{"id":68847,"date":"2018-07-09T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1081\/"},"modified":"2023-08-25T13:52:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T10:52:49","slug":"wall-1081","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1081\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20230820-to-20230826"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1081","date_from":"20230820","date_to":"20230826","book":"Jeremiah","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"51247","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Humanity Of The Captive Woman ","post_title":"The Humanity Of The Captive Woman","slug":"the-humanity-of-the-captive-woman","old_id":"51247","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":50215,"post_title":"Daniel Reifman","slug":"daniel-reifman","old_id":"50215","first_name":"Daniel ","last_name":"Reifman ","description":"Daniel Reifman teaches at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and at the Institute for Advanced Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan University, and he is the director of the Drisha Summer Kollel at NYU. He holds a B.A. in biology from Columbia University, rabbinic ordination and an M.A. in Tanakh from Yeshiva University, and a Ph.D in hermeneutics from Bar-Ilan. He and his family live in Yad Binyamin, Israel. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Daniel Reifman teaches at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and at the Institute for Advanced Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":50216,"alt":"","title":"daniel reifman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman.jpg","width":1728,"height":2601,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman-680x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":680,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman-680x1024.jpg","large-width":680,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman.jpg","2048x2048-width":1361,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman-797x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":797,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/daniel-reifman-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"174","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Rape, slavery no - marriage, freedom, yes!","post_main_content_content":"

For as long as there has been war, there have been soldiers falling in love with beautiful captive women, and the Israelite soldier is no exception. But before allowing the soldier to marry his captive, the Torah demands an unusual protocol: \"\u2026and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails, and remove her captive's garb, and remain in your house and mourn for her father and mother a full month, and after that you may go unto her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi explains that the goal of this procedure is to dissuade the soldier from acting on his desire: \"The text is only addressing the <\/span>yetzer ha-ra<\/span><\/em> [evil inclination], for if the Holy One, blessed be He, would not permit her to him, he would marry her illegally\u2026\" \u00a0Rashi even portrays the woman as a wanton temptress: her \"captive's garb\" is not a prisoner's rags, but rather the raiment that heathen women would wear to the battlefield to seduce the enemy. \u00a0The hope is that when reduced to a pitiful mourner, the captive woman<\/span> will lose her allure, thus saving the soldier from a decision he is sure to regret. Indeed, Rashi reads the passage's conclusion \u2013 \"And if it comes to pass that you do not desire her\u2026\" \u2013 as a virtual prophecy: \"The text is foretelling that he will come to hate her.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet other commentators suggest that the Torah's protocol reflects concern for the captive woman herself, who has just been violently torn from her family and homeland. For example, Abraham Ibn Ezra cites Rashi\u2019s explanation why the woman must remove her captive's garb, but then offers a more mundane reason: \"for it is soiled.\" Similarly, \u00a0Maimonides explains that the purpose of month-long mourning period is to afford the woman a grace period to mourn her losses and come to terms with the new life that is being forced upon her (<\/span>Guide to the Perplexed,<\/span><\/em> 3:41).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One may suggest that these commentators, too, see the Torah's protocol as addressing the soldier's evil inclination. But whereas Rashi \u00a0views the evil inclination as a force from without, in the form of the beautiful seductress, for Ibn Ezra and Maimonides, the evil inclination comes from within: the temptation to treat one's<\/span> captive as a sexual plaything, to be used and discarded at will. This message is reinforced by the passage's conclusion: \"And if it comes to pass that you do not desire her, you shall set her free, but you shall not sell her for money \u2013 you shall not use her, since you have debased her.\" <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In mandating sensitivity to the captive woman's emotional needs, the Torah reminds us that even in war, we must treat all with humanity and dignity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: 1877, Konstantin Makovsky: The Bulgarian Martyresses<\/a> (detail)<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51248,"alt":"","title":"dt21-captive woman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","width":625,"height":361,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","medium_large-width":625,"medium_large-height":361,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","large-width":625,"large-height":361,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","1536x1536-width":625,"1536x1536-height":361,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","2048x2048-width":625,"2048x2048-height":361,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","post_full_size-width":625,"post_full_size-height":361,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","home_baner-width":625,"home_baner-height":361}},"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 Humanity Of The Captive Woman","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Rape, slavery no - marriage, freedom, yes!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51248,"alt":"","title":"dt21-captive woman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","width":625,"height":361,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","medium_large-width":625,"medium_large-height":361,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","large-width":625,"large-height":361,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","1536x1536-width":625,"1536x1536-height":361,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","2048x2048-width":625,"2048x2048-height":361,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","post_full_size-width":625,"post_full_size-height":361,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt21-captive-woman.jpg","home_baner-width":625,"home_baner-height":361}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Deuteronomy","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"174","date":"20260429","wall_id":"174"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"574","name":"Sex","old_id":"974"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"}]},{"order":2,"id":"51284","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"You Must Not Remain Indifferent ","post_title":"You Must Not Remain Indifferent","slug":"you-must-not-remain-indifferent","old_id":"51284","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":"175","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We can\u2019t hide our eyes as though we didn\u2019t see the suffering of others","post_main_content_content":"

This has been my favorite verse in the Torah for as long as I can remember. And I do remember, as a college student 30 years ago, the first time I picked up the Bible to read it on my own - the same semester that I met Elana and God (I was clearly in the mood for love!) reading Scripture on my own, in English, hit me with a force beyond description. I was thrilled by the drama and the pageantry, elevated by the wisdom, challenged by the vision of a just, compassionate and righteous society, a vision yet to be implemented.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then I read these staccato words. In the middle of a paragraph which speaks of our obligation to restore lost items to our fellow (the Torah terms him your \"brother\"!), how we are to inconvenience ourselves to return lost property or clothing or livestock, we are then instructed <\/span>lo <\/span><\/i>tukhal le-hitalem, you must not remain indifferent.<\/span><\/em> If you were looking for a three word summation of the entire Torah, that would be it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I have tried throughout my rabbinic work, as a husband and father and friend, not to allow myself to be indifferent. When I saw the exclusion and marginalization of LGBTQ people, I didn't let myself remain quiet. When I fathered a boy who struggles with autism, I didn't let myself remain quiet. I am no saint, but that charge of Torah was a goad that would not let me hide (another way to translate the verse: \u201cyou may not hide\u201d). Rashi, in his typical way, comments that we may not hide our eyes as though we didn't see the others' suffering. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

These powerful, uncompromising, stern words call me to be who I am supposed to be. Whether tired or not, worn down or not, I can no longer hide. I must not remain indifferent.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0shutterstock.com<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51347,"alt":"","title":"dt22-indifference","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1.jpg","width":14213,"height":6583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-300x139.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":139,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-768x356.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":356,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-1024x474.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":474,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":711,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":949,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-1200x556.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":556,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-907x420.jpg","home_baner-width":907,"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":"You Must Not Remain Indifferent","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We can\u2019t hide our eyes as though we didn\u2019t see the suffering of others","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51347,"alt":"","title":"dt22-indifference","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1.jpg","width":14213,"height":6583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-300x139.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":139,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-768x356.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":356,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-1024x474.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":474,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":711,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":949,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-1200x556.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":556,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22-indifference-1-907x420.jpg","home_baner-width":907,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Deuteronomy","chapter":"22","chapter_main_number":"175","date":"20260430","wall_id":"175"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"412","name":"Responsibility","old_id":"812"},{"term_id":"431","name":"Personal\/memoir","old_id":"831"}]},{"order":3,"id":"51275","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Standing At The Edge ","post_title":"Standing At The Edge","slug":"standing-at-the-edge","old_id":"51275","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":50592,"post_title":"Avi Strausberg","slug":"avi-strausberg","old_id":"50592","first_name":"Avi ","last_name":"Strausberg ","description":"Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and based in Washington, DC. She received her rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College in Boston. Energized by engaging creatively with Jewish text, she maintains a Daf Yomi haiku blog in which she writes daily Talmudic haikus.","short_description":"Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of National Learning Initiatives at Hadar, and based in Washington, DC.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":50594,"alt":"","title":"avi strausberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1.jpg","width":1334,"height":1348,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1-297x300.jpg","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1-768x776.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":776,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1-1013x1024.jpg","large-width":1013,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1334,"1536x1536-height":1348,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1334,"2048x2048-height":1348,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1-1188x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1188,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/avi-strausberg-1-416x420.jpg","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"175","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When do we go too far, risking too much, with no guard rail to keep us safe?","post_main_content_content":"

I\u2019m the person who stands back far from the edge. \u00a0Even, or perhaps especially when there\u2019s a guard rail, protecting me from a fall. Yet somehow, while backpacking around New Zealand, I signed myself up to climb one of its tallest glaciers. I figured if everyone was doing it, it must be safe. And, as far as risky endeavors go, scaling a glacier doesn\u2019t exactly compare to throwing oneself out of an airplane or careening headfirst into a canyon, with a bungee cord the only thing keeping you safe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, when I found myself on top of that glacier, stepping over massive cracks running down deep to the heart of it, lagging behind the rest of the group, I thought, I could die doing this. I could just fall. Only I was responsible for my own safety.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Deuteronomy 22, the Torah instructs, \u201cWhen you build a new house, you should make a guard rail for your roof...\u201d The Torah is teaching us that we have to take all the necessary precautions to avoid unnecessarily endangering our own safety. What would this Torah, so concerned with people standing too close to the edge, have to stay about scaling glaciers, jumping out of planes, careening through canyons? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

During the thunderous moment of revelation, God warns us to \u201ctake great care of ourselves\u201d (Deuteronomy 4:15) lest we come to create false idols to worship in the absence of having an image of God to revere. The later rabbis lift this phrase out of context and interpret it a bit differently. How should we take great care of ourselves? We have to avoid placing ourselves in situations of unnecessary danger; we have to be thoughtful and responsible when it comes to risk-taking. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For someone who is quite risk-averse, the Torah here seems to be affirming what I already know to be true. And yet, when I think back to my glacier-hiking days in New Zealand, standing on top of the ice, in one of the beautiful places I\u2019ve ever been, in one of the most dangerous situations I\u2019ve placed myself into, I wonder, how much risk is too much? When is a little bit of risk necessary in order to experience the fullness of life? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And, when do we go too far, risking too much, standing on the edge of the roof, with no guard rail to keep us safe?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Image by: Simon Steinberger from Pixabay<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51281,"alt":"","title":"dt22.climbing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-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":"Standing At The Edge","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"When do we go too far, risking too much, with no guard rail to keep us safe?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51281,"alt":"","title":"dt22.climbing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt22.climbing-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":"Torah","book":"Deuteronomy","chapter":"22","chapter_main_number":"175","date":"20260430","wall_id":"175"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"487","name":"Health","old_id":"887"},{"term_id":"843","name":"Safety","old_id":"1243"},{"term_id":"844","name":"Risk","old_id":"1244"}]},{"order":4,"id":"51446","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"We Are Runaway Slaves! ","post_title":"We Are Runaway Slaves!","slug":"we-are-runaway-slaves","old_id":"51446","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37918,"post_title":"Shai Held","slug":"shai-held","old_id":"37918","first_name":" Shai ","last_name":"Held","description":"Rabbi Shai Held, theologian, scholar, and educator, is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas. A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"176","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And with more slaves today in the world than ever before - what is our obligation?","post_main_content_content":"

It seems fair to say that on a day-to-day basis many of us in the Western world take our freedoms for granted. Yet shocking as it is, more than twenty-million people around the world are enslaved to this very day. In fact, according to many activists, there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in human history (see <\/span>Slavery Today<\/span><\/a>). What are we to make of this horror, and how ought we respond to it? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the ancient Near East, laws and international treaties commonly forbade harboring fugitive slaves. One who harbored a fleeing slave was also subject to grave penalty. Deuteronomy offers a stark alternative: \u201cYou shall not hand over to his master a slave who seeks refuge with you from his master. He shall live with you in any place he may choose among the settlements in your midst, wherever he pleases; you must not oppress him\u201d (Deut 23:16-17). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Deuteronomy teaches that the fugitive slave may dwell in any place he chooses. The idea of choosing a place is crucial to Deuteronomy: God is repeatedly described as choosing one central place. This occurs no fewer than eighteen times in Deuteronomy; seventeen of them refer to God\u2019s choosing a habitation for God\u2019s name. Strikingly, the verses dealing with the runaway slave are the only instance in Deuteronomy in which these terms are used for anyone other than God. Moreover, the text insists that the slave is to dwell \u201cin your midst\u201d\u2014again, just as God does (cf. 6:15; 7:21).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people of Israel are themselves a nation of runaway slaves worshiping a God who liberates slaves.<\/span> Just as the Israelites are repeatedly taught that because they were strangers in the land of Egypt, they must not oppress the stranger (Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33), here they are instructed (though the point is not made explicit) that because they were runaway slaves, they must not oppress slaves in flight, and must open their hearts and their land to them. The Hebrew word our translation renders as \u201cseeks refuge\u201d is <\/span>yinatzel<\/span><\/em>, a verb also used to describe God\u2019s delivering Israel from bondage. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

In an age when Jews have access to political and economic power in ways our ancestors could not even have dreamed of, surely we ought to be at the forefront of contemporary movements for abolition and liberation. Where slavery is concerned, Deuteronomy was enormously radical in its time; to take its message seriously is to be enormously radical in our own.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Image by: orythys from Pixabay<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51447,"alt":"","title":"dt23-slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1245,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-768x498.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1024x664.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":996,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1245,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1200x778.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-648x420.jpg","home_baner-width":648,"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":"We Are Runaway Slaves!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And with more slaves today in the world than ever before - what is our obligation?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51447,"alt":"","title":"dt23-slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1245,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-768x498.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1024x664.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":996,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1245,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1200x778.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-648x420.jpg","home_baner-width":648,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Deuteronomy","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"176","date":"20260503","wall_id":"176"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"438","name":"Slavery","old_id":"838"}]},{"order":5,"id":"108481","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Amalek: Remembering And Wiping Out Memory ","post_title":"Amalek: Remembering And Wiping Out Memory","slug":"amalek-remembering-and-wiping-out-memory","old_id":"108481","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":101758,"post_title":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam","slug":"naomi-bromberg-bar-yam","old_id":"101758","first_name":"Naomi ","last_name":"Bromberg Bar-Yam ","description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","short_description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101760,"alt":"","title":"-62028435af471--62028435af472Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","width":361,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":449,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":449,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":449,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"178","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In other words - be the opposite\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

What did Amalek do to deserve their reputation?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The two tellings of the story of Amalek bracket our experience of becoming a nation. They first appear (Exodus 17:8-16) immediately after Israelites leave Egypt and we are reminded of them again in Deuteronomy Chapter 25, when we are about to enter the land of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The narrative is but 3 verses (25:17-19), the more powerful for its brevity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What made Amalek\u2019s evil unique? Commentators offer several answers:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. They attacked unprovoked. There was no threat, nothing to be gained; no bragging rights, land, or property.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. They attacked when the nation was at its most vulnerable, weary and faint.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. They attacked from behind, where the weakest were.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. They did not stand in awe of God, and in so doing made other attacks possible. Rashi explains: \u201cIt may be compared to a boiling hot bath into which no living creature could descend.\u00a0 A good-for-nothing came, and sprang down into it; although he scalded himself, he made it appear cold to others.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    What does it mean to remember, to wipe out their memory but at the same time, not to forget Amalek?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    According to Sifrei, \u201cremember\u201d refers to words: written and oral. \u201cDo not forget\u201d refers to our hearts. What we do not forget becomes a part of us. Remembering and not forgetting are complementary.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201c<\/span>Wipe out the memory of Amalek<\/span><\/em>\u201d - <\/span><\/i>Many sources say this refers literally to wiping out all of Amalek. However, our tradition struggles with this genocide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Talmud Brachot 28a tells us that, when he conquered nations, Assyrian King Sennecharib dispersed the local people widely to cause confusion and prevent rebellion. In time, the people intermarried, so that it is not possible to identify who is who - including Amalek. Others say that Amalek must be destroyed by a king of Israel in its sovereign land. Together, the physical destruction of the nation of Amalek is not implementable. Maimonides includes Amalek among the 7 nations of the land of Israel. If they accept peace terms with Israel, they are spared. Only if they refuse are they to be destroyed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Over centuries, Amalek has become less a question of DNA and more a <\/span>symbol<\/span><\/em> of evil. So, is it possible, as Maimonides suggests, for Amalek to change its ways and thus, no longer be Amalek?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Our text says wipe out the <\/span>memory<\/em> <\/span>of Amalek.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rabbi Samson Hirsch notes, not Amalek, but its remembrance and glory.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    God <\/span>did<\/span><\/em> wipe out the memory of Amalek. The three + books of Torah between leaving Egypt and entering the land are filled with words (\u201cremember\u201d refers to words), laws, teaching us how to be different than Amalek. We simultaneously remember and wipe out memory by overwriting the deeds of Amalek with a civil society that protects the vulnerable rather than attacking them, welcomes the stranger rather than waging war on them.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51527,"alt":"","title":"gen-question-mark","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","width":366,"height":440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","medium_large-width":366,"medium_large-height":440,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","large-width":366,"large-height":440,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","1536x1536-width":366,"1536x1536-height":440,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","2048x2048-width":366,"2048x2048-height":440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","post_full_size-width":366,"post_full_size-height":440,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-349x420.jpg","home_baner-width":349,"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":"What To Do About Amalek - VIII","tile_main_caption":"Amalek: Remembering And Wiping Out Memory","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51527,"alt":"","title":"gen-question-mark","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","width":366,"height":440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","medium_large-width":366,"medium_large-height":440,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","large-width":366,"large-height":440,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","1536x1536-width":366,"1536x1536-height":440,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","2048x2048-width":366,"2048x2048-height":440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark.jpg","post_full_size-width":366,"post_full_size-height":440,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/gen-question-mark-349x420.jpg","home_baner-width":349,"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":"Torah","book":"Deuteronomy","chapter":"25","chapter_main_number":"178","date":"20260505","wall_id":"178"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"405","name":"Memory","old_id":"805"},{"term_id":"641","name":"Amalek","old_id":"1041"},{"term_id":"680","name":"Symbolism","old_id":"1080"}]},{"order":6,"id":"51428","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Open, Orthodoxy! (That's An Order) ","post_title":"Open, Orthodoxy! (That's An Order)","slug":"open-orthodoxy-thats-an-order","old_id":"51428","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"176","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Believe it or not, radical openness is the rabbinic precedent - so don\u2019t circle the wagons","post_main_content_content":"

    When, in chapter 23, the Torah says that an Ammonite may not ever become part of the Jewish people, it doesn't seem to leave much room for interpretation. So when an Ammonite, surprisingly named Yehuda, and surprisingly noted as a convert (who converted him? who gave him that name?), comes into the house of study (<\/span>Mishna Yadayim 4:4) <\/span><\/i>and asks \"Can I be part of the congregation?\" you'd expect it would be an open and closed case. Emphasis on the 'closed'.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    For Rabban Gamliel, it is. The answer is no, and the proof-text is the unequivocal verse in chapter 23. And if Yehuda the Ammonite convert had asked his question a day earlier, that would have been the last word. But his timing wasn't a coincidence. The day he entered was the very same day that the sages had staged a coup against Rabban Gamliel, the exilarch, rejecting his strict, centralized, authoritarian rule that quashed all dissent. On that day, the Talmud recounts, the guard that Rabban Gamliel had posted at the gates of the <\/span>Beit Midrash<\/span><\/i> to make sure that only the best and purest-intentioned students had access to the halls of halachic power was fired. This allowed entry to hundreds of new students who previously didn't make the cut, and among them, Yehuda, the Ammonite convert.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    On this day, Rabban Gamliel is allowed to voice his opposition, but has lost his power to enforce it. Rabbi Yehoshua boldly declares<\/span> that the Torah's prohibition to accept the Ammonite nation no longer holds, because the national identities the Torah refers to no longer exist. The majority agrees with him, and Yehuda is immediately accepted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rabban Gamliel's intentions had been pure, and perhaps for a time, even necessary. In the turbulent period following the destruction of the Temple, he believed that a closed door policy, and strict enforcement of centralized authority were necessary for Judaism to survive. It took his public embarrassment of another sage one too many times for the other rabbis not only to depose Rabban Gamliel, but to reverse his entire approach. The best way to face the challenges of the day was not to circle the wagons, and define clear, strong boundaries of who is allowed in. Just the opposite. The gates of the <\/span>Beit Midrash<\/span><\/em>, and the gates of Jewish peoplehood, were opened wide to include as many voices as possible, even those whose intentions and <\/span>agendas had been suspect.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The result? A tremendous growth in Torah study, and the resolution of questions that had stood for years. The question we need to resolve today is: what is the appropriate policy for our time? <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image by mcmurryjulie from Pixabay<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51429,"alt":"","title":"dt23-open-door","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1.png","width":1920,"height":1295,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-300x202.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-768x518.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":518,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-1024x691.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":691,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1036,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1295,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-1200x809.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":809,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-623x420.png","home_baner-width":623,"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":"Open, Orthodoxy! (That's An Order)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Believe it or not, radical openness is the rabbinic precedent - so don\u2019t circle the wagons","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51429,"alt":"","title":"dt23-open-door","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1.png","width":1920,"height":1295,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-300x202.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-768x518.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":518,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-1024x691.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":691,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1036,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1.png","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1295,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-1200x809.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":809,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-open-door-1-623x420.png","home_baner-width":623,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Deuteronomy","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"176","date":"20260503","wall_id":"176"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"},{"term_id":"711","name":"Openness","old_id":"1111"},{"term_id":"845","name":"Orthodox","old_id":"1245"}]},{"order":7,"id":"69034","color":"#efefef","size":"2","name":"A New Jeremiad ","post_title":"A New Jeremiad","slug":"a-new-jeremiad","old_id":"69034","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":68344,"post_title":"Alicia Jo Rabins","slug":"alicia-jo-rabins","old_id":"68344","first_name":"Alicia Jo ","last_name":"Rabins ","description":"Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher. She is the author of Divinity School (2015 APR\/Honickman First Book Prize) and Fruit Geode (finalist for the 2018 Jewish Book Award). As a musician and performer, Rabins has released three albums and tours internationally with Girls in Trouble, her indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah, and is in post-production on A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff: The Film, a mystical Jewish feminist rock opera about the largest financial crime in history. Rabins lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two children. ","short_description":"Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":68346,"alt":"","title":"Alicia Jo Rabins","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","width":1042,"height":1115,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-957x1024.jpg","large-width":957,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1115,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1042,"2048x2048-height":1115,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":1042,"post_full_size-height":1115,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-393x420.jpg","home_baner-width":393,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"401","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"If you got it, baby, flaunt it!\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    The words of Alicia, daughter of Karen, one of the poets in Portland in the territory of Oregon:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The word of the Goddess came to her in the third year of the reign of King Donald, son of Fred, when the people contemplated exile.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The word of the Goddess came to me, saying, \u201cIf you got it, flaunt it, baby. And by \u2018got it,\u2019 I mean, have a conscience and are alive. And by flaunt it, I mean, take to the streets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But I said to the Goddess, \u201cI cannot tell whether I got it or not. Sometimes I think I am just a drudge for biology.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But the Goddess said to me, \"Do not doubt yourself. Rather write your representatives, eat less meat, and disrobe on public transit as an act of civil disobedience against the violence perpetrated on your gender.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Then the Goddess reached out her hand and touched my heart and said, \u201cThe words are inside you. You have everything you need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The word of the Goddess came to me: \u201cWhat do you see, Alicia?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cI see a woman\u2019s body,\u201d I replied.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Goddess said to me, \u201cYou are correct, I am watching over you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The word of the Goddess came to me again: \u201cWhat else do you see?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cI see a melting glacier,\u201d I answered. \u201cIt is tilting toward us from the north.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Goddess said to me, \u201cFrom the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land, it is true, and also from the rising seas at every coastline, and the burning oilfields and the flooded farmlands.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cThen the queens of each people will come and set up their altars on the bridges of New York City; they will come to all the interstate exchanges, and to the cities and farmland and exurbs across America. I will open the hearts of my people and teach them kindness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cPrepare yourself for the change! Train to act from your own wisdom. Be brave, even if you are afraid. For this is how I made you: with a strong heart, a compassionate spirit and a discerning mind which knows when to set barriers and boundaries. Do not tolerate cruelty, yet always act with love, I am with you and within you, I am you,\u201d whispers the Goddess.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69044,"alt":"","title":"jer1-goddess","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess.jpg","width":1920,"height":1887,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-300x295.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":295,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-768x755.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":755,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-1024x1006.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1006,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1510,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1887,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-1200x1179.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1179,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-427x420.jpg","home_baner-width":427,"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 New Jeremiad","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"If you got it, baby, flaunt it!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69044,"alt":"","title":"jer1-goddess","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess.jpg","width":1920,"height":1887,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-300x295.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":295,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-768x755.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":755,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-1024x1006.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1006,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1510,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1887,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-1200x1179.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1179,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-goddess-427x420.jpg","home_baner-width":427,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"401","date":"20270314","wall_id":"401"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"327","name":"Today's Prophets","old_id":"727"},{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"373","name":"Literature","old_id":"773"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"}]},{"order":8,"id":"69052","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Before I Form Anything In My Womb ","post_title":"Before I Form Anything In My Womb","slug":"before-i-form-anything-in-my-womb","old_id":"69052","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38062,"post_title":"Rachael Pass","slug":"rachael-pass","old_id":"38062","first_name":"Rachael ","last_name":"Pass","description":"Rachael Pass is a fourth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Her BA is from Brandeis University, where she studied Psychology and Near Eastern and Judaic Studies. Rachael is the rabbinic intern for the Central Conference of American Rabbis' Task Force on the Experience of Women in the Rabbinate. ","short_description":"Rachael Pass is a fourth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":68925,"alt":"","title":"rachael pass","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","width":429,"height":411,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass-300x287.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":287,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","medium_large-width":429,"medium_large-height":411,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","large-width":429,"large-height":411,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","1536x1536-width":429,"1536x1536-height":411,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","2048x2048-width":429,"2048x2048-height":411,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","post_full_size-width":429,"post_full_size-height":411,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/rachael-pass.png","home_baner-width":429,"home_baner-height":411}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"401","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Reclaiming Jewish reproductive choice\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    \u201cBefore I formed you in the womb, I knew you.\u201d (Jer. 1:5)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Plastered on a giant yellow billboard, these words hovered heavily over I-64 on the drive between my parents\u2019 houses my entire childhood. Next to the quotation was a computer-created image of a fully formed fetus visible through a transparent womb; at the bottom, a phone number in white print next to the bolded words \u201cPregnancy Help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This was the first passage of Tanakh I ever knew by heart.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Years later, walking the short distance from Hebrew Union College to the Margaret Sanger Planned Parenthood of New York City, this verse would ring in my mind. Not the plethora of responsa permitting the abortion I had chosen to have. Not the lifetime of pro-choice voices I had been surrounded by. Not even the sound of Debbie Friedman\u2019s voice in my headphones, \u201cthose who sow\u2026\u201d I could only hear these words: \u201cBefore I formed you in the womb...\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This is the problem with the anti-choice movement \u201cowning\u201d the religious argument on abortion. It distorts our perception of our own values.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    It was as if, on that short walk, I left my liberal religious principles behind. By the time I entered that Planned Parenthood, I was no longer a Reform rabbinical student, and instead, only a secular, privileged woman exercising her right to choose.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    When a doctor who looked just like me placed the small, round pill in my hand, I grasped for the only comfort I could: \u201c<\/span>asher yatzar oti b\u2019chochmah\u2026<\/span><\/i>\u201d [\u201cwho has made me in wisdom\u201d]. But my whispered words were no strong wind against that yellow billboard.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    How much more autonomy I would have felt on that walk knowing Rabbi Mordecai Winkler\u2019s 1913 responsum arguing that a woman could terminate a pregnancy in the event that it posed a mental health risk for her, as mine did for me.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    How much more empowered I would have been on that walk had I been equipped with Rabbi Hara Person\u2019s invocation of<\/span> choosing life<\/span><\/a>--the safety and well-being of the pregnant person\u2019s life--as a primary religious argument supporting abortion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    How much easier a necessary decision like mine would have been for unknowable numbers of Jews with uteruses had the religious rhetoric on abortion not been co-opted by anti-choice voices.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Two weeks later, the bleeding stopped. I traveled again, a longer walk across town to the mikveh, where I met a mikveh guide from<\/span> ImmerseNYC<\/span><\/a>. My pocket held a crumpled, photocopied ritual for a post-abortion immersion. That piece of paper, stained by indistinguishable droplets from the mikveh and my eyes, finally replaced that yellow billboard.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In a world where the religious rhetoric of the anti-choice movement shouts louder than the religious values of pro-choice Jewish leanings, ritual has the power to restore our values to our voices. Ritual was my access point back to Judaism after my abortion, as it will be more many more after me.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Before <\/span>I<\/span><\/em> form anything in <\/span>my<\/span><\/em> womb, I now know that there is space in Judaism for my reproductive choice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69053,"alt":"","title":"jer1-womb","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","width":410,"height":181,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb-300x132.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","medium_large-width":410,"medium_large-height":181,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","large-width":410,"large-height":181,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","1536x1536-width":410,"1536x1536-height":181,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","2048x2048-width":410,"2048x2048-height":181,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","post_full_size-width":410,"post_full_size-height":181,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","home_baner-width":410,"home_baner-height":181}},"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":"Before I Form Anything In My Womb","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Reclaiming Jewish reproductive choice","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69053,"alt":"","title":"jer1-womb","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","width":410,"height":181,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb-300x132.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":132,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","medium_large-width":410,"medium_large-height":181,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","large-width":410,"large-height":181,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","1536x1536-width":410,"1536x1536-height":181,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","2048x2048-width":410,"2048x2048-height":181,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","post_full_size-width":410,"post_full_size-height":181,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-womb.jpg","home_baner-width":410,"home_baner-height":181}},"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"401","date":"20270314","wall_id":"401"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"448","name":"Ritual","old_id":"848"},{"term_id":"449","name":"Religion","old_id":"849"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"995","name":"Reproduction","old_id":"1395"}]},{"order":9,"id":"69055","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Jewish Immortality ","post_title":"Jewish Immortality","slug":"jewish-immortality","old_id":"69055","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":69033,"post_title":"Chaim Strauchler","slug":"chaim-strauchler","old_id":"69033","first_name":"Chaim ","last_name":"Strauchler ","description":"Rabbi Chaim Strauchler serves as senior rabbi of Shaarei Shomayim Congregation in Toronto. He is also vice-president of the Rabbinical Council of America, an executive member of the Rabbinical Vaad HaKashruth of COR, and an associate editor for Tradition. Rabbi Strauchler is married to Avital. They have five children: Tehilla, Adir, Atara, Zvi and Freda.","short_description":"Rabbi Chaim Strauchler serves as senior rabbi of Shaarei Shomayim Congregation in Toronto.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":69076,"alt":"","title":"Chaim Strauchler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler.jpg","width":435,"height":505,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler-258x300.jpg","medium-width":258,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler.jpg","medium_large-width":435,"medium_large-height":505,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler.jpg","large-width":435,"large-height":505,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler.jpg","1536x1536-width":435,"1536x1536-height":505,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler.jpg","2048x2048-width":435,"2048x2048-height":505,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler.jpg","post_full_size-width":435,"post_full_size-height":505,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Chaim-Strauchler-362x420.jpg","home_baner-width":362,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"401","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Jeremiah, the prophet of survival: how to endure destruction and exile\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    In his 1895 <\/span>Harper\u2019s <\/span><\/i>essay, \u201cConcerning the Jews,\u201d Mark Twain poetically concludes with a question:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The events of the 125 years since the essay\u2019s publication only underscore Twain\u2019s wonderment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    If it can be found anywhere, the secret to Jewish immortality can be discovered in the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah introduces into the Jewish story a means by which destruction might be endured and exile weathered. Whereas a common land-based identity grounds almost all national stories, Jeremiah innovates a method by which national identity can survive upon foreign soil. The divine covenant with the Jewish people, argues Jeremiah, does not require the Temple in Jerusalem or a commonwealth in the land of Israel. Political reversals must be understood as reflections of divine justice and not as proofs against God\u2019s power to deliver God\u2019s people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah, often labelled as a prophet of doom, is ultimately a prophet of survival. In challenging the false prophets who predicted Jewish victory and celebrated the Temple\u2019s permanence, Jeremiah lowers expectations, thereby tempering the despair that accompanied the full realization of the Temple\u2019s finitude. In prophesying and explaining the First Commonwealth\u2019s end, Jeremiah provides the survivors with a narrative through which they might weather the cataclysm. It is with this goal that God consecrates Jeremiah, \u201cSee, I appoint you this day over nations and kingdoms: to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant<\/span>.<\/b>\u201d (1:10)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Whereas the theology of his day saddled a deity\u2019s truth to the success of the people who worshiped it, Jeremiah builds national resilience by arguing that the universal God might use God\u2019s people as an embodiment of a covenant (5:19). In a commonwealth\u2019s destruction, proof to God\u2019s commitment to a people might be recognized and not its opposite. In championing that durable covenant, Jeremiah preserves the agency of the Jews as they become a subject people, establishing a distinct story from those who would wield power over them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In accepting responsibility for their own destruction and not accepting a state of victimhood, those people might repent and witness a rebuilding of their state.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Images: 1934 title page (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=26905592 - fair use) and + public domain vector<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69056,"alt":"","title":"jer1-twain3","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","width":807,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-300x230.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":230,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-768x588.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":588,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","large-width":807,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","1536x1536-width":807,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","2048x2048-width":807,"2048x2048-height":618,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","post_full_size-width":807,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-548x420.jpg","home_baner-width":548,"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":"Jewish Immortality","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Jeremiah, the prophet of survival: how to endure destruction and exile","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69056,"alt":"","title":"jer1-twain3","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","width":807,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-300x230.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":230,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-768x588.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":588,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","large-width":807,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","1536x1536-width":807,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","2048x2048-width":807,"2048x2048-height":618,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3.jpg","post_full_size-width":807,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer1-twain3-548x420.jpg","home_baner-width":548,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"401","date":"20270314","wall_id":"401"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"421","name":"Peoplehood","old_id":"821"},{"term_id":"840","name":"Jeremiah","old_id":"1240"},{"term_id":"996","name":"Mark Twain","old_id":"1396"}]},{"order":10,"id":"69088","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"How Spiritual Failings Defile The Land ","post_title":"How Spiritual Failings Defile The Land","slug":"how-spiritual-failings-defile-the-land","old_id":"69088","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":"402","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The interconnections of soul and body, spirit and land\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    At the beginning of Chapter 2 of the book of Jeremiah God decries, \u201cI brought you to this country of farmland to enjoy its fruit and its bounty, but you came and defiled My land and made My possession abhorrent\u201d (2:7). The focus of much of the remaining verses in this chapter is on the people\u2019s abandonment of God and their propensity for idol-worship. How do these spiritual failings become a defilement of the physical land?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Jewish idea of the connection between physicality and spirituality is part of our daily lives. Kippot<\/em> (skullcaps) and tzitzit<\/em> (fringes) are a reminder that God is ever-present; modest clothing elevates our spiritual awareness; a tallit<\/em> (prayer shawl) helps to focus prayer. Shabbat and holiday candles bring light to the world and wine for kiddush sanctifies our holy days. We refrain from wearing leather on Yom Kippur, and we use food we to symbolize and remember our relationship with God and take care in ensuring the kashrut<\/em> of what we put in our bodies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Evidence of the relationship between physicality and spirituality permeate almost every aspect of Jewish life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Likewise, many studies have indicated the direct positive relationship between spiritual and physical health. In fact, neurotheologists began showing us, over a decade ago, how prayer rewires the brain and improves cognitive function in multiple ways. Similarly, the connection between physical and mental health is universally recognized in the medical world.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But this complaint from God goes much further. \u201cYou defiled My land\u201d by worshipping idols implies that our spiritual activity has a tangible impact not just on our bodies and minds, but on the physical space in which we dwell.\u00a0 To make the point even more clear, the consequence of turning away from God and toward idols is prophesied as eviction from the land and devastation of the land itself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    When we speak of our obligation for \u201ctikkun olam \u2013 repairing the world\u201d we mean both spiritual and physical restoration. At the conclusion of our daily prayers in the Aleinu<\/em> prayer, we beseech God to bring us to the time where we will behold banishing idolatry from the earth (<\/span>leha'avir gilulim min ha'aretz<\/span><\/em>), and false gods will be utterly exterminated (<\/span>ve'haelilim karot yikaretun<\/span><\/em>), to perfect the world (<\/span>letaken olam<\/span><\/em>.) We need to remember that the spiritual and physical are intertwined attributes of perfection, and attention needs to be paid to our bodies, our souls and the physical world around us.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69089,"alt":"","title":"jer2-land","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-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":"How Spiritual Failings Defile The Land","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The interconnections of soul and body, spirit and land","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69089,"alt":"","title":"jer2-land","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer2-land-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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"402","date":"20270315","wall_id":"402"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"407","name":"Tikkun","old_id":"807"},{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"448","name":"Ritual","old_id":"848"},{"term_id":"616","name":"Spirit","old_id":"1016"}]},{"order":11,"id":"69257","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Religious Social Criticism ","post_title":"Religious Social Criticism","slug":"religious-social-criticism","old_id":"69257","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38552,"post_title":"Benny Lau","slug":"benny-lau","old_id":"38552","first_name":"Benny","last_name":"Lau ","description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai. In addition, he is the rabbi of the Ramban synagogue in Jerusalem and is a community leader, activist, author, and public speaker.","short_description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1708,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"402","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Castigating those responsible in society: teachers, judges, leaders, prophets\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Jeremiah's prophecy describes a pagan society whose chain of command has completely lost its way:\u00a0
    \r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The priests have not asked \u2018Where is the Lord?\u2019 The handlers of the Torah know Me not, the shepherds have sinned against Me, and the prophets prophesy by Baal and follow what is worthless (2:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This verse explains why each group of potential leaders deserves Jeremiah's criticism. First, we should note that the king is not explicitly mentioned here. On the contrary, Jeremiah greatly esteems Josiah and his efforts to cure Judean society's spiritual ills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The priests are the first in Jeremiah's line of fire. He does not address the Temple, but seeks out those responsible for the spiritual deterioration of the people. Teaching the people Torah requires the priests to wander among the cities of Israel. Yet it emerges that Jeremiah's priestly contemporaries have been cloistered in the Temple and singularly focused on its service, living off public funds and neglecting their primary role \u2014 teaching Torah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Next, Jeremiah attacks the \"handlers of the Torah,\" who \"know Me not.\" Rashi explains that this censure is aimed at the judges. They are the Torah's handlers, running the Torah-based judicial system, but without really knowing God. Knowing God does not mean simply grasping the Torah intellectually--it emerges through action. As God says of Abraham: \"For I know him, that he will instruct his children and household after him to keep the way of the Lord, to do what is right and just\" (Gen. 18:19). Here too, it appears that the \"way of the Lord\" is doing what is right and just. This radical idea removes the religious act from the realms of meditation and seclusion and places it squarely within the sphere of social action and concern for others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    By \"shepherds,\" Jeremiah generally means the leaders who direct the people and their behavior. Relating to such leaders as shepherds is a favorite metaphor of his; after all, he grew up on the edge of the desert. Throughout his childhood, he watched the shepherds and determined that the behavior of the flock depends on the shepherd.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The prophet wanders among his people, shouting at all sectors of society about their rejection of God. He is met with total indifference: \"I am not defiled.\" For the first time, the young prophet adds social criticism to his religious reproach. \"In addition, your garments are stained with the lifeblood of the innocent destitute\" \u2014 this refers to overt, shameless social violence. After this great prophetic reprimand regarding the spiritual prostitution spreading across Israel, its painful conclusion is presented at the opening of chapter 3.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>.<\/em> Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cJudah Has Abandoned God.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"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":"Religious Social Criticism","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Castigating those responsible in society: teachers, judges, leaders, prophets","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"402","date":"20270315","wall_id":"402"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"631","name":"Priests","old_id":"1031"}]},{"order":12,"id":"69124","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"Grace: An Un-Jewish Concept? ","post_title":"Grace: An Un-Jewish Concept?","slug":"grace-an-un-jewish-concept","old_id":"69124","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":"403","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Going beyond the Law, to re-accept in lovingkindness","post_main_content_content":"

    One of the most defining features of Judaism is the role played by law. We conceive of our relationship to God primarily as a <\/span>brit<\/em> <\/span>(a legal contract) and the study of law has for centuries been considered one of the most important, if not the most important, of religious activities. For much of the last two thousand years, this point has played a major role in Jewish-Christian polemicizing. Christians have often accused Jews of a cold-hearted legalism, a dependence on rules which cannot fathom the necessary role of God\u2019s unmerited love and forgiveness \u2014 known as grace \u2014 in salvation. Jews, for their part, have sometimes tended to see the Christian preoccupation with grace as a kind of spiritual vapidity and a deliberate turning-away from the revealed law which is the concern of so much of the Bible. Indeed, it is not rare to hear Jews claim that grace itself is an un-Jewish concept.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But in reality, the idea of grace does play an important role in Jewish thinking, beginning, of course, with the Bible itself. The third chapter of Jeremiah provides an excellent example of a moment in which the prophet proclaims a divine love which sets aside the strictures of the law in order to forgive the people Israel, even when they do not deserve it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The relationship between God and Israel is, as so often here imagined, as a marriage. The prophet, seemingly referring to Deuteronomy 24:1-4, notes that according to Israelite law, a woman who has divorced her husband and married another man is forbidden, in the event that she divorces the second man, from returning to her first husband. Israel, the spouse of God, has abandoned the relationship and \u201cwhored with many lovers\u201d \u2014 that is, worshiped other gods. Thus, the metaphor goes, the law seems to require that God and Israel remain estranged. But, insists the prophet, such an estrangement is not Israel\u2019s fate: \u201cSince I have espoused you, I will take you, one from a town and two from a clan, and bring you to Zion.\u201d Although Israel thinks of its relationship to God along the lines of a marital contract, God\u2019s gracious love overflows the bounds of this legal structure.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Maimonides, in <\/span>Guide<\/span><\/i> 3:53, writes that most of the uses of the term c<\/em><\/span>hesed<\/span><\/em> (mercy, grace, or lovingkindness) in the prophetic books have the sense of \u201cpracticing beneficence toward one who has no right at all to claim this from you.\u201d When, in Jeremiah 3:12, the prophet reports God saying \u201cI will not look on you in anger, for I am compassionate (c<\/em><\/span>hasid<\/span><\/em>),\u201d <\/span><\/i>this seems to be the sense intended.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Although by rights Israel has forfeited its claims on God by engaging in idolatry, God nevertheless promises to accept the people if they return. In moments like these, it is clear that, far from being a deviation, grace is a crucial concept for Jewish theology, one without which we would be unable to make sense of much Biblical teaching.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69125,"alt":"","title":"jer3-grace","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-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":"Grace: An Un-Jewish Concept?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Going beyond the Law, to re-accept in lovingkindness","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69125,"alt":"","title":"jer3-grace","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer3-grace-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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"403","date":"20270316","wall_id":"403"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"546","name":"Grace","old_id":"946"},{"term_id":"573","name":"Righteousness","old_id":"973"},{"term_id":"581","name":"Mercy","old_id":"981"},{"term_id":"910","name":"Chesed","old_id":"1310"}]},{"order":13,"id":"69109","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"A Jewish Witch Responds To Jeremiah\u00a0 ","post_title":"A Jewish Witch Responds To Jeremiah\u00a0","slug":"a-jewish-witch-responds-to-jeremiah","old_id":"69109","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":68344,"post_title":"Alicia Jo Rabins","slug":"alicia-jo-rabins","old_id":"68344","first_name":"Alicia Jo ","last_name":"Rabins ","description":"Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher. She is the author of Divinity School (2015 APR\/Honickman First Book Prize) and Fruit Geode (finalist for the 2018 Jewish Book Award). As a musician and performer, Rabins has released three albums and tours internationally with Girls in Trouble, her indie-folk song cycle about women in Torah, and is in post-production on A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff: The Film, a mystical Jewish feminist rock opera about the largest financial crime in history. Rabins lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and their two children. ","short_description":"Alicia Jo Rabins is a writer, musician, performer and Torah teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":68346,"alt":"","title":"Alicia Jo Rabins","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","width":1042,"height":1115,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-280x300.jpg","medium-width":280,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-768x822.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":822,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-957x1024.jpg","large-width":957,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1115,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1042,"2048x2048-height":1115,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":1042,"post_full_size-height":1115,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Alicia-Jo-Rabins-1-393x420.jpg","home_baner-width":393,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"403","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We have ravished and been ravished...","post_main_content_content":"

    what we\u2019re accused of,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>we who worship the moon:<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>committing adultery with stone & wood.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>sitting by the roadside waiting for lovers.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>and maybe you are right,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>we <\/span>are<\/span><\/i> open to whatever arises,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>we <\/span>have<\/span><\/i> ravished & been ravished<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>on every inch of desert.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>you've made your demands,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>I've listened patiently.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>now it's my turn:<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>when you say \u201cyou defile the land,\u201d<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>do you mean \u201cyou have more pleasure <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>than any woman should?\"<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>when you say \"covered in shame,\"<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>do you mean \"I desire you?\"<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>when you say \u201creturn to me,\u201d<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>do you mean \"submit\"?<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>I submit only to the moon and sun,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>to stone, wood & water,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>to the mystery which sparks each<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>heartbeat in my chest and in<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>the chest of every lover-- <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>and I welcome my lovers <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>of stone or wood, flesh<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>or celestial orb - I welcome<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>them whenever I want, if they want <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>me too, and as for you, if you still <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>want me,\u00a0 I'll take you back <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>in a couple thousand years <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>but only on my own terms. <\/span>
    \r\n
    \r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Valentine Cameron Prinsep, Medea the Sorceress, 1880 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69114,"alt":"","title":"Jer3-sorceress","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","width":465,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress-233x300.jpg","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","medium_large-width":465,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","large-width":465,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","1536x1536-width":465,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","2048x2048-width":465,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","post_full_size-width":465,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress-326x420.jpg","home_baner-width":326,"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":"A Jewish Witch Responds To Jeremiah\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We have ravished and been ravished...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69114,"alt":"","title":"Jer3-sorceress","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","width":465,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress-233x300.jpg","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","medium_large-width":465,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","large-width":465,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","1536x1536-width":465,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","2048x2048-width":465,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress.jpg","post_full_size-width":465,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Jer3-sorceress-326x420.jpg","home_baner-width":326,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"403","date":"20270316","wall_id":"403"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"483","name":"Feminism","old_id":"883"},{"term_id":"622","name":"Criticism","old_id":"1022"}]},{"order":14,"id":"69144","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"\u00a0Prepare Your Field For Winter ","post_title":"\u00a0Prepare Your Field For Winter","slug":"prepare-your-field-for-winter","old_id":"69144","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":"404","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And remember to till (your sins) before you sow (repentance)","post_main_content_content":"

    A singular proverb utilized by Jeremiah in this chapter is the subject of considerable and wide-ranging exegetical speculation: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

    For thus said the Lord to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem; break up the untilled ground and do not sow among thorns (3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    According to Rashi, just as farmers till the soil in the summer to prevent thorns growing in the winter, so should Israel improve their behavior before their punishment begins, lest their subsequent prayers be rejected as stimulated by their distress rather than their penitence. According to Yosef Kara, just as one who sows a field before tilling it will find thorns ruining the seeds, so will one who prays while bearing the stigma of sin have his prayers rejected. And Radak said that just as tilling the soil prepares it to receive the seeds by removing thorns, so does the removal of sin\u2014by means of repentance\u2014prepare the soul to receive the word of God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Malbim, whose modernized commentaries we followed throughout Isaiah, wrote that just as thorns \u201cchoke off\u201d budding plants, so do \u201cnegative attributes and deleterious imaginations\u201d stifle the inclination to repent. Hence, they must be extirpated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Shadal* wrote:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    First, plow your field and remove from its midst the thorns and weeds and do not sow seeds among the thorns. The meaning is that if you wish to repent and have Me accept your repentance, it is not enough to appear to approach Me; you must remove your evil intentions from My sight. To wit: \u201cIf you remove your abominations from My presence\u201d (1). He likened repentance to sowing, and abandoning sin to plowing without which the sowing is ineffectual.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The comparison between human behavior and agronomy can be extended, homiletically, to embrace the conclusion that \u201cthose who sow with tears, will harvest joy\u201d (Ps. 126:5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    *For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Vincent van Gogh, The Sower (after Millet), 1889 \/ 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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":"404","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Truth, justice, righteousness","post_main_content_content":"

    Jeremiah frames his appeal to the people to return\/repent by returning to God, abandoning idolatry. This turning of repentance will mark an end of exile. But it is the culmination of this repentance that caught my attention this time around: \u201cIf you swear \u2018As the Lord lives!\u2019 in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, the nations will bless themselves through you and will praise themselves by you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah makes it clear that God is at the center of this return, the core around whom we circle. But the return isn\u2019t simply greater ritual stringencies, longer prayer services, bigger prayer shawls. As we allow ourselves to swirl closer and closer to that Divine center, we find ourselves giving up delusions, and focusing on three grand virtues: truth, justice, and righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    These three are so radical and unsettling, that even those devoted to the text of Scripture have gone out of their way to avoid their simple meaning. Malbim, for example, interprets truth as core beliefs of Torah, justice as mitzvot <\/span>bein adam le-havero<\/span><\/em> (interpersonal commandments), and righteousness as mitzvot <\/span>bein adam la-Makom<\/span><\/em> (commandments between God and people). Safely restoring the parameters of Jeremiah\u2019s remarks to religion, we are free to leave them to the fanatics and simply walk away.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But Jeremiah isn\u2019t talking about mitzvot. He\u2019s not preaching ritual punctiliousness at all. When he wants to tell us of a ritual practice (like abandoning idolatry or offering a sacrifice, for example) he has no problem being straightforward.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Here\u2019s what he\u2019s discussing as the core of our spiritual return: truth, justice, and righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    These are virtues whether you are a theist or an atheist, whether you are observant or secular, whether you are Jewish or not. For Jeremiah, and Jeremiah\u2019s God, they guard the path to a real return. You can\u2019t be close to God without holding these aloft as your highest goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    God is aiming for nothing less than truth, justice, and righteousness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    photo: by Jeremy 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Great Undoing ","post_title":"The Great Undoing","slug":"the-great-undoing","old_id":"69137","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 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prophet\u2019s world descends into cosmic chaos\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    The creation of the world is a central theme in Jewish theology. For some thinkers, like Maimonides, it provides a universal basis on which to construct a religious philosophy; unlike the fundamentally particular and historical relationship between God and Israel, a theology of creation has the ability to speak to all people, emphasizing that beyond our differences we are rooted in the same reality. At the same time, creation can seem an almost impossibly distant concept: we are given to imagine a flash of light in the unfathomably far-off past, out of which the welter of our world somehow emerges. What \u2018preceded\u2019 the creation? What could it mean to create \u2018out of nothing\u2019? Questions like these make us dizzy, and seem to consign the act of creation to an unfathomable mystery.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But there are also moments in the Bible which hint at another way of thinking about creation \u2014 one which is very close to us indeed, and which proceeds less metaphysically than socially. In this chapter, Jeremiah confronts a society on the verge of collapse: invasion, destruction, death and suffering are just around the corner, and the prophet is wrought with pain at the prospect of \u201cthe blare of horns, alarms of war.\u201d Intriguingly, he continues by stating: \u201cI look at the earth, it is unformed and void; at the skies, and their light is gone.\u201d The phrase \u201cunformed and void\u201d (<\/span>tohu va-vohu<\/span><\/i>) is exceedingly rare, and cannot be understood except as a reference to Genesis 1, which states that as God began the act of creation, the earth was \u201cunformed and void, with darkness over the face of the deep.\u201d Jeremiah seems to be saying that the destruction Israel is to experience is an un-doing of God\u2019s creation: a return to the state of darkness and chaos which prevailed \u2018before\u2019 the world existed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Clearly, Jeremiah did not mean that the death of Israelite people and the destruction of their towns was somehow tantamount to the structure of reality being untwined. Rather, his reference to Genesis is evidence that for some in ancient Israel, the concept of creation was much less a matter of an all-at-once production of something from nothing, and more a matter of establishing order in the midst of chaos. Seen this way, God\u2019s act of creation loses its distance \u2014 and its permanence. Instead, creation is revealed as something rather precarious, a process in need of constant reinforcement, and which could be undone at any moment. In this paradigm, we ourselves are participants, if junior ones, in the ongoing creative act \u2014 each contribution we make to maintaining the peaceful stability of the world staves off, for a moment longer, the dark forces of chaos which would undo the work of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: In the Beginning, by Daniel Heller, 1991 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69139,"alt":"","title":"Jer4-chaos 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For An Honest Man ","post_title":"Searching For An Honest Man","slug":"searching-for-an-honest-man","old_id":"69275","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"405","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"No Noah this time...\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Jeremiah 5, like so many of the prophecies of the Later and Minor Prophets from which the haftarot are drawn, contains numerous castigations of the Jewish people\u2019s objectionable spiritual and ethical practices.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    A specific theme that, in my opinion, uniquely stands out in this biblical chapter, is God\u2019s bemoaning His inability to discover individuals truly deserving of His care and concern.\u00a0<\/span>The first three verses of this chapter articulate this particular Divine frustration:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Roam the streets of Jerusalem, search its squares, look about and take note: You will not find a man; there is none who acts justly, who seeks integrity\u2014 that I should pardon her (<\/span>Jerusalem<\/span><\/em>.) Even when they say, \u2018As the LORD lives,\u2019 they are sure to be swearing falsely. O LORD, Your eyes look for integrity\u2026.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This sentiment parallels God\u2019s critical evaluation in Genesis of almost all of humanity - Noah was the sole exception - populating the world that He had created only ten generations earlier:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The LORD saw how great was man\u2019s wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mind was nothing but evil all the time. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heart was saddened\u2026 But Noah found favor with the LORD (Genesis 6:5-6, 8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah was stating that God was unable to point to a \u201cNoah\u201d of his time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Abraham\u2019s negotiations with God concerning whether the population of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah included a sufficient number of righteous individuals to justify those cities\u2019 continued existence also comes to mind (Genesis 18:23-33).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This parallelism leads Isaiah to equate the state of the Jewish people in his day, with Sodom and Gomorrah prior to their destruction:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Had not the LORD of Hosts left us some survivors, we should be like Sodom, another Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD, You chieftains of Sodom; give ear to our God\u2019s instruction, you folk of Gomorrah! (Is. 1:9-10).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The theme of trying to find those who could serve as ethical exemplars for the rest of humanity is also prominently associated with the legendary ancient Greek philosopher, Diogenes La\u00ebrtius, who was reputed to have searched for an honest, or \u201ca morally sensitive man,\u201d (<\/span>\u201cwoke\u201d?<\/span><\/i>), but felt that it was ultimately \u201can exercise in futility\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Thwarted expectations inevitably lead to frustration and the desire to do away with what exists, rather than the vastly more difficult and challenging task of re-education and re-orientation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    image: Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man, attributed to J. H. W. Tischbein (c. 1780) \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69276,"alt":"","title":"jer5-diogenes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","width":632,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes-300x228.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":228,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","medium_large-width":632,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","large-width":632,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","1536x1536-width":632,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","2048x2048-width":632,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","post_full_size-width":632,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes-553x420.jpg","home_baner-width":553,"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":"Searching For An Honest Man","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No Noah this time...\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69276,"alt":"","title":"jer5-diogenes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","width":632,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes-300x228.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":228,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","medium_large-width":632,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","large-width":632,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","1536x1536-width":632,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","2048x2048-width":632,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes.jpg","post_full_size-width":632,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-diogenes-553x420.jpg","home_baner-width":553,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"405","date":"20270318","wall_id":"405"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"528","name":"Honesty","old_id":"928"},{"term_id":"703","name":"Noah","old_id":"1103"}]},{"order":18,"id":"69285","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Confronting The Other\u00a0 ","post_title":"Confronting The Other\u00a0","slug":"confronting-the-other","old_id":"69285","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":"405","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Jeremiah meets Levinas\u00a0\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    When the Peruvian theologian and Dominican priest, Gustavo Gutierrez, coined the term Liberation Theology, emphasizing the duty to help the poor and the oppressed <\/span>through involvement in civic and political affairs, did he, Father Gutierrez, have Jeremiah 5 in mind?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Failing to acknowledge God as the source of good harvest, the people of Judah soon lost any sense of accountability to the Divine for how they worked. This led them to oppress and deceive the weak and defenseless:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    They have become fat and sleek; They pass beyond the bounds of wickedness, And they prosper. They will not judge the case of the orphan, Nor give a hearing to the plea of the needy (Jer. 5:28).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah recalls the Book of Deuteronomy, a social contract, commanding the people of Israel to extend their hands to the poor, the orphan, the stranger, and the widow. Where are these people now?\u00a0 They have become so greedy. Infatuated by their own growth they have ignored the needy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah is desperate.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The prophet revisits his library, looks through his kindle, researches online and googles \u2018Emmanuel Levinas\u2019. Oh yes, he reflects, the French philosopher, the one who speaks about \u201cthe Other.\u201d Let\u2019s see if or how he can help me. Although the 5<\/span>th<\/span> BCE prophet can barely understand the 20<\/span>th<\/span> CE philosopher, Levinas inspires the prophet. Jeremiah learns that generic sermons might not captivate the attention of his audience but rather face-to-face relationships, as a phenomenological approach to the encounter with the Other, can weave a path to Ethics.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Levinas offers a pro bono lesson to the prophet. They sit down with flavored tea and French croissants, and then the philosopher says, \u201c<\/span>The encounter with the Other, in his or her uniqueness, beyond themes and categorizations, creates the infinite ethical responsibility.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah has already learned that ethics precedes ontology, and he wonders how to convince his people to repent, to scrutinize their hearts and to act in accordance with God\u2019s will, assisting the oppressed and attending the ones in need. It is hard to find the answers. The people of Israel have fallen, trapped in their own comfort zone, the Land is vast, the crops are fruitful, they have become too comfortable and have lost the perspective of a bigger picture. They are demanding from the Land instead of cultivating it, they are subjugating their neighbors instead of helping them, they are patronizing the disadvantaged instead of relieving them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    God, rightfully, is enraged - and disappointed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jeremiah has learned some lessons, among them, he has learned that it is hard to be a prophet. He will also end up in exile. Don\u2019t cry for me, Jeremiah\u2026your children will return to the Land (and will destroy it again).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Emmanuel Levinas \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69286,"alt":"","title":"jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","width":800,"height":1148,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-209x300.jpg","medium-width":209,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-714x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":714,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-714x1024.jpg","large-width":714,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1148,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1148,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1148,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-293x420.jpg","home_baner-width":293,"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":"Confronting The Other\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Jeremiah meets Levinas\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69286,"alt":"","title":"jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","width":800,"height":1148,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-209x300.jpg","medium-width":209,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-714x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":714,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-714x1024.jpg","large-width":714,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1148,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1148,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1148,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-Emmanuel_Levinas-293x420.jpg","home_baner-width":293,"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":"Jeremiah","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"405","date":"20270318","wall_id":"405"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"433","name":"Other","old_id":"833"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"},{"term_id":"832","name":"Theology","old_id":"1232"},{"term_id":"840","name":"Jeremiah","old_id":"1240"},{"term_id":"998","name":"Levinas","old_id":"1398"}]},{"order":19,"id":"69294","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Fiery Speech\u00a0 ","post_title":"Fiery Speech\u00a0","slug":"fiery-speech","old_id":"69294","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":66417,"post_title":"Maor Greene","slug":"maor-greene","old_id":"66417","first_name":"Maor ","last_name":"Greene ","description":"Maor Greene is a rabbinical student and doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at Jewish Theological Seminary. They are writing their dissertation on metaphors of violent speech in Psalms. They currently accompany others on their spiritual journeys through their work as a Jewish spiritual director. They hold degrees from Duke University (BS), Princeton Theological Seminary (M Div), Hebrew University (MA), and JTS (M Phil). ","short_description":"Maor Greene is a rabbinical student and doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at Jewish Theological Seminary.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":66418,"alt":"","title":"maor greene","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","width":240,"height":240,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":240,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","medium_large-width":240,"medium_large-height":240,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","large-width":240,"large-height":240,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","1536x1536-width":240,"1536x1536-height":240,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","2048x2048-width":240,"2048x2048-height":240,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","post_full_size-width":240,"post_full_size-height":240,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","home_baner-width":240,"home_baner-height":240}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"405","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Consumed by our own words\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    The first chapters in Jerermiah do not paint a happy picture of the fate that will befall Judah. Chapter 5 is no different. Here again Jeremiah prophesies against Judah, telling them of all the terrible events that will occur, even as the people continue to claim that no harm will come to them. Verses 11-13 lay out very particular accusations against Judah and Israel \u2013 they have spoken falsely about God. They have sinned in their speech by denying God\u2019s speech through Jeremiah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    What is God\u2019s response? In verse 14 God places his own words into Jeremiah\u2019s mouth as a fire, designates the people as firewood, and declares that the people will be eaten by this fire (verse 14). Whereas the people had sinned through their speech, God will consume them through Jeremiah\u2019s prophetic speech.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    How will this consumption happen? Verses 15-17 describe the coming of enemies (i.e., Babylonian warriors) who will devour every aspect of the life of the Judeans. Their harvests, their children, their livestock, and their orchards will all be consumed. Finally, the enemies will kill them with the sword, destroying the defenses the Judeans had thought would protect them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    My favorite image here is that of the quivers of the enemies as open graves. As the arrows of the warriors go out, they create graves ready to swallow up and eradicate the Judeans. The overall description in this passage is one of symbolic cannibalism \u2013 the Babylonians are going to eat the Judeans and everything they hold dear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    There is a certain kind of poetic justice in seeing Judah punished in this way. They sinned by using their mouths in blasphemous speech and now they will be destroyed by the mouths of Jeremiah and their enemies. However, it is also hard to read this passage and not sympathize with Judah \u2013 much of their sinful speech consisted of trying to deny the terrible fate that would befall them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This passage raises interesting questions for us as readers if we apply it to our own lives. What are the ways that our own sinful speech can come back to consume us and those we love? How often have we discovered that when we try to deny the truth of our lives, we end up making situations that are much more difficult to handle?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The book of Jeremiah describes how Judah was unable to avoid the punishment meted out by God for its sins. However, Jeremiah will also eventually prophesy about Judah\u2019s return. This should give us hope too. Even when we find ourselves having spoken in harmful ways, there is always a possibility of <\/span>teshuvah<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69295,"alt":"","title":"jer5-fire","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Fiery Speech\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Consumed by our own words\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69295,"alt":"","title":"jer5-fire","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer5-fire-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"405","date":"20270318","wall_id":"405"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"},{"term_id":"568","name":"Judah","old_id":"968"},{"term_id":"699","name":"Teshuvah","old_id":"1099"},{"term_id":"702","name":"Fire","old_id":"1102"},{"term_id":"840","name":"Jeremiah","old_id":"1240"}]}],"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\/68847"}],"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=68847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}