{"id":70108,"date":"2018-07-09T17:46:49","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:46:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-423\/"},"modified":"2023-09-19T08:53:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T05:53:21","slug":"wall-423","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-423\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Jeremiah-23"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"423","date":"20270413","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"70498","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 23 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 23","slug":"jps-audio-bible-jeremiah-chapter-23","old_id":"70498","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Jeremiah Chapter 23","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-753876298\/jps_audio_bible_jeremiah_chapter_23","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"118049","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"From Our Own Minds ","post_title":"From Our Own Minds","slug":"from-our-own-minds","old_id":"118049","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":59587,"post_title":"Benjamin Morse","slug":"benjamin-morse","old_id":"59587","first_name":"Benjamin ","last_name":"Morse ","description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history at Vassar, Oxford, and the Courtauld before completing a PhD in biblical interpretation. His dissertation reads the Hebrew Bible\u2019s \u201cmodern methods\u201d through the lens of painting and collage. His illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever, has won multiple awards.\r\nPhoto by Lenka Opalena.","short_description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history, and is the author and illustrator of the illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":59588,"alt":"","title":"Benjamin Morse by Lenka Opalena","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","width":1069,"height":1576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":695,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","large-width":695,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","2048x2048-width":1069,"2048x2048-height":1576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-814x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":814,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-285x420.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Counter-cultural musings on what we are and where we\u2019re going\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The prophet\u2019s heart has been crushed (v.9) by adulterers who choose godlessness over fidelity (10, 15). A lonely place to be\u2014to see it and be the one to proclaim that the people\u2019s falsity will have consequences. They have been deluded by frauds who \u201cspeak their own minds\u201d (16) and tell them what they want to hear: \u201cAll will be well with you\u201d (17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Western secular culture has no use for Jeremiah\u2019s plea to return to ethical living rooted in YHWH and His holy word. We have chosen other ways to ascribe meaning to our lives. When the gods of politics and class left us craving more, we got into bed with psychology and theory. And now, Lord over all, identity. Self-improvement, groupthink, the fulfillment of our appetites. But for what?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To grow. As a person. And then what, <\/span>travel<\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To be happy. To be a good person. Maybe it\u2019s only the philosopher who asks what exactly constitutes human flourishing, but if the goal is not (godly) Goodness, or the common good,\u00a0 then what is the point of success, of mental health, or of pursuing one\u2019s dreams?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is by hyping everyone up with deceitful dreams that charlatans make the herds of Jeremiah\u2019s day forget God\u2019s name (25-27). Similarly, a pantheon of technocrats and entertainment gurus seduce us with avenues to our \u201ctrue selves\u201d. Something other than ordinary sheep. Endless cycles generated to keep us hungry and online. Get with a cause or, better yet, a brand that endorses a cause. Speak your truth, so long as it aligns with the ideology of the tribe, and all will be well with you.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cIRL\u201d (since even the real world needs to be flattened into an acronym), the individual is no longer a vital soul with local obligations but a unit whose autonomy is schematized according to \u201crights\u201d within a global system. S\/he is fed politically fabricated verbal confections which, as Orwell put it, \u201cgive an appearance of solidity to pure wind.\u201d An affirming diet of \u201cflyblown metaphors\u201d that send us over the rainbow.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How do we know if, despite our best intentions, we are in fact running towards evil (10)? Which echoes the questions Gauguin raised in the corner of a tableau of Tahitian nudes: where do we come from, what are we, and where are we going? To answer these, I think we need to go rogue and consider once more the godlessness in ourselves and in our lands (15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I express all this as an abstract apologist who has spent the greater part of his adult life saying he has more in common with atheists and agnostics than he does with traditional religious believers. That\u2019s getting to be less the case by the day. When the center simply has to hold, the God-seeking philosopher must stop regurgitating empty linguistic constructions to make himself feel better. He interrogates all present assumptions to avoid exiling himself from what\u2019s just, what\u2019s right, and what\u2019s good.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span>Image: Paul Gauguin, <\/span>D'o\u00f9 venons-nous \/ Que sommes-nous \/ O\u00f9 allons-nous<\/span><\/em> (Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? [1897]). Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Good And Bad ","post_title":"Shepherds, Good And Bad","slug":"shepherds-good-and-bad","old_id":"118055","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"With none to lead us, we need to lead ourselves and each other\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ah, shepherds who let the flock of My pasture stray and scatter!\u2014declares the LORD (Verse 1).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Using the metaphor of a shepherd, Jeremiah bemoans the fact that the rulers, priests, and false prophets have all done their part in leading the people astray. Throughout their time in the land, the people could always count on one of these three rulers to guide them on the proper path. Now, however, the leadership class has been derelict in its duties.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah employs clever wordplay in this chapter. The Hebrew word for shepherd is <\/span>ro\u2019eh<\/span><\/i>. The root of this word is similar to the root of the word for evil- <\/span>ra\u2019<\/span><\/i>. For example, in verse two God declares:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Assuredly, thus said the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds, the shepherds who should tend My people: It is you who let My flock scatter and go astray. You gave no thought to them, but I am going to give thought to you, for your wicked acts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The double wording of \u201cthe shepherds, the shepherds\u201d without vowels could be read as \u201cevil shepherds\u201d (<\/span>hare\u2019im hara\u2019im<\/span><\/i>) At the end of the verse, he employs the related word <\/span>roa\u2019<\/span><\/i> as \u201cwicked.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In verse four he switches back, using the word shepherd not to connote evil, but to show the proper way a shepherd should act, by shepherding the people properly:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And I will appoint over them shepherds who will shepherd them; they shall no longer fear or be dismayed, and none of them shall be missing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In verses 10, 11, and 12, he returns to using <\/span>ra\u2019 <\/span><\/i>as evil:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The pastures of the wilderness are dried up. For they run to do evil, they strain to do wrong\u2026 Even in My House I find their wickedness\u2026 For I will bring evil upon them, The year of their doom.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In verse 14, the false prophets who should be shepherds of the people are described as leading them to evil:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But what I see in the prophets of Jerusalem Is something evil: Adultery and false dealing. They encourage evildoers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These false prophets even promise the people no evil will befall them: \u201cNo evil shall befall you\u201d (verse 17). God did not send these false prophets and misguided shepherds. If God did, they would help the people:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If they have stood in My council, let them announce My words to My people And make them turn back from their evil ways and evil acts\u201d (verse 22).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of the chapter, Jeremiah shifts to using the root <\/span>ra\u2019 <\/span><\/i>to a third meaning- fellow (as in <\/span>ve\u2019ahavta lere\u2019acha <\/span><\/i>- \u201clove your fellow\u201d):\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2026by means of the dreams that each person tells his fellow, just as their ancestors forgot My name because of Baal? (verse 27).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

See also verses 30 and 35. The shepherds may be evil, however, the people need to be responsible for themselves. They need to act as good shepherds to one another.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":96927,"alt":"","title":"ecc12-shepherd","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd.png","width":994,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-233x300.png","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-768x989.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":989,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-795x1024.png","large-width":795,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd.png","1536x1536-width":994,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd.png","2048x2048-width":994,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-932x1200.png","post_full_size-width":932,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-326x420.png","home_baner-width":326,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Shepherds, Good And Bad","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"With none to lead us, we need to lead ourselves and each other","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":96927,"alt":"","title":"ecc12-shepherd","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd.png","width":994,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-233x300.png","medium-width":233,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-768x989.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":989,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-795x1024.png","large-width":795,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd.png","1536x1536-width":994,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd.png","2048x2048-width":994,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-932x1200.png","post_full_size-width":932,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ecc12-shepherd-326x420.png","home_baner-width":326,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"854","name":"Metaphor","old_id":"1254"}]},{"order":4,"id":"70609","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Textual Polyphony ","post_title":"Textual Polyphony","slug":"textual-polyphony","old_id":"70609","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":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Literally! (Or not\u2026)\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the LORD\u2014and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (29)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

In our introduction to Shadal at the beginning of the Book of Jeremiah,* we cited a brief excerpt from the introduction to his commentary emphasizing the importance of grammar and philology. In the continuation of that passage, he added:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It occurs frequently in every book\u2014and Scripture in particular\u2014that the apparent meaning of [individual] words is not the meaning of the entire sentence\u2026 Whoever thinks that to understand Scripture correctly requires only the understanding of the definition of each individual word commits a great travesty towards Scripture\u2026 On the contrary, the literal sense is often misleading and inaccurate\u2026 In such a case, and in many others that resemble it, it appears that there is a double meaning: The literal one, which is truly superficial and contrived, and the substantial and authentic one. It is clear, however, that these are not two different meanings but one and the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this regard, Shadal was following the lead of the Talmud, which had put forth that very proposition based on its interpretation of the verse cited above.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The school of R. Yishmael taught: \u201cAs a hammer shatters a rock.\u201d Just as a hammer shatters a rock into several pieces, so is every divine utterance divisible into seventy languages (Shabbat 88b, following Rashi\u2019s reading of the text).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This principle, called variously \u201cpolyphony\u201d (many sounds) or \u201cmultivalence\u201d (many values), dictates that the exegete consider that while the \u201cdefault\u201d position of biblical exegesis is that \u201cno verse may be purged of its literal sense\u201d (<\/span>ein mikra yotzei miyedei peshuto<\/span><\/em>), neither is the literal sense to be taken as its only legitimate meaning. Indeed, Sa\u2019adyah Gaon (Baghdad; 882-942), the earliest rabbinic Bible commentator, defined exegesis as knowing when the literal sense can be sustained and when it needed to be replaced by something figurative, metaphorical, or allegorical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*For an explanation of our objectives in studying Shadal\u2019s commentary, <\/span>see our introduction<\/span><\/a> in Jeremiah chapter 1.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Paul Klee: Polyphony, 1932 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70610,"alt":"","title":"jer23-klee polyphony","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","width":800,"height":498,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-300x187.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":187,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-768x478.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":478,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":498,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":498,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":498,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":498,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-675x420.jpg","home_baner-width":675,"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":"Textual Polyphony","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Literally! (Or not\u2026)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70610,"alt":"","title":"jer23-klee polyphony","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","width":800,"height":498,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-300x187.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":187,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-768x478.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":478,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":498,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":498,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":498,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":498,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-klee-polyphony-675x420.jpg","home_baner-width":675,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"}]},{"order":5,"id":"70604","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Like A Hammer On The Rock ","post_title":"Like A Hammer On The Rock","slug":"like-a-hammer-on-the-rock","old_id":"70604","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But which shatters which?\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

In our chapter, in the midst of Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy against the false prophets of his time (Jeremiah 23:9-34), God declares: \u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the Lord\u2014and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29). This verse has become the quintessential Scriptural description of the power of Midrash.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael (a product of the School of Rabbi Yishmael) on Exodus 15:11 preserves an interpretation of \u201cWho is like You among the gods, O Lord?\u201d \u2013 among those who others call \u201cgods\u201d, but who have no substance. For of them it is said: \u201cThey have mouths but speak not\u201d (Psalms 115:5). This is in total contrast to the One who spoke the world into existence. God, who can say two things in one act of speech, which no human being can do, as it is said: \u201cOne thing God has spoken; two things have I heard\u201d (Psalms 62:12). And as God says: \u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the Lord\u2014and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael on Exodus 20:8 continues this line of interpretation: \u201cRemember the Sabbath day to keep it holy\u201d. \u201cRemember\u201d and \u201cObserve\u201d (Deuteronomy 5:12), were both spoken by God in one act of speech\u2026This manner of speech is impossible for human beings. But of God, it is said: \u201c\u201cOne thing God has spoken; two things have I heard\u201d (Psalms 62:12). And as God says: \u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the Lord\u2014and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Significantly, Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 34a cites a similar teaching as coming from \u201cthe Academy of Rabbi Yishmael \u2013 de-vey Rabbi Yishmael\u201d. Here our verse from Jeremiah is again cited, but with a significant twist in meaning: \u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the Lord\u2014and like a hammer that rock shatters!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29) \u2013 just as an iron hammer striking an unbreakable rock may shatter into many pieces, so too one verse may yield many meanings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A related teaching of the Academy of Rabbi Yishmael is recorded in Talmud Bavli Sukkah 52b. The school of R. Ishmael taught: If this evil one (the \u201cEvil Inclination \u2013 Yetzer Ha-Ra\u201d) accosts you, drag him to the Study House. If he is of stone, he will dissolve, as it is written: \u201cHo, all who are thirsty, come for water!\u201d (Isaiah 55:1). If he is of iron, he will shatter into fragments, as it is written: \u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the Lord\u2014and like a hammer that rock shatters!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Talmud Bavli Taanit 4a relates our verse in Jeremiah to the world of the Rabbinic Sages. Raba said: If a young scholar gets angry, it must be the Torah that inflames him, as it says: \u201cBehold, My word is like fire\u2014declares the Lord\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29). Rav Ashi said: Any scholar who is not as hard as iron is not yet a real scholar, as it says: \u201c\u2026and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70605,"alt":"","title":"jer23-hammer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","width":500,"height":333,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":333,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":333,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":333,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":333,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":333,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":333}},"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":"Like A Hammer On The Rock","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But which shatters which?\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70605,"alt":"","title":"jer23-hammer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","width":500,"height":333,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","medium_large-width":500,"medium_large-height":333,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","large-width":500,"large-height":333,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","1536x1536-width":500,"1536x1536-height":333,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","2048x2048-width":500,"2048x2048-height":333,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","post_full_size-width":500,"post_full_size-height":333,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-hammer.jpg","home_baner-width":500,"home_baner-height":333}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"}]},{"order":6,"id":"70597","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jeremiah v. Antonio ","post_title":"Jeremiah v. Antonio","slug":"jeremiah-v-antonio","old_id":"70597","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64758,"post_title":"Avraham Norin","slug":"avraham-norin","old_id":"64758","first_name":"Avraham ","last_name":"Norin ","description":"Avraham Norin teaches in Israel at the Machon Meir and Ora conversion program. He lives in the Southern Hebron Hills with his wife and six children.","short_description":"Avraham Norin teaches in Israel at the Machon Meir and Ora conversion program","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64759,"alt":"","title":"avraham norin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","width":1064,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1021,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","2048x2048-width":1064,"2048x2048-height":1600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The Merchant of Venice, the prophet of Jerusalem\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In Shakespeare\u2019s <\/span>The Merchant of Venice<\/span><\/em>, Antonio is a generous nobleman of Venice.\u00a0 However, in contrast to his usual conduct, Antonio exhibits extremely negative behavior toward the Jewish Shylock. At one point, Antonio says that Shylock's ability to quote the Bible does not impress him, since people quote the Bible selectively for their own agendas: \u201cMark you this, Bassanio, the devil can cite Scripture for his purpose\" (Act 1, Scene 3).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It would be easy to dismiss this claim and consider it as simply another anti-Semitic remark, except that in today\u2019s chapter, Jeremiah also claims that people misquote God\u2019s word to advance their own interests. A closer examination, though, shows that the statements of Antonio and Jeremiah are not identical. Antonio implies that the Bible has no real message; it is merely a tool in the hands of the person quoting it. Jeremiah doesn\u2019t doubt that the Bible contains the true and eternal message of God, though he agrees that it is possible to pervert its message by misquoting it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To understand Jeremiah\u2019s statement, we must examine the politics of the time. Jeremiah warned the people that if they did not improve their conduct, the enemies of Israel would attack and destroy Jerusalem. The false prophets of his time wished to prove that Jeremiah was incorrect. One of their methods was to quote the prophecies of Hosea, Isaiah, and Nahum which described Israel\u2019s victory, and not their defeat, which Jeremiah warned could happen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em> (\u201cburden\u201d) is found in many of these prophecies that describe the downfall of the enemies of Israel. The <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em> was a known genre among the prophets to convey to the people that they should not fear being attacked by the other nations. The false prophets quoted these <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em> prophecies to persuade the Jerusalemites that there was no need to worry about Jeremiah's warning of the city\u2019s destruction, or to heed his call to change their ways.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah shows that even though the false prophets are quoting the earlier <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em> prophecies, their message is not authentic. Since the false prophets have been taking these <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em> prophecies out of context, they are not giving God\u2019s message. He orders these prophets to refrain from mentioning the <\/span>masa<\/span><\/em> prophecies since they are using them for their own agendas, rather than trying to understand their true message: \"But do not mention 'the <\/span>Masa<\/span><\/em> of the LORD' any more. Does a man regard his own word as a '<\/span>Masa<\/span><\/em>' <\/span><\/i>that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God?\u201d (v. 36).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Both Jeremiah and Antonio understood that an individual could take advantage of the Bible's richness to twist its message. According to Jeremiah, the solution to this matter is to<\/span> increase the study of the Bible, spending time to learn it thoroughly, in order to understand its true message.\u00a0 With pride, 929 follows the path of Jeremiah, passionately studying \"the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts\".<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(This dvar torah was inspired by a lesson that I heard from Rav Yoel Ben Nun).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by: Ben Schachter<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70598,"alt":"","title":"Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice.jpg","width":1261,"height":848,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-300x202.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-768x516.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":516,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-1024x689.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":689,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice.jpg","1536x1536-width":1261,"1536x1536-height":848,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice.jpg","2048x2048-width":1261,"2048x2048-height":848,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-1200x807.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":807,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-625x420.jpg","home_baner-width":625,"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":"Jeremiah v. Antonio","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The Merchant of Venice, the prophet of Jerusalem","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70598,"alt":"","title":"Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice.jpg","width":1261,"height":848,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-300x202.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-768x516.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":516,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-1024x689.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":689,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice.jpg","1536x1536-width":1261,"1536x1536-height":848,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice.jpg","2048x2048-width":1261,"2048x2048-height":848,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-1200x807.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":807,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer23-ANorin-MerchantofVenice-625x420.jpg","home_baner-width":625,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"301","name":"Ben Schachter","old_id":"701"},{"term_id":"373","name":"Literature","old_id":"773"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"625","name":"Lying","old_id":"1025"}]},{"order":7,"id":"70607","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"The Hammer, The Fire, The Word And The Self ","post_title":"The Hammer, The Fire, The Word And The Self","slug":"the-hammer-the-fire-the-word-and-the-self","old_id":"70607","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34250,"post_title":"Sarah Rudolph","slug":"sarah-rudolph","old_id":"34250","first_name":"Sarah ","last_name":"Rudolph","description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor. She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34251,"alt":"","title":"Sarah R","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","width":2824,"height":4246,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","2048x2048-width":1362,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Maybe the hammer hits a verse and shatters it into pieces for us to collect. Maybe we are the hammers, pounding away at each text until we unleash a torrent of shining sparks. Or maybe each verse is a hammer that strikes our hearts, and we must face the consequences","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cBehold, My word is like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that shatters rock!\u201d (Jeremiah 23:29)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Such powerful imagery \u2013 the intensity of fire, the shattering of a rock \u2013 but what does it mean?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When it comes to biblical interpretation, the options are endless - beginning with the question of whether we want to interpret the metaphor in context or out of it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the context of Jeremiah\u2019s polemic against false prophets (verse 28), Rashi suggests he\u2019s contrasting the puny experience of a dream to the burning, shattering impact of true divine encounters. Alternatively, Radak contrasts their content: the false prophets\u2019 optimistic predictions will come to nothing, while nothing stands in the way of true prophecy \u2013 as a fire inevitably burns whatever it touches.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whether the experience or the prediction, in context the prophet emphasizes the difference between true and false.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Out of context\u2026 What might it mean to describe the word of God as fire, as something that shatters?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbinic interpretations abound, but my favorite speaks directly to the very notion of multiple interpretations in biblical study.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c\u2019Like a hammer that shatters rock\u2019 \u2013 Just as this hammer shatters into a number of sparks, so too one verse goes out to a number of meanings\u201d (Sanhedrin 34a).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The details here are themselves subject to much analysis (e.g. is it the hammer or the rock that is shattered?), but the fundamental idea is that a biblical verse, the word of God, is like a hammer; strike with it and you\u2019ll end up with numerous pieces, a wealth of meanings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Some find all those pieces confusing. \u201cJust tell me what it means! What\u2019s the right answer?\u201d \u2013 I hear it all the time, from students who might be more attracted to clear contrasts of truth and falsehood (like that outlined above). The experience of engaging with the many sparks of a piece of Torah can be overwhelming. Fire isn\u2019t comfortable; it can even be dangerous.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But it can also be tremendously alluring, and impossible to hold back. \u201cI thought, \u201c\u2026No more will I speak in His name\u201d\u2014 But [His word] was like a raging fire in my heart\u2026 I could not hold it in\u201d (above, 20:9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maybe the hammer hits a verse and shatters it into pieces for us to collect. Maybe we are the hammers, pounding away at each text until we unleash a torrent of shining sparks. Or maybe each verse is a hammer that strikes our hearts, and we must face the consequences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We can also read our out-of-context interpretation back to the context: With Rashi\u2019s peshat, we find a description of the impact of God\u2019s word on those it touches, of the experience of learning Torah and the impact of all those sparks on the self. And in Radak\u2019s, we might consider the inevitability of that experience, and of its growth and impact on the world. We may as well embrace the fire, and let it burn.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Hammer, The Fire, The Word And The Self","tile_main_caption":"Maybe the hammer hits a verse and shatters it into pieces for us to collect. Maybe we are the hammers, pounding away at each text until we unleash a torrent of shining sparks. Or maybe each verse is a hammer that strikes our hearts, and we must face the consequences","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"702","name":"Fire","old_id":"1102"},{"term_id":"753","name":"Meaning","old_id":"1153"}]},{"order":8,"id":"118059","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah23","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah23","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-jeremiah23","old_id":"118059","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Tanakh Podcast","tile_main_caption":"Jeremiah 23: Negligent Shepherds. False Prophets","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Two sets of problematic leaders: kings who misled the nation - \"negligent shepherds\" who lose their flock; and false prophets who claim to have \"dreamt a dream\" from God, but are pretenders, uttering falsehoods","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":108885,"alt":"","title":"-635baf915f04f--635baf915f050tanakh podcast - Alex Israel.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","width":350,"height":352,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG-298x300.jpg","medium-width":298,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","medium_large-width":350,"medium_large-height":352,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","large-width":350,"large-height":352,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":350,"1536x1536-height":352,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":350,"2048x2048-height":352,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","post_full_size-width":350,"post_full_size-height":352,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/10\/635baf915f04f-635baf915f050tanakh-podcast-Alex-Israel.JPG.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":352}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/7CS5AhvjdIujTIL2dOTNSc","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"589","name":"audio","old_id":"989"},{"term_id":"857","name":"podcast","old_id":"1257"}]},{"order":9,"id":"70612","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Dream, Dream\u2026 ","post_title":"Dream, Dream\u2026","slug":"dream-dream","old_id":"70612","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Dreams of straw and of grain\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

What is a dream? Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch explains that the Hebrew root ch.l.m. \u2013 means \u201cconnect disparate elements into functioning whole.\u201d In his Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, he brings five words: <\/span>ach\u2019lama<\/span><\/em>, which is a kind of quartz (amethyst); <\/span>chalamish<\/span><\/em>, a granite, pressed stone; <\/span>chelmon<\/span><\/em>, which is the egg yolk; hachlamah,\u00a0<\/em>healing, restoring physical balance (based on a verse in Job), and <\/span>chalom<\/span><\/em>, a dream.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Interestingly, although we have many great dreamers, like Joseph and Jacob, whose dreams are fundamental to our story, the first dreamer in the Torah is not Jewish. After taking Sarah, Abimelech, the king of Gerar, is visited by God who warns him in a dream in the night.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our chapter too, God speaks to Jeremiah about the power of dreams. Dreams can be used by the false prophets who \u201cplan to make My people forget My name by means of the dreams which they tell each other.\u201d Dreams can also be used to reveal the true message: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream; and let him who has received My word report My word faithfully! What does straw have to do with grain (23:27-28)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ending is quite surprising: \u2018what does straw have to do with grain\u2019? And what does this statement have to do with dreams? Interestingly, it takes many hundreds of years before this seemingly rhetorical question is answered. In Tractate Berachot (55:a), where there\u2019s a lengthy discussion about dreams and their meanings, stories and experiences, Rabbi Yochanan quotes Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai saying: \u201cJust as it is impossible for the grain to grow without straw, so too it is impossible to dream without idle matters.\u201d Namely, things don\u2019t come in totally pure, unadulterated forms, and even meaningful dreams may include within them some useless, \u2018not yet\u2019 understood pieces.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is especially interesting coming from Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, as if in conversation with the prophet. Rabbi Shimon is the one who upon leaving his life in the cave where he stayed with his son for 12 years, could not stand the world and its imperfections. Is he now learning that maybe there\u2019s room for both grain and straw? How much of either before it\u2019s too much? Perhaps the conversation between them is not yet over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70613,"alt":"","title":"jer23-straw-wheat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Dream, Dream\u2026","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Dreams of straw and of grain","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70613,"alt":"","title":"jer23-straw-wheat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-straw-wheat-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"361","name":"Hebrew language","old_id":"761"},{"term_id":"439","name":"Dreams","old_id":"839"},{"term_id":"627","name":"Talmud","old_id":"1027"}]},{"order":10,"id":"70615","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Words Like Fire ","post_title":"Words Like Fire","slug":"words-like-fire","old_id":"70615","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Separating true from false\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In today's chapter, Jeremiah delivers one of his longest diatribes against the false prophets of his day. These were the frauds and fakers who plied the people with soothing messages that all would be well, when Jerusalem was about to be ravaged, and the Temple burned.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But how were you supposed to know who was a real prophet and who was a phoney? In this chapter, Jeremiah gives a number of outward criteria, (discussed in an article by Rabbi David Sabato). The false prophets stood for the status quo. They encouraged complacency, assured people that God was still with them and enjoined everyone to just carry on as before. They were also bad characters - liars, adulterers and hypocrites. And they all sounded the same; using near identical language, with no original, personal voice, imitating generic prophetic phraseology.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What of the would-be prophet's experience? If you underwent a prophecy-like event, how could you know it was real? Jeremiah's answer is that the shattering power of genuine prophecy is unmistakable. \"How can straw be compared to grain - says the Lord. behold, my word is like fire - declares the Lord - and like a hammer that smashes rock\" (verses 28-9). You will know real prophecy from its overwhelming inner force.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verse \"my word is like fire,\" is quoted ten times in the Babylonian Talmud to illuminate aspects of Torah study. One of the most poignant, in Ta'anit 7a, not only reflects beautifully on Torah learning, but is also sheds light on our chapter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabba Bar Bar Chana said, 'why is Torah likened to fire? As it says. \"my word is like fire.\" It is to teach you that just as a fire cannot light on its own (without pieces of wood.) so too Torah cannot endure in a solitary person.'<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Torah is compared to fire, the Talmud says, to teach us something about the essentially communal nature of Torah study. Without the social ecosystem of study partners, teacher and students, the warming fire of Torah cannot burn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is also a profound reading of Jeremiah's pathos in our chapter. His tragedy is loneliness. He is the sole real prophet of his generation, surrounded by swarms of false imitators. The Talmud may be suggesting that this is why he failed to avert disaster. One solitary individual speaking God's fiery truth amidst a sea of lies could not ignite the fire of God's word in a way that it would endure and spread.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70617,"alt":"","title":"jer23-fire","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","width":274,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire-213x300.jpg","medium-width":213,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","medium_large-width":274,"medium_large-height":386,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","large-width":274,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","1536x1536-width":274,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","2048x2048-width":274,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","post_full_size-width":274,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","home_baner-width":274,"home_baner-height":386}},"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":"Words Like Fire","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Separating true from false","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70617,"alt":"","title":"jer23-fire","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","width":274,"height":386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire-213x300.jpg","medium-width":213,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","medium_large-width":274,"medium_large-height":386,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","large-width":274,"large-height":386,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","1536x1536-width":274,"1536x1536-height":386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","2048x2048-width":274,"2048x2048-height":386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","post_full_size-width":274,"post_full_size-height":386,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer23-fire.jpg","home_baner-width":274,"home_baner-height":386}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"390","name":"Prophets","old_id":"790"},{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"611","name":"Alone","old_id":"1011"},{"term_id":"730","name":"Learning","old_id":"1130"}]},{"order":11,"id":"70590","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Hopeful Vision Of Return ","post_title":"A Hopeful Vision Of Return","slug":"a-hopeful-vision-of-return","old_id":"70590","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38552,"post_title":"Benny Lau","slug":"benny-lau","old_id":"38552","first_name":"Benny","last_name":"Lau ","description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai. In addition, he is the rabbi of the Ramban synagogue in Jerusalem and is a community leader, activist, author, and public speaker.","short_description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1708,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Led by a righteous branch of the line of David\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

As the months pass, Jeremiah begins to sense the profound failure of his people's return. Josiah means well and has great aspirations, but does not realize that his campaign to return to God is not penetrating the people's hearts. Defective local leadership has caused the people of Judah to remain unaware that this period of imperial downfall and radical reform carries great potential for the redemption of Judah and Israel. These regional rulers are the shepherds Jeremiah condemns in his prophecy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah could have expressed such sentiments only early in his career, when he was still optimistic about the redemption and reunification of Judah and Israel, when he could still draw from the vision of the blossoming almond branch, and when he still had high hopes for the scion of the House of David.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The problem he addresses here is local: The shepherds are unfit and must be replaced. Jeremiah views this discrepancy between the king and the local leadership as a generation gap. Whereas Josiah is young and revolutionary, the local leaders continue to represent the sinful generation of Manasseh. Therefore, God will rid the kingdom of these shepherds, gather the scattered flock from Samaria, and establish a new, worthy leadership. Despite Jeremiah's withering criticism of the old guard, this chapter remains full of hope and joy regarding the impending fulfillment of Josiah's messianic vision. Just as Isaiah prophesied hopefully about Hezekiah and the flourishing (<\/span>tzemach<\/span><\/i>) of the Davidic dynasty (Is. 4:2), Jeremiah says of Josiah:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Days are coming \u2014 declares the Lord \u2014 when I will raise up a righteous branch (<\/span>tzemach<\/span><\/em>) of David's line (Jer. 23:5-6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Throughout the books of the prophets, from Isaiah through Zechariah, the term <\/span>tzemach<\/span><\/em> \u2014 branch, sprout, growth, flourishing \u2014 is associated with the house of David.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah declares that the period of disgrace that began with Assyria exiling the ten tribes, and extended through Manasseh's defilement of Judah, has come to an end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Israel's recent enslavement to Assyria and the return of those lost in its empire will eclipse the Israelites' enslavement in Egypt and their entrance into their land, led by Moses. Whoever witnesses this miracle will no longer refer to the Exodus from Egypt as the definitive example of God's glory. The return of the lost tribes from the north will surpass all the miracles Israel has ever known. Jeremiah is convinced that God's promise to rebuild after the destruction will soon be realized. He feels that the people have already experienced destruction with the exile to Assyria. Now, with the ascent of a Davidic king, the days of resettling and replanting are imminent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>. Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cRebuke of the Leadership and Faith in Josiah\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Hopeful Vision Of Return","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Led by a righteous branch of the line of David","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"402","name":"Leadership","old_id":"802"},{"term_id":"608","name":"Promise","old_id":"1008"},{"term_id":"840","name":"Jeremiah","old_id":"1240"},{"term_id":"942","name":"Josiah","old_id":"1342"}]},{"order":12,"id":"70585","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Fire And The Hammer ","post_title":"The Fire And The Hammer","slug":"the-fire-and-the-hammer","old_id":"70585","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God\u2019s word splits the rock\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

23:29 \u201cIs not My word like fire, said the LORD, and like a hammer splitting rock?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah had previously likened God\u2019s word to fire that was shut up in his bones, an image that expressed his own tormented experiential sense of the divine message within him. Now he focuses on the outward effect of God\u2019s word, which is fearsome and devastating. There may be an associative link between the fire and the hammer because of the spark that would leap out from the struck rock, or perhaps even because of hammers in the forge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"The Fire And The Hammer","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God\u2019s word splits the rock","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"854","name":"Metaphor","old_id":"1254"}]},{"order":13,"id":"70480","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Jeremiah 23 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Jeremiah 23","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-jeremiah-23","old_id":"70480","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cSpeedily in our Days: Conceptions of Moshiach\u201d<\/a> by Aaron Klein: Explore texts about the Messiah.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cPraying for the Welfare of the Government\u201d<\/a> by Jay Jubas: Perspectives on who we ought to pray for and how we ought to pray for them.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Jeremiah 23","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"70583","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 23 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 23","slug":"points-to-ponder-jeremiah-23","old_id":"70583","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":"423","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Nice to meet you, Tzemach (\u201cbranch\u201d)<\/em>. \u201cI will raise up a true branch of David\u2019s line\u201d (v. 5). The epithet \u201ctzemach<\/em>\u201d\/branch for a future leader from the House of David perpetuates the image of the royal line as a tree, similar to \u201cBut a shoot shall grow out of the stump of Jesse, A twig shall sprout from his stock\u201d (Isaiah 11:1). But it also represents a new name, that we will meet again further on. For instance, in another 80 or so years and exactly 130 chapters, the prophet Zechariah (chapters 3:8, 6:12).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Confused? So are we<\/em>. It\u2019s not easy to tell the difference between a true prophet and a false one. Even after Jeremiah\u2019s explanation. It was a problem for Jeremiah\u2019s contemporaries, and for Jeremiah himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. The burden<\/em>. The somewhat obscure prophecy in verses 33-40, makes use of the double meaning of the word \u201cburden\u201d (masa<\/em>). The \u201cburden\u201d there is a prophetic vision, but it is also a physical burden, and so when it is no longer wanted, it can be thrown aside or abandoned.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Jeremiah 23","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"423","date":"20270413","wall_id":"423"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/70108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}