The Book of Isaiah begins with the name of the prophet, Isaiah, son of Amotz, and with the names of the kings who reigned when he prophesied: Uzziah, Yothar, Achaz and Hezekiah. Isaiah prophesied in a time of the ascendancy of the Assyrian empire, while the end of his career was in the days of the campaign of Sennecharib, around 701 BCE. From chapter 40 on, we find prophesies from the Persian period, after the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus. Scholars of Isaiah attribute these chapters to an anonymous prophet termed “Second Isaiah.” The traditional commentator Ibn Ezra (12th century) hints in his writings that this is indeed a later personality.\u00a0<\/p>\n","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"05\/01\/2020","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"64732","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Isaiah ","post_title":"Isaiah","slug":"isaiah","old_id":"64732","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36837,"post_title":"Ben Schachter","slug":"ben-schachter","old_id":"36837","first_name":"Ben","last_name":"Schachter","description":"Ben Schachter is Professor of Visual Art at Saint Vincent College. He is an artist, critic, writer, and teacher. His book Image, Action, and Idea in Contemporary Jewish Art was published with Pennsylvania State University Press. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and four children. ","short_description":"Ben Schachter is Professor of Visual Art at Saint Vincent College. 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in 24: Isaiah","post_title":"24 in 24: Isaiah","slug":"24-in-24-isaiah","old_id":"72298","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34235,"post_title":"Marc Gitler","slug":"marc-gitler","old_id":"34235","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Gitler","description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, a recipient of the Wexner Fellowship, was ordained at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, and earned an MPA from NYU . The founder of Fast for Feast, he lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. He used to work for 929 North America.\r\n","short_description":"Rabbi Marc Gitler, founder of Fast for Feast, lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife Sarah and their four children. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34236,"alt":"","title":"Marc Gitler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","width":407,"height":407,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","medium_large-width":407,"medium_large-height":407,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","large-width":407,"large-height":407,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","1536x1536-width":407,"1536x1536-height":407,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","2048x2048-width":407,"2048x2048-height":407,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","post_full_size-width":407,"post_full_size-height":407,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Gitler.jpg","home_baner-width":407,"home_baner-height":407}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"444","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"#10: Isaiah - Reaching Up, Reaching Out - Then And Now","post_main_content_content":"
In an effort to bring more Torah content to your homes and devices, we are pleased to announce this new initiative.<\/p>\r\n
There are 24 hours in a day, 24 books of Tanakh and \u2013 counting from Monday \u2013 24 days until Pesach. Count up with us at 929!<\/p>\r\n
3.5 years to complete all of Tanakh might feel a bit long. If you are ready to dive into some of the later books of Tanakh, \u201c24 in 24\u201d is for you.<\/p>\r\n
Starting on Monday the 16th<\/sup> of March (click here to see all the videos to date<\/a>), alongside our daily chapter, we will be starting a parallel learning cycle, with the goal of working our way through all 24 books of Tanakh over the next 24 days. Drawing from our community of educators and writers, each day, here on the site, in our daily newsletter and through our social media channels we will be sharing a 20-30 minute video exploring a resonant theme in each of the 24 books of Tanakh, starting with Bereishit\/Genesis on Monday March 16, and ending with Divrei Hayamim\/Chronicles.<\/p>\r\n Join us for this journey in text \u2013 from the comfort (and appropriately socially distanced semi-isolation) of your own home!<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FWNhd3KJTeI","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"24 in 24","tile_main_caption":"#10: Isaiah - Reaching Up, Reaching Out - Then And Now","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with: Marc Gitler","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/FWNhd3KJTeI","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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"444","chapter_main_number":"444","date":"20270512","wall_id":"444"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"332","name":"24 in 24","old_id":"732"}]},{"order":3,"id":"68910","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Isaiah: Prophet of Righteousness and Justice ","post_title":"Isaiah: Prophet of Righteousness and Justice","slug":"isaiah-prophet-of-righteousness-and-justice","old_id":"68910","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":65182,"post_title":"Benny Lau & Yoel Bin Nun","slug":"benny-lau-yoel-bin-nun","old_id":"65182","first_name":"Benny Lau","last_name":"and Yoel Bin Nun","description":"Rabbi Dr. Binyamin Lau is the founder and head of the Israeli initiative 929 and is a community leader, activist, author, and public speaker.\r\nRabbi Yoel Bin Nun, PhD. is a religious Zionist rabbi who was among the founders of Yeshivat Har Etzion and who emphasized the importance of the study of Tanach, and not just Talmud, in yeshiva. \r\nTogether they are the authors of \"Isaiah: Prophet of Righteousness and Justice\" (Maggid Books, 2019)","short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Binyamin Lau is the founder and head of the Israeli initiative 929. Rabbi Yoel Bin Nun, PhD. is a religious Zionist rabbi who was among the founders of Yeshivat Har Etzion. Together they are the authors of \"Isaiah: Prophet of Righteousness and Justice\" (Maggid Books, 2019)\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":65183,"alt":"","title":"lau bin nun","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun.jpg","width":1054,"height":691,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun-300x197.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":197,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun-768x503.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":503,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun-1024x671.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":671,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun.jpg","1536x1536-width":1054,"1536x1536-height":691,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun.jpg","2048x2048-width":1054,"2048x2048-height":691,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun.jpg","post_full_size-width":1054,"post_full_size-height":691,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/lau-bin-nun-641x420.jpg","home_baner-width":641,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2012","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Click on the following to see selected chapters:","post_main_content_content":" My comments on the Book of Isaiah will be informed chiefly by a talmudic proposition.\u00a0<\/span>In considering the pervasiveness of prophecy throughout the biblical period, as opposed to the relative paucity of prophets represented in literature, the Talmud (Megillah 14a) states:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Many prophets served Israel, as many as twice the number [of Jews] who left Egypt. However, a prophecy that is necessary for posterity was recorded, while a prophecy that is not necessary for posterity was not recorded.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Our challenge, then, is to identify those elements within the Book of Isaiah that still maintain their relevance. Complicating the task is the poetic nature of most of the book, which poses analytical challenges of its own. Fortunately, for our endeavor, the commentary of Malbim addresses both perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n M<\/b>eir <\/span>L<\/b>eib <\/span>B<\/b>en <\/span>Y<\/b>ehiel <\/span>M<\/b>ichel Weiser (1809-1879) served communities in Poland, Germany, and Rumania, in a career that was marked by an uncompromising individualism that put him at considerable odds with the nascent Liberal (Reform) movement and, at one point, even led to his incarceration by the Rumanian authorities on a trumped up charge of blasphemy against Christianity. (His release from prison was negotiated by Sir Moses Montefiore).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Malbim occupied a singular position in respect of Bible studies. Rejecting the view of Ibn Ezra and Radak that parallel lines of biblical poetry are completely synonymous (a=b), Malbim argued that even synonyms retain their distinct individuality and the relationship between the parallel lines is \u201ca, and b even more so,\u201d a position adopted increasingly by modern scholars as demonstrated by James Kugel in <\/span>The Idea of Biblical Poetry<\/span><\/em> (1981; on Malbim, see p. 288 ff.).<\/span><\/p>\r\n image: Portrait of Malbim, published in HaRil Maimon, Sarei Hameah, Mossad HaRav Kook, 1961 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64641,"alt":"","title":"is1-malbim","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","width":800,"height":1074,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-223x300.jpg","medium-width":223,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-763x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":763,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-763x1024.jpg","large-width":763,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1074,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1074,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1074,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-malbim-313x420.jpg","home_baner-width":313,"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":"Conceptual 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Prophet In Turbulent Times ","post_title":"A Prophet In Turbulent 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complex work, spanning centuries\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" The book of Isaiah takes its name from the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, who lived in Jerusalem in the second half of the eighth century BCE. Not much is known of Isaiah\u2019s background, and nothing is known of his birth or death. It is clear from some of the stories within the book that he traveled in elite circles, including regular conversations with kings, most importantly Hezekiah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Isaiah lived through a turbulent era in the history of Israel. The Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727) explicitly wanted to create an Assyrian empire throughout the Near East and set out to do so by military means. In 722-720 the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. This \u201cexile of the Ten Tribes\u201d had both long-term and short-term implications for Jewish history. In the long term, the idea of finding the lost tribes has occupied thinkers from then until now. In the short term, it left the small country of Judah relatively isolated within the expanding Assyrian empire. When a new king, Sennacherib, ascended the Assyrian throne in 705, Hezekiah took the opportunity to rebel, along with a number of neighbors. The resulting Assyrian military campaign of 701 was a climactic episode in Isaiah\u2019s career and in the history of Judah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Isaiah played a formidable role in that story, and prophecies related to those events take up a lot of space in the book. The narrative of the planned Assyrian assault itself is narrated in great detail in chapters 36-39 (chapters found also in much the same form in the book of Kings). Jerusalem and Hezekiah survived that assault, and this may well have solidified Isaiah\u2019s reputation as a prophet; it certainly solidified the notions of a holy city, protected by God, and the sanctity of the Davidic line of kings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n It has long been noted that the second part of the book, beginning immediately after that narrative, in chapter 40, has nothing to do with the events of the first part of the book. Here the historical background is entirely different: the empires mentioned are the Babylonians and (up-and-coming) Persians; Cyrus the Great (reigned 539-530) is mentioned by name as the imminent savior of the Jews (chapters 44 and 45). The prophet Isaiah is not mentioned beginning in chapter 40, and the prophecies presuppose that the Jews are already in exile. All this has suggested to interpreters (starting with Moshe Ibn Chiquitilla, in the 11<\/span>th<\/span> century in Spain) that the second half of the book is not in fact the work of Isaiah son of Amoz, but rather comes from the pen of an anonymous prophet during the time of the Babylonian Exile, in the 6<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Some scholars have further divided the book, finding signs of an \u201cThird Isaiah\u201d in chapters 55-56. Still, it is clear from all sorts of textual and ideological connections that the book as we have it is a unified, consciously edited work, which is meant to be read as an organic whole even though its origins span centuries.<\/span><\/p>\r\n image:\u00a0Dead Sea Scroll - part of Isaiah Scroll (Isa 57:17 - 59:9), 1QIsab<\/sup><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64645,"alt":"","title":"is1-Is in DSS-1QIsa","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","width":567,"height":678,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","medium_large-width":567,"medium_large-height":678,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","large-width":567,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","1536x1536-width":567,"1536x1536-height":678,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","2048x2048-width":567,"2048x2048-height":678,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","post_full_size-width":567,"post_full_size-height":678,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"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":"Conceptual Overview I","tile_main_caption":"A Prophet In Turbulent Times","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A complex work, spanning centuries","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64645,"alt":"","title":"is1-Is in DSS-1QIsa","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","width":567,"height":678,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","medium_large-width":567,"medium_large-height":678,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","large-width":567,"large-height":678,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","1536x1536-width":567,"1536x1536-height":678,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","2048x2048-width":567,"2048x2048-height":678,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa.jpg","post_full_size-width":567,"post_full_size-height":678,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is1-Is-in-DSS-1QIsa-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"335","date":"20261210","wall_id":"335"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"624","name":"Academic","old_id":"1024"},{"term_id":"898","name":"Hezekiah","old_id":"1298"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":6,"id":"68912","color":"#efefef","size":"2","name":"Who Is Your Prophet? 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Prophet?","slug":"who-is-your-prophet-4","old_id":"68912","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"2012","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Check out Today's Prophets (according to you)","post_main_content_content":" Prophets spoke truth to power, they admonished the people, they were a moral voice in a society that often lost its social and ethical bearings.<\/p>\r\n They also comforted the people during times of catastrophe, and provided hope and inspiration to help individuals, and the entire society, strive to be its best self, to return to a vision and covenant that had guided them since leaving slavery for freedom in a new land.<\/p>\r\n Who are those people in our lives and in our society today?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Your ideas:<\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64445,"alt":"","title":"whosurprophet-banner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner.png","width":1905,"height":589,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-300x93.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":93,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-768x237.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":237,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-1024x317.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":317,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":475,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner.png","2048x2048-width":1905,"2048x2048-height":589,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-1200x371.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":371,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-1358x420.png","home_baner-width":1358,"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":"Check out Today's Prophets (according to you)","tile_main_caption":"Who Is Your Prophet?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"See inside for all the nominees...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64445,"alt":"","title":"whosurprophet-banner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner.png","width":1905,"height":589,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-300x93.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":93,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-768x237.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":237,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-1024x317.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":317,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":475,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner.png","2048x2048-width":1905,"2048x2048-height":589,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-1200x371.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":371,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/whosurprophet-banner-1358x420.png","home_baner-width":1358,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":"20200123","wall_id":"2012"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"64781","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Isaiah in Heschel\u2019s House of Study ","post_title":"Isaiah in Heschel\u2019s House of Study","slug":"isaiah-in-heschels-house-of-study","old_id":"64781","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":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Dialogue will transform swords into plowshares","post_main_content_content":" I imagine the prophet Isaiah sitting in the last row at the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel who is conveying to his class the concept of \u201cRadical Amazement\u201d. Isaiah looks through his notes, raises his hand and says, \u201cI know of Radical Amazement, it\u2019s in my book, chapter 2.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n The vision of Isaiah 2 transports\u00a0 the audience towards the \u201cdays to come\u201d, a messianic era preceded by the majestic \u201cMount of the Lord\u2019s House\u201d from where the teachings of Torah will have emerged: \u201cThe instructions of Torah will come forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Is there more than one Torah? Besides the different academic developments that point out the many biblical texts anchored in various traditions, this question addresses the distinctive ways we receive our Torah, seeing it through the lenses that portray the endless possibilities of interpretations. So is there more than one Torah? Is there more than one Zion?<\/span><\/p>\r\n The vision of Isaiah leaves room for interpretation. As Rashi explains on Isaiah 2:3, <\/span>El Beit Elohey Yaakov<\/span><\/em>, The House of the God of Jacob, is not about Jacob as an individual. Jacob called it <\/span>Beit El<\/em> <\/span>(the House of God), Abraham called it <\/span>Adonai Yireh<\/em> <\/span>(God will see)<\/span> and Isaac called it <\/span>sadeh<\/span><\/i> (field). The presence of God in our patriarchs\u2019 lives was characterized by different dimensions of understanding. God appears in different modes and we, as seekers, constantly look for God\u2019s presence, in a dynamic process of approaching our relationship with the divine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The interpretation of Torah allows us to maintain a dynamic process and not to petrify the Book as a piece in a museum, dry and closed to fresh understandings. In the marketplace of ideas, individual elucidations contribute to the ecosystem of narratives, together enriching the variety of thoughts that make up the collective narrative. Together, we constitute the body of the collective narrative of the Jewish people by adding our views with fresh eyes to the ocean of possibilities. We might be sympathetic to other ideas, or we might disagree with them, but we should certainly embrace disagreement as a springboard for the higher purpose of learning from each other and with each other.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Torah is alive and well, God is alive and well, once we give room for respectful conversation. In the disagreement we might find the path to new interpretations. Dialogue and mutual understanding will transform swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.<\/span><\/p>\r\n I imagine Isaiah sitting in Heschel\u2019s Beit Midrash, and the twentieth century <\/span>Rebbe<\/em> <\/span>smiling with awe as the prophet raised his hand.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Abraham Joshua Heschel wall mural \/ Heschel School, New York (photo by Jeremy Benstein, 2017).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64782,"alt":"","title":"heschel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","width":1782,"height":1899,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-768x818.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":818,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-961x1024.jpg","large-width":961,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1441,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1782,"2048x2048-height":1899,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-1126x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1126,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-394x420.jpg","home_baner-width":394,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Isaiah in Heschel\u2019s House of Study","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Dialogue will transform swords into plowshares","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64782,"alt":"","title":"heschel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","width":1782,"height":1899,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-282x300.jpg","medium-width":282,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-768x818.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":818,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-961x1024.jpg","large-width":961,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1441,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1782,"2048x2048-height":1899,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-1126x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1126,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/heschel-394x420.jpg","home_baner-width":394,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"656","name":"Heschel","old_id":"1056"},{"term_id":"782","name":"Wonder","old_id":"1182"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"}]},{"order":8,"id":"65171","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"The Son Of God And The King Of The Jews ","post_title":"The Son Of God And The King Of The Jews","slug":"the-son-of-god-and-the-king-of-the-jews","old_id":"65171","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36147,"post_title":"Aaron Koller","slug":"aaron-koller","old_id":"36147","first_name":"Aaron","last_name":"Koller","description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, where he is chair of the Beren Department of Jewish Studies. His last book was Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought (Cambridge University Press), and his next is Unbinding Isaac: The Akedah in Jewish Thought (forthcoming from JPS\/University of Nebraska Press in 2020); he is also the author of numerous studies in Semitic philology. Aaron has served as a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and held research fellowships at the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and the Hartman Institute. He lives in Queens, NY with his wife, Shira Hecht-Koller, and their children.","short_description":"Aaron Koller is professor of Near Eastern studies at Yeshiva University, and chair of the Department of Jewish Studies there.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36148,"alt":"","title":"AJ Koller headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","width":5184,"height":3456,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/AJ-Koller-headshot-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"343","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Which king was the prince of peace?","post_main_content_content":" While it is a verse in chapter 7 that is quoted in the Gospels as precedent for Jesus\u2019 birth, it is the prophecy of Isaiah 9 that is actually most relevant to one of the central tenets of Christian belief: that the messianic king <\/span>was<\/span> will be the son of God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Our chapter opens with the pronouncement that the people, previously living in a gloomy land, have been shown a great light. They are exulting and rejoicing, for the yoke on their shoulders and the rod on their backs has been broken! What has brought this great salvation?<\/span><\/p>\r\n For a child has been born to us \/ a son has been given us! Authority has settled on his shoulders. He has been named \u201cThe Mighty God is planning grace; The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Readers since the Talmud (Sanhedrin 94a) have identified the new child as Hezekiah, who would be king of Judah for 29 years. On the theological level, though, the question is, who is the \u201cwe\u201d of this verse, who say, \u201cA child has been born to us \/ a son has been given to us!\u201d There is good reason to think that this is a divine proclamation, perhaps from the angels or the divine retinue. That the king is the \u201cchild of God\u201d is explicit elsewhere, such as Psalm 2:7, where God says to the king, \u201cYou are my son, I have today given birth to you!\u201d And in 2 Samuel 7, God says about Davidic kings, \u201cI will be father to him, and he will be my son.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n This image almost certainly comes from Egyptian religion, where the king was the son of a god, and divine himself, and continued on within Jewish thought to the most famous \u201cking of the Jews\u201d \u2013 Jesus \u2013 also said to be born of God, and divine himself. The ideological path from ancient Egypt to early Christianity runs through Tanakh, as seen in Isaiah 9.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65172,"alt":"","title":"is9-king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","width":1920,"height":1313,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-768x525.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":525,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-1024x700.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":700,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1050,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1313,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-1200x821.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":821,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-614x420.jpg","home_baner-width":614,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Son Of God And The King Of The Jews","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Which king was the prince of peace?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65172,"alt":"","title":"is9-king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","width":1920,"height":1313,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-768x525.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":525,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-1024x700.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":700,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1050,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1313,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-1200x821.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":821,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-614x420.jpg","home_baner-width":614,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"343","date":"20261222","wall_id":"343"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"469","name":"Egypt","old_id":"869"},{"term_id":"478","name":"Christianity","old_id":"878"},{"term_id":"500","name":"Messiah","old_id":"900"},{"term_id":"898","name":"Hezekiah","old_id":"1298"}]},{"order":9,"id":"65560","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"A Special Hell For Women And Children ","post_title":"A Special Hell For Women And Children","slug":"a-special-hell-for-women-and-children","old_id":"65560","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41525,"post_title":"Sivan Rotholz","slug":"sivan-rotholz","old_id":"41525","first_name":"Sivan ","last_name":"Rotholz","description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. She taught feminist Torah study and creative writing at Brooklyn College, Tel Aviv University, and Temple Israel of the City of New York. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and a Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law and is the Managing Editor of the Saturday Poetry Series on As It Ought To Be. ","short_description":"Sivan Rotholz is a joint rabbinical and MARE student at Hebrew Union College, where she is a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a New Israel Fund Elissa Froman Fellow. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41526,"alt":"","title":"sivan rotholz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","width":320,"height":312,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz-300x293.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":293,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","medium_large-width":320,"medium_large-height":312,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","large-width":320,"large-height":312,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","1536x1536-width":320,"1536x1536-height":312,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","2048x2048-width":320,"2048x2048-height":312,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","post_full_size-width":320,"post_full_size-height":312,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sivan-rotholz.jpg","home_baner-width":320,"home_baner-height":312}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"347","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Perhaps it\u2019s time to break the cycle of inherited trauma and imagine a better view of the future than Isaiah could?","post_main_content_content":" And their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes<\/span>. <\/span>Their houses will be ransacked, and their wives raped.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n In his latest vision of doom and gloom, the prophet Isaiah threatens the people of Israel with infanticide and rape. The subject of this threat is the Israelite <\/span>men<\/span><\/em> \u2014 the women and children are their property in the same way as their houses \u2014 the threat here is really that of destruction of property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n While threatening what will befall the men, of course, no consideration is given to the women.<\/span><\/p>\r\n There is nothing in this passage that is concerned with the experience of the women, who first watch their children murdered, and are then raped by the murderers. It is a special kind of hell that befalls the women of Isaiah 13, and yet the men who write their story give no thought to their experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Bible is rife with rape. Dina, the Levite\u2019s concubine, Tamar. The women of Numbers 31 and Judges 21. The summoning of Bathsheba. Deuteronomy with its captive brides and women raped in a city, in a field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n As in Isaiah, these are stories told to further men\u2019s narratives. As in Isaiah, consideration is not given for the women\u2019s experiences; there was no #MeToo movement in the biblical age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n And what of Isaiah\u2019s infanticide?<\/span><\/p>\r\n There is in Isaiah 13 a chilling inversion of an earlier biblical moment. \u201cBy the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, as we remembered Zion.\u201d These opening lines of Psalm 137 are beloved and well-known. Less known are the closing lines of this biblical poem, \u201cFair Babylon, you predator, a blessing on him who repays you in kind what you have inflicted on us; a blessing on him who seizes your babies and dashes them against the rocks!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n The dashing of babies was apparently rich fodder for the biblical literary imagination. But how could a people who suffered having their babies dashed against the rocks \u2014 who wished this as a kind of eye-for-an-eye justice upon their worst enemy \u2014 return from exile only to threaten this same atrocity against their own people? The oppressed threatens to become the oppressor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Isaiah 13 offers us a rare glimpse into a people wounded by exile who, in turn, perpetuated a cycle of abuse. Thousands of years later, we continue to internalize Jewish trauma and pass it down from generation to generation. Is smashing our babies against the rocks really what we want to wish upon ourselves or others? Is the cycle of abuse really a legacy the people of Israel wants to perpetuate? Perhaps it\u2019s time to break the cycle of inherited trauma and imagine a better view of the future than Isaiah could.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Whether for women or for the future of Judaism, we owe it to our past to do better for our future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65569,"alt":"","title":"is13-baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-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":"A Special Hell For Women And Children","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Perhaps it\u2019s time to break the cycle of inherited trauma and imagine a better view of the future than Isaiah could?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65569,"alt":"","title":"is13-baby","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is13-baby-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"347","date":"20261228","wall_id":"347"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"386","name":"Psychology","old_id":"786"},{"term_id":"457","name":"Rape","old_id":"857"},{"term_id":"529","name":"Children","old_id":"929"},{"term_id":"600","name":"Women","old_id":"1000"},{"term_id":"667","name":"Judaism","old_id":"1067"}]},{"order":10,"id":"65581","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"What Of Converts? ","post_title":"What Of Converts?","slug":"what-of-converts","old_id":"65581","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":"348","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Isaiah and other positive traditional views\u00a0","post_main_content_content":" Any impartial survey of Jewish literature on the topic of converts to Judaism is forced to admit to an unsteady ambivalence. Not that any particular thinker is ambivalent; no, each has very strong opinions on the subject. It\u2019s that the strong opinions are mutually incompatible. Converts are as bad for the Jewish people as fleas on a dog, says one sage. No, converts are as good for the Jewish people as ribbons on a stallion, says another. Everyone knows what Judaism says about converts, but no one agrees as to what that is.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In Isaiah 14, we see the prophet of comfort weigh in on the topic: when Israel is once again favored, says Isaiah, \u201cthe proselyte will join them and be attached to the House of Jacob.\u201d That seems pretty clear and unambiguous: non-Jews will join us, and they will become part of the House of Jacob.<\/span><\/p>\r\n For what it\u2019s worth, I think Isaiah is the view to follow. Converts appear scattered throughout ancient Israel\u2019s history in surprisingly positive and prominent places. Ruth is understood to be a convert, and through her we receive King David and eventually the Messiah. The great sages Shemaiah and Avtalion, leading lights of their generation, were both converts to Judaism.<\/span><\/p>\r\n A Judaism that is based on courage, expansive vision, and hope, is one that embraces and welcomes those people who see themselves as sharing our destiny, even if their ancestors did not share our history.<\/span><\/p>\r\n That expansive view enters Jewish law with the edit that it is prohibited to remind a convert of their having converted (presumably as a way of disparaging their view or way of practicing Judaism).<\/span><\/p>\r\n In our own day, we have a similar choice to make. Do we retreat to a \u201ccircle the wagons\u201d kind of Judaism in which outsiders are treated with suspicion and the bar to joining is raised impossibly high?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Or dare we stand with Isaiah and live in the light, welcoming anyone brave enough to stand with us, and grateful for any fellow travelers who can share our love for the God of Israel and an embrace of the mitzvot that have elevated Jewish living across the ages?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Rabbi Gershom Sizomu leads the men and boys to the Mikvah to complete their conversion to Judaism in the Abayudaya village of Nabogoye Uganda. (Photo: Yahel Herzog \/ Be'chol Lashon).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65582,"alt":"","title":"is14-convers2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","width":600,"height":402,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":402,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":402,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":402,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":402,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":402,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","home_baner-width":600,"home_baner-height":402}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Of Converts?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Isaiah and other positive traditional views\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65582,"alt":"","title":"is14-convers2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","width":600,"height":402,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":402,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":402,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":402,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":402,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":402,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is14-convers2.jpg","home_baner-width":600,"home_baner-height":402}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"14","chapter_main_number":"348","date":"20261229","wall_id":"348"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"579","name":"Convert","old_id":"979"},{"term_id":"667","name":"Judaism","old_id":"1067"},{"term_id":"774","name":"Africa","old_id":"1174"}]},{"order":11,"id":"64793","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"2","name":"Don't Stop! ","post_title":"Don't Stop!","slug":"dont-stop","old_id":"64793","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"336","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":" Don\u2019t stop after beating the swords -Yehudah Amichai \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Don\u2019t stop after beating the swords into plowshares, don\u2019t stop! Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them. Whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into plowshares first.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"by Yehudah Amichai","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"336","date":"20261213","wall_id":"336"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"409","name":"Peace","old_id":"809"},{"term_id":"877","name":"Amichai","old_id":"1277"}]},{"order":12,"id":"65728","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"From Isaiah To The Syrian Civil War ","post_title":"From Isaiah To The Syrian Civil War","slug":"from-isaiah-to-the-syrian-civil-war","old_id":"65728","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":65725,"post_title":"The Israel Antiquities Authority","slug":"the-israel-antiquities-authority","old_id":"65725","first_name":"","last_name":"The Israel Antiquities Authority","description":"The Israel Antiquities Authority (before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for excavation and conservation, and promotes research. ","short_description":"The Israel Antiquities Authority is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for excavation and conservation, and promotes research. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":65726,"alt":"","title":"\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea \u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","width":509,"height":396,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea-300x233.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":233,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","medium_large-width":509,"medium_large-height":396,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","large-width":509,"large-height":396,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","1536x1536-width":509,"1536x1536-height":396,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","2048x2048-width":509,"2048x2048-height":396,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","post_full_size-width":509,"post_full_size-height":396,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/\u05e8\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea-\u05d4\u05e2\u05ea\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05ea.png","home_baner-width":509,"home_baner-height":396}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"351","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Will the fate of the population across the border be as Isaiah prophesied regarding Damascus some 2600 years ago?","post_main_content_content":" \u201cThe \u2018Damascus\u2019 Pronouncement. Behold, Damascus shall cease to be a city; It shall become a heap of ruins.The towns of Aroer shall be deserted; They shall be a place for flocks To lie down, with none disturbing. Fortresses shall cease from Ephraim, And sovereignty from Damascus\u2026\u201d (verses 1-3)<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n This prophecy was apparently spoken against the background of the treaty that was signed between Aram and Israel, in the days of Pekah ben Ramalyahu (Isaiah 7). In it, Isaiah prophesies about the destruction of Damascus, the capital of Aram, together with the destruction of the kingdom of Israel. Damascus will be abandoned, and its habitations will be a wasteland. Instead of houses and thriving cities, there will be empty fields where animals will graze, and the symbols of rule, the fortress and the kingdom, will disappear.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Present day Syria is an arid, desert zone, where the region next to Israel, just to the east of the Golan Heights, is the frontier, the desert\u2019s edge. All throughout the history of the Bashan and Horan (southern Syria) there were changes that were indicative of the nature of the ruling powers: when the government was strong, settlement and cultivation thrived, but when the ruling powers were weak, and unsupportive, the desert would expand westward, and the frontier would approach the Galilee.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Today, next to Israel on the east, a civil war has been raging in Syria for close to a decade. During the war, massive numbers of citizens have been killed, and whole towns destroyed. Are we witnessing a similar situation to what Isaiah imagined? Will the war that is going on on the other side of the Rokad river and the border allow the desert to encroach once again? Will the population suffer the same destruction that Isaiah envisioned?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Another aspect of having a problematic central government is the destruction of major archaeological sites and finds, and the loss of the historical heritage. There has been severe damage to the temple at Tadmor,* the museum at Musul, and at Palmyra, Krak and more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Is there any hope to put an end to the killing and to the destruction of cultural heritage?<\/span><\/p>\r\n *Tadmor (photo): An ancient city in present day Syria; an important way station for trade between the Parthian and Roman empires. Stunning architectural ruins from the classical period have been preserved, despite constant habitation. In 1980, Tadmor was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Written by: Oren Zingbaum, archaeologist of the Golan region, the Antiquities Authority.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Waj\/Shutterstock.com<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65729,"alt":"","title":"is17-tadmor","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","width":1000,"height":669,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":669,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":669,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":669,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":669,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"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":"From Isaiah To The Syrian Civil War","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Will the fate of the population across the border be as Isaiah prophesied regarding Damascus some 2600 years ago?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65729,"alt":"","title":"is17-tadmor","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","width":1000,"height":669,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":669,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":669,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":669,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":669,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is17-tadmor-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"17","chapter_main_number":"351","date":"20270103","wall_id":"351"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"434","name":"War","old_id":"834"},{"term_id":"444","name":"History","old_id":"844"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"}]},{"order":13,"id":"65931","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Prophecies To More Distant Nations ","post_title":"Prophecies To More Distant Nations","slug":"prophecies-to-more-distant-nations","old_id":"65931","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64700,"post_title":"Yaakov Jaffe","slug":"yaakov-jaffe","old_id":"64700","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Jaffe ","description":"Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe is Dean of Judaic Studies at the Maimonides School in Brookline, and is the Rabbi of the Maimonides Kehillah there. He is the author of Isaiah and his Contemporaries, now available from Kodesh Press at: https:\/\/kodeshpress.com\/product\/isaiah-and-his-contemporaries","short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe is Dean of Judaic Studies at the Maimonides School in Brookline, and is the Rabbi of the Maimonides Kehillah there. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64701,"alt":"","title":"yaakov-jaffe","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/yaakov-jaffe.png","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"355","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"That continue to echo across the centuries in other Jewish texts","post_main_content_content":" This small chapter stands out from among the prophecies to the nations. Whereas the other chapters dealt at length with familiar nations, neighbors to the Jews, Chapter 21, deals with three nations, who relate less with the Jewish people: \u201cArabia,\u201d \u201cDuma,\u201d and the nation of the \u201cDesert Ocean.\u201d Because the text is unclear as to which nations it refers to and why these nations are singled out, the Midrashic tradition fills in the details of the three prophecies extensively.\u00a0 All three prophecies retain a significant echo across Jewish teaching, Midrash, and piyyut: the first two are cited each year at the Passover Seder, the third in the Kinot on the 9<\/span>th<\/span> of Av.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Prophecy to Arabia (21:13-17) sketches the story of some Arab tribes who greeted captives or escapees of war with food and water; and are destroyed as a result. The commentaries are forced to the conclusion that these Arabian tribes must have not actually helped the captives or refugees of war as much as the text implies. The traditional interpretation is that these refugees were Jews who needed water when entering exile \u2013 but were instead offered only salty bread. The prophet predicts that these Arab tribes will be punished as a fitting recompense for their actions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Prophecy to Duma (11-12) is even more challenging.\u00a0 A watchman sees dawn, but surprisingly remarks that \u2018both day and also night have come\u2019 \u2013 and then asks people to return in order for \u201cit\u201d to come. Rashi following the traditional interpretation (see Radak and Malbim citing Yerushalmi Taanit end of 1:1)\u00a0 take this prophecy to refer to the Jewish people who are under the yolk of Esau\u2019s descendants, Edom here called Dumah, dropping the initial 'alef<\/em>. The Jews sit in the darkness of oppression and exile, and a watchman\/ prophet looks-out for them, waiting for the light of dawn, the symbol for the redemption. The watchman, the prophetic voice, speaks saying \u2013 it can come, it can happen; if only people repent, then the light of dawn will come.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Prophecy to a Western Desert (1-10). This prophecy is the most obscure of the three.\u00a0 Most commentaries agree that this prophecy predicts the fall of Babylonia (9), a western desert compared to Persia, with special attention to the overwhelming fear accompanying the total plunder of the empire on the part of the Medians (2). The speaker describes tremendous fear, echoing the response to the hand writing on the wall described in Daniel 5:5 at the day of the fall.\u00a0 On that night, the king Balshazzar had a vast party (5:1-5), with much drinking and celebration. This prophecy captures that part of the setting as well (21:5): \u201cSet the table, set the lookout, eat and drink. Rise up the ministers, anoint the shield.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":65933,"alt":"","title":"is21-prophecy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy.png","width":922,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-216x300.png","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-738x1024.png","medium_large-width":738,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-738x1024.png","large-width":738,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy.png","1536x1536-width":922,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy.png","2048x2048-width":922,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-864x1200.png","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-303x420.png","home_baner-width":303,"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":"Prophecies To More Distant Nations","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"That continue to echo across the centuries in other Jewish texts","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":65933,"alt":"","title":"is21-prophecy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy.png","width":922,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-216x300.png","medium-width":216,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-738x1024.png","medium_large-width":738,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-738x1024.png","large-width":738,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy.png","1536x1536-width":922,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy.png","2048x2048-width":922,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-864x1200.png","post_full_size-width":864,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is21-prophecy-303x420.png","home_baner-width":303,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"355","date":"20270107","wall_id":"355"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"458","name":"Nations","old_id":"858"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"}]},{"order":14,"id":"66334","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Leaving Retribution Up To God ","post_title":"Leaving Retribution Up To God","slug":"leaving-retribution-up-to-god","old_id":"66334","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":66049,"post_title":"Liora Alban","slug":"liora-alban","old_id":"66049","first_name":"Liora ","last_name":"Alban ","description":"Liora Alban is a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. ","short_description":"Liora Alban is a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":66050,"alt":"","title":"liora alban","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban.jpg","width":450,"height":640,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban-211x300.jpg","medium-width":211,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":640,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":640,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":640,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":640,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":640,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/liora-alban-295x420.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"361","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Isaiah\u2019s prophecies here lack oracles of vengeance against Judah\u2019s enemies","post_main_content_content":" To refer to Isaiah as a single book is misleading, since the book of Isaiah is actually composed of three distinct literary units. Isaiah 1-39 generally contains prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah about the historical events of the second half of the 8th century BCE. During this period, the Assyrian Empire grew more powerful and threatened small kingdoms such as Israel and Judah. Sometimes these small kingdoms would accept Assyrian power, and sometimes they would revolt. These events led the Prophet Isaiah to a crucial question: To what extent could the Judeans rely on God\u2019s protection against the Assyrians and to what extent did they need to get involved themselves by employing militaristic or diplomatic means?<\/span><\/p>\r\n In Isaiah 27, Isaiah demonstrates confidence that God will punish scornful enemies at an apocalyptic end of days. He refers to a Leviathan serpent that God will destroy. Isaiah 27:1 reads: \u201cIn that day Adonai will punish, with Adonai\u2019s great, cruel, mighty sword Leviathan the Elusive Serpent\u2014 Leviathan the Twisting Serpent; Adonai will slay the Dragon of the sea.\u201d According to the JPS commentary, the Leviathan physically embodies the chaos that stands for forces of evil in the world. Similarly, Ibn Ezra explains that some are of the opinion that the Leviathan figuratively represents oppressive kings, princes, and nobles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n From ancient times to today, people have tried desperately to find answers to confusing and terrifying situations. Fearing political destruction, Isaiah places his concerns onto the Leviathan. While Isaiah is clearly anxious, his prophecies are unique in that they lack oracles of vengeance against Judah\u2019s enemies. Isaiah operates on the assumption that God has a divine plan that will dole out justice for Israel and Judah. Furthermore, this divine plan is more likely to be realized than anything humans can devise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n In First Isaiah, Isaiah essentially leaves retribution up to God, and the people are not held responsible for destroying Assyria themselves. In trusting God to take action, Isaiah sets an example of how people can have faith in God even when things make no sense. We cannot control everything, no matter what unrealistic explanations we develop. We cannot always take action to make things better. Instead, we can have faith and be our best selves. Perhaps God has a plan that will make sense in time.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: by Ben Schachter<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":66335,"alt":"","title":"IsaiahProphet","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","width":885,"height":1120,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-237x300.jpg","medium-width":237,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-768x972.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":972,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-809x1024.jpg","large-width":809,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","1536x1536-width":885,"1536x1536-height":1120,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","2048x2048-width":885,"2048x2048-height":1120,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","post_full_size-width":885,"post_full_size-height":1120,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-332x420.jpg","home_baner-width":332,"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":"Leaving Retribution Up To God","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Isaiah\u2019s prophecies here lack oracles of vengeance against Judah\u2019s enemies","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":66335,"alt":"","title":"IsaiahProphet","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","width":885,"height":1120,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-237x300.jpg","medium-width":237,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-768x972.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":972,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-809x1024.jpg","large-width":809,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","1536x1536-width":885,"1536x1536-height":1120,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","2048x2048-width":885,"2048x2048-height":1120,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet.jpg","post_full_size-width":885,"post_full_size-height":1120,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/IsaiahProphet-332x420.jpg","home_baner-width":332,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Isaiah","chapter":"27","chapter_main_number":"361","date":"20270117","wall_id":"361"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"940","name":"Isaiah","old_id":"1340"},{"term_id":"953","name":"Assyria","old_id":"1353"},{"term_id":"982","name":"Leviathan","old_id":"1382"}]},{"order":15,"id":"66814","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Who\u2019s Right about Hezekiah? (Part 1) ","post_title":"Who\u2019s Right about Hezekiah? (Part 1)","slug":"whos-right-about-hezekiah-part-1","old_id":"66814","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":"370","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"With three versions of the same story - who\u2019s right?","post_main_content_content":" Malbim* (v.1) noted that the opening verse of our chapter has not one but two parallels in Tanakh and that the three sources do not tell the identical story.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u00a02 Kings 18:13<\/span><\/p>\r\n In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched against all the fortified towns of Judah and seized them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n Isaiah 35:1\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria marched against all the fortified towns of Judah and seized them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n \u00a02 Chronicles 32:1<\/span><\/p>\r\n After these faithful deeds, King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah and encamped against its fortified towns with the aim of taking them over.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n At this point, the three narratives diverge. According to 2 Kings 18 (14-16), Hezekiah capitulated to the Assyrian demand for tribute, even tearing down the gilded doors of the Temple to meet the payment. 2 Chronicles 32 (2-8) features a brave Hezekiah who sealed the breaches in the city walls, augmented the armory and made a rousing speech urging defiance against the invaders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\t
\r\n\t
\r\ninto plowshares, don\u2019t stop! Go on beating
\r\nand make musical instruments out of them.
\r\nWhoever wants to make war again
\r\nwill have to turn them into plowshares first.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n
\r\n<\/span>Note the similarities and distinctions. On the one hand, all three texts acknowledge that the fortified cities of Judah came under Assyrian attack. On the other hand, whereas 2 Kings and Isaiah explicitly acknowledge that those cities fell to Sennacherib (<\/span>vayitp\u2019sem<\/span><\/em>), 2 Chronicles allows only that it was his intent to breach them\u2014allowing for the possibility that he failed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n