{"id":67322,"date":"2018-07-09T17:45:34","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-378\/"},"modified":"2023-07-18T08:10:52","modified_gmt":"2023-07-18T05:10:52","slug":"wall-378","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-378\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Isaiah-44"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"378","date":"20270209","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"67206","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 44        ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 44","slug":"jps-audio-bible-isaiah-chapter-44","old_id":"67206","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"378","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Isaiah Chapter 44","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-753876298\/jps_audio_bible_isaiah_chapter_44","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"116699","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Idols In Fashion  ","post_title":"Idols In Fashion","slug":"idols-in-fashion","old_id":"116699","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":"378","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What wood you do?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Idol worship is usually the #1 target for God. The widespread worship of foreign gods led to the downfall of the Northern Kingdom, and a similar fate threatens the South. Chapter 44 comes down hard on the worship of idols, but with a different take from the usual attack.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For his use he cuts down cedars; He chooses plane trees and oaks. He sets aside trees of the forest; or plants firs, and the rain makes them grow. All this serves a mortal for fuel: He takes some to warm himself, And he builds a fire and bakes bread. He also makes a god of it and worships it, Fashions an idol and bows down to it! Part of it he burns in a fire, on that part he roasts meat, He eats the roast and is sated; He also warms himself and cries, \u2018Ah, I am warm! I can feel the heat!\u2019\u201d (verses 10-12).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skilled craftsmen create their idols out of the same materials that they then use for mundane things like cooking food. They treat the same material as a god that heats their home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Isaiah uses the same word twice to talk about these idol makers- \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">yotzer<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\/fashion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fashioners of idols all work to no purpose; And the things they treasure can do no good, As they themselves can testify. They neither look nor think, And so they shall be shamed\u00a0 who would fashion a god or cast a statue that can do no good?\u201d (verses 9-10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He also uses the same word to contrast with the ultimate fashioner- God:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus said GOD, your fashioner, Your Creator who has helped you since birth: Fear not, My servant Jacob, Jeshurun whom I have chosen (verse 2);\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember these things, O Jacob For you, O Israel, are My servant: I fashioned you, you are My servant\u2014 O Israel, never forget Me (verse 21);\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thus said GOD, your Redeemer, Who fashioned you in the womb: It is I, GOD, who made everything, Who alone stretched out the heavens And unaided spread out the earth (verse 24).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The idol creators act like gods when they try to fashion these idols, but these idols do nothing. Their creators do not really care for them, and they treat them like fuel when they are done with them. The only one who can truly fashion something that is amazing and alive is God. God fashioned His people and truly cares about them. 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","post_title":"Picture It!","slug":"picture-it","old_id":"67497","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":59587,"post_title":"Benjamin Morse","slug":"benjamin-morse","old_id":"59587","first_name":"Benjamin ","last_name":"Morse ","description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history at Vassar, Oxford, and the Courtauld before completing a PhD in biblical interpretation. His dissertation reads the Hebrew Bible\u2019s \u201cmodern methods\u201d through the lens of painting and collage. His illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever, has won multiple awards.\r\nPhoto by Lenka Opalena.","short_description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history, and is the author and illustrator of the illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":59588,"alt":"","title":"Benjamin Morse by Lenka Opalena","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","width":1069,"height":1576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":695,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","large-width":695,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","2048x2048-width":1069,"2048x2048-height":1576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-814x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":814,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-285x420.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"378","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Assemblage, earth actions, and the art of exile","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It may be impossible to answer who had it worse, the elites who were carted off to Babylon or those who were left behind in the rubble. Some scholars however have questioned whether life was indeed all that bad for the exiles and for their offspring in the decades that followed. A number of them likely assimilated; others didn\u2019t let humiliation or being a minority turn them and stuck instead to their religious guns. So it\u2019s tremendous news when God finally tells them they\u2019re all free to go home. The passage is so confident and all-caps, even the mountains and forests are alive with song (v. 23).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The chapter employs some popular visual strategies of this second section of Isaiah. It personifies Israel as God\u2019s servant, calls forth the heavens and the earth to praise, and envisions water as a medium of salvation. Structurally it is a six-part collage of poetic forms grafted around a chunky prose passage about those idiots who actually build houses for their handmade idols. History has proven there is no other god but YHWH.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The opening oracle (continued from the previous chapter), broken trial speech (interrupted by the prose passage), eschatological hymn of praise (v. 23), and beginning of the oracle on Cyrus fit together in happy disjunction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are like the spontaneous assemblages Kurt Schwitters crafted as a refugee in the Lake District after World War II.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><img class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-68178\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-BMorse-Schwitters2-243x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"243\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>(Kurt Schwitters, Cigar, 1947 \/ wikimedia)<\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Schwitters pasted together his jubilant compositions from whatever was at hand\u2014used bus tickets, greeting cards, Bovril wrappers. They reflect a man thanking God for the end of war. He even described his method as a form of prayer. As is the case in Second Isaiah, disparate fragments compile into a delightful totality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But prophecy is also oral. It is performance. And this one seems to enact that exile can be okay. One\u2019s identity as a descendant of Jacob and Israel can remain solid no matter where one ends up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A similar counterpart can be found in the earth and performance sculptures of Ana Mendieta. She once molded a fertility sculpture into the shape of her native Cuba in the mud of the Iowa River (\u201cspringing up like poplars beside the water courses\u201d, v. 4) knowing it would erode in the current. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.e-flux.com\/announcements\/165634\/covered-in-time-and-history-the-films-of-ana-mendieta\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the photograph of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tree of Life<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1979) her body lies as a corpse with flowers sprouting from it, <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a mortal member of the \u201ceverlasting people\u201d (v. 7), \u201cformed from the womb\u201d (vv. 2, 24) and returning to the \u201cdepths of the earth\u201d (v. 23).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She also burned the silhouette of her hand onto an ethnographer\u2019s study of concepts of birth and rebirth. Does the child of Jacob not do likewise when he inscribes on his hand that he belongs to YHWH (v. 5)? The brand and the hand aren\u2019t forever; from dust to dust, one\u2019s relationship to the planet and to God somehow is. Sometimes it takes the liberating, even joyous experience of being an exile to see that. 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a stick, or with derision","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When asked, many young children would probably tell you that their favorite Biblical story is Abraham smashing his father\u2019s idols. The story takes place while Abraham is still in Ur Kasdim and is left in charge of his father\u2019s idol shop. Various customers enter the shop, and Abraham scares each one of them away by mocking them for worshiping such worthless icons. Eventually, Abraham decides to smash all the idols. When his father returns and sees the wreckage, Abraham tells him that the idols had an argument over which one should receive an offering. Over\u00a0 the course of their squabble, the largest one arose, took a stick, and then broke the others. Abraham\u2019s father cannot believe what he has heard, and responds that idols don\u2019t have the power to do any of that. Abraham sarcastically replies, \u201cIf only your eyes would listen to what your mouth is saying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Children are often disappointed when they discover that this story is not in fact in the Torah, but rather comes from the Midrash. Nevertheless, Abraham\u2019s mocking of idol worship finds its roots in Chapter 44 of Isaiah. In it, God repeatedly emphasizes the futility of idol worship and makes light of the fact that human beings cannot recognize that idols are powerless gods of their own creation. God says (44:9) \u2018The maker of idols, all work to no purpose; and the things they treasure can do no good, as they themselves can testify. They neither look not think, and so they shall be shamed.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Isaiah goes on to describe that the wood used to heat a man\u2019s home and cook his food is the same wood used to fashion into an idol. Yet, (44:17) \u201cHe bows down to it, worships it; He prays to it and cries, \u2018Save me, for you are my god!\u2019\u201d In doing so, (44:20) \u2018a deluded mind has led him astray, And he cannot save himself; He never says to himself, \u2018The thing in my hand is a fraud.\u2019\u201d On some level, human beings know that idols are powerless, but as was the case with Abraham\u2019s father, they cannot stop themselves from worshipping them. As a result, there will always be a need for prophets like Abraham and Isaiah to remind us to smash the idols we have made for ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image(s): \u201cBroken\u201d by Erika F\u00e1bi\u00e1n (licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67579,"alt":"","title":"is44-idols","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","width":1024,"height":512,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":512,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":512,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":512,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"Idol-Smashing","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"With a stick, or with derision","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67579,"alt":"","title":"is44-idols","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","width":1024,"height":512,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":512,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":512,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":512,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-idols-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"}]},{"order":5,"id":"116726","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah44","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah44","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isaiah44","old_id":"116726","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. 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We try to probe what makes idolatry so problematic.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":108885,"alt":"","title":"-635baf915f04f--635baf915f050tanakh podcast - Alex Israel.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","width":350,"height":352,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-298x300.jpg","medium-width":298,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","medium_large-width":350,"medium_large-height":352,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","large-width":350,"large-height":352,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":350,"1536x1536-height":352,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":350,"2048x2048-height":352,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","post_full_size-width":350,"post_full_size-height":352,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":352}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/4vXDRzW7KVRa1K6O0QXExg","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":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":6,"id":"67586","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Who Shall What?     ","post_title":"Who Shall What?","slug":"who-shall-what","old_id":"67586","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":"378","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u2026 another shall mark his arm \u201cof the LORD\u201d","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Verse 5 in this chapter addresses multiple constituencies. How many and which are the subjects of our inquiry?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\"One (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">z<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">eh<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) shall say, \u201cI am the LORD\u2019s,\u201d another (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ve-zeh<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) shall use the name of \u201cJacob,\u201d another (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ve-zeh<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) shall mark his arm \u201cof the LORD\u201d and adopt the name of \u201cIsrael.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even though the word <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">zeh<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> appears but three times, Rashi divided them into four: Those who say \u201cI am the Lord\u2019s\u201d are the completely righteous; those who \u201cuse the name of Jacob\u201d are the (small) children of the wicked; he who marks his arm \u201cof the Lord\u201d is a penitent (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ba`al teshuvah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), and those who \u201cadopt the name of Israel\u201d are, quite naturally, the converts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ibn Ezra and Radak treated them alike, assuming them all to refer to the remnant of Israel, with Ibn Ezra adding the proviso regarding the last phrase that \u201csome interpret it to refer to proselytes.\u201d Neither, however, addressed the question whether the verse incorporates three or four categories.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Malbim,* consistent with the type of categorization we have seen him adopt previously, wrote:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOne shall say\u201d refers to gentiles who will recognize God; even though they will not accept the Torah, they will still say they belong to God and not to another deity. \u201cUse the name of Jacob\u201d refers to the masses, descendants of Jacob, who will preserve their lineage and guard their ancestral religion. \u201cMark his arm to the Lord\u201d are the righteous who always go before God and mark their arms as a sign of submission to devote and sanctify their deeds to their creator and perform no secular act unless it is for the [sake] of God and the observance of His commandments. Such a person will \u201cadopt the name of Israel\u201d because he will be subject to supernatural providence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, the identification of the last clause with proselytes, which Rashi attributed to Avot d\u2019Rabbi Natan, was dismissed by S.D. Luzzatto (Shadal; Italy 1800-1865) on the grounds that v. 3 explicitly limits the blessing to \u201cyour descendants.\u201d Shadal also identified the marking of the arm specifically with the covenant forged in the era of Ezra and Nehemiah that employs the term \u201cthey gave their arms\u201d to describe the Israelites\u2019 pledge to expel their [non-Jewish] wives (Ezra 10:19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*For the significance of Malbim\u2019s commentary to the Book of Isaiah,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/335\/post\/64640\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> see our introduction to chapter 1.<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67587,"alt":"","title":"is44-tatoo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo.jpg","width":600,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-tatoo-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Who Shall What?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u2026 another shall mark his arm \u201cof the 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She taught as an Associate Professor of Religious and Jewish studies at the University of South Carolina. ","short_description":"Dr. Katja Vehlow is a rabbinical student at JTS in New York City. She taught as an Associate Professor of Religious and Jewish studies at the University of South Carolina. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60757,"alt":"","title":"Katja Vehlow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","width":454,"height":580,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":580,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":580,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":580,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":580,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":580,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Katja-Vehlow-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"378","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The ins and outs, ups and downs, of conversion today\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blessings come in many disguises. For some, a blessing is God's response to a prayer, a gentle rain on a scorching summer afternoon, or a friend's embrace when we are low. For others, it is the joy of finding a spiritual home, a community, a new family to call one\u2019s own. Our chapter affirms the validity of conversion, and the myriad ways that may lead a person to \u201cadopt the name of Israel.\u201d The Jewish people will grow, asserts the medieval Ashkenazi commentator Rashi in his remarks to today\u2019s chapter, when those who are \"among the grass\" turn towards the God of Israel,.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, when people become Jewish, often becoming a minority for the first time in their lives, they, too, frequently enter a period of anguish. Being a newcomer can be bewildering, forging a new identity that welds together the past and a meaningful future can be disorienting, and family and friends may be less than understanding. On the one hand, it is easier than at most times to join the Jewish world (and some people live happy Jewish lives without ever joining up formally). Gone are the times that converts are required to physically leave their birth communities, as was often the case during the European middle ages, when remaining might have put the individual and the receiving community at peril.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Joining the Jewish community in the US for example means to enter a well-established community that is fully part of civil society, one whose presence is reflected on TV and elsewhere. Media and popular culture are full of references to Jewish culture and religion, and many non-Jewish children grow up twirling dreidls and eating latkes with Jewish friends on Chanukkah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And yet, what does it mean for converts to choose Judaism at a period of rising antisemitism, of threats\u00a0 against our children\u2019s schools and institutions, and attacks on supermarkets? Like others, they wonder what to do when anti-semitic political parties seemingly become mainstream throughout Europe. Should we seek out allies? Take self-defense courses? Withdraw deeper into our communities, putting up high protective walls against the outside world?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Isaiah wrote these powerful and comforting words at a time of great distress for himself and his community. Converts, with their rich identities, with their optimism\u2014after all, they chose to live as Jews!\u2014remind their communities of the beauty and excitement of living a Jewish life, with all its contemporary messiness. Communities would do well to embrace this enthusiasm, and the newcomers in their midst who, years into their journey, might still yearn for a home, a place in their communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67661,"alt":"","title":"is44-feet wet","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","width":300,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":199}},"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":"Adopting The Name Of Israel","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The ins and outs, ups and downs, of conversion today\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67661,"alt":"","title":"is44-feet wet","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","width":300,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is44-feet-wet.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":199}},"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":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"579","name":"Convert","old_id":"979"}]},{"order":9,"id":"67500","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Absurd Fetishism of Idolatry       ","post_title":"The Absurd Fetishism of Idolatry","slug":"the-absurd-fetishism-of-idolatry","old_id":"67500","type":"event","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 -  from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"378","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Isaian satire - or ignorance?","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">44:9 \u201cFashioners of idols, they are all mere wind, and their cherished things cannot avail, and their witnesses cannot see nor know, and hence they are shamed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The lengthy polemic against the manufacturers of idols that begins with these words is a hallmark of our prophet. No other biblical writer so scathingly reduces paganism to mere absurd fetishism. In the mid-twentieth century, the Israeli biblical scholar Yehezkel Kaufman used such prophecies to argue that the Israelites were so far removed from paganism that they failed to understand that idols were conceived merely as symbols of the gods they represented. One may question that view because polemic or satire is a literary vehicle that thrives on exaggeration: the prophet, in order to show vividly that idolaters worship imagined entities, not real gods, represents them absurdly carving gods out of wood, using the leftover wood for fuel, and bowing down to their wooden carvings as to gods.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From: Robert Alter, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton &amp; Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"The Absurd Fetishism of Idolatry","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Isaian satire - or ignorance?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"}]},{"order":10,"id":"67227","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 44        ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 44","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-isaiah-44","old_id":"67227","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. 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Isaiah 44","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"67498","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 44       ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 44","slug":"points-to-ponder-isaiah-44","old_id":"67498","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"378","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"<ol>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>The God of the entire world is goal-oriented<\/em>. God is the creator of all the world; God knows in advance everything that will happen. Moreover, God is the power behind all of nature and human history. That is the image of the universal God that is expressed in this chapter. But this universal God has chosen one nation, with one goal in mind: \u201cHe shall say of Jerusalem, \u2018She shall be rebuilt,\u2019 And to the Temple: \u2018You shall be founded again\u2019\u201d (verses 28).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Prophetic caricature.<\/em>\u00a0The description of the making of the idol in verses 9-20 is a verbal caricature. Imagine the droplets of sweat on the brow of the crafts person in their very human effort - to create a god. Imagine the log, half of which goes to a fire to roast meat and the other half to become divinity. A verbal picture worth a thousand speeches.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Skies are clear<\/em>. \u201cI wipe away your sins like a cloud, Your transgressions like mist\u201d and now that nothing is clouding our relationship, \u201cCome back to Me, for I redeem you\u201d (verse 22).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Naming names.<\/em> In previous chapters, the character of Cyrus was only hinted at - here he is mentioned by name. Cyrus, the Persian king, who defeated the Babylonian empire, is a key figure in the current processes of the God of history in the world. Details to follow. <\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Isaiah 44","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"44","chapter_main_number":"378","date":"20270209","wall_id":"378"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/67322"}],"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=67322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}