{"id":67752,"date":"2018-07-09T17:45:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-391\/"},"modified":"2023-08-06T09:13:53","modified_gmt":"2023-08-06T06:13:53","slug":"wall-391","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-391\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Isaiah-57"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"391","date":"20270228","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"67981","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 57 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 57","slug":"jps-audio-bible-isaiah-chapter-57","old_id":"67981","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":"391","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 57","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_57","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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"116940","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Dead Shall Rest On Their Couches ","post_title":"The Dead Shall Rest On Their Couches","slug":"the-dead-shall-rest-on-their-couches","old_id":"116940","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And let us say amen\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> begins with a condemnation of Israel\u2019s idolatry (<\/span>Isaiah 57:1-13<\/span><\/a>), but concludes with God\u2019s promise of help and healing (<\/span>Isaiah 57:14-21<\/span><\/a>). In<\/span> Verse 2<\/span><\/a>, God promises that the righteous one \u201cshall come to peace. He shall have rest on their couches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Talmud Bavli Ketubot<\/span><\/a> asks why Scripture here refers to \u201ctheir couches\u201d; it should say, \u201chis couch\u201d since the whole verse refers to the \u201crighteous one\u201d. This difficulty is resolved by Rabbi Yosi ben Shaul who explains that when a righteous individual departs from the world, the ministering angels inform God that a particular righteous individual is coming. So, the Holy One, Blessed be He, commands that the righteous ones should go forth to welcome him. They say to the newly deceased individual: \u201cHe shall come to peace\u201d and together with the rest of the righteous ones, he and they \u201cshall have rest on their couches.\u201d This midrash follows the death scene of Rabbi Yehudah Ha-Nasi. At the moment of his death, he raised his ten fingers toward Heaven and said in prayer, Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You that I toiled with my ten fingers in the Torah, and I have not derived any benefit from the world even with my small finger. May it be Your will that there be peace in my repose. A Divine Voice rang out<\/span> saying<\/span><\/a>: \u201cHe shall come to peace. He shall have rest on their couches.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Scriptural expression \u201cHe shall have rest on their couches\u201d is echoed in<\/span> El Malei Rachamim<\/span><\/a><\/em>, \u201cGod, Full of Mercy\u201d, the Jewish prayer for the deceased, recited at the graveside during the burial service and at memorial services during the year. This prayer, which includes the Hebrew name of the deceased person, concludes: \u201cThe Lord is his\/her heritage. And he\/she shall rest peacefully on his\/her couch. So let us say, Amen\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The end of Midrash Deuteronomy Rabbah<\/span><\/a> preserves a detailed description of the<\/span> death of Moses<\/span><\/a>. At that time the Holy One, blessed be He, kissed Moses (see<\/span> Rashi to Deuteronomy 34:5<\/span><\/a>) and wept,\u00a0 <\/span>saying<\/span><\/a>: \u201cWho will stand up for me against wrongdoers?\u201d The Holy Spirit<\/span> proclaimed<\/span><\/a>: \u201cNever again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses.\u201d The heavens wept<\/span> saying<\/span><\/a>: \u201cThe faithful one has disappeared from the land\u2026\u201d and the earth\u00a0 <\/span>continued<\/span><\/a>: \u201c\u2026and there is no upright one among humanity.\u201d Meanwhile, Joshua was searching for his teacher, Moses, and not finding him he<\/span> cried out<\/span><\/a>: \u201cHelp, O Lord! For the faithful one is no more\u201d. All the while, the ministering angels were<\/span> saying<\/span><\/a>, \u201cHe executed the Lord\u2019s righteousness\u2026\u201d, and Israel<\/span> continued<\/span><\/a>: \u201c\u2026and His laws for Israel\u2019. Finally, all present sang out together: \u201cHe shall come to peace. He shall have rest in their couches\u201d (<\/span>Isaiah 57:2<\/span><\/a>). And so, we say, May the Memory of the Righteous be for a Blessing [<\/span>zekher tzadiq livrakhah<\/span><\/a><\/em>] and may his soul have life in the World to Come! Amen! So may it be His will.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91742,"alt":"","title":"ps149-couch","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","width":841,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-300x171.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-768x438.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":438,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","large-width":841,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","1536x1536-width":841,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","2048x2048-width":841,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","post_full_size-width":841,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-736x420.jpg","home_baner-width":736,"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 Dead Shall Rest On Their Couches","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And let us say amen","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91742,"alt":"","title":"ps149-couch","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","width":841,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-300x171.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-768x438.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":438,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","large-width":841,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","1536x1536-width":841,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","2048x2048-width":841,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch.jpg","post_full_size-width":841,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps149-couch-736x420.jpg","home_baner-width":736,"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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"405","name":"Memory","old_id":"805"},{"term_id":"484","name":"Mourning","old_id":"884"}]},{"order":3,"id":"116942","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Theological Adultery ","post_title":"Theological Adultery","slug":"theological-adultery","old_id":"116942","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":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Bedding with other gods\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

But as for you, come closer, you children of a sorceress, you offspring of an adulterer and a whore! (verse 3)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Behind the door and doorpost you have directed your thoughts; abandoning Me, you have gone up on the couch you made so wide. You have made a covenant with them; you have loved bedding with them; you have chosen lust (verse 7).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These two verses encapsulate a major theme of the chapter, but what exactly is that theme? It seems that these verses have two meanings. The literal meaning is that God is furious at the people for their immoral behavior.\u00a0 They have offspring from all types of forbidden marriages to sorceresses and adultery committed by men and women. The people are so consumed with immoral behavior that behind every door they hide forbidden relationships. God sees what is happening behind closed doors. These relationships consume the minds of the people. Isaiah describes a bed that the people widen in order to accommodate the number of inappropriate lovers. This evokes the midrash of Sodom where the city would have smaller beds to torture visitors by cutting off limbs. The Israelites do not reject visitors. They invite more inside than they should.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The metaphorical reading is that this chapter discusses the people cheating on God with other gods. The people are \u201coffspring\u201d of sorcerers because they go to the sorcerers as one would go to a parent. They are also offspring of adulterous Israelites who worship foreign gods. They increase their beds to include God and idols. This is similar to Elijah\u2019s rebuke of the people to stop standing on the fence between God and Baal. You cannot include both in your religious worship. You cannot have both in your bed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Verse seven\u2019s other metaphor of activity behind the door and doorpost evokes the future actions of the people under king Josiah. In a lamentation for Tisha Ba\u2019av (Kina number 11), Jeremiah laments the death of the righteous king Josiah. He talks about the king\u2019s efforts to rid the land of idols. Josiah believed he was successful, but the people deceived him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The sin of the generation\u2019s scoffers clung to him, those who set up [the idols] behind the doors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people would hide their idols behind closed doors to avoid detection by the king\u2019s messengers. Perhaps Jeremiah intentionally utilizes these dual-purpose metaphors as a way to criticize both types of behavior.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76677,"alt":"","title":"hos14-idol","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol.jpg","width":1920,"height":1292,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-300x202.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-768x517.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":517,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-1024x689.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":689,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1034,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1292,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-1200x808.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":808,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-624x420.jpg","home_baner-width":624,"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":"Theological Adultery","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Bedding with other gods","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76677,"alt":"","title":"hos14-idol","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol.jpg","width":1920,"height":1292,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-300x202.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-768x517.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":517,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-1024x689.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":689,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1034,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1292,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-1200x808.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":808,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos14-idol-624x420.jpg","home_baner-width":624,"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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"429","name":"Idolatry","old_id":"829"},{"term_id":"765","name":"Adultery","old_id":"1165"},{"term_id":"854","name":"Metaphor","old_id":"1254"}]},{"order":4,"id":"116944","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Death Of The Righteous ","post_title":"The Death Of The Righteous","slug":"the-death-of-the-righteous","old_id":"116944","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. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Not a punishment, but rather a consideration\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Hidden in the first verse of Isaiah 57 is a \u201ctheodicy\u201d for why \u201cbad things happen to good people\u201d:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The righteous man perishes, and no one considers; pious men are taken away, and no one gives thought that because of evil the righteous was taken away.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Radak claims that the demise of the righteous due to the excesses of their generation, is not only a case of such a person finding him\/herself in the \u201cwrong time and the wrong place,\u201d but because that person is being spared witnessing such a horrific circumstance:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2026because the righteous and people of compassion are \u201cgathered up\u201d (<\/span>die<\/span><\/i>) prior to their appointed time, so that they will not have to confront future evil that will affect the immediate generation, and that they should be spared from having to see such evil altogether. As Huldah, the prophetess, said in God\u2019s name, to Josiah (II Kings 22:20): \u201cAssuredly, I will gather you to your fathers and you will be laid in your tomb in peace. Your eyes shall not see all the disaster which I will bring upon this place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The earliest Rabbinic manifestation of such a concept is stated by God to Abraham, at a moment in Jewish history when the Jews were made up of individual family members, rather than an entire nation:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As for you, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age (Genesis 15:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open, famished. And Esau said to Jacob, \u201cGive me some of that red stuff to gulp down, for I am famished\u201d... \u201d (Gen. 25:29-30)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi comments:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Red lentils. On that day Abraham had died in order that he might not see his grandson Esau falling into degenerate ways. This would not have been the \u201cgood old age\u201d which God had promised him. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, cut his life short by five years \u2014 for Isaac lived 180 years and he only one hundred and seventy five. Jacob was boiling lentils to provide the customary first meal (\u201c<\/span>Seudat HaVra\u2019a<\/span><\/i>\u201d) for the immediate mourners\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consequently, an argument to improve one\u2019s behavior can effect not only the self, but also the righteous of the generation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86840,"alt":"","title":"ps90-born died","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","width":1920,"height":1436,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-768x574.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":574,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1024x766.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1149,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1436,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1200x898.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":898,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-562x420.jpg","home_baner-width":562,"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 Death Of The Righteous","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Not a punishment, but rather a consideration","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86840,"alt":"","title":"ps90-born died","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","width":1920,"height":1436,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-300x224.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-768x574.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":574,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1024x766.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1149,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1436,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-1200x898.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":898,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps90-born-died-562x420.jpg","home_baner-width":562,"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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"573","name":"Righteousness","old_id":"973"},{"term_id":"832","name":"Theology","old_id":"1232"}]},{"order":5,"id":"68374","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Build Up A Highway ","post_title":"Build Up A Highway","slug":"build-up-a-highway","old_id":"68374","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":67942,"post_title":"Joshua Gischner","slug":"joshua-gischner","old_id":"67942","first_name":"Joshua ","last_name":"Gischner ","description":"Joshua Gischner is a student rabbi and masters in Religious Education student at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. Josh is passionate about inclusion, Jewish history, and using creativity to support the Jewish community in finding meaningful Jewish moments. Josh is a member of Cohort 9 of the iCenter's Master\u2019s Concentration in Israel Education and is the Education Intern at Brooklyn Heights Synagogue.","short_description":"Joshua Gischner is a student rabbi and masters in Religious Education student at the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":67943,"alt":"","title":"Joshua Gischner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner.jpeg","width":3464,"height":4330,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner-240x300.jpeg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner-768x960.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":960,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner-819x1024.jpeg","large-width":819,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1229,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1638,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner-960x1200.jpeg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Joshua-Gischner-336x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Removing Obstacles To The Highway Of Inclusion\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

I once taught a child who could not control his body.\u00a0 Although not his fault, initially I did not know the proper '<\/span>highway' <\/span>to his soul as we received no information about him. He would impulsively jump, dance, and move differently from his peers throughout class. I thought he was being a nuisance. Initially, I did not recognize that I was creating an <\/span>obstacle<\/span> to his learning when I simply showed my frustration, lacking compassionate understanding.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is embarrassing to write as I too cannot control my body. I have Tourette\u2019s Syndrome, a neurological disorder which causes involuntary tics. Although mine are manageable now, they were an <\/span>obstacle<\/span> for my teachers as well when I was my student\u2019s age. Imagine the stumbling block created when tics or impulses are viewed as a disruptive call for attention.\u00a0 Imagine the frustration.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah commands (57:14): \u201cBuild up, build up<\/span> a <\/span><\/i>highway<\/span><\/em>, remove <\/span>michshol<\/span><\/em>, any obstacle, from before My people!\u201d In its only appearance in the Torah, the word <\/span>michshol<\/span><\/em> is not connected to harming a person with a disability (Lev 19:14), thus how I read Isaiah\u2019s message. I\u2019ve learned that it can be difficult to <\/span>build up that highway<\/span><\/em>, without first understanding the individual\u2019s <\/span>obstacles<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I began dismantling my student\u2019s <\/span>michshol<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>following an eye-opening conversation with a mentor. Exodus describes the sacrificial altar as having steps (20:23) to which a concerned Rashi there responds that one should not build an altar without a ramp. My mentor helped me build that ramp. It was at that moment when the steps to the altar began to slope, as frustration turned into compassion. It was then when my student\u2019s learning dramatically improved as I began to better understand the <\/span>highway <\/span><\/i>to his soul.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I would bet that Rashi knew a person who could not ascend those steps. He saw them and dismantled a <\/span>michshol<\/span><\/em> in the Torah text. We must do the same.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68375,"alt":"","title":"is57-help","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-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":"Build Up A Highway","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Removing Obstacles To The Highway Of Inclusion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68375,"alt":"","title":"is57-help","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-help-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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"399","name":"Education","old_id":"799"},{"term_id":"616","name":"Spirit","old_id":"1016"},{"term_id":"769","name":"Disabilities","old_id":"1169"}]},{"order":6,"id":"68392","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The \u201cLowly In Spirit\u201d And \u201cThe Contrite\u201d ","post_title":"The \u201cLowly In Spirit\u201d And \u201cThe Contrite\u201d","slug":"the-lowly-in-spirit-and-the-contrite","old_id":"68392","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":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A view from above","post_main_content_content":"

In verse 15 of this chapter, we read that God declares that although He dwells \u201con high\u201d and \u201cin holiness,\u201d He is nevertheless concerned with even \u201cthe lowly in spirit\u201d and \u201cthe contrite.\u201d Malbim* elaborated on this polarity in an extended analysis of a prevalent contemporary phenomenon: the <\/span>ba`al teshuva<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The \u201ccontrite and lowly in spirit\u201d is the penitent (ba`al teshuva). Three arguments have been advanced against the possibility of repentance: [A] Since God is \u201chigh aloft,\u201d and since the importance of a sin is measured by the value of the one against whom it is committed, because God is infinitely \u201chigh aloft\u201d it stands to follow that the punishment of one who sins against him would be infinite and could not be atoned for by repentance. [B] Since He \u201cdwells forever\u201d and is unchangeable, how could His will be altered by an act of repentance? [C] Since His \u201cname is Holy,\u201d how could His holiness be reconciled with one who defiled himself and spurned His holiness? How could such a flaw ever be corrected? To these, God replies that although He is sublime, He abides the downtrodden\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim maintained that not only were these arguments unpersuasive but, <\/span>au contraire<\/span><\/em>, they promote the possibility of repentance. If the first argument was that there can be no atonement for a sin committed against an infinite God, His very infinity expands the prospects for penitence, for otherwise no one could survive because no one is sinless.\u00a0 If the other arguments were that repentance is inimical to His unchanging and sacred nature, that only goes to prove how incapable we are of truly comprehending Him, so we cannot blithely assume that He is constrained by our assumptions.<\/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":68393,"alt":"","title":"is57-view from above","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above.jpg","width":1920,"height":1455,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-768x582.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":582,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-1024x776.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":776,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1164,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1455,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-1200x909.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":909,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-554x420.jpg","home_baner-width":554,"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 \u201cLowly In Spirit\u201d And \u201cThe Contrite\u201d","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A view from above","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68393,"alt":"","title":"is57-view from above","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above.jpg","width":1920,"height":1455,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-768x582.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":582,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-1024x776.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":776,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1164,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1455,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-1200x909.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":909,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-view-from-above-554x420.jpg","home_baner-width":554,"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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"459","name":"Forgiveness","old_id":"859"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"},{"term_id":"699","name":"Teshuvah","old_id":"1099"}]},{"order":7,"id":"116952","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah57","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah57","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isaiah57","old_id":"116952","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. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"391","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","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":"The Tanakh Podcast","tile_main_caption":"Isaiah 57: Distant And Close","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The righteous are persecuted, the leadership powerless, and evil prevails. Yet, the chapter ends with promises of peace and healing: \"Peace, Peace for those far and near, says God, and I will heal them\"","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\/2t5xL9kSbU9f402CBY8CrY","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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":8,"id":"68396","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Isaiah Looks To The Mezuzah ","post_title":"Isaiah Looks To The Mezuzah","slug":"isaiah-looks-to-the-mezuzah","old_id":"68396","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64462,"post_title":"Analia Bortz","slug":"analia-bortz","old_id":"64462","first_name":"Analia ","last_name":"Bortz ","description":"Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz is a medical doctor with postdoctoral studies in Bioethics. She is the first female Latin American rabbi, and is a AJWS Global Justice Fellow in 2019-2020 She and her husband Rabbi Mario Karpuj founded Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia. She is the author of The Voice of Silence: A Rabbi's Journey into a Trappist Monastery and Other Contemplation (2017)","short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz is a medical doctor and with her husband Rabbi Mario Karpuj founded Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64463,"alt":"","title":"analia bortz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","width":225,"height":225,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","medium_large-width":225,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","large-width":225,"large-height":225,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","1536x1536-width":225,"1536x1536-height":225,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","2048x2048-width":225,"2048x2048-height":225,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","post_full_size-width":225,"post_full_size-height":225,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","home_baner-width":225,"home_baner-height":225}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But is it a case of inverted Marranos?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Alarmed by the words of God, chastising God\u2019s people for following other pagan deities, Isaiah is running out of time. There are only ten chapters to end his own book (or is there more than one author, Deutero-Isaiah after chapter thirty-nine, or even three different authors? who knows?).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah declares:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Behind the door and doorpost [mezuzah<\/em>] you have directed your thoughts, abandoning Me you have gone up on the couch you made so wide. You have made a covenant with them (other gods), you have loved bedding with them, you have chosen lust\u00a0<\/span>(Isaiah 57:8)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The prophet learned from some Rabbi that it is time to check the <\/span>mezuzot<\/span><\/em>. The inappropriate behavior of his people surely responds to some erased letter in the mezuzah, right? The prophet suspects that the <\/span>mezuzah<\/em> <\/span>might have some mystical power. He decides to focus on the mezuzah as the scapegoat for all the calamities that the people were experiencing and by doing that he would solve the problem, the source of the reason for God\u2019s rejection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah might have been thinking of the idea of an \u201cinverted Marrano.\u201d How so? As the Marranos in the time of the inquisition exhibited Christian behavior on the outside but kept their Jewish identity inside, in the secrecy of their homes. This verse seems to invite the audience to the homes of the Jews during the prophet\u2019s time, exposing the inner abandonment of believing and following only God. Isaiah rightfully thought that God\u2019s people were falsely showing off their Jewish identity externally, posting a mezuzah at the entrance of their homes, but in reality, in their inner performance, inside their homes, there was a lack of Jewish identity. They followed pagan deities in their hearts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah was desperate to find the right \u201cprotective <\/span>mezuzot<\/span><\/em>\u201d, the ones that would show the same proud Jew inside and out, the one that would preserve the love for God both personally and communal practice. The prophet is running out of time. He needs to buy lots of kosher <\/span>mezuzot<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> Isaiah visited the Judaica store on Geulah Street, but they have run out of <\/span>klafim<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>the parchment texts<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>The prophet needed to buy kosher parchments in bulk. How could he accomplish this task in such a short period of time?<\/span> He went online to scout Judaica stores, but they could not fulfill his order. Reluctantly, he decided to enrich Jeff Bezos, and signed up for Amazon Prime, allowing him to receive the package overnight without paying for shipping. He was please when Amazon announced the company will deliver in Israel. Just six hours later a UPS truck parked on his driveway and a woman dress up in a brown overall rung the bell. In a big box he finds well packed <\/span>mezuzot<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>enough to be affixed on the doors and gates of the city.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68397,"alt":"","title":"is57-mezuzah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-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":"Isaiah Looks To The Mezuzah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But is it a case of inverted Marranos?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68397,"alt":"","title":"is57-mezuzah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is57-mezuzah-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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"462","name":"Identity","old_id":"862"},{"term_id":"990","name":"Mezuzah","old_id":"1390"}]},{"order":9,"id":"68372","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Be Gone With The Wind\u00a0 ","post_title":"Be Gone With The Wind\u00a0","slug":"be-gone-with-the-wind","old_id":"68372","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":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Or inherit the land","post_main_content_content":"

When you cry out, let those gathered round you save you. But all of them the wind shall bear off, a mere breath take them away. But who shelters in Me shall inherit the land and take hold of My holy mountain (.57:13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is another ambiguous reference. \u201cThose gathered round\u201d could mean the gods that the paganizing Israelites have collected, or it could refer to the adherents of the pagan cult. In all this, the denunciation of paganism in the Judahite community is a very different theme from what one finds in Isaiah 40-55. The aim of this later prophet is to purge the community of its wayward elements. A sharp division in the Judahites community is envisioned: those who have exerted themselves to go after strange gods (verses 9-10) will be borne off by the wind, while those who have been steadfast in their loyalty to YHWH will \u201cinherit the land,\u201d which is to say, they will be the legitimate possessors of the Persian province of Yehud, now restored to the people of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Be Gone With The Wind\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Or inherit the land","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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"68402","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Haftorah Homilies: Isaiah Chapter 57 ","post_title":"Haftorah Homilies: Isaiah Chapter 57","slug":"haftorah-homilies-isaiah-chapter-57","old_id":"68402","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":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qMMDxlgl-FQ","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Haftorah Homilies: Leviticus","tile_main_caption":"Isaiah Chapter 57","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Reuben Ebrahimoff (Haftorah Man)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qMMDxlgl-FQ","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":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"951","name":"Haftarah","old_id":"1351"}]},{"order":11,"id":"68014","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 57 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 57","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-isaiah-57","old_id":"68014","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. We are assembling a free living library of Jewish texts and their interconnections, in Hebrew and in translation. With these digital texts, we can create new, interactive interfaces for Web, tablet and mobile, allowing more people to engage with the textual treasures of our tradition.","short_description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42230,"alt":"","title":"Sefaria Logo2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Sefaria-Logo2-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cThose Who Went to Gan Eden Alive\u201d<\/a> by Eryn London: Explore midrashic texts about figures who did not die.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

\u201cEssential Jewish Social Justice Texts\u201d<\/a> by Rachel Nilson Ralston: A compilation of Jewish sources about justice.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Isaiah 57","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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"68370","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 57 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 57","slug":"points-to-ponder-isaiah-57","old_id":"68370","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":"391","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Cheating spouse<\/em>. With everyone, everywhere possible. That is the accusatory picture of the sin of idol worship that comes out of verses 3-9. This comes along with quite a bit of information about various practices associated with idolatry.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Gone with the wind<\/em>. The poet, Chaim Nachman Bialik, in his <\/span>song \u201cAlone\u201d (<\/span>Levadi<\/span><\/i>)<\/span><\/a> bemoans the fact that \u201cEveryone has been swept away by the wind, carried away by the light.\u201d This echoes verse 13 in this chapter. Is it the same wind? And what is the fate of the one who takes shelter under the wings of the Shechina in the poem, and how far is that from what the prophet describes? Bialik lovers and Isaiah lovers have a lot to talk about.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Peace to everyone - almost.<\/em> Verse 19 promises \u201cWell with the far and the near \u2014said the LORD.\u201d But verses 20-21 make that conditional: \u201cThere is no safety \u2014said my God\u2014 For the wicked.\u201d Just for the record - that\u2019s because of the very nature of wickedness, that because of their deeds they have no peace.<\/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 57","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":"57","chapter_main_number":"391","date":"20270228","wall_id":"391"},"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\/67752"}],"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=67752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}