{"id":65953,"date":"2018-07-09T17:45:16","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1072\/"},"modified":"2023-06-23T07:29:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T04:29:54","slug":"wall-1072","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1072\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20230618-to-20230624"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1072","date_from":"20230618","date_to":"20230624","book":"Isaiah","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"47500","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Universal Holiness And Absolute Power ","post_title":"Universal Holiness And Absolute Power","slug":"universal-holiness-and-absolute-power","old_id":"47500","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36423,"post_title":"Ari Hoffman","slug":"ari-hoffman","old_id":"36423","first_name":"Ari ","last_name":"Hoffman","description":"Ari Hoffman is a columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U., and his writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Tablet Magazine, The New York Observer, and a range of other publications. He holds a doctorate in English Literature from Harvard and a law degree from Stanford.\r\n","short_description":"Ari Hoffman is a columnist for the Forward, where he writes about politics and culture, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at N.Y.U.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36424,"alt":"","title":"Ari Hoffman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","width":1044,"height":1438,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-218x300.jpg","medium-width":218,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-743x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":743,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-743x1024.jpg","large-width":743,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","1536x1536-width":1044,"1536x1536-height":1438,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400.jpg","2048x2048-width":1044,"2048x2048-height":1438,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-871x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":871,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ari-Hoffman-e1532985000400-305x420.jpg","home_baner-width":305,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"133","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Discerning the pretenders from the leaders has never been more difficult, or more necessary.","post_main_content_content":"

A brief check of the etymology \u201cinsurrection\u201d reveals a directional vector; its roots convey a sense of rising, the low made high, or at least trying to climb in that direction. This verticality also suggests reversal; the powerless ascendant, the powerful brought to their knees, Moses falling on his face. A polemic, the glint of a blade, an overturned table, the last made first. Revolt, rebellion, insurrection- perhaps we have so many words for the same phenomena because there is always the fear of, and attraction to, upending the order of things. The world might be made anew, but it is terrifying to contemplate the implications of rampaging change. The pull of the current might surprise even the strongest swimmers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Today\u2019s chapter is a carefully staged account of rebellion. \u00a0It features Korach, a member of the elite, fluently speaking the language of populism. If the episode of the spies in chapter 14 is an earthquake from below, spoken in rough accents, Korach\u2019s efforts are the suave instigations of the upper classes, those privileged enough to know just how close to power they stand. Unfortunately, grasping makes one vulnerable to falling, and Korach\u2019s tumble into the pit is a riposte to his ambition to ascend the mountain top.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses has the benefit of bolstering his leadership with the ballast of signs and wonders. His election is ratified by Divine Election. This does not entirely mute Korach\u2019s voice- his challenge still stands, millennia later. But we have it harder. Discerning the pretenders from the leaders, the sophists from the visionaries has never been more difficult, or more necessary. The ambition to lead blurs into the hubris to control and command. If we are all holy, why are some holier than others? And how truly are any of us, really, when we incline our ear to the haunting melody of glory?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: The Punishment of Korach, Sandro Botticelli,<\/a> <\/span>(1445\u20131510), photo: Attilias, <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47501,"alt":"","title":"Num16-Korah_Botticelli","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","width":620,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli-300x290.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":290,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","medium_large-width":620,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","large-width":620,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","1536x1536-width":620,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","2048x2048-width":620,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","post_full_size-width":620,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli-435x420.jpg","home_baner-width":435,"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":"Universal Holiness And Absolute Power","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Discerning the pretenders from the leaders has never been more difficult, or more necessary.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47501,"alt":"","title":"Num16-Korah_Botticelli","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","width":620,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli-300x290.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":290,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","medium_large-width":620,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","large-width":620,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","1536x1536-width":620,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","2048x2048-width":620,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli.jpg","post_full_size-width":620,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num16-Korah_Botticelli-435x420.jpg","home_baner-width":435,"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":"16","chapter_main_number":"133","date":"20260303","wall_id":"133"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"480","name":"Holiness","old_id":"880"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"794","name":"Korah","old_id":"1194"}]},{"order":2,"id":"47638","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"A Covenant Of Salt? ","post_title":"A Covenant Of Salt?","slug":"a-covenant-of-salt","old_id":"47638","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38634,"post_title":"Rachel Barenblat","slug":"rachel-barenblat","old_id":"38634","first_name":"Rachel ","last_name":"Barenblat ","description":"Rabbi Rachel Barenblat has blogged since 2003 as the Velveteen Rabbi. A Founding Builder at Bayit: Your Jewish Home, and author of several poetry collections (including Texts to the Holy, Ben Yehuda Press 2018, and 70 faces: Torah poems, Phoenicia 2011) she serves as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in western Massachusetts, USA. ","short_description":"Rabbi Rachel Barenblat of Congregation Beth Israel in Western Massachusetts, blogs as the Velveteen Rabbi. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38635,"alt":"","title":"rachel barenblat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","width":328,"height":424,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237-232x300.png","medium-width":232,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","medium_large-width":328,"medium_large-height":424,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","large-width":328,"large-height":424,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","1536x1536-width":328,"1536x1536-height":424,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","2048x2048-width":328,"2048x2048-height":424,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237.png","post_full_size-width":328,"post_full_size-height":424,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rachel-barenblat-e1535268212237-325x420.png","home_baner-width":325,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"135","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Balancing justice and lovingkindness as an antidote to Korach","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cAll the gifts of the holy [offerings] which are set aside by the children of Israel for the Lord I have given to you\u2026it is like an eternal covenant of salt before the Lord, for you and your descendants with you\" (18:19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does that mean? What is a covenant of salt?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The 18<\/span>th<\/span> century Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev explains that this covenant is connected to the deeds of Korach, who argued that everyone was holy, and therefore everyone should be priests.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The priests, he writes, represent the divine attribute of \u201cchesed<\/em>\u201d (lovingkindness), whereas the<\/span> Levites represent the divine attribute of \u201cdin<\/em>\u201d (justice, or gevurah<\/em> in the sefirotic tree) the quality of boundaries and strength. The problem with Korach\u2019s rebellion was that it left no room for <\/span>din<\/span><\/em>. He wanted everyone to be pure <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em>, but in truth, the world needs judgment and justice, boundaries, and strength too. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Centuries earlier Ramban explained salt as a combination of fire and water, which is to say, justice and lovingkindness. He says it's the combination of those two, the appropriate balance of those two, which sustains all the worlds. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rav Levi Yitzchak thus teaches that the covenant of salt (representing the balance of <\/span>chesed<\/em> <\/span>and <\/span>din<\/span><\/em>) came as a response to Korach's actions, in order to remind us of what's wrong with Korach's imbalanced view. The world needs an appropriate balance of lovingkindness and justice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Reading this passage, I marvel at how contemporary and real it feels. I've been in contexts where people want everyone and everything to be all-<\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em>-all-the-time, and they are not healthy at all. Love that flows without boundaries is a flood, destructive and damaging. When we over-privilege <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em> at the expense of <\/span>din<\/span><\/em>, there are no appropriate roles or boundaries... and a community in which roles and boundaries are not honored is a community that will inevitably be rife with ethical violations and abuse. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

John Lennon may have written that \"all you need is love,\" but on a spiritual level, he was wrong. The world needs judgment, discernment, and justice every bit as much as it needs unbridled or unbounded love -- indeed, as Ramban notes, a world that has only one half of that critical binary cannot endure. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: By Lech Darski - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=49736222<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47639,"alt":"","title":"num18-Halit_(NaCl)_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka,_Polska","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/num18-Halit_NaCl_-_Kopalnia_soli_Wieliczka_Polska-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 Covenant Of Salt?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Balancing justice and lovingkindness as an antidote to 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v. Power ","post_title":"Truth v. Power","slug":"truth-v-power","old_id":"47570","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. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"134","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Argument in Judaism is a holy activity, the ongoing internal dialogue of the Jewish people","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cAny dispute for the sake of heaven will have enduring value, but every dispute not for the sake of Heaven will not have enduring value. What is an example of a dispute for the sake of heaven? The dispute between Hillel and Shammai. What is an example of one not for the sake of heaven? The dispute of Korach and all his company\u201d (Mishnah Avot 5: 21).<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbis did not conclude from the Korach rebellion that argument is wrong, that leaders are entitled to unquestioning obedience, that the supreme value in Judaism should be \u2013 as it is in some faiths \u2013 submission. To the contrary: argument is the lifeblood of Judaism, so long as it is rightly motivated and essentially constructive in its aims.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Judaism is a unique phenomenon: a civilization all of whose canonical texts are anthologies of argument. In Tanakh, the heroes of faith \u2013 Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah, Job \u2013 argue with God. Midrash is founded on the premise that there are \u201cseventy faces\u201d \u2013 seventy legitimate interpretations \u2013 of Torah. The Mishnah is largely constructed on the model of \u201cRabbi X says this, Rabbi Y says that.\u201d The Talmud, far from resolving these arguments, usually deepens them considerably. Argument in Judaism is a holy activity, the ongoing internal dialogue of the Jewish people as it reflects on the terms of its destiny and the demands of its faith.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>What then made the argument of Korach and his co-conspirators different from that of the schools of Hillel and Shammai? \u00a0Rabbenu Yona offered a simple explanation. An argument for the sake of Heaven is one that is about truth. An argument not for the sake of Heaven is about power. The difference is immense. If I argue for the sake of truth, then if I win, I win. But if I lose, I also win, because being defeated by the truth is the only defeat that is also a victory. I am enlarged. I learn something I did not know before.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In a contest for power, if I lose, I lose. But if I win, I also lose, because in diminishing my opponents I have diminished myself. Moses could not have had a more decisive vindication than the miracle for which he asked and was granted: that the ground open up and swallow his opponents. Yet not only did this not end the argument, it diminished the respect in which Moses was held: \u201cThe next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. \u2018You have killed the Lord\u2019s people,\u2019 they said.\u201d (Num. 17:6). That Moses needed to resort to force was itself a sign that he had been dragged down to the level of the rebels. That is what happens when power, not truth, is at stake.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From:\u00a0<\/span>When truth is sacrificed to power (Covenant & Conversation, <\/span>Korach <\/span>5775)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Carl Schleicher Eine Streitfrage aus dem Talmud.jpg\/wikipedia (A Controversy Whatsoever on Talmud, c 1859).<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47571,"alt":"","title":"Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud.jpg","width":4236,"height":3477,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-300x246.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":246,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-768x630.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":630,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-1024x841.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":841,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1261,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1681,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-1200x985.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":985,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-512x420.jpg","home_baner-width":512,"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":"Truth v. Power","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Argument in Judaism is a holy activity, the ongoing internal dialogue of the Jewish people","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47571,"alt":"","title":"Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud.jpg","width":4236,"height":3477,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-300x246.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":246,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-768x630.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":630,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-1024x841.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":841,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1261,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1681,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-1200x985.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":985,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Num17-Carl_Schleicher_Eine_Streitfrage_aus_dem_Talmud-512x420.jpg","home_baner-width":512,"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":"17","chapter_main_number":"134","date":"20260304","wall_id":"134"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"463","name":"Truth","old_id":"863"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"615","name":"Argument","old_id":"1015"}]},{"order":4,"id":"47599","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Value Of Difference ","post_title":"The Value Of Difference","slug":"the-value-of-difference","old_id":"47599","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47016,"post_title":"Ilana Blumberg","slug":"ilana-blumberg","old_id":"47016","first_name":"Ilana ","last_name":"Blumberg ","description":"Ilana Blumberg is a prize-winning author and teacher. Her most recent book is the memoir, \"Open Your Hand: Teaching as a Jew, Teaching as an American\" (Rutgers UP, 2018). She directs the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Bar Ilan University and lives in Jerusalem with her family.","short_description":"Ilana Blumberg is a prize-winning author and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47017,"alt":"","title":"ilana blumberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","width":188,"height":249,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","medium_large-width":188,"medium_large-height":249,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","large-width":188,"large-height":249,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","1536x1536-width":188,"1536x1536-height":249,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","2048x2048-width":188,"2048x2048-height":249,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","post_full_size-width":188,"post_full_size-height":249,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/ilana-blumberg-e1546807007295.jpg","home_baner-width":188,"home_baner-height":249}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"135","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When is difference a sign of status and hierarchy, and when is it just \u2013 different?","post_main_content_content":"

In this chapter, we learn that the Levites will have no land specifically assigned to them in the land of Israel. Instead, they will serve God in the Temple and God will be their portion. The people of Israel will bring them the sacrifices and the fruits of their assigned portions of land as gifts (18:20).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is this difference \u2013 this specific destiny \u2013 something to be celebrated by the Levites? Their closeness to God, the freedom from working the land and tending the livestock, their centrality among the children of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Or is this difference something to be mourned? \u00a0No land that belongs to the Levites alone; none of the satisfaction in sowing and reaping, bringing first fruits; all the demands and the responsibilities attendant on the service of God in the Temple?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is this difference between the Levites and the other tribes merely descriptive, or is value-laden? What do we make of social difference?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The last few chapters have been deeply concerned with differences and what they amount to. Miriam and Aaron speak about Moses, and God becomes angry, reproving them for not understanding that Moses is different, his order of prophecy is different, he cannot be judged as any other prophet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Korach and his party then come to challenge the authority of Moses but this time, the confrontation positions Aaron on the side of privilege and power, the very same Aaron who had just been positioned on the other side of this debate. \u201cThe entire assembly is holy,\u201d Korach argues, \u201cwhy are you elevating yourselves above them?\u201d (16:3) Why is it that Aaron should be High Priest and that the Levites have claimed such power for themselves?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abuses of power are one thing. Fair to say that they are wrong and should be curbed. But what if we are not looking at an abuse? What does it mean to be distinguished for a different path? To be selected for something? What does it mean not to be selected for something?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aaron asks this about Moses; then Korach turns around to ask it about Aaron. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And we, the children of Israel, contemporary Jews, might ask it of ourselves. A people separated: what does this mean? What is to be celebrated? What is to be mourned?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Does difference necessarily imply a dynamic of power in which to be different is to be less or to be more than another?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0\u00a0Andrey Novgorodtsev\/shutterstock<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":47604,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1241919346","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346.jpg","width":5100,"height":3400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-630x420.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":"The Value of Difference","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"When is difference a sign of status and hierarchy, and when is it just \u2013 different?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":47604,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_1241919346","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346.jpg","width":5100,"height":3400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/shutterstock_1241919346-630x420.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":"18","chapter_main_number":"135","date":"20260305","wall_id":"135"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"474","name":"Difference","old_id":"874"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"648","name":"Choseness","old_id":"1048"}]},{"order":5,"id":"65986","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Keys Are The Key ","post_title":"Keys Are The Key","slug":"keys-are-the-key","old_id":"65986","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34250,"post_title":"Sarah Rudolph","slug":"sarah-rudolph","old_id":"34250","first_name":"Sarah ","last_name":"Rudolph","description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34251,"alt":"","title":"Sarah R","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","width":2824,"height":4246,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","2048x2048-width":1362,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"356","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Responsibility for who can enter, and who needs to be kept out\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

When the prince in <\/span>The Princess Bride<\/span><\/em> feigns concern over castle security, his chief enforcer assures him, \u201cThe gate has but one key \u2013 and I carry that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Small comfort, once intruders show up and the officer shows what he\u2019s really made of:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cGive us the gate key!\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>\u201cI have no gate key.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>\u201cFezzik, tear his arms off.\u201d<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>\u201cOh, you mean this gate key?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

In an unusually individualized prophecy, Isaiah rebukes Shebna, a steward who was \u201cin charge of the palace\u201d (22:15). The prophet doesn\u2019t specify Shebna\u2019s crime, but midrashic tradition suggests he failed to adequately protect his charge and instead conspired to hand the city over to Sennacherib. While some commentators argue the midrashic version is difficult to reconcile with certain textual details, there is one that matches perfectly:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In that day, I will summon My servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah\u2026 I will invest him with your tunic\u2026 and deliver your authority into his hand\u2026I will place the keys of David\u2019s palace on his shoulders; and what he unlocks none may shut, and what he locks none may open.\u201d (22:20-22)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shebna offered up the gate key, so he will be replaced by a truer \u201cservant\u201d of God, who will carry the keys faithfully and wield them effectively.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But what is that key doing on Eliakim\u2019s shoulders? Radak argues this must be a metaphor: \u201ca person doesn\u2019t carry a key on his shoulder\u2026 said \u2018on his shoulder\u2019 because it is like a burden that a person carries on his shoulder\u2026\u201d Malbim, however, takes the phrase literally, suggesting it was typical for such officers to carry castle keys on their shoulders \u2013 as a symbol. What would such a practice symbolize? In the abstract, the same as in Radak\u2019s metaphor: responsibility. But physically carrying that key on one\u2019s shoulder reflects an added element of pride: responsibility not as an abstract concept, but something one displays to oneself and the world in a very real way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Every week, walking home from synagogue, my younger kids race to ask for a key; each wants the honor of unlocking our door. They carry that key with pride and would never relinquish it (ok, maybe to Fezzik); they treasure the responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Amos Hakham, in his <\/span>Daat Mikra<\/span><\/em> commentary, suggests (as an alternative to the midrash) that Shebna is the same guy who (in verse 13) invites the people to \u201cEat and drink, for tomorrow we die!\u201d Perhaps the root of his crime was not taking his responsibilities seriously enough: he invited the enemy in (midrash); he released the stores under his supervision (Hakham). He didn\u2019t carry his gate key on his shoulder with pride, but pulled it out of a pocket to hand over to whichever kid or giant asked first.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Replacing Shebna\u2019s insufficient concern for his charge, Eliakim will serve truly, maintaining constant awareness of the burden he is to cherish. And by seeing his dedication, maybe others will learn to cherish God\u2019s house and people too.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65987,"alt":"","title":"is22-keyboard","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Keys Are The Key","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Responsibility for who can enter, and who needs to be kept out\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65987,"alt":"","title":"is22-keyboard","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is22-keyboard-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"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":"22","chapter_main_number":"356","date":"20270110","wall_id":"356"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"956","name":"leader","old_id":"1356"}]},{"order":6,"id":"65991","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"This-Worldly Enjoyment And Legacy ","post_title":"This-Worldly Enjoyment And Legacy","slug":"this-worldly-enjoyment-and-legacy","old_id":"65991","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":"356","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hedonism and hubris, rather than commitment and loyalty\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Isaiah 22 can be neatly divided into two different messages that the prophet was told by God to deliver:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. a) Verses 1-14, a prophetic vision concerning the potential for a terrible military attack on Jerusalem, including a most inappropriate response on the part of some of the Jerusalemites to the Prophet\u2019s warning (v. 13);<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. b) Verses 15-25, a Divine verdict regarding the fates of two leading politicians in the court of King Hezekiah. Shebna (v. 15-19), the incumbent governor of the royal palace, acted improperly and allowed his exalted position of responsibility and influence to \u201cgo to his head\u201d by attempting to set aside a privileged burial site for himself. As a result of Shebna\u2019s hubris and pursuit of personal honor, Isaiah informed him of his demotion, with Eliakim son of Hilkiah (v. 20-4), designated as Shebna\u2019s replacement.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Regarding both the inhabitants of Jerusalem as well as Shebna, the prophet calls attention to how their actions reflect deep theological and moral shortcomings on their respective parts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    For the Jerusalemites who have been warned that they will come under siege because of attacking foreign armies, instead of engaging in repentance and prayer to try to alter the dire decree (see e.g., Jonah 3:4-10) , some of them take a \u201cCarpe Diem\u201d attitude. Adopting the Epicurean ethic of \u201ceat, drink, (and be merry) because tomorrow we die\u201d expressed their belief that there was no hope for them either in this world, or in the world to come, and therefore they might as well enjoy themselves while they still could. Shebna, too, in pursuit of an enticing this-worldly legacy, attempted to parlay his position of authority into a high-profile burial crypt, rather than dedicate himself to meaningful achievement and acts of loyalty to King Hezekiah.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The most befuddling textual difficulty in Isaiah 22 is in the final verse of the chapter, v. 25: \u201cIn that day\u2014declares the LORD of Hosts\u2014the peg fixed in a firm place shall give way: it shall be cut down and shall fall, and the weight it supports shall be destroyed. For it is the LORD who has spoken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Is this verse \u201cdoubling back\u201d and further castigating Shebna, the view of most classical biblical commentators? Or does this verse serve as a warning to Eliakim that a fate like that of Shebna awaits him, should he allow his new responsibilities to lead him to think that he can similarly assess for himself inordinate high honor and prestige?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Which of these two approaches is more convincing to you and why?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    image: Sundial with the inscription \"Carpe Diem [sieze, or pluck, the day] \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65992,"alt":"","title":"is22-carpe 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'Imagine' ","post_title":"Isaiah\u2019s 'Imagine'","slug":"isaiahs-imagine","old_id":"66099","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37561,"post_title":"Deena Cowans","slug":"deena-cowans","old_id":"37561","first_name":"Deena ","last_name":"Cowans","description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS and alumnus of the Master's in Public Administration- Development Practice at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). \r\nDeena is the Director of Education (Rosh Chinuch) at Camp Ramah in the Rockies since January 2016, and was the Youth and Family Programs at Congregation Ansche Chesed in 2016-2017.","short_description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS, and the Director of Education at Camp Ramah in the Rockies","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37562,"alt":"","title":"deena 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the revenge fantasy, comes the peace fantasy","post_main_content_content":"

    Have you ever felt so angry at someone that you start fantasizing about their downfall? Maybe you imagine them shamed or rejected, failing at everything they try to do. Or maybe you picture yourself triumphant over them, forcing them to admit they were wrong to mistreat you. Whatever they did to you, you want them to get even worse back.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Most of this chapter of Isaiah is just this kind of revenge fantasy. The last chapter in a series of \u201coracles against the nations\u201d, most of this chapter imagines the violent downfall of Israel\u2019s seafaring enemies. In Isaiah\u2019s prophecy, these nations are destroyed, their economies ruined and their pride punctured. But that\u2019s not the end of the chapter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In the last two verses, the prophet predicts that Tyre will rise again\u2014still engaged in her sinful ways, but with the bounty of her work dedicated to God. It\u2019s an unusual ending, to say the least. After a brutal period of destruction and downfall, Tyre will rise from its ashes to be exactly the same as it was, but this time in service of God. What, then is the difference between the Tyre of the revenge fantasy and the rebuilt Tyre? Why should the rebuilt nation not go to war with Israel once again?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    It seems our answer lies in the wisdom of John Lennon. \u201cImagine there's no countries,\u201d he sings, \u201cIt isn't hard to do\/ Nothing to kill or die for\/ And no religion too\/ Imagine all the people living life in peace.\u201d In Lennon\u2019s utopia, people are still themselves, but with nothing to divide them. As Lennon would have us believe, the problem with Tyre (and presumably the other nations mentioned in this chapter) was not their sinful ways, but their religious differences from the Israelites. With differences of religion removed, there would be no need for war or destruction. Perhaps Lennon was channeling the spirit of prophecy; after all, the greatest prophets were dreamers too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: by Ben Schachter, courtesy of the artist<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66101,"alt":"","title":"IS23-Schachter-DCowans","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","width":958,"height":1163,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-247x300.jpg","medium-width":247,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-768x932.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":932,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-844x1024.jpg","large-width":844,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","1536x1536-width":958,"1536x1536-height":1163,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","2048x2048-width":958,"2048x2048-height":1163,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","post_full_size-width":958,"post_full_size-height":1163,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-346x420.jpg","home_baner-width":346,"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\u2019s Imagine","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"After the revenge fantasy, comes the peace fantasy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66101,"alt":"","title":"IS23-Schachter-DCowans","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","width":958,"height":1163,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-247x300.jpg","medium-width":247,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-768x932.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":932,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-844x1024.jpg","large-width":844,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","1536x1536-width":958,"1536x1536-height":1163,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","2048x2048-width":958,"2048x2048-height":1163,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans.jpg","post_full_size-width":958,"post_full_size-height":1163,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IS23-Schachter-DCowans-346x420.jpg","home_baner-width":346,"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":"23","chapter_main_number":"357","date":"20270111","wall_id":"357"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"409","name":"Peace","old_id":"809"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"512","name":"Music","old_id":"912"},{"term_id":"690","name":"Art","old_id":"1090"}]},{"order":8,"id":"66109","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Prostitution As Metaphor ","post_title":"Prostitution As Metaphor","slug":"prostitution-as-metaphor","old_id":"66109","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41525,"post_title":"Sivan Rotholz","slug":"sivan-rotholz","old_id":"41525","first_name":"Sivan ","last_name":"Rotholz","description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. She taught feminist Torah study and creative writing at Brooklyn College, Tel Aviv University, and Temple Israel of the City of New York. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and a Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law and is the Managing Editor of the Saturday Poetry Series on As It Ought To Be. ","short_description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41526,"alt":"","title":"sivan rotholz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","width":320,"height":312,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":312,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":312,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":312,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":312,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":312,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":312}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"357","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Another example of Isaian misogyny","post_main_content_content":"

    Isaiah chapter 23 foretells the destruction of Tyre, a major Phoenician trading city. After being forgotten for 70 years, Isaiah prophesies, the city will rise again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    It will come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years... After the end of seventy years it will be to Tyre like in the song of the prostitute [JPS:\u00a0After a lapse of seventy years, it shall go with Tyre as with the harlot in the ditty] (15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In the moment of Tyre\u2019s reestablishment, curiously, Isaiah turns to the metaphor of prostitution.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cTake a harp,\u201d Isaiah tells Tyre, \u201cgo about the city, you prostitute that has been forgotten. Make sweet melody. Sing many songs, that you may be remembered.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Isaiah is telling the prostitute to try to seduce her old customers, to see if any remember her after 70 years. It\u2019s an odd sort of redemption in which Tyre is degraded via depiction as a harlot and is dared to see who might come sniffing around after her wares.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    For after a lapse of seventy years, the LORD will take note of Tyre, and she shall resume her \u201cfee-taking\u201d and \u201cplay the harlot\u201d with all the kingdoms of the world... But her profits and \u201chire\u201d shall be consecrated to the LORD.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Isaiah makes clear that, in the end, the city will<\/span> be reestablished not through the prostitute\u2019s attempt to lure in old customers, but by God. Curiously, her earnings will then be consecrated -- goods earned in exchange for sex will be dedicated to God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Bible expressly forbids goods earned via prostitution being used to this end. A woman who is paid for sex with a sheep, for example, is expressly forbidden from sacrificing that sheep on the altar of the Lord. So why does Isaiah 23 conclude with the harlot\u2019s earnings being dedicated to God?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Ibn Ezra argues that this law does not apply because the harlotry in this prophecy is merely metaphorical. <\/span>Actual<\/span><\/em> income earned from prostitution cannot be dedicated to God, but metaphorical harlotry earnings are just fine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Why does Isaiah insist on using a metaphor that doesn\u2019t hold water?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Without derogatory feminine imagery, this story is straightforward, but not poetic. Without metaphor, it\u2019s merely prediction; with metaphor, it\u2019s prophecy. And with misogynistic metaphor, it\u2019s particularly <\/span>Isaian<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Book of Isaiah repeatedly relies upon misogynistic depictions of women. This is not the Song of Songs. This is not Miriam leading the Israelite women in celebratory dance. This is a prophet operating well into a patriarchal monotheistic age, and his negative views of women shed light on the dangers of such a system. When man alone is at the center of mythology and theology, what follows is a power structure wherein men believe themselves superior and marginalize and oppress women to maintain such a hierarchy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    If he who wields the pen wields the power, perhaps it\u2019s time to let her wield the pen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Phryne (ancient prostitute) by Jos\u00e9 Frappa, 1904 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66110,"alt":"","title":"is23-Phryne","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","width":758,"height":519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","medium_large-width":758,"medium_large-height":519,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","large-width":758,"large-height":519,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","1536x1536-width":758,"1536x1536-height":519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","2048x2048-width":758,"2048x2048-height":519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","post_full_size-width":758,"post_full_size-height":519,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne-613x420.jpg","home_baner-width":613,"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":"Prostitution As Metaphor","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Another example of Isaian misogyny","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66110,"alt":"","title":"is23-Phryne","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","width":758,"height":519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","medium_large-width":758,"medium_large-height":519,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","large-width":758,"large-height":519,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","1536x1536-width":758,"1536x1536-height":519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","2048x2048-width":758,"2048x2048-height":519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne.jpg","post_full_size-width":758,"post_full_size-height":519,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is23-Phryne-613x420.jpg","home_baner-width":613,"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":"23","chapter_main_number":"357","date":"20270111","wall_id":"357"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"483","name":"Feminism","old_id":"883"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"661","name":"Oppression","old_id":"1061"},{"term_id":"854","name":"Metaphor","old_id":"1254"}]},{"order":9,"id":"66165","color":"#faeed8","size":"2","name":"Emptying The Earth And Destroying It ","post_title":"Emptying The Earth And Destroying It","slug":"emptying-the-earth-and-destroying-it","old_id":"66165","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"358","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Terrifying ancient prophecies and terrifying current realities","post_main_content_content":"

    Readers of 929 will have noticed by now that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of prophets roaming the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, but only a few dozen are remembered by name, and even fewer of them have attributed sayings that we still cite. What distinguishes the ones we are able to quote from the others whom we only glimpse fleetingly is that their words were still extraordinarily relevant after they spoke them. Predictions that came to pass, warnings that were right on the mark, insights that prevented calamity or enabled recovery \u2013 these are the distinguishing traits of the named prophets whose words continue to resonate.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    There are none greater than Isaiah, and none of his words are more prescient than the uncanny ways that this chapter speaks to a context that could not have been imagined in ancient Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    On the level of peshat<\/em> (the contextual level) Isaiah is speaking of the intimate connection between the inhabitants of the land of Israel and the land itself. As the inhabitants harvest the consequences of their greed, short-sightedness, and brutality, the land itself grows incapable of sustaining life. It literally dries up in the implacable onslaught of their wrongdoing. What had been a paradise becomes a desolation. The first ears to hear these words had to reflect on the Exile and the ways that our ancestors distanced themselves from the land they had been promised.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But we now read those ancient words through the reality of our own times. In an age in which humanity has become the primary global influence on climate, on atmosphere, on sustainability, is it possible to read these words and not think about the precipitous ways we are hurling the planet earth into extreme fluctuations of wet and dry, hot and cold, melting the ice caps and drowning islands and coastlands in the rising seas? Is it possible not to stare in horror at the rapid extinction of rare and precious species, at the desertification of the forests that function as our planet\u2019s lungs?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cBehold, God is emptying the earth and destroying it \u2026 the earth will be utterly emptied and utterly despoiled. \u2026 The earth will become desolate and withered; the world will be wretched and withered \u2026 the land will be unfaithful because of its inhabitants, for they have transgressed teachings and violated laws; they have abrogated the everlasting covenant.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Our ancestors let greed drive them into exile from the land of Israel, despite Isaiah\u2019s keen warnings of the link between righteous living and dwelling in the land. We today are letting greed render our blue-green planet incapable of sustaining life, with no possibility of survival in exile for us or any living thing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    May we have the wisdom and courage to read Isaiah more carefully this time.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66166,"alt":"","title":"is24-artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-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":"Emptying The Earth And Destroying It","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Terrifying ancient prophecies and terrifying current realities","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66166,"alt":"","title":"is24-artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-artson-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":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"24","chapter_main_number":"358","date":"20270112","wall_id":"358"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"372","name":"Wisdom","old_id":"772"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"497","name":"Land","old_id":"897"},{"term_id":"573","name":"Righteousness","old_id":"973"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":10,"id":"66169","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"Myth In The Bible? ","post_title":"Myth In The Bible?","slug":"myth-in-the-bible","old_id":"66169","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":"358","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God defeats the heavenly hosts","post_main_content_content":"

    While the Hebrew Bible is not mythological in the usual sense, there are passages that ring familiar from myths elsewhere. A few of them are found in the section of Isaiah, chapters 24 through 27, called by modern scholars \u201cthe Isaiah Apocalypse.\u201d Our chapter contains the idea that God will fight against, and defeat, other heavenly creatures (24:21-23):<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In that day, the Lord will punish the host of heaven in heaven and the kings of the earth on earth. They shall be gathered in a dungeon as captives are gathered, and locked up in a prison. But after many days they shall be remembered. Then the moon shall be ashamed and the sun shall be abashed. For the Lord of Hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be revealed to His elders.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The existence of a \u201chost of Heaven\u201d is not unique to here: we often sing, \u201cGive praise to the Lord \/ give praise, O divine beings (<\/span>bene elim<\/span><\/em>),\u201d and the rhetorical question, \u201cWho is like you among the divine beings?\u201d would lose much of its force if there were in fact no such beings. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But the idea that God would demote them, punishing them in a dungeon and then shaming them, is not all that common. It is found in a Psalm (the \u201csong for Tuesday,\u201d Psalm 82), where God says, \u201cI had taken you for divine beings, sons of the Most High, all of you; but you shall die as men do, fall like any prince.\u201d The conclusion there would be appropriate here, as well:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Arise, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are Your possession!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Blessed Be the Host of the King of Heaven, a Russian icon from the 1550s\u00a0 (anonymous, attributed to Athanasius) \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66170,"alt":"","title":"is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven.jpg","width":1920,"height":679,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven-300x106.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":106,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven-768x272.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":272,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven-1024x362.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":362,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":543,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":679,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven-1200x424.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":424,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is24-Blessed_Be_the_Host_of_the_King_of_Heaven-1188x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1188,"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":"Myth In The Bible?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God defeats the heavenly 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On Destruction ","post_title":"Drunk On Destruction","slug":"drunk-on-destruction","old_id":"116021","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":"358","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Isaiah\u2019s poetry of the apocalypse\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Chapter 24 has a beautiful staccato tone to its poetic verses. One thing that stands out in addition to the short simple phrasing is the number of repeated words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    3- The earth shall be bare, bare; It shall be plundered, plundered<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>4- The earth is withered, sear; The world languishes, it is sear; The most exalted people of the earth languish<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>8- Stilled is the merriment of hand-drums, Ended the clamor of revelers, Stilled the merriment of lyres<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>16- I waste away! I waste away! Woe is me! The faithless have acted faithlessly; The faithless have broken faith!<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>17- Terror, and pit, and trap (<\/span>pachad, pachat, pach<\/span><\/em>)<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>18- Whoever flees at the report of the terror shall fall into the pit; And whoever climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the trap<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>19- The earth is breaking, breaking; The earth is crumbling, crumbling. The earth is tottering, tottering<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>21- In that day, GOD will punish the host of heaven in heaven and the kings of the earth on earth<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>22- They shall be gathered in a dungeon as captives are gathered (<\/span>v\u2019usfuh asayfah, asir<\/span><\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Why have all of these repeated words and phrases? Perhaps this is another way that Isaiah emphasizes an additional theme of the chapter- empty drunkenness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    They drink their wine without song; Liquor tastes bitter to the drinker (9) <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The earth is swaying like a drunkard; It is rocking to and fro like a hut (20).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    These verse build on the verse from chapter 22:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Instead, there was rejoicing and merriment, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: 'Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'\u201d (22:13).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The people have become so pathetic that they have gone from drinking in spite of the pending doom, to drinking for no reason at all. They are so drunk that they sway about. Like a drunkard, they slur their words and repeat phrases over and over. With impaired minds to match their impaired speech the people have forgotten God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Heinrich Merz, Destruction of Jerusalem (detail) \/ picryl<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77394,"alt":"","title":"amos6-mertz destruction","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","width":1000,"height":653,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-300x196.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":196,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-768x502.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":502,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","large-width":1000,"large-height":653,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":653,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":653,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":653,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-643x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":643,"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":"Drunk On Destruction","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Isaiah\u2019s poetry of the apocalypse","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77394,"alt":"","title":"amos6-mertz destruction","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","width":1000,"height":653,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-300x196.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":196,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-768x502.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":502,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","large-width":1000,"large-height":653,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":653,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":653,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":653,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos6-mertz-destruction-643x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":643,"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":"24","chapter_main_number":"358","date":"20270112","wall_id":"358"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"749","name":"Drunk","old_id":"1149"}]},{"order":12,"id":"66236","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Swallowing Death ","post_title":"Swallowing Death","slug":"swallowing-death","old_id":"66236","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":"359","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But what if it is death that does the swallowing?","post_main_content_content":"

    In 2003, a book on the importance of punctuation entitled \u201cEats, Shoots & Leaves\u201d was published. The point of the title is that shoots and leaves can be either verbs\u2014the intended first impression\u2014or nouns, which they were meant to be without the comma. (If I had mentioned that the cover features a panda bear, would you have recognized shoots and leaves as its diet?) A comparable instance of syntactic ambiguity occurs in our chapter.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Arguably, the most striking verse in this chapter is v. 8, employed frequently in eulogies: \u201cHe will destroy death forever. My Lord GOD will wipe the tears away from all faces and will put an end to the reproach of His people over all the earth\u2014 for it is the LORD who has spoken.\u201d Under this reading, God is the subject and death is the object of the verb \u201cdestroy\u201d (or literally, \u201cswallow\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    However, the Hebrew (<\/span>bila` hamavet<\/span><\/i> lanetzach<\/span><\/i>) allows for a completely different translation: Death shall destroy forever. Indeed, this is implicit in the commentary of Ibn Ezra and explicit in Malbim.*<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Who will swallow these false faiths? Death. The soldiers of Gog who were besieging Mt. Zion will die and [death] will swallow false faith forever. By witnessing the downfall of Gog and the plague with which God will strike the enemies of Jerusalem, they will return to believe in God and recognize the true faith.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The false faiths\u2014alluded to in the verse 7\u2014are typically categorized by Malbim as follows:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \r\n\t
    1. Peoples who profess a faith and are not idolaters. They lack only a recognition of the true religion because their misleading beliefs place a mask over their faces and prevent them from seeing the light of truth\u2014which would be simple because they already believe in many of the genuine religious truths such as reward and punishment, providence, etc., and they are called peoples (`<\/em><\/span>amim<\/span><\/em>), which is a higher status than nations (<\/span>goyim<\/span><\/em>). God will swallow\/remove the mask that covers their faces, i.e., the false faith, and they will automatically recognize the true religion.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. Nations that do not yet have any faith, who are still idolaters, such as the ancients and the people of China, Japan, and the like. They are of the lower status of nations (<\/span>goyim<\/span><\/em>) of whom it says that God will remove the mask of idolatry that conceals them and that they have adopted as a religion and after which they are led astray.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      Eventually, as Isaiah himself put it,<\/span> \u201cthe earth will be as saturated with knowledge of God as water covers the seas\u201d (11:9).<\/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":66240,"alt":"","title":"is25-death","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-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":"Swallowing Death","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But what if it is death that does the swallowing? \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66240,"alt":"","title":"is25-death","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is25-death-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":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"25","chapter_main_number":"359","date":"20270113","wall_id":"359"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"798","name":"language","old_id":"1198"}]},{"order":13,"id":"66245","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Death And The Body Of God ","post_title":"Death And The Body Of God","slug":"death-and-the-body-of-god","old_id":"66245","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. 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","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":"359","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Any description of the body of the Divine is merely a metaphor for revelation and power","post_main_content_content":"

      Chapter 25 raises important philosophical questions about both the nature of death and the corporeality of God within the Jewish tradition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The chapter begins with praise from the speaker to God for destroying the enemy nation in the redemptive future and providing a stronghold for the impoverished Jews (25:1-7).\u00a0 After this salvation in the redemptive future: \u201cDeath will be swallowed forever, and the Lord, God will wipe tears from all faces, and the embarrassment of His people he will remove from the land, as God has said\u201d (25:8).\u00a0 This verse personifies death, swallowed as it were, and not just neutralized. This verse implies death will cease in that redemptive future; although Radak limits the force of the prediction by arguing that it is only destructive, unexpected death that will end as a consequence of world peace, not natural death. Jews have long speculated what will become of death in a time which is compared to life ever-lasting, and this prophecy is crucial for understanding this key philosophical belief. It is typically recited at the funeral service, although its meaning remains unclear.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Chapter 25 continues with a key verse about the corporeality of God: \u201cAnd he will say on that day, Behold, This is our God who we have hoped for and He will save us; This is the LORD, we have hoped for Him, we will rejoice and be happy with His salvation (25:9).\u201d\u00a0 Does this verse refer to God revealing himself indirectly through His action of redeeming His people? Or perhaps, it implies God will be revealed in physical form for the people to see, with the repetition of the word \u201cthis\u201d? The Talmud takes the verse literally, in a way that might seem philosophically uncomfortable (Taanit 31a) while most commentaries reject the interpretation that God will actually take physical form.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The prophecy continues: \u201cFor the Hand of the LORD will rest upon this mountain, and Moab will be threshed beneath Him, like grain is threshed in the garbage heap\u201d (25:10). Here, again, the commentaries neutralize the idea that the \u201chand\u201d literally indicates that God has corporeal form, translating \u201cstrength\u201d (Targum and Rashi) or punishment (Ibn Ezra and Radak).\u00a0 Commentaries use these verses to clarify their philosophical belief. Any description of the body of the Divine is merely a metaphor for revelation and power. A perfect God cannot be limited by physical form and physical space and so all these prophecies should be understood as prophecy and metaphor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Image: Michelangelo - Creation of Adam (cropped) \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66246,"alt":"","title":"Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped.jpg","width":515,"height":465,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped-300x271.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped.jpg","medium_large-width":515,"medium_large-height":465,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped.jpg","large-width":515,"large-height":465,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped.jpg","1536x1536-width":515,"1536x1536-height":465,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped.jpg","2048x2048-width":515,"2048x2048-height":465,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped.jpg","post_full_size-width":515,"post_full_size-height":465,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Is25-Michelangelo-Creation_of_Adam-cropped-465x420.jpg","home_baner-width":465,"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":"Death 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Over Fatefulness ","post_title":"Faithfulness Over Fatefulness","slug":"faithfulness-over-fatefulness","old_id":"66262","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":"360","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Can I get an amen to that, somebody?","post_main_content_content":"

      At the beginning of chapter 26 Isaiah describes Jerusalem and the Jewish nation at the time of the final redemption to come, and in so doing refers to the people as the \u201cguardians of faith (<\/span>shomer emunim<\/span><\/em>).\u201d\u00a0 After all of their battles, corrupt Kings, the destruction of their Temple and exile from their land, here is a nation that, however tenuously at times, \u201ckept the faith\u201d that redemption would come.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The word for faith \u2013 <\/span>emunah<\/span><\/em> \u2013 relates to its root word \u201c<\/span>amen<\/span><\/em>\u201d as Rav Schwab points out in <\/span>Rav Schwab on Yeshayahu<\/em> <\/span>as does<\/span> Jeremy Benstein in\u00a0<\/span>Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes<\/span><\/em><\/a>.<\/span><\/i> How many times a day does that word get uttered by Jews? A multitude of times in prayer and in blessings over food and on performing mitzvot, we utter that faithful word. And outside of religious observance contexts we use it colloquially in answer to our hope and faith for the future: \u201cYou should have a year of good health. AMEN!\u201d; \u201cMay you have success in your new business. AMEN!\u201d Our faithfulness is indeed a hallmark of the Jewish personality and we express it constantly. Even when the odds don\u2019t seem great, Jew end their Passover seder, year after year with the words \u201cNext year in Jerusalem.\u201d We collectively never lose faith that our redemption is almost upon us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Contrast that faithfulness that Isaiah highlights with the fateful response of the people, in Chapter 22 when they are being forewarned of the catastrophe to come. At that moment they lost faith not just in redemption but in their own ability for repentance. With the words \u201cEat and drink for tomorrow we die (22: 13)\u201d they succumbed to hopelessness. This was not an expression of jovial nonchalance, as it is spoken in modern day usage, but was, according to our Sages, the ultimate degradation of God. So much so that the verses that follows warns \u201cthis sin will not be forgiven until you die (22:14).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      The Talmud (Makkot 24a) relates the prophet Habakkuk\u2019s assertion that faith alone, absent any other merits, will be sufficient for our reward of redemption: \u201cHabakkuk came and established the 613 <\/span>mitzvot<\/span><\/i> upon one, as it is stated, \u201cThe righteous person shall live by his faith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      May we all find ways to continually express our faith in the future and the speedy fulfillment of God\u2019s promise for redemption. Amen!<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66267,"alt":"","title":"is26-amen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen.jpg","width":1920,"height":1087,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-300x170.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":170,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-768x435.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":435,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-1024x580.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":580,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":870,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1087,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-1200x679.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":679,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-742x420.jpg","home_baner-width":742,"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":"Faithfulness Over Fatefulness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Can I get an amen to that, somebody?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66267,"alt":"","title":"is26-amen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen.jpg","width":1920,"height":1087,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-300x170.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":170,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-768x435.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":435,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-1024x580.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":580,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":870,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1087,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-1200x679.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":679,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-amen-742x420.jpg","home_baner-width":742,"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":"26","chapter_main_number":"360","date":"20270114","wall_id":"360"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"}]},{"order":15,"id":"66269","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Keep The Faith! ","post_title":"Keep The Faith!","slug":"keep-the-faith","old_id":"66269","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34250,"post_title":"Sarah Rudolph","slug":"sarah-rudolph","old_id":"34250","first_name":"Sarah ","last_name":"Rudolph","description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34251,"alt":"","title":"Sarah R","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","width":2824,"height":4246,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","2048x2048-width":1362,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"360","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But what does that mean?","post_main_content_content":"

      \u201cIn that day, this song shall be sung in the land of Judah\u2026 \u2018Open the gates, and let a righteous nation enter, [a nation] that keeps faith!\u2019\u201d (Isaiah 26:2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      After the enemy falls, says the prophet, Judah\u2019s gates will be thrown open in a fit of triumphant glee at the city\u2019s newfound security \u2013 but who is it that will then be allowed to enter? \u201cA righteous nation, that keeps faith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Ibn Ezra explains that \u201cit is only appropriate to open the gates of this country\u2026for the righteous\u201d \u2013 but how righteous does one have to be? Does entry require complete and total faith? Is it only those who never once doubted God\u2019s own faithfulness, despite and throughout a lengthy exile, who will merit to see that redemption?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      \u201c<\/span>Shomer emunim<\/span><\/em>\u201d \u2013 only those people who keep faith. What does it mean to keep faith?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Several commentaries relate the word \u201c<\/span>shomer<\/span><\/em>\u201d (keep) in this verse to an apparently very different instance of the same Hebrew root. After Joseph shares his dreams with his brothers, provoking an increase in their ill will towards him, we are told \u201cand his father <\/span>shamar<\/span><\/em> the matter\u201d (Genesis 37:11). What does that <\/span>shamar<\/span><\/em> mean, and how might it shed light on our verse?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Though Joseph\u2019s father rebukes him for his dream \u2013 whether for harboring delusions of grandeur, or for the mistake of sharing them with his brothers, is unclear \u2013 the verse informs the reader that in fact, he took the dream seriously. Jacob didn\u2019t dismiss the idea, but \u201ckept\u201d it \u2013 though commentaries differ in the degrees of certainty they ascribe to him about his son\u2019s destiny: perhaps he \u201cknew\u201d the dreams would come true (Chizkuni); maybe he was simply \u201cconcerned\u201d they might (Radak); or he might have \u201cthought\u201d it was possible and \u201cdesired\u201d that outcome (Seforno). As Abarbanel puts it in his comment on Isaiah, <\/span>sh\/m\/r<\/span><\/em> in both contexts could indicate \u201choping and waiting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      And \u201choped\u201d does not have quite the same ring as \u201cknew.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Inclusion in God\u2019s final redemption of His people may not require the certainty of perfect, unwavering faith. The righteous who may enter the city \u201con that day\u201d are then not limited to those who <\/span>knew<\/span><\/em>, who never doubted they would be redeemed, but to those who <\/span>sh\/m\/r<\/em> <\/span>the prophecies of redemption, who didn\u2019t dismiss them. To those who, despite the long exile and even the uncertainties it brought, always held on to hope.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

      Image: Temple Shomer Emunim, Sylvania, Ohio<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66270,"alt":"","title":"is26-shomer2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2.jpg","width":2816,"height":2112,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-560x420.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":"Keep The Faith!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But what does that mean?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66270,"alt":"","title":"is26-shomer2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2.jpg","width":2816,"height":2112,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is26-shomer2-560x420.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":"26","chapter_main_number":"360","date":"20270114","wall_id":"360"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"451","name":"Hope","old_id":"851"}]}],"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\/65953"}],"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=65953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}