THE TEN DAYS that begin on Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur are the holy of holies of Jewish time. On the Yamim Noraim, the Days of Awe, we can almost feel God\u2019s presence and sense His closeness. For although we know that God is always close to us, we do not always feel close to Him. He is always to be found, but we do not always seek Him out. The atmosphere in the synagogue is intense and serious. Yet this year, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, many of us will be prevented from experiencing this intensity. The challenge will be finding the spiritual energy to replicate this atmosphere in our own homes.<\/p>\r\n
On Rosh Hashanah God judges the whole world and decides on their fate for the coming year. It is as if the world has become a courtroom. God Himself is the Judge. The shofar announces that the court is in session, and we are on trial, giving an account of our lives. If taken seriously, this is a potentially life-changing experience. It forces us to ask the most fateful questions we will ever ask:\u2022 Who am I?
\r\n\u2022 Why am I here?
\r\n\u2022 How shall I live?
\r\n\u2022 How have I lived until now?
\r\n\u2022 How have I used God\u2019s greatest gift: time?
\r\n\u2022 Whom have I wronged, and how can I put it right?
\r\n\u2022 Where have I failed, and how shall I overcome my failures?
\r\n\u2022 What is broken in my life and needs mending?
\r\n\u2022 What chapter will I write in the Book of Life?<\/p>\r\n
These are days of reflection and introspection when we stand in the presence of God and acknowledge how short and vulnerable life really is, and how little time we have here on earth.<\/p>\r\n
There is no time to waste to become the very best people we can be!<\/p>\r\n
Download the Family Edition for Rosh Hashanah Thoughts as a PDF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":91926,"alt":"","title":"ps150-hillel smith - shofar_original","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original.jpg","width":622,"height":625,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original.jpg","medium_large-width":622,"medium_large-height":625,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original.jpg","large-width":622,"large-height":625,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original.jpg","1536x1536-width":622,"1536x1536-height":625,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original.jpg","2048x2048-width":622,"2048x2048-height":625,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original.jpg","post_full_size-width":622,"post_full_size-height":625,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/ps150-hillel-smith-shofar_original-418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Rosh Hashanah Says To Us","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Thoughts and Texts for the New Year","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":91926,"alt":"","title":"ps150-hillel smith - 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Prior to working in the Obama administration, Hurwitz was the chief speechwriter for Hillary Clinton on her 2008 campaign for president, and a speechwriter for Senator John Kerry and General Wesley Clark during the 2004 presidential election. Hurwitz is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School. She is the author of Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life\u2014in Judaism (after finally choosing to look there), Random House, 2019. Picture courtesy of Sarah Hurwitz.","short_description":"From 2009 to 2017, Sarah Hurwitz worked in the White House, serving as head speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama and as a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama. She is the author of Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life\u2014in Judaism (after finally choosing to look there), Random House, 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":63588,"alt":"","title":"sarah hurwitz headshot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","width":640,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot-300x188.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":188,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","large-width":640,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","post_full_size-width":640,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/sarah-hurwitz-headshot.jpg","home_baner-width":640,"home_baner-height":400}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"317","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Special High Holiday feature","post_main_content_content":" The \u201cbook of memories\u201d [mentioned in the liturgy] is not just what we post on social media for others\u2019 consumption, but also everything we would never dream of posting: the stingy tip we left for the waiter after we took that beautiful picture of our meal. The nasty remark we made to our spouse right after we stopped recording that smiley video of our vacation. All the times we trash-talked our friends behind their backs, or lied to our bosses to cover up our mistakes.<\/p>\r\n \u2026In some cosmic sense, all of that has been recorded, along with every other moment of our lives over the past year. And the prayers insist that we sit down, watch these tapes, and ask ourselves: What parts do I wish I could edit out? When would I have acted differently if I had known I was being watched? What moments do I never, ever want to repeat?<\/p>\r\n \u201cThis is how God is different from Big Brother, who also knows everything we do and say, but who uses it against us,\u201d explains Rabbi Alan Lew. \u201cGod watches the whole video with a boundless, heartbreaking compassion.\u201d<\/p>\r\n What would it feel like to stand before such a God and say, \u201cYes, I did these things, and yes, I feel awful about that, and I don\u2019t ever want to act this way again.\u201d What would this God say to me? I imagine it might go something like \u201cDearest, I know. Those things you did are not you. And I feel quite confident of that because I created you, and I am intimately familiar with your pure soul. So really, sweetheart, stop tormenting yourself and just focus on doing whatever reflecting\/apologizing\/resolving-to-be-better that you need to do to come back to me and return to your pure soul\/truest self.\u201d<\/p>\r\n I imagine that coming before such a God would make it a lot easier for me to confront what\u2019s on those tapes.<\/p>\r\n Like many other prayers, Unetaneh Tokef<\/em> includes a number of quotes from the Hebrew Bible\u2014and guess which book it draws most heavily from? Believe it or not, it\u2019s the Book of Job, in which God unfairly punishes a righteous man named Job\u2014an extreme example of bad things happening to good people. When Job confronts God, God basically replies, \u201cYou have no idea what it\u2019s like to create and rule the universe, so back off.\u201d Not exactly the biblical book I would advise quoting from if you\u2019re trying to promote a clear-cut reward-and-punishment theology.<\/p>\r\n \u2026We can\u2019t always control what happens to us, but we do have some control over how we react. When bad things happen, we can cultivate a spiritual practice so that we feel less isolated. We can engage in self-reflection, and do teshuvah if necessary, to help us grow. And we can get some perspective by helping others who are worse off. These actions may not change our circumstances, but they may change us, giving us what we need to cope and even thrive.<\/p>\r\n Excerpt from Sarah Hurwitz, Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life\u2014in Judaism (after finally<\/u> choosing to look there),<\/em> Random House, 2019, pp. 191-193<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":63589,"alt":"","title":"Sarah Hurwitz 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the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the 21st chapter of Genesis is read: the story of Hagar and Ishmael. Here we bring you links to several selected posts on this chapter from 929-English. See the appropriate chapter day for all posts on this fascinating and significant story","post_main_content_content":" Want a helpful overview of the whole chapter? See here<\/a>.<\/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":"Going Deeper...","tile_main_caption":"Perspectives on the Torah Reading for Rosh Hashanah I","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"929 Does the Holidays","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37329,"alt":"","title":"hagar2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","width":476,"height":610,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-234x300.jpg","medium-width":234,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","medium_large-width":476,"medium_large-height":610,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","large-width":476,"large-height":610,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","1536x1536-width":476,"1536x1536-height":610,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","2048x2048-width":476,"2048x2048-height":610,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2.jpg","post_full_size-width":476,"post_full_size-height":610,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar2-328x420.jpg","home_baner-width":328,"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":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Esther","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"821","date":"20281022","wall_id":"821"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"117934","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Build A Foundation For Teshuva\u00a0 ","post_title":"Build A Foundation For Teshuva\u00a0","slug":"build-a-foundation-for-teshuva","old_id":"117934","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. 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Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"420","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Repentance and returning to the root of one\u2019s self\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Rav Kook\u2019s <\/span>Orot Hateshuva<\/span><\/em>, talks about returning to one\u2019s self. Rav Kook writes:<\/span><\/p>\r\n When we forget the essence of our own soul \u2026 everything becomes confused and in doubt. The primary teshuva, that which immediately lights the darkness, is when a person returns to himself, to the root of his soul \u2013 then he will immediately return to God, to the soul of all souls.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In essence, <\/span>forgetting one's true self leads to confusion and doubt, and teshuva begins by reconnecting with the root of the soul and with God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rav Kook highlights this idea of sin resulting from a loss of self-awareness, by reminding us of the question God posed to Adam after he ate from the tree of knowledge: <\/span>\"<\/span>Ayekah<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 where are you?\u201d This wasn\u2019t a geographical question, but a spiritual one: \u201cWhere are you <\/span>spiritually<\/span><\/em>?\u201d In other words, \u201c<\/span>Who<\/span><\/em> are you, Adam?\u201d Adam had become estranged from himself, and that was the first step towards his sin.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rambam\u2019s <\/span>Hilchot Teshuva<\/span><\/em> describes four steps to repentance, one of which is confession. On Yom Kippur this is the v<\/em><\/span>idui<\/span><\/em> (prayer of confession) we recite over and over. But Yom Kippur marks the end of our <\/span>aseret yamei teshuva<\/span><\/em> (ten days of repentance). Why do we wait until day ten to say <\/span>vidui<\/span><\/em> instead of getting started on Rosh Hashanah?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Connecting with what Rav Kook said about Adam losing his sense of self as the root of sin, Rav Avigdor Neventzhal, former Chief Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, provides this analogy. There are two ways to demolish a building, with each floor being analogous to a particular sin, or level of sinning. The first way is from the top down, floor by floor until the building is completely razed. The second way is to undermine the foundation, or the supports of the building. In this bottom-up approach, once the supports of the building have been destroyed, the rest of the building crumbles in suit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Likewise, says Rav Neventzhal, the process of uprooting our sins during the <\/span>aseret yamei teshuva<\/span><\/em> should follow this foundation-first model. Rather than focus on each floor, we start our <\/span>teshuva<\/span><\/i> at the root of our sins.<\/span><\/p>\r\n On Rosh Hashanah, our focus is not on sin and confession. Instead, we sing <\/span>Avinu Malkeinu<\/span><\/em>, we speak about <\/span>Malchuyot<\/span><\/em> (divine Kingship) and we re-coronate our King with the shofar blasts. We spend Rosh Hashanah returning to our authentic selves, effectively demolishing any estrangement from God that was at the root of our sins. Once we have attended to the foundation of our soul, the work we need to do in <\/span>vidui<\/span><\/em> on Yom Kippur will fall into place, with our sins, hopefully, crumbling to the ground, making space for us to rebuild ourselves spiritually.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":117935,"alt":"","title":"-65028f2ae4c96--65028f2ae4c97jer20- rosh hashanah pomegranate 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Hashanah Reflections","tile_main_caption":"Build A Foundation For Teshuva\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Repentance and returning to the root of one\u2019s self","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":117935,"alt":"","title":"-65028f2ae4c96--65028f2ae4c97jer20- rosh hashanah pomegranate 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Seder, No More? ","post_title":"The Seder, No More?","slug":"the-seder-no-more","old_id":"70169","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":"416","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Former redemptions to be replaced by new ones\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Can we imagine a day when we won't celebrate the Pesach seder? The prophet in this chapter says that this is exactly what will happen:<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u201cAssuredly, a time is coming\u2014declares the LORD\u2014when it shall no more be said, \u2018As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites out of the land of Egypt,\u2019 but rather, \u2018As the LORD lives who brought the Israelites out of the northland, and out of all the lands to which He had banished them.\u2019 For I will bring them back to their land, which I gave to their fathers\u201d (verses 14-15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Jerusalem Talmud (Brachot 11:a) struggles to understand this statement, explaining it in a parable: <\/span><\/p>\r\n This is like someone who was walking along the way and was attacked by a wolf. He started telling everybody about his (miraculous) recovery but then, he was attacked by a lion. He was saved from the lion, and started telling everybody about that, when a snake attacked him. When he was saved from the snake, he dropped the two earlier stories and started telling about his (miraculous) recovery from the snake. And so it is with Israel: the latter trouble would make them forget the earlier ones\".<\/span><\/p>\r\n That is to say, it is not the Exodus from Egypt will be forgotten all together, but that the following miracles will be so great, that there would be no need to tell about that. Just like Jacob's name was changed to Israel, making \"Israel\" primary and \"Jacob\" secondary, and so it is for us with our history. Leaving Egypt was amazing: the plagues, the sea splitting\u2026 what a wow, we can't stop talking about it every day, every meal, every Shabbat and holiday. But one day, we'll be able to see that \"Egypt\" was just one \"wolf\", and we're saved from greater troubles yet. Would that be what we've seen in the last century, for example?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rabbi David Shlomo Eibeschitz, born in what is now Ukraine in 1755 and known by his book, the <\/span>Arvei Nachal<\/span><\/em>, ties this verse with a verse in Hosea (2:18) and offers a different perspective. Hosea says, \"on that day you will call me <\/span>Ishi<\/em> <\/span>(my man) and no longer <\/span>Ba'ali<\/em> <\/span>(my husband)\", namely, that currently we use names that are not proper and not fully describing the other, because of the state we're in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Likewise, in our prayer, there are praises and blessings as well as \"imperfect words\", like \"Pharaoh\" and \"Egypt\" and \"other gods\". Indeed, since the first human's transgression, things are not pure any more, as the sparks of holiness got mixed inside the \"shell\" (which needs to be removed), like our world where good and bad are mixed. But, one day, we will purify our language. The word \"Egypt\" will not be mentioned anymore; we will only refer to our redemptions vaguely by saying \"northlands.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n Interestingly, in recent years, we have begun seeing a <\/span>Seder Yom Ha'atzmaut<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and a <\/span>Haggada for Yom Hashoah<\/span><\/em>. Reading this, I wonder\u2026<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70170,"alt":"","title":"jer16-seder2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","width":930,"height":705,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-768x582.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":582,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","large-width":930,"large-height":705,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","1536x1536-width":930,"1536x1536-height":705,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","2048x2048-width":930,"2048x2048-height":705,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","post_full_size-width":930,"post_full_size-height":705,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-554x420.jpg","home_baner-width":554,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Seder, No More?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Former redemptions to be replaced by new ones","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70170,"alt":"","title":"jer16-seder2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","width":930,"height":705,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-300x227.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":227,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-768x582.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":582,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","large-width":930,"large-height":705,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","1536x1536-width":930,"1536x1536-height":705,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","2048x2048-width":930,"2048x2048-height":705,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2.jpg","post_full_size-width":930,"post_full_size-height":705,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-seder2-554x420.jpg","home_baner-width":554,"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":"16","chapter_main_number":"416","date":"20270404","wall_id":"416"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"550","name":"Future","old_id":"950"},{"term_id":"597","name":"Pesach","old_id":"997"}]},{"order":6,"id":"70172","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"To Teach Israel, So That They Know ","post_title":"To Teach Israel, So That They Know","slug":"to-teach-israel-so-that-they-know","old_id":"70172","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":57331,"post_title":"Josh and Leora Blechner","slug":"josh-and-leora-blechner","old_id":"57331","first_name":"Josh and Leora ","last_name":"Blechner","description":"Josh and Leora Blechner have been learning Tanach together since Leora was five years old. Josh is an in-house attorney in New Jersey and Leora is a middle school student at SAR academy.","short_description":"Josh and Leora Blechner have been learning Tanach together since Leora was five years old. Josh is an in-house attorney in New Jersey and Leora is a middle school student at SAR academy.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":57484,"alt":"","title":"blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","width":501,"height":509,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1-295x300.jpg","medium-width":295,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","medium_large-width":501,"medium_large-height":509,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","large-width":501,"large-height":509,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":501,"1536x1536-height":509,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":501,"2048x2048-height":509,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":501,"post_full_size-height":509,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/blechner-1-413x420.jpg","home_baner-width":413,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"416","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Just as Pharaoh was taught...","post_main_content_content":" At the end of Jeremiah 16, God promises that: <\/span><\/p>\r\n I will this once make known to them (modi\u2019am<\/em>), I will cause them to know (odi\u2019am<\/em>) my hand (yadi<\/em>) and my might; and they shall know (vayed\u2019u<\/em>) that my name is God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Based on the tone of the previous few verses it seems as if this is a promise of destruction. God will punish the people for their idol worship and the punishment will cause them to believe in him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Why does Jeremiah use this language? Why the repeated use of the Hebrew word for \u201cknow\u201d? Why the reference to God\u2019s strength as the hand, \u201cyad<\/em>,\u201d of God?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The answer comes earlier in the chapter, in Jeremiah 16:14, God promises that a day will come that the Exodus from Egypt will no longer be at the forefront of people\u2019s minds. Instead the return of the exiles to the land will replace this festive moment in Jewish history. With this context in mind we can return to the last verse and notice a striking parallel to the warning God gives to Moses in Exodus 7:5. Here Moses is told to go to Egypt to perform the plagues and wonders. God tells Moses he will harden Pharaoh\u2018s heart. <\/span><\/p>\r\n And the Egyptians shall know (yad\u2019u<\/em>) that I am God, when I stretch my hand (yadi<\/em>) upon Egypt, and bring Israel out from there.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Jeremiah takes this verse and flips it around. This time, instead of the Egyptians being punished by the hand of God it will be Israel. Only in this way shall they realize the name of God. But, this phrase also brings an element of hope and redemption. Jeremiah hopes that this will ultimately end in a positive way as the Israelites who left Egypt also saw the hand of God and feared God and believed in God (see Exodus 14:31).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70173,"alt":"","title":"jer16-classroom","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom.png","width":1280,"height":1082,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-300x254.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-768x649.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":649,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-1024x866.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":866,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1082,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1082,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-1200x1014.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1014,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-497x420.png","home_baner-width":497,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"To Teach Israel, So That They Know","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Just as Pharaoh was taught...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70173,"alt":"","title":"jer16-classroom","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom.png","width":1280,"height":1082,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-300x254.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-768x649.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":649,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-1024x866.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":866,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1082,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1082,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-1200x1014.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1014,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer16-classroom-497x420.png","home_baner-width":497,"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":"16","chapter_main_number":"416","date":"20270404","wall_id":"416"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"469","name":"Egypt","old_id":"869"}]},{"order":7,"id":"70240","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"A Sabbath Of The World ","post_title":"A Sabbath Of The World","slug":"a-sabbath-of-the-world","old_id":"70240","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":70278,"post_title":"Jonathan Schorsch","slug":"jonathan-schorsch","old_id":"70278","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Schorsch","description":"Jonathan Schorsch is professor of Jewish Religious and Intellectual History, Universit\u00e4t Potsdam, the founding director of the Jewish Activism Summer School (Berlin), and the founder of the Green Sabbath Project - see www.greensabbathproject.net. He has worked as a musician, artist, home renovator, environmental activist, commercial fisherman, elevator operator, and professor of history and religion.","short_description":"Jonathan Schorsch is professor of Jewish Religious and Intellectual History, Universit\u00e4t Potsdam, the founding director of the Jewish Activism Summer School (Berlin), and the founder of the Green Sabbath Project - see www.greensabbathproject.net.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":70279,"alt":"","title":"jonathan schorsch","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","width":358,"height":338,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch-300x283.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":283,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","medium_large-width":358,"medium_large-height":338,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","large-width":358,"large-height":338,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","1536x1536-width":358,"1536x1536-height":338,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","2048x2048-width":358,"2048x2048-height":338,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","post_full_size-width":358,"post_full_size-height":338,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jonathan-schorsch.jpg","home_baner-width":358,"home_baner-height":338}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"417","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Nothing may be one of the best things you can do. One day every week. Do nothing.","post_main_content_content":" If you do not obey My command to hallow the sabbath day\u2026 then I will set fire to the fortresses of Jerusalem and it shall not be extinguished (17:27).<\/span><\/p>\r\n It was once religion which told us that we are all sinners\u2026 It is now the ecology of our planet which pronounces us all to be sinners, because of the excessive exploits of human inventiveness. It was once religion which threatened us with a last judgment at the end of days. It is now our tortured planet which predicts the arrival of such a day without any heavenly intervention. -Hans Jonas<\/span><\/p>\r\n Various benefits of the sabbath have been highlighted by many thinkers down to our own times: its sacred nature, communing with the divine, prioritizing of what is truly important, training in self-restraint, curtailing of desire, revival of family togetherness, cultivation of self-sufficiency, restoration of personal energy, psychological cushioning in the face of taxing work-life, temporary decrease in environmental harm, the intentional interruption of material accumulation, and so on. Even the most secular individuals increasingly appreciate these insightful and urgently relevant understandings of the beauties and benefits of the sabbath. We see more and more calls for \u201csabbaths\u201d from our screen-laden devices, cities implementing car-free days and the like.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The rabbinic model not only provides a well thought-out framework for making sabbath truly ecological, it was the original such model: a system for coping with and providing spiritual and cognitive fortitude against what for the rabbis was already then the Anthropocene Era, a world altered by human activity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Today, sabbath observers might well consider committing not to build, operate or work in factories, do business, farm, produce clothes at home, drive cars, fly, use engines of any kind, spend money, hunt, etc. People might avoid using electricity. Cooking could be done in advance or one suffices with room-temperature food. Unplugged, with our distractions eliminated, Shabbat can serve us as a day for taking a walk, playing with our kids, reading on our own or reading out loud, conversing with friends or singing, and regenerating energy for fighting for justice. Green sabbaths can become a day to celebrate through local community activities without producing carbon emissions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Our sabbath days must become a time of active avoidance of environmental vandalism, a time for congregational and individual reflection on how we are undoing creation. Green Sabbaths can digest anew the biblical prophets\u2019 warnings against the corruption of the rich and powerful, the oppression of the poor and the self-centered pursuit of short-sighted pleasures, understanding how relevant such warnings are to the ecological devastation wrought by hypercapitalism. Sabbath properly practiced offers a weekly interruption of the suicidal econometric fantasy of infinite growth, a weekly divestment from fossil fuels, a weekly investment in local community.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Excerpted from Observing Sabbath in the Anthropocene Era<\/em>.\u00a0<\/span>See his<\/span> The Sabbath in an Era of Climate Change<\/span><\/a> in Tablet, and his project website -\u00a0www.greensabbathproject.net.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70241,"alt":"","title":"Jer17-nowork","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","width":300,"height":286,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork-300x286.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":286,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":286,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":286,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":286,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":286,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":286,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":286}},"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":"Is there nothing you can do about the environment?","tile_main_caption":"A Sabbath Of The World","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Nothing may be one of the best things you can do. One day every week. Do nothing.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70241,"alt":"","title":"Jer17-nowork","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","width":300,"height":286,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork-300x286.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":286,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":286,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":286,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":286,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":286,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":286,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer17-nowork.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":286}},"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":"17","chapter_main_number":"417","date":"20270405","wall_id":"417"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"360","name":"Nature\/Environment","old_id":"760"},{"term_id":"378","name":"Shabbat","old_id":"778"},{"term_id":"706","name":"Labor","old_id":"1106"}]},{"order":8,"id":"70257","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Withstanding The Droughts To Come ","post_title":"Withstanding The Droughts To Come","slug":"withstanding-the-droughts-to-come","old_id":"70257","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"417","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And they will come. Be like a tree planted by the waters, whose leaves are ever fresh","post_main_content_content":" The faith of Israel doesn\u2019t promise that bad times won\u2019t come. It doesn\u2019t even promise us to be exempt from the fear, suffering, and sorrow such catastrophes bring in their wake. It just assures us that we will gain access to inner strength, deeper resilience, and the capacity to offer strength and succor to each other to get through our struggles.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Some can\u2019t internalize that complexity. They confuse religion with magic, expecting a sufficiently fervent faith to guarantee only smooth sailing ahead. If only we check our mezuzahs and wrap our tefillin tightly enough, then no bad things can possibly hurt us. Jewish history is filled with purveyors of such naive and dangerous sentiments, and we lost not one but two Temples despite the false assurances of those who clung to this profound distortion of religion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Jeremiah weighs in with an image of astounding beauty and relevance. It is not, he says, that the challenges and assaults won\u2019t come. But when they do (and they inevitably will) Torah will ground you and make it possible to find meaning and purpose even as the world hurls its worst.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Blessed is one who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord alone. Such a one shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream: it does not sense the coming of heat, its leaves are ever fresh; it has no care in a year of drought, it does not cease to yield fruit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Notice that Jeremiah recognizes that the days of blazing heat will come. There will be droughts. Religion doesn\u2019t avoid those difficulties.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But religion, rightly understood, changes our attitude, thereby throwing a lifeline. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t sense\u201d the heat that swelters, \u201cit has no care\u201d for the desiccating drought. Its rootedness in meaning, wisdom, and holiness allow it to retain its focus, to act with purpose even in such trying times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n And so too must we. Rooted in Torah, grounded in community, we too possess the wherewithal to shelter, to shade, and to nurture.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70258,"alt":"","title":"jer17-fresh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh.jpg","width":1920,"height":1044,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh-300x163.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":163,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh-768x418.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":418,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh-1024x557.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":557,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":835,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1044,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh-1200x653.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":653,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-fresh-772x420.jpg","home_baner-width":772,"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":"Withstanding The Droughts To Come","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And they will come. 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Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"417","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Many labors are prohibited - why specify this one?","post_main_content_content":" God is prepared to give His people one final chance for redemption, and the condition is this:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Guard yourselves for your own sake against carrying burdens on the sabbath day, and bringing them through the gates of Jerusalem. Nor shall you carry out burdens from your houses on the sabbath day, or do any work, but you shall hallow the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers (17:21-22).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The latter part of this commandment, to refrain from work and sanctify the Sabbath surely includes the act of carrying burdens in and out of the gates of Jerusalem. So why is it necessary to specifically single out this particular act from all other laws of Sabbath? One would think that \u201csanctify the Sabbath\u201d as a whole would be more redemptive in nature than not carrying burdens. While we cannot put any of God\u2019s commandments into a hierarchy of importance, one is left to wonder about the placement and timing of this one.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In mentioning the sanctification of the Sabbath, Radak explains that Sabbath observance, in its entirety, is an expression of one\u2019s faith in God \u2013 the very thing that the people were lacking at that time. Alshich comments that by sanctifying the Sabbath we raise our general level of spirituality such that it will spill over into influencing our actions during the rest of the week. But neither of these explains the specific call to refrain from carrying.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir of OU Torah proposes a possible explanation. The prohibition for carrying is about moving something between private and public domains. In our private domain we have the ability to shape our environment, both physically and spiritually. It is within our capacity to invite the Divine Presence into our homes. By contrast, the public domain, which we share with others, is not an environment we have full control over. In our homes we decide what we wish to keep \u2013 that which enhances our physical and spiritual well-being, and what we wish to discard because it is detrimental. But the danger exists, argues Rabbi Meir, that although we may find something of value in the street and bring it home to enrich our lives, we may also find something harmful in a God-forsaken public place, and come to internalize it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rather than being isolationist, this directive for sanctifying the Sabbath - the day of heightened spirituality that carries us through the rest of the week \u2013 may be symbolic of taking extra care to protect what is good and reject what is bad.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image:\u00a0 Vincent Van Gogh,\u00a0 Women carrying sacks - the bearers of the burden, 1881, Brussels \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70252,"alt":"","title":"jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden.jpg","width":1280,"height":978,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden-300x229.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":229,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden-768x587.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":587,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden-1024x782.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":782,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":978,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":978,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden-1200x917.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":917,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer17-women-carrying-sacks-the-bearers-of-the-burden-550x420.jpg","home_baner-width":550,"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":"Not Carrying Burdens On The Sabbath Day","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Many labors are prohibited - 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They are writing their dissertation on metaphors of violent speech in Psalms. They currently accompany others on their spiritual journeys through their work as a Jewish spiritual director. They hold degrees from Duke University (BS), Princeton Theological Seminary (M Div), Hebrew University (MA), and JTS (M Phil). ","short_description":"Maor Greene is a rabbinical student and doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at Jewish Theological Seminary.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":66418,"alt":"","title":"maor greene","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","width":240,"height":240,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":240,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","medium_large-width":240,"medium_large-height":240,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","large-width":240,"large-height":240,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","1536x1536-width":240,"1536x1536-height":240,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","2048x2048-width":240,"2048x2048-height":240,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","post_full_size-width":240,"post_full_size-height":240,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","home_baner-width":240,"home_baner-height":240}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In fact - not facing harsh realities can make them worse...\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Most of us like to believe that we have a firm grip on reality. However, usually we have difficulty facing hard truths. These truths threaten the image we have of ourselves and our expectations of how the world should work. Rather than face reality, we often choose to be in denial, lashing out at those who are trying to help us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n We see this dynamic played out in Jeremiah Chapter 18. In the first half of the chapter (verses 1-17), we discover that if the people repent, then God will change God\u2019s mind about the decree against Judah, allowing them to avoid complete destruction. However, the people choose not to repent. Instead, they decide to plot against Jeremiah, God\u2019s messenger.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In verse 18 they say, \u201cCome let us devise a plot against Jeremiah\u2014for instruction shall not fail from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor oracle from the prophet. Come let us strike him with the tongue, and we shall no longer have to listen to all of those words of his.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The people are fed up with Jeremiah and what Jeremiah is telling them. They are not upset because they think he is lying, but rather because they are afraid that what Jeremiah is saying is true. Just like the teaching of priests and counsel from the wise, they believe an oracle from the prophet Jeremiah will not fail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Unfortunately, the people seem to have their sense of causality backwards. Do they think that by killing Jeremiah God\u2019s judgements against them won\u2019t happen? Apparently so.<\/span><\/p>\r\n It seems nonsensical that the people could believe this and yet how many times do we find ourselves trying to silence others when they are simply trying to tell us an uncomfortable truth? Do we think that if we can manage to silence others that their words will be any less true?<\/span><\/p>\r\n This ill-considered strategy of the people backfires spectacularly. In the next verses (19-23), Jeremiah reminds God that he pleaded (unsuccessfully) for God\u2019s wrath to be averted from these people. However, because they are plotting to kill him, he now prays for their destruction. Instead of averting disaster, the people have made their situation far worse.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Life can be hard enough as it is. Let\u2019s try not to hurt or alienate those people who are trying to save us by telling us truths we would rather not hear.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70303,"alt":"","title":"Jer18-Don't_Shoot_the_Messenger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","width":256,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":256,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","medium_large-width":256,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","large-width":256,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","1536x1536-width":256,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","2048x2048-width":256,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","post_full_size-width":256,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","home_baner-width":256,"home_baner-height":256}},"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":"Killing The Messenger Won\u2019t Save You From The Truth\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In fact - not facing harsh realities can make them worse...\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70303,"alt":"","title":"Jer18-Don't_Shoot_the_Messenger","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","width":256,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":256,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","medium_large-width":256,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","large-width":256,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","1536x1536-width":256,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","2048x2048-width":256,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","post_full_size-width":256,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Dont_Shoot_the_Messenger.png","home_baner-width":256,"home_baner-height":256}},"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":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"463","name":"Truth","old_id":"863"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"598","name":"Israelites","old_id":"998"}]},{"order":11,"id":"70298","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Potter Poetry: A Metaphor With Multiple Messages ","post_title":"Potter Poetry: A Metaphor With Multiple Messages","slug":"potter-poetry-a-metaphor-with-multiple-messages","old_id":"70298","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":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The bottom line? Stay flexible, and open to change\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" One\u2019s appreciation of a metaphor can be vastly different depending on how one understands the elements of the metaphor and their respective analogues in real life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n When God sends Jeremiah to visit a potter and observe his work, we might be inspired by the way the potter fixes his mistakes. \u201cAnd if the vessel he was making was spoiled, as happens to clay in the potter\u2019s hands, he would make it into another vessel, such as the potter saw fit to make\u201d (18:4). What a beautiful metaphor! There are endless possibilities in a lump of clay, and we might think when reading this verse of the endless possibilities in a human life. We might think of the human capacity to pick ourselves up when something goes wrong, to realize all is not lost and to redirect our efforts towards a new goal \u2013 whatever we see fit \u2013 and shape our lives to meet that goal. It\u2019s a message of hope and empowerment\u2026 or is it?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Then the word of the LORD came to me: O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this potter?\u2014says the LORD. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel! (ibid. 5-6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Shoot. We\u2019re not the potter; God is. The prophecy isn\u2019t about our ability to repurpose and reshape what goes wrong in our lives; we <\/span>are<\/b> what goes wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\n At least, Jeremiah\u2019s audience at the time had gone wrong \u2013 and as every prophecy included in the Bible is presumed to contain an eternal message (Megillah 14a), his audience today might internalize the risk of similarly going wrong and finding ourselves reshaped by powers beyond our control.<\/span><\/p>\r\n For the potter in the prophecy has the power, and the people are on the brink of being reshaped \u2013 or worse.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In the next chapter, God has the prophet obtain a potter\u2019s jug and smash it, symbolizing His plans to \u201csmash this people and this city, as one smashes a potter\u2019s vessel, which can never be mended\u201d (19:11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Yikes. That\u2019s worse.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But perhaps there is still a sense here of hope and empowerment. After all, it\u2019s only once the clay has hardened into a misshapen jug that it has to worry about being shattered. As long as it remains soft, it can\u2019t be broken; only changed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Maybe the eternal message is the importance of remaining flexible and open to change, like clay in the potter\u2019s hands.<\/span><\/p>\r\n And if we can maintain our potential to be reshaped without breaking \u2013 perhaps we can indeed reshape ourselves as called for, if only we are able to recognize the need before we\u2019ve hardened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70300,"alt":"","title":"jer18-gumby2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","width":235,"height":340,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2-207x300.jpg","medium-width":207,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","medium_large-width":235,"medium_large-height":340,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","large-width":235,"large-height":340,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","1536x1536-width":235,"1536x1536-height":340,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","2048x2048-width":235,"2048x2048-height":340,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","post_full_size-width":235,"post_full_size-height":340,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","home_baner-width":235,"home_baner-height":340}},"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 Potter and the Clay - III","tile_main_caption":"Potter Poetry: A Metaphor With Multiple Messages","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The bottom line? Stay flexible, and open to change","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70300,"alt":"","title":"jer18-gumby2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","width":235,"height":340,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2-207x300.jpg","medium-width":207,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","medium_large-width":235,"medium_large-height":340,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","large-width":235,"large-height":340,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","1536x1536-width":235,"1536x1536-height":340,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","2048x2048-width":235,"2048x2048-height":340,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","post_full_size-width":235,"post_full_size-height":340,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-gumby2.jpg","home_baner-width":235,"home_baner-height":340}},"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":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"},{"term_id":"823","name":"Flexibility","old_id":"1223"}]},{"order":12,"id":"70295","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"The Ways We Are Like Clay ","post_title":"The Ways We Are Like Clay","slug":"the-ways-we-are-like-clay","old_id":"70295","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":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In the hands of The Potter\r\n","post_main_content_content":" In our chapter, Jeremiah is told by God to go to the house of the potter, to see how he forms clay vessels. The point of this story is that: \u201cJust like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel!\u201d (18:6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Midrash Genesis Rabbah 72:6 applies this verse to what Leah says after she gives birth to her sixth son, Zebulun: \u201cGod has given me a choice gift; this time my husband will exalt me (yizbeleni<\/em>, \u2018fertilize me\u2019 in rabbinic Hebrew), for I have borne him six sons\u201d (Genesis 30:20). This curious phrase is interpreted to teach that the more you fertilize (mezabbel<\/em>) a field, the more fruit it produces (i.e. Leah implies that the more children I bear for Jacob, the more he will love me). Then, Leah \u201cbore him a daughter, and named her Dinah\u201d (Genesis 30:21). This illustrates that even when a woman is about to give birth, God can change the sex of the fetus, as it is written: \u201cJust like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel!\u201d (Jeremiah 18:6). For, Dinah was initially conceived as a male, but at the moment of birth, God turned her into a female.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Midrash Exodus Rabbah 46:4 asks: What is the meaning of \u201cBut, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, and You are the Potter. We are all the work of Your hands\u201d (Isaiah 64:7). Israel said: Lord of the Universe! You have caused it to be written of us: \u201cJust like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel!\u201d For this reason, do not abandon us though we sin, for we are but the clay and You are our potter. See now that if the potter makes a vessel and leaves in it a pebble, when it comes out of the furnace it will leak from the hole left by the pebble and lose whatever liquid is in it. Now, who caused the jar to leak and thus to lose its liquid? The potter who left the pebble in the vessel. Similarly, Israel pleads before God: You created in us an Evil Inclination from our youth, for it says, \u201cthe inclination of man\u2019s mind is evil from his youth\u201d (Genesis 8:21) and it is that which causes us now to sin\u2026 Remove it from us, we pray, in order that we may perform Your will. God replies: I will do this in the Time to Come.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Jeremiah\u2019s parable of clay in the hand of the potter is the Scriptural basis for the well-known medieval piyyut<\/em> sung on Yom Kippur: \u201cLike clay in the hand of the potter, he expands it at will and contracts it at will. So are we in Your hand, O Preserver of kindness. Therefore, look to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70296,"alt":"","title":"jer18-potter relief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"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":"The Potter and the Clay - II","tile_main_caption":"The Ways We Are Like Clay","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the hands of The Potter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70296,"alt":"","title":"jer18-potter relief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-potter-relief-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"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":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"}]},{"order":13,"id":"70362","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Child Sacrifice? Never Crossed God\u2019s Mind! ","post_title":"Child Sacrifice? Never Crossed God\u2019s Mind!","slug":"child-sacrifice-never-crossed-gods-mind","old_id":"70362","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":"419","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Abraham\u2019s grave misinterpretation?\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" One verse in this chapter is so significant that it is worth taking a brief recess from Shadal in order to examine the implications of its talmudic interpretation. Jeremiah was instructed to inveigh against the cult of child sacrifice that was situated on a site called Tophet in the Valley of Ben-hinnom (6) in proximity to the Temple. <\/span><\/p>\r\n They have built shrines to Baal, to put their children to the fire as burnt offerings to Baal\u2014which I never commanded, never decreed, and which never came to My mind (5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Talmud assigned each of the three \u201cnever\u201d clauses to a specific instance featuring a child sacrifice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u201c\u2018<\/span>I never commanded<\/span><\/em>\u2019\u2014refers to the son of Mesha, King of Moab, of whom it states: \u2018He took his eldest son who would have succeeded him and raised him as a pyre offering.\u2019 \u2018<\/span>I never decreed<\/span><\/em>\u2019\u2014refers to Jephthah [who \u201csacrificed\u201d his daughter]. \u2018<\/span>It never came to my mind<\/span><\/em>\u2019\u2014 refers to Isaac son of Abraham\u201d (Ta'anit 4a).<\/span><\/p>\r\n God, then, took equal exception to Mesha\u2019s actual sacrifice of his son (2 Kings 3), Jephthah\u2019s treatment of his daughter (Judges 11, see <\/span>our comments there<\/span><\/a>), and Abraham\u2019s preparation to slay Isaac (the Akedah). But was God not the one who instructed Abraham: \u201cTake \u2026 Isaac and take him up there for an <\/span>olah<\/span><\/em> on a mountain I will indicate to you\u201d (Genesis 22:2)?<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\t