{"id":68423,"date":"2018-07-09T17:45:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-400\/"},"modified":"2023-08-17T08:00:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T05:00:28","slug":"wall-400","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-400\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Isaiah-66"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"400","date":"20270311","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"67998","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 66 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Isaiah Chapter 66","slug":"jps-audio-bible-isaiah-chapter-66","old_id":"67998","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":"400","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 66","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_66","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"117186","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Sense Of An Ending ","post_title":"The Sense Of An Ending","slug":"the-sense-of-an-ending","old_id":"117186","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":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"All's well that ends\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> ends the Book of Isaiah. The question arises, how to conclude such an extensive and complex composition? The final two verses exemplify this problem:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And new moon after new moon, and sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship Me\u2014said the Lord. They shall go out and gaze on the corpses of the men who rebelled against Me: their worms shall not die, nor their fire be quenched; they shall be a horror to all flesh\u201d (<\/span>Isaiah 66:23-24<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The penultimate verse that foretells that all mankind shall eventually come to worship God would end the Book of Isaiah on a positive eschatological note. But the actual final verse that depicts the decaying corpses of those who rebelled against God ends Isaiah\u2019s prophecy with a bleak image.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to the<\/span> Mishnah<\/span><\/a>, the 1<\/span>st<\/span> century sage, Rabbi Akibah says that the judgment of the wicked in<\/span> Gehinnom<\/span><\/a> lasts for twelve months, as it<\/span> says<\/span><\/a> :\u00a0 \u201cAnd new moon after new moon\u2026\u201d. But, Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri says only as long as from Passover to Shavuot (i.e. 50 days), as it <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>says<\/span><\/a>: \u201csabbath after sabbath\u201d (i.e. day of rest to day of rest).<\/span> Seder Olam<\/span><\/a> adds that after twelve months the souls of the sinners of Israel who transgressed the Torah and the commandments are consumed and their bodies are consumed and they are turned to dust. Gehinnom spits them out and the wind scatters them underneath the feet of the righteous\u2026But those who separated from the ways of the community, like the Sadducees, and the betrayers and the hypocrites and the heretics, and those who \u201cstrike terror in the land of the living\u201d (<\/span>Ezekiel 32:32<\/span><\/a>) and those who deny the resurrection of the dead, and those who say Torah is not from heaven, and those who scoff at the words of the Sages \u2013 Gehinnom is locked before them and they are judged there forever, as it<\/span> says<\/span><\/a>: \u201c\u2026their worms shall not die, nor their fire be quenched\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a>, Berakhot 31a (see also<\/span> Talmud Yerushalmi<\/span><\/a>) notes that the early prophets would conclude their prophecies with words of praise and consolation. The 16<\/span>th<\/span> century commentary of Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi, in his<\/span> Shita Mekubetzet<\/span><\/a> comments that this statement refers particularly to the way we read the ends of the biblical books of Isaiah, Malachi, Ecclesiastes and Lamentations, by repeating the penultimate positive verse of comfort, after reading the actual final negative verse. This way of reading these Biblical books is reflected graphically in many Jewish printings of the Hebrew Bible. See for example, the<\/span> end of the Book of Isaiah<\/span><\/a>. This liturgical practice of ending Biblical readings on a positive note, led to the Rabbinic practice of<\/span> ending the midrashic homily<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 on a positive note of hope with a messianic<\/span> peroration<\/span><\/a>. This practice is also reflected in the way the father is instructed to teach his son the story of Passover, \u201cbeginning with disgrace and ending with praise\u201d (<\/span>mathil bi-gnut u-mesayyem be-shevah<\/span><\/em>) (see<\/span> Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":101261,"alt":"","title":"-61f96a396cdc1--61f96a396cdc22chron36-end 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","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":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"New moon after new moon, sabbath after sabbath\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The final chapter of Isaiah doubles as the haftorah that is read every time that Shabbat falls on Rosh Chodesh. The key line that encapsulates this is the penultimate verse: \u201cAnd new moon after new moon, and sabbath after sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship Me \u2014said GOD\u201d (verse 23). Due to the tradition of not ending a reading on a negative note, this verse is repeated twice during the haftarah reading.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verse itself is self-explanatory as to why it is read as the haftarah on that day. But why does God pair Rosh Chodesh and Shabbat at the capstone of a chapter about God\u2019s glorious return to Zion and the universal worship of God in Jerusalem? And the verse that ends the book of Isaiah? Ending the book with these two verses hearkens back to the very first chapter of Isaiah:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No more; Bringing oblations is futile, Incense is offensive to Me. New moon and sabbath, proclaiming of solemnities, Assemblies with iniquity\u00a0 I cannot abide\/Your new moons and fixed seasons Fill Me with loathing; They are becoming a burden to Me, I cannot endure them (1:14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah started the book railing against the people for insincerely proclaiming their holidays and Shabbat, but not seeing the meaning behind them. Chapter 1 was the start of the sad road towards destruction; chapter 66 is the rebirth and renewal. What was a problem in chapter 1 is now something to celebrate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh are also somewhat opposites. Shabbat can be symbolized by the sun which plays an important part in the start and finish of the day. Rosh Chodesh relies solely on the moon. Shabbat is the holiday that is regular. Every seven days is Shabbat: no matter the time of year. Rosh Chodesh is more fluid. The new moon can happen once every 29 or 30 days. Before the calendar was set, Rosh Chodesh was based on the testimony of two witnesses and the court. Although there was a celestial reason for the new month, it required human confirmation to finalize the day. Shabbat is symbolic of God as discussed in 56. Rosh Chodesh is symbolic of the people. It was the very first mitzvah given to the people, and it requires people to exist. God does not set the date of Rosh Chodesh, the people do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Keeping both Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh properly is a testament to the partnership between God and the people. That partnership will be so close that it will be the highlight of every week and every month in a rebuilt and glorious Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Air ","post_title":"Jerusalem\u2019s Air","slug":"jerusalems-air","old_id":"117188","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":35831,"post_title":"Ruth Fogelman","slug":"ruth-fogelman","old_id":"35831","first_name":"Ruth ","last_name":"Fogelman ","description":"Ruth Fogelman was born in England and has lived in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City for most of her life. She is the author of four books. Her poems, articles, short stories and photography have appeared in anthologies and various publications in Israel, USA and India, including Arc, Back to Joy: Little Reminders to Help Us Through Tough Times, The Deronda Review, Prosopisia, Poetica, and the International Literary Review. Ruth holds a Masters Degree from the Creative Writing Program of Bar Ilan University and leads the Pri Hadash Women\u2019s Writing Workshop in Jerusalem. \r\nShe is a member of the Israel Association of Writers in English\r\nVisit her website at http:\/\/jerusalemlives.weebly.com\r\n","short_description":"Ruth Fogelman is a poet, and lives in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":35832,"alt":"","title":"Ruth Fogelman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","width":969,"height":973,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--768x771.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":771,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","large-width":969,"large-height":973,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","1536x1536-width":969,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","2048x2048-width":969,"2048x2048-height":973,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman-.jpg","post_full_size-width":969,"post_full_size-height":973,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Ruth-Fogelman--418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"clear as water from a spring\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all of you who love her\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Isaiah 66:10<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jerusalem,
\r\n<\/span>your air, clear as water from a spring,
\r\n<\/span>vibrates with chanted prayer
\r\n<\/span>and melodies of your praise.
\r\n<\/span>Flocks of swifts
\r\n<\/span>ride on swells of your song.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You, too, have wings,
\r\n<\/span>wings that uplift
\r\n<\/span>those who walk within your gates,
\r\n<\/span>lift up their prayers
\r\n<\/span>and enfold all who love you
\r\n<\/span>in an embrace.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This poem first appeared in <\/span>The Deronda Review<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

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Our chapter, the final in the Book of Isaiah, presents us with a variety of contrasting and paradoxical motifs. A beautiful, redemptive conjuring of Jerusalem is juxtaposed with the ways in which those who do evil in the world or do not follow God\u2019s ways will be treated. We are reminded that the world is God\u2019s, entirely brought about by God. How, then, to reconcile a yearning for redemption, a yearning for full consolation, consolation beyond measure with the seemingly steadfast presence of those who act wickedly, and turn away from what is right and good? How are we to deal with the disappointment and anger so evident in our chapter? This anger is no less real and present for many of us today than it was for the Prophet Isaiah. Cosmic yearning is no less real in our time. For many of us, the world as it is and the world as it should be feel as though they are lifetimes apart. Disconnection from self and others, to say nothing of our worrisome disconnect from and disregard for nature and from its sources often leave many of us feeling unmoored, adrift, destabilized.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, our people have remained resilient, hopeful, always yearning for, imagining and dreaming of a more redemptive future for themselves and all others. As we meditate upon the beautiful verses in our chapter which describe a redemptive consciousness, may that give us the strength we need in these times. 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Footstool And Throne ","post_title":"Between Footstool And Throne","slug":"between-footstool-and-throne","old_id":"68833","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":66440,"post_title":"Yoni Hammer-Kossoy","slug":"yoni-hammer-kossoy","old_id":"66440","first_name":"Yoni ","last_name":"Hammer-Kossoy","description":"Yoni Hammer-Kossoy\u2019s poetry appears in numerous journals and anthologies, including most recently the Lily Poetry Review, Juniper Poetry, Sky Island Journal and River Heron Review. Originally from the US, Yoni has lived in Israel with his family for the last twenty years.","short_description":"Yoni Hammer-Kossoy is an American-born poet who has been living in Jerusalem for the last twenty years.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":66441,"alt":"","title":"yoni hammer-kossoy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy.jpg","width":2482,"height":2893,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy-768x895.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":895,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy-879x1024.jpg","large-width":879,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy.jpg","1536x1536-width":1318,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy.jpg","2048x2048-width":1757,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy-1030x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1030,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/yoni-hammer-kossoy-360x420.jpg","home_baner-width":360,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Everything is connected, and in those connections is God\r\n\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

Here at the top of a hill<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>our shoulders squared to the wind<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>as darkening clouds pile across the sky,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>we\u2019ll say nothing about the impossible city<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>sprawled before us \u2013 city of heaven and earth,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>city of your home, of comfort, of yearning \u2013<\/span><\/p>\r\n

just as I won't try to convince you<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>that this city and the breath in our lungs<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and the sunlight leaping into space<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>eight minutes before it warms our faces<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and everything else between is connected<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and in those connections is God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How can I say this to you<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>when I hardly find the words for myself?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Immanence is felt and fleeting<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and the path of every person\u2019s search<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>winds through their own song.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let us start instead with wonder<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>before a word of prayer is chanted:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>how the desert greens overnight<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>after the barest bit of rain,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>how crows can tell when a storm breaks<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>but you'll never know the exact moment<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>when first drops fall<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>only the closeness, the air's silver taste.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68834,"alt":"","title":"is66-connections","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-300x200.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-768x512.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-1024x683.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-1200x800.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-630x420.png","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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Between Footstool And Throne","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Everything is connected, and in those connections is God \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68834,"alt":"","title":"is66-connections","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections.png","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-300x200.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-768x512.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-1024x683.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-1200x800.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-connections-630x420.png","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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"782","name":"Wonder","old_id":"1182"}]},{"order":7,"id":"68887","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What Would A World Of Wholeness Look Like? ","post_title":"What Would A World Of Wholeness Look Like?","slug":"what-would-a-world-of-wholeness-look-like","old_id":"68887","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64460,"post_title":"Vincent Calabrese","slug":"vincent-calabrese","old_id":"64460","first_name":"Vincent ","last_name":"Calabrese ","description":"Vincent Calabrese is a doctoral student in Jewish thought at the University of Toronto and a rabbinical student at the Hadar Institute","short_description":"Vincent Calabrese is a doctoral student in Jewish thought at the University of Toronto and a rabbinical student at the Hadar Institute","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64461,"alt":"","title":"vincent calabrese","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","width":2117,"height":2504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-768x908.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":908,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-866x1024.jpg","large-width":866,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","1536x1536-width":1299,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","2048x2048-width":1731,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-1015x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1015,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It seems to include gentile priests\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

What would a redeemed world be like? The brokenness which touches nearly every aspect of our lives sometimes seems to go so deep as to make it impossible to imagine what a world of wholeness would look like. Throughout the book of Isaiah we have been given glimpses of the kind of radical transformation which awaits us in the fullness of God\u2019s time \u2014 a world without weapons, a spiritual fellowship of all peoples in which division and hatred are finally overcome.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But as wondrous as these changes would be, they are visions limited by negativity: they focus on one kind of pain which we know from our unredeemed life \u2014 war or religious conflict \u2014 and declare that these wounds will no longer be with us. But would a redeemed world be nothing more than our own with its visible problems removed? Are we even able to imagine what a positive vision of a different life would be like? A few chapters ago, the prophet seemed to tell us that the fullness of redemption is unimaginable by human beings: \u201cNo eye has seen [them], O God, but You.\u201d But if only God can understand what redemption will really be like, in what sense can we hope for it?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The final chapter of Isaiah seems to be taking on this tension: on the one hand, the world God is making will be a new heaven and a new earth; on the other, we can only imagine redemption based on our own experiences. The chapter begins with a suggestion, shocking in its time, that the Temple is not very important: \u201cThe heaven is My throne and the earth My footstool: Where could you build a house for Me, what place could serve as my abode?\u201d The Temple cult - the implication seems to be -is a limitation, the kind of thing which we will transcend in a redeemed state.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But, despite his condemnation of those who mix immorality with punctilious observance of the cult, the prophet does not envision an abolition of the Temple. Rather, he imagines the preservation of the Temple, while at the same time writing of a transformation which is so radical that it threatens to break the very categories according to which the cult functions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We have already heard that in the future the nations will join Israel in the worship of God in Jerusalem; now we are told that \u201cfrom them likewise I will take some to be levitical priests\u201d (verse 21). According to Priestly logic, a non-Israelite Levite ought to make as much sense as a square circle. We hear the words, but have trouble attaching meaning to them. In this formulation, the prophet uses that with which we are familiar to gesture towards the unimaginable. The days of \u201cthe new heaven and the new earth\u201d will surely surpass our capacities of imagination; but in moments like this, the prophet attempts to move beyond negative characterization and to describe, however vaguely, that which awaits us in the end of days.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68893,"alt":"","title":"is66-wholeness","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness.png","width":1280,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Would A World Of Wholeness Look Like?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It seems to include gentile priests","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68893,"alt":"","title":"is66-wholeness","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness.png","width":1280,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-1200x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-wholeness-420x420.png","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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"458","name":"Nations","old_id":"858"},{"term_id":"631","name":"Priests","old_id":"1031"},{"term_id":"778","name":"Temple","old_id":"1178"}]},{"order":8,"id":"68899","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Enabling The Messiah-In-Waiting Among Us ","post_title":"Enabling The Messiah-In-Waiting Among Us","slug":"enabling-the-messiah-in-waiting-among-us","old_id":"68899","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Focusing on the \u201chow,\u201d for now","post_main_content_content":"

As we conclude the Book of Isaiah and reflect on the sixty-six chapters alternating between rebuke of misbehavior and God\u2019s promise of redemption and the Messianic era, we once again ask, \u201cWhat does God really want from us?\u201d; \u201cWhat can we really anticipate in the times of Messiah?\u201d; and \u201cWhen will that be?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To the first question, God gives us a very precise and elegantly simple answer, but first, He tells us what\u2019s not important. It\u2019s not temples and sacrifices, for God\u2019s presence already fills the physical and spiritual universe. God asks, \u201cWhat house could you possibly build for me (66:1)?\u201d on which Rav Shimon Schwab expounds that the Temple was never intended as a \u201cresting place\u201d for God where people would visit, go through the motions, and then leave to carry on in whatever manner they wished. Rather it was intended to be the place that is dedicated to God\u2019s ideals, \u201cfrom where people are to take these ideals home with them and put them into practice.\u201d So, what <\/span>does<\/span><\/i> God want? He distills it down to just one all-encompassing word in verse 2 \u2013 humility. God wants us to be a nation that cares about His words and strives to meaningfully act on them, in terms of both our relationship to God and to each other.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To the questions about what to expect in Messianic times and when to expect it, Maimonides (in <\/span>Hilchot Melachim, <\/span><\/i>The Laws of Kings) cautions us that since no one really knows what those days will look like until they happen, we should refrain from spending too much time considering it. Rather we should focus on what we can do now in order to get there. Likewise, fifteenth century commentator Rav Isaac Arama said in his Torah commentary, <\/span>Akeidat Yitchak,<\/span><\/i> that by trying to pinpoint the precise time of the arrival of Messiah we abrogate our current responsibility to bring Messiah. So, in effect, the harder we try to understand the \u201cwhat and when\u201d of Messianic times, the farther away from us it gets. Rather we need to continually focus on the \u201chow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our tradition is to believe that in every generation a potential Messiah is born. So, it\u2019s not really the Messiah that we\u2019re awaiting. The stumbling block is our own readiness to recognize the righteous leadership among us and seize all opportunities to follow their lead and bring ourselves closer to God. Then the Messiah-in-waiting can lead us to our destiny.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68900,"alt":"","title":"is66-hourglass","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass.jpg","width":1920,"height":1271,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-768x508.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-1024x678.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1017,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1271,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-1200x794.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":794,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-634x420.jpg","home_baner-width":634,"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":"Enabling The Messiah-In-Waiting Among Us","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Focusing on the \u201chow,\u201d for now","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68900,"alt":"","title":"is66-hourglass","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass.jpg","width":1920,"height":1271,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-300x199.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-768x508.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":508,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-1024x678.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1017,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1271,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-1200x794.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":794,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-hourglass-634x420.jpg","home_baner-width":634,"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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"500","name":"Messiah","old_id":"900"},{"term_id":"643","name":"Humility","old_id":"1043"}]},{"order":9,"id":"68896","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"To Choose Or To Obey ","post_title":"To Choose Or To Obey","slug":"to-choose-or-to-obey","old_id":"68896","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. 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In the previous chapter, we encountered a litany of idolatrous practices that ranged from unlawful sacrifices and incense to eating swine and other unclean things. In this, the concluding chapter of the Book of Isaiah, the prophet inveighs, again, against sacrifice and incense, saying: \u201cAs for those who slaughter oxen and slay humans, who sacrifice sheep and immolate dogs (or: \u201cbreak their necks\u201d), who present as oblation the blood of swine, who offer incense and worship false gods\u2014 just as they have chosen their ways and take pleasure in their abominations\u201d (3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At first glance, each misdeed seems to be paired with an acceptable one. Murder (\u201dslay humans\u201d) is paired with a legitimate act of killing, namely a sacrifice (\u201cslaughter oxen\u201d). Gratuitous cruelty to animals (breaking a dog\u2019s neck) is matched with a permissible act of sacrificing sheep. Malbim,* however, saw it differently.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You, who bring sacrifices while remaining wicked and refusing to repent, should know that one who slaughters an ox for a sacrifice, one who strikes a person to commit murder, one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog\u2019s neck, and so anyone who offers a sacrificial oblation, or offers swine\u2019s blood to an idol, or mentions God while bringing incense, or worships false gods\u2014know that all these opposites are alike in My eyes. Even the first [of each pair]\u2014i.e., slaughtering the ox, sacrificing the lamb, offering an oblation, bringing incense\u2014all have chosen their way, the way in which they seek to serve Me, are still not acting out of a sense of duty to Me but out of their personal choice. I am not interested in such sacrifices bereft of repentance and submission.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Likewise the second part\u2014striking a person, breaking a dog\u2019s neck, etc.\u2014\u201cthey take pleasure in their abominations. It has been pointed out that one cannot properly say that a person chooses to do evil but that he desires it, because choice is the exercise of reason. Therefore, the text says they have chosen their good ways and take pleasure in their abominations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Malbim\u2019s distinction between action that is impelled by a sense of duty as opposed to the fulfillment of desire (good or bad) harks back to Sa`adyah Gaon (882-942), who wrote: \u201cThere can be no commandments without [recognition of] a commander.\u201d The very essence of a mitzvah, philologically and philosophically, is obedience and duty.<\/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

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68897,"alt":"","title":"is66-choice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"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":"To Choose Or To Obey","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Taking pleasure in abominations (not)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68897,"alt":"","title":"is66-choice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"387","name":"Sacrifice","old_id":"787"},{"term_id":"660","name":"Animals","old_id":"1060"}]},{"order":10,"id":"117207","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah66","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Isaiah66","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-isaiah66","old_id":"117207","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. 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Does it promise consolation or urge repentance? Is salvation for all of Israel or a remnant? Isaiah's messaging is complex, yet, we leave seeing that the long arc of history bends towards goodness, peace and redemption. 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His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS\/University of Nebraska Press in 2020); he is also the author of numerous studies in Semitic philology. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. He lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Shira Hecht-Koller, and their children.","short_description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, and chair of the Department of Jewish Studies there.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36148,"alt":"","title":"AJ Koller headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When is a sword like a corpse?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The ultimate chapter of Isaiah begins with a soaring pronouncement: \u201cThus said the Lord: The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool: Where could you build a house for Me? What place could serve as My abode?\u201d Among modern readers, this is seen as participating in a debate about the necessity, or even the legitimacy, of a Temple for God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But there\u2019s a brilliant re-use of this verse I want to unpack today. In Jewish law, the most severe form of ritual impurity is corpse impurity, called \u201cthe granddaddy (<\/span>avi avot<\/span><\/i>) of all impurities.\u201d The Talmud mentions a rule a few times that \u201ca sword is like a corpse\u201d (e.g., Bavli Pesa\u1e25im 14b). The image is graphic, and the law is strict: a sword that is pulled from a corpse, after being plunged into the living body, is just as impure as the corpse itself. But the metaphor is just a metaphor, and the law applies to all metal vessels that come in contact with the corpse: they, too, are as impure as a corpse.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Medieval authorities debated the parameters of this law. Would someone who entered a building with an impure metal vessel need to have recourse to the ashes of a red heifer? The Tosafist Rabbenu (Yaakov ben Meir) Tam (France, 1100-1171) had a stringent view on all this, and ruled that a vessel is like a corpse for all laws. But as recorded in Tosafot on Nazir 54b, this elicited a response from his student, the distinguished Parisian rabbi, Hayyim ben Hananel ha-Kohen (the priest), who sent him Isaiah 66:1: \u201cWhat house would you then build me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is certain that in every house, Rabbi Hayyim said, there must be something metal that once was under the same roof as a corpse \u2013 in which case priests, like Rabbi Hayyim himself, would be prohibited from entering.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This repackaging of the verse shows how effortlessly the Bible flowed from the lips of some of our sages. And it shows that the creative, even subversive reapplication of biblical texts is not a modern phenomenon.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: John Steven\u2019s Cabbot, Captain William Kidd, 1874 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68905,"alt":"","title":"is66-sword","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword.jpg","width":2154,"height":1504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-300x209.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":209,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-768x536.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":536,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-1024x715.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":715,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1072,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1430,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-1200x838.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":838,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-602x420.jpg","home_baner-width":602,"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 Legal Look At A Theological Vision","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"When is a sword like a corpse?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68905,"alt":"","title":"is66-sword","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword.jpg","width":2154,"height":1504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-300x209.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":209,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-768x536.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":536,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-1024x715.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":715,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1072,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1430,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-1200x838.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":838,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-sword-602x420.jpg","home_baner-width":602,"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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"662","name":"Halacha","old_id":"1062"},{"term_id":"742","name":"Purity","old_id":"1142"},{"term_id":"778","name":"Temple","old_id":"1178"}]},{"order":12,"id":"68902","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable ","post_title":"Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable","slug":"comfort-the-afflicted-and-afflict-the-comfortable","old_id":"68902","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":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God\u2019s connection is not to big buildings, or their funders, but to those who suffer the abuse of a corrupt system of power and wealth","post_main_content_content":"

In the final chapter of this glorious book, Isaiah circles back to his core message of priorities and hope. As he has stated time and time again, the human perversity in religion is to shift faith from ultimate relationships of love and justice to those of power and pomp. Rather than acknowledge that life and the universe are beyond our control, that we are creatures participating in a vast and awesome creation, we try to use religion as a tool to domesticate the cosmos, to bend it to our will and ego. Elaborate sanctuaries that cost tens of millions of dollars (or, in ages past, consumed the lives and bodies of thousands of slaves), clergy clothed in costly and gaudy outfits that look more at home in a Renaissance Faire than they would in the presence of Moses, or Isaiah, or Rabbi Akiva, and gigantic government funded bureaucracies that legislate who can marry, who gets buried, and whose rabbi\u2019s salaries come from tax revenue \u2013 these are the perversions of the religious impulse, its ultimate betrayal.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And this is not Isaiah\u2019s vision of faith. On this point, he is quite clear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus said the Lord:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The heaven is My throne<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>And the earth is My footstool:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Where could you build a house for Me,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>What place could serve as My abode? \u2026<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Yet to such a one I look:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To the poor and brokenhearted,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Who is concerned about My word.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We would do well to remember that priority. God\u2019s connection is not to big buildings (or the funders who use their money to give prominence to their names). No building can contain the God of Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What does provide a home for God? The poor and brokenhearted. In the heart of those who suffer the abuse of a corrupt system of power and wealth, there Israel\u2019s God lodges. In the blistered feet of homeless refugees, there God\u2019s focus lies. Children so poor they can\u2019t count on breakfast, or separated from their families by economic and political coercion \u2013 these children cluster at the center of God\u2019s concern.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The business of religion is to \u201ccomfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable\u201d (in the words of the American journalist Finley Peter Dunne). The trappings of religion are of value only to the degree that they help us to circumcise our hearts and unstiffen our necks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Otherwise \u2026 well, we all know what happened to the Temple.<\/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":"Comfort The Afflicted And Afflict The Comfortable","tile_main_caption":"God\u2019s connection is not to big buildings, or their funders, but to those who suffer the abuse of a corrupt system of power and wealth","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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"451","name":"Hope","old_id":"851"},{"term_id":"476","name":"Compassion","old_id":"876"},{"term_id":"836","name":"poverty","old_id":"1236"}]},{"order":13,"id":"68825","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Mission To The Nations ","post_title":"Mission To The Nations","slug":"mission-to-the-nations","old_id":"68825","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":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To the far reaches of the known earth...","post_main_content_content":"

66:19 \u201cAnd I will set a sign upon them and send from them survivors to the nations, to Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, Tubal and Javan, the distant coastlands that have not heard of Me and have not seen My glory, and they shall tell My glory among the nations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Second Isaiah, there is a vision of acceptance of proselytes. This prophecy at the end goes a step further, imagining that those among the nations who have finally seen God\u2019s glory wish to be sent out to the far reaches of the known earth, as far as North Africa (Lud) and Greece (Javan) to bring the good news of YHWH\u2019s universal dominion. This comes close to the project of a mission of conversion in Acts and in the Pauline Epistles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible,<\/em> vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Mission To The Nations","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"To the far reaches of the known earth...","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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"579","name":"Convert","old_id":"979"}]},{"order":14,"id":"68028","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 66 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Isaiah 66","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-isaiah-66","old_id":"68028","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. 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\u201cIs it a small world after all?\u201d<\/a> by David M. Rosenberg: Texts about the nature of the world we live in.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cZion as Woman as God's Dwelling Place in the Book of Isaiah\u201d<\/a> by Dena Trugman: Metaphors for the holy city.\u00a0<\/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 66","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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"68822","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 66 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Isaiah 66","slug":"points-to-ponder-isaiah-66","old_id":"68822","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":"400","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Haredim (\u201cthe concerned ones\u201d)<\/em>. That is what those who are faithful to God\u2019s word are called here. In the previous chapter, they were termed the servants of God. In Psalms, we often find the term \u201cGod-fearing.\u201d In this chapter, like the last one, it does not refer to the entire people, but just a particular group. And there is a a certain amount of enmity between the groups.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. From a midwife\u2019s manual<\/em>. The images of verses 7-9 are taken from the world of obstetrics and midwifery. Follow the verbs, and you get a sense of the biblical view of an easy birth.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. No Uber<\/em>? These are the modes of transportation that the nations use to bring up all those returning to Zion, as an offering: \u201cAnd out of all the nations, said the LORD, they shall bring all your brothers on horses, in chariots and drays, on mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem My holy mountain as an offering to the LORD\u201d (verse 20). It\u2019s not hard to imagine the festive caravan.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. The new priests in town<\/em>. Verse 21 announces \u201cAnd from them likewise I will take some to be levitical priests, said the LORD.\u201d But from whom? From the nations who are coming from the ends of the earth? From the returning exiles? From the nations, to serve the levitical priests? All these answers and more are to be found in the commentaries, and they teach us not only about the possible intentions of the prophecy, but also about the difficulty of readers throughout the generations to accept change.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Is that any way to end?<\/em> The last verse of the chapter and the book (24) leaves a rather bad taste (corpses\u2026 worms\u2026 horrors). That\u2019s why the traditions mandates that upon finishing, we go back and repeat the previous verse, and end on a happier note: \u201cAnd new moon after new moon, And sabbath after sabbath, All flesh shall come to worship Me \u2014said the LORD.\u201d<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    Chazak! May be we strong and strengthened.<\/span><\/p>","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 66","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":"66","chapter_main_number":"400","date":"20270311","wall_id":"400"},"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\/68423"}],"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=68423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}