mentioned by name as the imminent savior of the Jews (chapters 44 and 45). The prophet Isaiah is not mentioned beginning in chapter 40, and the prophecies presuppose that the Jews are already in exile. All this has suggested to interpreters (starting with Moshe Ibn Chiquitilla, in the 11<\/span>th<\/span> century in Spain) that the second half of the book is not in fact the work of Isaiah son of Amoz, but rather comes from the pen of an anonymous prophet during the time of the Babylonian Exile, in the 6<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some scholars have further divided the book, finding signs of an \u201cThird Isaiah\u201d in chapters 55-56. Still, it is clear from all sorts of textual and ideological connections that the book as we have it is a unified, consciously edited work, which is meant to be read as an organic whole even though its origins span centuries.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Dead Sea Scroll - part of Isaiah Scroll (Isa 57:17 - 59:9), 1QIsab<\/sup><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64645,"alt":"","title":"is1-Is in DSS-1QIsa","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","width":567,"height":678,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","medium_large-width":567,"medium_large-height":678,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","large-width":567,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","1536x1536-width":567,"1536x1536-height":678,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","2048x2048-width":567,"2048x2048-height":678,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","post_full_size-width":567,"post_full_size-height":678,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"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":"Conceptual Overview I","tile_main_caption":"A Prophet In Turbulent Times","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A complex work, spanning centuries","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64645,"alt":"","title":"is1-Is in DSS-1QIsa","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","width":567,"height":678,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","medium_large-width":567,"medium_large-height":678,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","large-width":567,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","1536x1536-width":567,"1536x1536-height":678,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","2048x2048-width":567,"2048x2048-height":678,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","post_full_size-width":567,"post_full_size-height":678,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"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":"1","chapter_main_number":"335","date":"20261210","wall_id":"335"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"624","name":"Academic","old_id":"1024"},{"term_id":"898","name":"Hezekiah","old_id":"1298"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":9,"id":"64696","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Like Sodom And Gomorrah ","post_title":"Like Sodom And Gomorrah","slug":"like-sodom-and-gomorrah","old_id":"64696","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. 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Twice in this chapter, Isaiah invoked the legendary cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. By Isaiah\u2019s time, these cities had been legendary for a millennium or more: their destruction was narrated back in Genesis 19, set in the time of Abraham. The two invocations of the cities make for a powerful pair. The second one, in v. 10, is in an address to the people of Jerusalem and Judah: \u201cHear the word of the Lord, O officers of Sodom \/ give ear to the teaching of God, people of Gomorrah!\u201d The explicit comparison of Isaiah\u2019s audience to those legendarily wicked towns has an immediate effect: without even a word of \u201cthe word\u201d or \u201cthe teaching,\u201d Isaiah has already landed a body blow. The people, in his\/God\u2019s eyes, are no better than those famously evil communities!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The other reference comes in the previous verse. In my understanding, the opening of the book (verses 1-9) comes from the end of Isaiah\u2019s career, from after the Assyrian campaign of 701 BCE. This is the meaning of the lines (7-8): \u201cYour land is a waste, your cities burnt down \/ before your eyes, the yield of your soil is consumed by strangers \u2013 a wasteland as overthrown by strangers! Fair Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a cucumber field, like a city protected.\u201d This was the situation after 701, with Judah as a whole ravaged, and Jerusalem (= Zion) left standing intact. And here comes the great reveal: \u201cHad not the Lord of Hosts left us some survivors, we would be like Sodom, just like Gomorrah\u201d!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this paragraph, written by Isaiah at the end of his career, he loops back to an image used at the very beginning of his career, perhaps 50 years earlier. Back then, the young prophet was indicting the people, <\/span>wicked<\/span><\/i> as Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, weary and retrospective, Isaiah says that the people were very nearly like Sodom and Gomorrah in another way: they were nearly wiped out, obliterated, annihilated, like those wicked cities of old.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In creating this link between verses 9 and 10, then, Isaiah aptly sums up one of the major messages, and one of the major frustrations, of his career. The message is simple: the wickedness of the people leads to their own destruction. The frustration is that he has been preaching the same message for decades, and yet the destruction came anyway, and thus the wickedness still persists. It\u2019s hard work being a prophet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852 \/ 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calabrese","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","width":2117,"height":2504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-768x908.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":908,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-866x1024.jpg","large-width":866,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","1536x1536-width":1299,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","2048x2048-width":1731,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-1015x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1015,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"335","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To save the people from itself, we need threats, promises - and reason","post_main_content_content":"

To change a person\u2019s way of life is a task so difficult that it can seem impossible. But prophets of Israel were not charged with converting individual souls \u2014 their task was nothing less than to effect national transformation. It is not hard to understand, then, why for most of the prophets, their calling might seem a burden too heavy to bear. How, then, confronted with their stiff-necked people, did they proceed? In the first chapter of Isaiah, which reads like an epitome of the prophetic genre, we can see the main strategies to which Israel\u2019s prophets made recourse in their attempt to save the people from itself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first is the threat: the prophet lays before the people a vision of their own destruction. They are no better than the denizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, and a people consumed with greed and acquisitiveness will be brought low: \u201c[I]f you refuse and disobey, You will be devoured [by] the sword\u201d (verse 20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The second is the promise. The future, should Israel change its ways, will be one where the best elements of its past are restored, but also transcended. God \u201cwill restore your magistrates as of old, and your counselors as of you\u2019re. After that you shall be called City of Righteousness, Faithful City\u201d (v. 26). The change envisioned is so profound that very name of Jerusalem itself will be changed. Keeping in mind the essential significance of names and name-changes in the Bible (think of Abraham, Sarah, or Jacob), we can get an inkling of just how meaningful this promise would be to Isaiah\u2019s listeners.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The third, rather more rare but all the more intriguing, is hinted at in verse 18:\u00a0 \u201c\u201cCome, let us reach an understanding\u201d \u2014 says the LORD.\u201d The verb in this sentence can also be taken to mean \u201clet us <\/span>reason<\/span><\/i> together,\u201d and that is the meaning it was sometimes given by medieval Jewish philosophers, who wished to find an anchor in the Bible for their favored approach of solving religious controversies by reasoned argument rather than emotional appeal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These strategies to which the prophets made recourse are still valuable to those of us charged with the religious and moral formation of the Jewish people. Each has its place, depending on the audience and subject. There are some who respond best when the negative consequences of their actions are emphasized, others who are best motivated by a clear vision of how things could be better. Whichever of these routes is taken, there will be times when it is appropriate for the Rabbi or teacher to try to touch her listeners\u2019 hearts, and others when the best approach is to spell things out in careful, reasoned terms. While this task will always be difficult, and perhaps even painful, the prophets provide us with models of how to undertake it with integrity, and even with artistry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64689,"alt":"","title":"is1-carrot and stick","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","width":518,"height":257,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick-300x149.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":149,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","medium_large-width":518,"medium_large-height":257,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","large-width":518,"large-height":257,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","1536x1536-width":518,"1536x1536-height":257,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","2048x2048-width":518,"2048x2048-height":257,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","post_full_size-width":518,"post_full_size-height":257,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-carrot-and-stick.png","home_baner-width":518,"home_baner-height":257}},"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":"Carrots, Sticks And More","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"To save the people from itself, we need threats, promises - 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For most English speakers, \u201cprophetic\u201d refers to premonitory knowledge of the future. But for many Jews, \u201cprophetic\u201d means something different: to \u201cspeak truth to power\u201d\u2014to hold corrupt authority to account for failing to honor God\u2019s true demands. What explains this different understanding? The answer, of course, is that the biblical prophets so often modeled this social critique in their own careers. And there are few prophetic passages that do so with quite the moral clarity and rhetorical power of the opening chapter of Isaiah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah 1 begins with the bleak prospects that we are accustomed to expect from biblical prophecy. Israel is buckling under sin; their bodies are maimed by their transgressions; their land is scorched. Scholarly attempts to date parts of these verses to Sennacherib\u2019s siege of Jerusalem in 701 BCE probably misconstrue their point in their present context. This situation transcends any particular historical event: it is, rather, the timeless condition of a people that has failed as a covenantal partner.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Such a people is bound eventually to turn to worship in order to appease their recalcitrant God. Yet it is precisely here that Isaiah has set his theological trap:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

'What need have I of all your sacrifices?' says the LORD. 'I am sated with burnt offerings of rams, And suet of fatlings, And blood of bulls; And I have no delight In lambs and he-goats. \u2026 Learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; Aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; Defend the cause of the widow' (1:11, 17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It will be noted that Isaiah nowhere calls for the abrogation of cultic worship. What he <\/span>does<\/span><\/em> say is, in fact, far more radical: without concomitant attention to morality and decency, cultic worship\u2014including prayer (Isa 1:15)\u2014is not only ineffective; it is <\/span>actively abominable<\/span><\/em>. God certainly commands sacrifice. But if Israel believes that he may be appeased with fatlings while those created in his image go hungry in the streets, they do not understand the first thing about the God they claim to serve.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This stirring assertion opens not only the book of Isaiah but also the entirety of the Latter Prophets. It is, in effect, the \u201cdistillation\u201d of biblical prophecy. Like any effective abstract, it encapsulates an argument while leaving the full nuance to the careful reader. The latter component should not be dismissed. Biblical prophecy is wildly diverse; attempts wholly to equate it with social critique are literarily dishonest. Yet out of this diversity, Isaiah 1 sets the stage for the emergence of a sublime and terrifying claim: God and his Torah demand sacrifice <\/span>and<\/span><\/em> justice, prayer <\/span>and<\/span><\/i> compassion. According to the prophets, nothing less will suffice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: John Singer Sargent, Frieze of Prophets, 1895.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64712,"alt":"","title":"is1-john singer sargent frieze of 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Distillation Of Biblical Prophecy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Nothing less than sacrifice and justice, prayer and compassion will suffice\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64712,"alt":"","title":"is1-john singer sargent frieze of 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Absence Of Learning As A Precursor To Exile ","post_title":"The Absence Of Learning As A Precursor To Exile","slug":"the-absence-of-learning-as-a-precursor-to-exile","old_id":"64720","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"335","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Isaiah opens with a \u201cshape up or ship out\u201d prophecy in which Isaiah details steps that the Jewish people must take to save themselves from exile. Some of those steps seem predictable: \u201cpurify yourselves\u2026stop doing evil\u2026 (1:16)\u201d. But then comes a curious self-improvement requirement: \u201clearn to do good (1:17)\u201d. Not DO good but LEARN (limdu<\/em>) to do good. This direction to not act reflexively but to invest some thought and scrutiny into one\u2019s actions is supported by the next verse in which Isaiah says \u201clet us reason together\u201d. Radak explains that God is asking them to engage in some critical analysis of their behaviour. Don\u2019t just act, really think about it first and learn what you should be doing and how to get there.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This exhortation hearkens back to the events of 2 Kings, chapter 22, when the Temple High Priest found Moses\u2019 Torah scroll in the temple. Our sages tell us that the scroll was open to the verses detailing the exile from Israel that had been decreed against the people should they decline to the spiritual level at which they apparently now sat. Me\u2019am Lo\u2019ez offers an explanation that at the time this scroll was found the written Torah had been forgotten and the oral tradition \u2013 the knowledge passed from parent to child - had also died out. Effectively then, learning had ceased. So how does one \u201clearn to do good\u201d in an environment devoid of learning. And what might exile to Babylonia serve to achieve?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ironically it is in the Babylonian Talmud (Rosh HaShanah) that we learn \u201cmeshane makom, meshane mazal<\/em> \u2013 change your place and change your fortune.\u201d Similar to Abraham having to \u201clech lecha<\/em>\u201d \u2013 go and leave his birthplace in order to realize his destiny, so too, perhaps, must the Jewish people of the First Temple era leave their environment in order to learn, or relearn, how to enact their destiny.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Absence Of Learning As A Precursor To Exile","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Similar to Abraham having to \u201clech lecha\u201d \u2013 go and leave his birthplace in order to realize his destiny, so too, perhaps, must the Jewish people of the First Temple era leave their environment in order to learn, or relearn, how to enact their destiny.\u00a0","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":"1","chapter_main_number":"335","date":"20261210","wall_id":"335"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"466","name":"Goodness","old_id":"866"},{"term_id":"783","name":"Destiny","old_id":"1183"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]}],"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\/64608"}],"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=64608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}