{"id":67762,"date":"2018-07-09T17:45:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-383\/"},"modified":"2023-07-25T08:34:16","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T05:34:16","slug":"wall-383","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-383\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Isaiah-49"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"383","date":"20270216","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"67216","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 49 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 49","slug":"jps-audio-bible-isaiah-chapter-49","old_id":"67216","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":"383","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 49","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_49-1","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","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"116783","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"PFB - Prophet From Birth ","post_title":"PFB - Prophet From Birth","slug":"pfb-prophet-from-birth","old_id":"116783","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And God does not forsake God\u2019s children\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

If chapter 48 was God\u2019s plea to the people, chapter 49 is Isaiah\u2019s own personal plea to the people. He begins by describing his own path to prophecy:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

GOD appointed me before I was born, Naming me while I was in my mother\u2019s womb\u2019 (verse 1)... And now GOD has resolved\u2014 The One who formed me in the womb to be of service\u2014 To bring back Jacob And restore Israel (verse 5).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah knows that God chose him in utero to deliver God\u2019s message to the people. Jeremiah will also claim a similar calling from birth to be a prophet, at the beginning of his book. The initial implication is that Isaiah knew from the outset what he needed to do. The message of a calling from birth is an understanding by the prophet of a life\u2019s purpose. With this in mind, the prophet has no qualms about his mission. The personal nature of Isaiah\u2019s mission also shows that the prophet trusted that God would protect him as a parent would a child.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He then takes this message and transfers it to the people:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Zion says, \u2018GOD has forsaken me, My Sovereign has forgotten me.\u2019 Can a woman forget her baby, Or disown the child of her womb? Though she might forget, I never could forget you (verse 14-15);<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The children you thought you had lost shall yet say in your hearing, \u2018The place is too crowded for me; Make room for me to settle\u2019 (verse 20);<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And you will say to yourself, \u2018Who bore these for me When I was bereaved and barren, Exiled and disdained \u2014By whom, then, were these reared? I was left all alone\u2014And where have these been?\u2019(verse 21);\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And they shall bring your sons in their bosoms, and carry your daughters on their backs, kings shall tend your children, their queens shall serve you as nurses\u201d (verses 22-23);<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For <\/span>I<\/span><\/em> will contend with your adversaries, And <\/span>I<\/span><\/em> will deliver your children (verse 25).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Just as God did not forsake his servant during the difficult days of prophecy, God will not forsake his children during the difficult days of exile and return.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":92996,"alt":"","title":"pro22-parent child","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child.jpg","width":1920,"height":1133,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-768x453.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":453,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-1024x604.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":604,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":906,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1133,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-1200x708.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-712x420.jpg","home_baner-width":712,"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":"PFB - Prophet From Birth","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And God does not forsake God\u2019s children","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":92996,"alt":"","title":"pro22-parent child","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child.jpg","width":1920,"height":1133,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-300x177.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":177,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-768x453.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":453,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-1024x604.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":604,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":906,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1133,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-1200x708.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-parent-child-712x420.jpg","home_baner-width":712,"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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"472","name":"Birth","old_id":"872"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"529","name":"Children","old_id":"929"}]},{"order":3,"id":"116781","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"A Heavenly Jerusalem\u00a0 ","post_title":"A Heavenly Jerusalem\u00a0","slug":"a-heavenly-jerusalem","old_id":"116781","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Connected directly to the earthly one\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> is the second of the four \"Servant Songs\" of the Prophet Isaiah, which<\/span> begins<\/span><\/a>: \u201cThis is My servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one, in whom I delight. I have put My spirit upon him. He shall teach the true way to the nations\u201d. In this \u201cServant Song\u201d, Isaiah declares the promise of God to Israel: \u201c\u2026I will never forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands, your walls are ever before Me\u201d (<\/span>Isaiah 49:15-16<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbinic sages employed this verse in their description of the<\/span> Heavenly Jerusalem<\/span><\/a>. According to<\/span> Midrash Tanhuma<\/span><\/a>, you find that the Heavenly Jerusalem directly faces from above the Earthly Jerusalem down below. Indeed, it was because the Earthly Jerusalem was so precious to God, that He fashioned another Jerusalem on high, as it says: \u201cSee, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands, your walls are ever before Me\u201d (<\/span>49:15-16<\/span><\/a>). Here, in a prophetic vision of a seemingly eternal Jerusalem, the holy city is depicted as emblazoned on God\u2019s hands for Him to look upon continuously.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The idea of a new, \u201cheavenly\u201d Jerusalem is rooted in Ezekiel\u2019s extensive vision of a New Temple (Chapters 40-48). In\u00a0 the <\/span>New Testament book of Revelations<\/span><\/a>, John, who identifies himself as yet another<\/span> servant of God<\/span><\/a>, relates: \u201cAnd I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In discussing the physical structure of the Heavens,<\/span> Talmud Bavli Chagigah<\/span><\/a> states that there are seven firmaments (<\/span>reqi\u2019im<\/span><\/em> \u2013 see<\/span> Pesiqta Rabbati 20:1<\/span><\/a>). The fourth firmament, <\/span>Zevul<\/span><\/em> is the location of the heavenly Jerusalem and in it is the heavenly Temple. There the heavenly altar is built. The angel Michael, the great minister, stands and sacrifices an offering upon it. For when Solomon dedicated the first Temple in Jerusalem, he<\/span> declared<\/span><\/a> to God: \u201cI have built You an exalted house (<\/span>Bet-Zevul<\/span><\/em>), a place for You to dwell forever\u201d. But, from where do we derive that there is a place called \u201cZevul\u201d in the heavens? From how<\/span> Isaiah petitioned God<\/span><\/a>: \u201cLook down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious abode [<\/span>Zevul<\/span><\/em>]\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to<\/span> Talmud Bavli Ta'anit<\/span><\/a>, in answer to the question, Is there actually such a place as \u201cHeavenly Jerusalem\u201d (<\/span>Yerushalayim Lema\u2019alah<\/span><\/em>)? The Gemara answers: Yes! For it is<\/span> written<\/span><\/a>: \u201cJerusalem built up, a city that is bound together (<\/span>sh<\/span>e-<\/span>hubbrah-lah yahdav<\/span><\/em>; i.e. the Heavenly Jerusalem and the Earthly Jerusalem are \u201cbound together\u201d). In discussing<\/span> Jacob's Ladder<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> Midrash Genesis Rabbah<\/span><\/a> states that the Heavenly Temple was only 18 Roman miles above the Earthly Temple. According to<\/span> Genesis 28:16-17<\/span><\/a>, when Jacob awoke from his dream, he exclaimed that this is the abode of God, \u201cthe gateway to heaven.\u201d<\/span> Midrash Genesis Rabbah<\/span><\/a> comments that in the Future, this gateway will open for many of the righteous like Jacob.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image by Bracha Lavee, courtesy of the artist<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75744,"alt":"","title":"jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","width":454,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Heavenly Jerusalem\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Connected directly to the earthly one","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75744,"alt":"","title":"jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","width":454,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","medium_large-width":454,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","large-width":454,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","1536x1536-width":454,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","2048x2048-width":454,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee.jpg","post_full_size-width":454,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/jo15-jerusalem-bracha-lavee-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"511","name":"Heaven","old_id":"911"},{"term_id":"635","name":"Jerusalem","old_id":"1035"},{"term_id":"778","name":"Temple","old_id":"1178"}]},{"order":4,"id":"67848","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Be The Light Unto The Nations ","post_title":"Be The Light Unto The Nations","slug":"be-the-light-unto-the-nations","old_id":"67848","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37561,"post_title":"Deena Cowans","slug":"deena-cowans","old_id":"37561","first_name":"Deena ","last_name":"Cowans","description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS and alumnus of the Master's in Public Administration- Development Practice at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). \r\nDeena is the Director of Education (Rosh Chinuch) at Camp Ramah in the Rockies since January 2016, and was the Youth and Family Programs at Congregation Ansche Chesed in 2016-2017.","short_description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS, and the Director of Education at Camp Ramah in the Rockies","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37562,"alt":"","title":"deena cowans","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","width":181,"height":207,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","medium-width":181,"medium-height":207,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","medium_large-width":181,"medium_large-height":207,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","large-width":181,"large-height":207,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","1536x1536-width":181,"1536x1536-height":207,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","2048x2048-width":181,"2048x2048-height":207,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","post_full_size-width":181,"post_full_size-height":207,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","home_baner-width":181,"home_baner-height":207}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"For the price of a smile, you can light up someone\u2019s life","post_main_content_content":"

Now, in the darkest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, we could all use a little more light. We need physical light, such as the glow of the Chanukah candles that illuminate the windows of Jewish homes during a dark winter, or the warmth of the sun peeping through the clouds. As we read newspapers full of reports of destruction, violence and political upheaval, we also might be feeling for more metaphorical light and levity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter of Isaiah, a soaring prophecy about the restoration of Israel following the destruction of the Temple, contains one of the most famous light metaphors in the Bible. In verse six, God promises to make the tribes of Israel \u201ca light onto the nations.\u201d The metaphor occurs three times in Isaiah, and has become a catchphrase for Jewish communities, for the State of Israel, and for groups who want to add a spiritual element to their work in the field of justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does it mean to be a light? The verse doesn\u2019t illuminate how we are supposed to fulfill the prophecy, though later commentators have tried to justify or encourage many different behaviors and actions. One modern day campaign, aptly called the \u201cBe the Light\u201d campaign, suggests that each of us should take the prophecy personally, and attempt to bring light to someone\u2019s life. As they say, \u201cWe are a movement of volunteers creating events and random acts of kindness to spread hope, love & compassion. We believe that mental health is just as important as physical health and that a life without hope is not really living.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Can you imagine a world of people dedicated to random acts of kindness that spread hope, compassion and love? It doesn\u2019t need to cost anything; for the price of a smile, you can light up someone\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps then, when each of us has taken it upon ourselves to bring more good into the world, will Isaiah\u2019s prophecy be fulfilled. Though it may be dark outside, as Dumbledore said in the movie version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, \u201cHappiness may be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light. \"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For more information about the \"Be the Light\" campaign, which is currently trending in Jewish communities across the country: <\/span>https:\/\/www.bethelightcampaign.org\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

Image: by Ben Schachter\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67849,"alt":"","title":"IS49-DCowans(DumbledoreWand)Schachter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter.jpg","width":2345,"height":876,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-300x112.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":112,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-768x287.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":287,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-1024x383.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":383,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":574,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":765,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-1200x448.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":448,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-1124x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1124,"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":"Be The Light Unto The Nations","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"For the price of a smile, you can light up someone\u2019s life","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67849,"alt":"","title":"IS49-DCowans(DumbledoreWand)Schachter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter.jpg","width":2345,"height":876,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-300x112.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":112,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-768x287.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":287,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-1024x383.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":383,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":574,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":765,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-1200x448.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":448,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IS49-DCowansDumbledoreWandSchachter-1124x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1124,"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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"301","name":"Ben Schachter","old_id":"701"},{"term_id":"461","name":"Kindness","old_id":"861"},{"term_id":"629","name":"Light","old_id":"1029"}]},{"order":5,"id":"67843","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Apocryphal Wisdom ","post_title":"Apocryphal Wisdom","slug":"apocryphal-wisdom","old_id":"67843","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When Ben Sira met Isaiah in Jerusalem\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

My name is Shim\u2019on ben Yeshua ben El\u2019azar ben Sira, you might have heard of me. In the year 180 BCE I authored a book, I called it (surprisingly) Ben Sira. I wrote my book in Hebrew but the book became a bestseller and was translated into Greek by my grandson who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, he called it Sirach; later translated into Latin, and it was called Ecclesiasticus.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

My book is a collection of proverbs filled with wisdom, teachings embellished with poetry and insightful reflections that fed the judgements of Rabbinic literacy. I was happy to finish the book just in time for it to be selected into the canon of the Bible. With extreme disappointment I must tell my audience, I did not make it. Instead, I was included in the\u00a0 Apocrypha. Others took me into their core body of literature but my people rejected me from the Tanach. I have been wondering for over two thousand years why that happened, so I decided to ask one of my mentors, a well-respected prophet, Isaiah. I founded him strolling the streets of Jerusalem. Isaiah was surprised to see me.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He was ecstatic to know that some of my parchments were deciphered by Solomon Schechter in the Genizah of Cairo and others in Qumran and Massada.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah also wondered what had happened to my book, as it could have been the perfect sequel of the book of Proverbs. The prophet then opened chapter 49 of his own book and showed me where he spoke to the people about God, giving them hope after the destruction of their beloved city. The prophet spoke of God\u2019s concrete actions, not just comforting words <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>They shall not hunger or thirst, hot wind and sun shall not strike them. For God who loves them will lead them. God will guide them to springs of water<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/i> (Isa.49:10)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I, Ben Sira, thought about this teaching and realized that Isaiah was the kind of prophet that gave solutions to despair, which is a good tactic. I thanked Isaiah for his inspiring words and happily returned to my book, which in the end became a great source of inspiration for medieval <\/span>piyutim<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Print introducing Sirach from 17th century Claes Janszoon Visscher Dutch Polyglot Bible<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67846,"alt":"","title":"is49-ben sira","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","width":600,"height":934,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira-193x300.jpg","medium-width":193,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":934,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":934,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":934,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":934,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":934,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira-270x420.jpg","home_baner-width":270,"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":"Apocryphal Wisdom","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"When Ben Sira met Isaiah in Jerusalem\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67846,"alt":"","title":"is49-ben sira","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","width":600,"height":934,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira-193x300.jpg","medium-width":193,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":934,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":934,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":934,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":934,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":934,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-ben-sira-270x420.jpg","home_baner-width":270,"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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"899","name":"Proverb","old_id":"1299"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":6,"id":"67851","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"On Dealing With Destroyers ","post_title":"On Dealing With Destroyers","slug":"on-dealing-with-destroyers","old_id":"67851","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The search for our true self\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

How do we read this verse (49:17)?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u05de\u05b4\u05bd\u05d4\u05b2\u05e8\u0596\u05d5\u05bc \u05d1\u05bc\u05b8\u05e0\u05b8\u0591\u05d9\u05b4\u05da\u05b0 \u05de\u05b0\u05d4\u05b8\u05bd\u05e8\u05b0\u05e1\u05b7\u05a5\u05d9\u05b4\u05da\u05b0 \u05d5\u05bc\u05de\u05b7\u05d7\u05b2\u05e8\u05b4\u05d1\u05b7\u0596\u05d9\u05b4\u05da\u05b0 \u05de\u05b4\u05de\u05bc\u05b5\u05a5\u05da\u05b0 \u05d9\u05b5\u05e6\u05b5\u05bd\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc\u05c3 - <\/span><\/i>miharu banayich maharsayich umacharivayich mimech yetzeyu.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Swiftly your children are coming your destroyers and demolishers shall come out from within you\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

I purposefully did not adopt any already digested translation, because translation means commentary, and commentary means siding with a specific reading and meaning. These are all things I\u2019d like to avoid, since, if we\u2019re honest with the original, this verse can convey two opposite meanings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One way to read it is:\u00a0<\/span>\u201c\u2026Your destroyers and demolishers shall leave (come out) from within you\u201d\u2026 this means, those who clamor for your destruction, shall come from within you. Yes, you might have outside enemies, but those will pale in comparison with those who come from within you. The word we\u2019re emphasizing here is \u201cwithin you\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What is the difference between \u201cdestroyers\u201d and \u201cdemolishers\u201d? One possibility is that destruction allows us the opportunity to rebuild, while demolition (coming from the root <\/span>ch.r.v<\/span><\/em>. used for sword (<\/span>cherev<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/i> and the utter destruction of the Temple <\/span>(<\/span><\/i>churban<\/span><\/em>))<\/span><\/i> are much harder to fix. Alternatively, it could be that the first implies spiritual demise, while the latter implies physical devastation. This in turn raises the question, which is worse? And, how do we recover from either? Are those connected, or independent of each other?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Either way, this way to read the verse is negative. It\u2019s therefore plausible, but stands in stark contrast to the rest of the chapter, which is an uplifting, almost poetic, description of comfort and rejuvenation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We can therefore offer a different reading:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSwiftly your children are coming! Your destroyers and demolishers shall leave from within you\u201d - emphasizing \u201cleave\u201d in a sense of they will go away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This means that the negative, destructive forces of various kinds will leave on their own once the children return \u201cswiftly.\u201d But let it not seem like we don\u2019t have to do anything. Rather, to me, this interpretation puts the onus on us: Let us not worry about what everyone around us is doing. Instead, we need to find out who we are and be our true self. What is our calling? Our unique gift? The more we will do that, the more the rest of the picture will fall into place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The futuristic promise and prophecy of comfort is therefore, not about fighting the outer world, nor about sitting and doing nothing, but about finding a way to truly be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67852,"alt":"","title":"is49-destroyers","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"On Dealing With Destroyers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The search for our true self\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67852,"alt":"","title":"is49-destroyers","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-destroyers-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"575","name":"Interpretation","old_id":"975"},{"term_id":"607","name":"Comfort","old_id":"1007"}]},{"order":7,"id":"67856","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Haftorah Homilies: Isaiah Chapter 49 ","post_title":"Haftorah Homilies: Isaiah Chapter 49","slug":"haftorah-homilies-isaiah-chapter-49","old_id":"67856","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":"383","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\/tnLAUJHbsAg","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 49","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\/tnLAUJHbsAg","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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"951","name":"Haftarah","old_id":"1351"}]},{"order":8,"id":"67854","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Reaching The Universal Through The Particular ","post_title":"Reaching The Universal Through The Particular","slug":"reaching-the-universal-through-the-particular","old_id":"67854","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

In an age of false extremes, of either\/or choices that seek to push us into partisan corners of partial truths, rather than expand to embrace a more complex and nuanced whole, Isaiah once again comes to shine his clear light.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Speaking to his generation of Jews, he describes for them what it means for an entire people to see themselves as God\u2019s servant: \u201cIt was insufficient that you be a servant for Me to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the ruins of Israel; I will make you a light for the nations, so that My salvation may extend to the ends of the earth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rather than prompt a false selection between particular and universal, Isaiah\u2019s understanding of God is one that advances a universal agenda through particular agents. Israel will indeed be redeemed. Its ruins will be rebuilt and the Jewish people will once more be raised up. But the goal of that elevation and rebuilding transcends the self-interest of the Children of Israel alone. As a particular entity, we have a distinctive role, but it is a role in the service of a universal redemption.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If the only concern were a universal redemption, then one might ask: why bother rebuilding Israel\u2019s ruins? Why restore the Jewish people?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If the only concern were the triumph of the Jews, then one could equally inquire: who cares about what happens to the nations of the world?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How typical of the God of Israel to remind us that no one is an abstract embodiment of a timeless (and lifeless) value. We are each of us particular people, with our own distinctive character, memories, history, and aspirations. And only if we affirm our distinctive identity do we then have something to contribute to the whole, something of value to offer to the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we are only about our own gain, then we are unworthy of this lofty Biblical vision. If we seek only the universal then we flatten humanity into a submissive sameness that becomes its own oppression.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Only when we encourage the flowering of every distinctive way of being human \u2013 all cultures, identities, wisdoms, languages, and nationalities \u2013 only then do we each have a contribution to make to humanity as a stirring community of communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are only greater than the sum of our parts if each of our parts counts for something as it is.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Reaching The Universal Through The Particular","tile_main_caption":"Only when we encourage the flowering of every distinctive way of being human do we each have a contribution to make to humanity as a stirring community of communities\u00a0\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"421","name":"Peoplehood","old_id":"821"},{"term_id":"458","name":"Nations","old_id":"858"},{"term_id":"610","name":"Universal Message","old_id":"1010"}]},{"order":9,"id":"116814","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah49","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah49","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isaiah49","old_id":"116814","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":"383","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 49: God's Children","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"Are we God's children? Or is the relationship between Israel and God a relationship of husband and wife? We evaluate the two models.","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\/2xyhWTPzbQfgwZ0a4itR0H","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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":10,"id":"67859","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Light In The End Of Days ","post_title":"A Light In The End Of Days","slug":"a-light-in-the-end-of-days","old_id":"67859","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"For all the earth","post_main_content_content":"

In vs. 5-6 of this chapter, Isaiah reported on a significant change in his prophetic career. Whereas he began with a highly particular mission to Israel, it was expanded into a universal one, \u201ca light to the nations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim,* consistent with his inclination to see King Hezekiah as a potential messiah (see our closing remarks to Chapter 39), gave this transition added significance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We saw in Chapter 12 that the dispersion of the ten tribes by Sennacherib was the start of the redemption and from that time the prophets began to prophesy that those exiles would be gathered and return to the fortress of hope. That occurred in the 6<\/span>th<\/span> year of Hezekiah\u2019s reign from which point the visionary prophecies about redemption began. If Israel had fully repented, that redemption would have come in his 15<\/span>th<\/span> year when Assyria fell and the time [was ripe] for those dispersed to return. For that reason, his prophecy about redemption and ingathering was annexed to Sennacherib\u2019s downfall (as witnessed in Chapters 11, 18, and 27).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All the prophecies he delivered in the first part occurred before Sennacherib\u2019s downfall when he saw, prophetically, that there was hope for the dispersed to be gathered immediately to their land and be redeemed\u2014conditional on their repentance. As long as Hezekiah lived, Isaiah was devoted to that mission because there remained hope that Hezekiah would be God\u2019s messiah\u2026 But his words did not bear fruit\u2026 they did not repent\u2026 and they did not return to their land, the Temple was destroyed because of the sins of those who remained, and all hope was lost\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah thought all his labors had been in vain, but God told him that all those prophecies about redemption would be fulfilled in the end of days and it would not be just a particular redemption of the ten tribes but a universal one for all the earth, \u201ca light to the nations.\u201d\u00a0<\/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>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67860,"alt":"","title":"is49-candle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Light In The End Of Days","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"For all the earth","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67860,"alt":"","title":"is49-candle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-candle-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"458","name":"Nations","old_id":"858"}]},{"order":11,"id":"67902","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Great Comfort Dialogue ","post_title":"The Great Comfort Dialogue","slug":"the-great-comfort-dialogue","old_id":"67902","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":67893,"post_title":"Saul Sadka","slug":"saul-sadka","old_id":"67893","first_name":"Saul ","last_name":"Sadka","description":"Saul Sadka is a businessman and author living in Tel Aviv, the author of the Sadka-Rabinowicz edition of the Torah. ","short_description":"Saul Sadka is a businessman and author living in Tel Aviv, the author of the Sadka-Rabinowicz edition of the Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":67894,"alt":"","title":"saul sadka","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka.jpg","width":1200,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":1600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/saul-sadka-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God, Isaiah and a heavenly chorus","post_main_content_content":"

Isaiah 49:7-26 is perhaps the most emotionally evocative section of the book. The theme continues through to the end of chapter 54. We read most of this unit through the year, with the haftarot<\/em> of Ekev, Shoftim, Noah, Ki Tisa and Re\u2019eh formed out of these chapters.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Most of the text is God speaking through Isaiah, and prefaces with \u201cSo says YHVH\u2026\u201d\u00a0 However, this is a dialogue, and Isaiah addresses Israel directly. Zion is anthropomorphized as a woman bereft of her children. Isaiah talks back to God, and God responds by reinforcing his message of promised redemption. There is also an unnamed voice that might represent some heavenly chorus, or might be the collective voice of all humanity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let\u2019s examine the narrative of this conversation:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I <\/span>(v. 7) <\/span><\/i>God promised despised and dejected Israel honor and respect from the other nations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

II <\/span>(vv. 8-12)<\/span><\/i> God promises to answer the prayers of Israel and rebuild them as a nation in their land by bringing them together from afar, and pour out endless mercies on them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

III <\/span>(v. 13) <\/span><\/i>The heavenly chorus\/nations proclaim that the heavens and earth will rise up in a joyous cacophony of praise, since God has had mercy on His chosen people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

IV <\/span>(v. 14) <\/span><\/i>Zion - who as we will see, is representing the mother of Israel, and perhaps also the \u201cwife\u201d of God, with Israel being the product of this coupling - cries out: \u201cGod has abandoned me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

V <\/span>(vv. 15-21)<\/span><\/i> God replies to Zion\u2019s brief but tortured lament insisting that a pregnant woman would forget her fetus before He would forget lonely Zion. He takes her on a prophetic journey into a future time where she can see her children (Israel) coming back towards her from every direction, and her children will cover her like bridal jewels. She will go from being empty and desolate to verdant and bursting with people, which will leave her wondering, \u201cWhere did they come from? Who raised my long lost children?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

VI <\/span>(vv. 22-23)<\/span><\/i> God answers the rhetorical questions that he placed in future Zion\u2019s mouth. They were sent away among the nations of the world and they were taken as the adopted children of royalty. They have not only returned but, since they kept their faith and \u201ckept their hope in God\u201d they are the object of adulation of the elites of other nations and will face no further humiliation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

VII <\/span>(v. 24)<\/span><\/i> Zion is incredulous: How can my children, captured by their enemies, be brought back? \u201cCan plunder be taken from the mighty?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

VIII <\/span>(vv. 25-26)<\/span><\/i> God answers Zion: Yes indeed, I can take plunder from the mightiest. I will fight your battles and return your children to you. Here God reveals the ultimate intent of all this process that Israel and Zion have endured: That all the world will see this implausible turn of events, and through this they will acknowledge the one true God, on account of His keeping his promise of long ago to Jacob.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":67903,"alt":"","title":"is49-comfort","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Great Comfort Dialogue","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God, Isaiah and a heavenly chorus","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":67903,"alt":"","title":"is49-comfort","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/is49-comfort-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"394","name":"Emotions","old_id":"794"},{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"608","name":"Promise","old_id":"1008"}]},{"order":12,"id":"67840","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Does A Virgin Forget Her Jewels? ","post_title":"Does A Virgin Forget Her Jewels?","slug":"does-a-virgin-forget-her-jewels","old_id":"67840","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A woman\u2019s greatest fulfillment","post_main_content_content":"

49:18 \u201cLift up your eyes all around and see--they all have gathered, have come to you. As I live, says the LORD, all of them like a jewel you shall wear and tie them on like a bride.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The somewhat unusual image of children worn like a jewel may be motivated by a literary allusion. Benjamin Sommer has proposed that Second Isaiah explicitly has in mind Jeremiah 2:32: \u201cDoes a virgin forget her jewels \/ a bride her knotted sash?\u201d In our text, the forgetting is transferred from jewels to children, and \u201cjewel\u201d--the same Hebrew word, \u2018<\/em><\/span>adi<\/span><\/em>--becomes a metaphorical representation of the children. Since producing children was imagined in this culture as a woman\u2019s greatest fulfillment, it logically follows that they are her chief ornament, what she can glory in before the eyes of the world.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, <\/span>The Hebrew Bible<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>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":"Does A Virgin Forget Her Jewels? ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A woman\u2019s greatest fulfillment","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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"529","name":"Children","old_id":"929"}]},{"order":13,"id":"67235","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 49 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 49","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-isaiah-49","old_id":"67235","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cThe World to Come: Jewish Messianism from Antiquity to Zionism\u201d<\/a> by Benjamin Steiner: Imagining possible futures.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTaboo Torah: Abomination--What is in a word?\u201d<\/a> by Ben Flax: Explore meanings of Biblical vocabulary.<\/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 49","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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"67838","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 49 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 49","slug":"points-to-ponder-isaiah-49","old_id":"67838","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":"383","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Secret weapon.<\/em> God equipped his servant with a weapon: a mouth as sharp as a blade and as true as an arrow, but \u201cHe hid me in the shadow of His hand...He concealed me in His quiver\u201d (2). Why hide the armed servant? Isn\u2019t he meant to act in the world? Good question. By the way, the first poem about the servant of God raised a similar question. There the servant was meant to bring justice to the world, yet \u201cHe shall not cry out or shout aloud, Or make his voice heard in the streets\u201d (42:4).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Light and covenant<\/em>. In chapter 42, the overall objective was set: \u201cI appointed you A covenant people, a light of nations...\u201d (6). Where does this destiny appear in our chapter. Hint: search for \u201clight\u201d and \u201ccovenant\u201d separately.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. A woman\u2019s pain, a woman\u2019s joy<\/em>. The pain in the prophecy is the pain of an abandoned woman, the bereaved and childless mother. And the joy is the joy of a mother with her children, and the joy of a bride on her wedding day. In addition to the simple emotional intensity hinted at, the images create a context of a dyadic and familial relationship, where there is reconciliation.<\/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 49","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":"49","chapter_main_number":"383","date":"20270216","wall_id":"383"},"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\/67762"}],"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=67762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}