{"id":70114,"date":"2018-07-09T17:46:45","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-418\/"},"modified":"2023-09-14T14:18:11","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T11:18:11","slug":"wall-418","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-418\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Jeremiah-18"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"418","date":"20270406","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"69625","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 18 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 18","slug":"jps-audio-bible-jeremiah-chapter-18","old_id":"69625","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"418","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Jeremiah Chapter 18","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-753876298\/jps_audio_bible_jeremiah_chapter_18","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"117898","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Harried Potter ","post_title":"Harried Potter","slug":"harried-potter","old_id":"117898","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But the potter does not get angry at the clay\u2019s nature\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 18, God instructs Jeremiah to go to his local pottery ware store and watch the potter make a vessel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And 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 (verse 4).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The major message is that God has the power to destroy and remake the people if they become damaged. That is the continuing message of the chapter:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

O House of Israel, can I not deal with you like this potter?\u2014says GOD. Just like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands, O House of Israel! (verse 6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God created the people, and God can remake them. This last phrase is the inspiration for one of the <\/span>piyyutim<\/span><\/i> on the High Holidays:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like clay in the hands of the potter, if he wills, he can expand it, if he wills, he can contract it; so too are we in Your hand, Heed the covenant and not the accuser!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The potter metaphor also elicits the vision of Isaiah decades earlier:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How perverse of you! Should the potter be accounted as the clay?<\/span> Should what is made say of its Maker, \u2018He did not make me,\u2019 And what is formed say of Him who formed it, \u2018He did not understand\u2019? (Isaiah 29:19).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God's message there, as here, is that the people need to remember who created them, and to treat their Creator in a way that is both worthy of God\u2019s stature and grateful for God\u2019s role as their Creator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is another hidden message in this introductory verse. The secondary message is Jeremiah\u2019s own additional observation \u201cas happens to clay in the potter\u2019s hands.\u201d The prophet reminds God that clay often gets damaged during the potting process. God may have the power to destroy and control, but God needs to remember that the people, just like the clay, are not perfect. They too are prone to be defective and damaged. The potter does not get angry at the clay\u2019s nature, so God should not get angry at Israel\u2019s nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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the many posts today that explore this rich metaphor that has influenced Jewish liturgy over the ages","post_main_content_content":"

Following is the the medieval piyyut that is based on the metaphor in today's chapter. It is interesting to compare the use the poet makes of the image, with the original context in Jeremiah 18:1-10.<\/p>\r\n

Like the clay in the hand of the potter-
\r\nhe expands it at will and contracts it at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand, O Preserver of kindness,
\r\nlook at the covenant and ignore the Accuser.
\r\n
\r\nLike the stone in the hand of the cutter-
\r\nhe grasps it at will and smashes it at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand, O Source of life and death,
\r\nlook to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.
\r\n
\r\nLike the ax-head in the hand of the blacksmith-
\r\nhe forges it at will and removes it at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand,
\r\nO Supporter of poor and destitute,
\r\nlook at the covenant and ignore the Accuser.
\r\n
\r\nLike the anchor in the hand of the sailor-
\r\nhe holds it at will and casts it at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand,
\r\nO good and forgiving God,
\r\nlook to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.
\r\n
\r\nLike the glass in the hand of the blower-
\r\nhe shapes it at will and dissolves it at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand,
\r\nO Forgiver of willful sins and errors,
\r\nlook to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.
\r\n
\r\nLike the curtain in the hand of the embroiderer-
\r\nhe makes it even at will and makes it uneven at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand,
\r\nO jealous and vengeful God,
\r\nlook to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.
\r\n
\r\nLike the silver in the hands of the silversmith-
\r\nhe adulterates it at will and purifies it at will-
\r\nso are we in Your hand,
\r\nO Creator of cure for disease,
\r\nlook to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.<\/p>\r\n

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Mud To Masterpiece ","post_title":"From Mud To Masterpiece","slug":"from-mud-to-masterpiece","old_id":"70292","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37561,"post_title":"Deena Cowans","slug":"deena-cowans","old_id":"37561","first_name":"Deena ","last_name":"Cowans","description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS and alumnus of the Master's in Public Administration- Development Practice at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). \r\nDeena is the Director of Education (Rosh Chinuch) at Camp Ramah in the Rockies since January 2016, and was the Youth and Family Programs at Congregation Ansche Chesed in 2016-2017.","short_description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS, and the Director of Education at Camp Ramah in the Rockies","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37562,"alt":"","title":"deena 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flip the script on the potter metaphor\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

As Jews gather on the eve of Yom Kippur, preparing at Kol Nidre for the spiritual journey of the Day of Atonement, we sing a piyyut<\/em>, a liturgical poem, whose inspiration and opening line comes from Jeremiah. \u201cLike clay in the hands of the potter, so too are we in front of God\u201d, ready to be molded and reshaped at God\u2019s will. The rest of the prayer compares humanity to other materials that are manipulated by a master artisan, who turns their unattractive and useless original form into functional works of beauty, such as glass and silver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this chapter of Jeremiah, the metaphor does not turn positive for the Israelites. There are no promises of beautiful vessels to hold precious liquids. Like clay at a potter\u2019s studio that is discarded or reworked beyond recognition, God promises in this chapter to destroy the Israelites. Only if the people repent will they not be smashed like an unwanted jug. Jeremiah is tasked with bringing this horrific message to the Israelites, and he correctly anticipates that they will not enjoy hearing it. Unsurprisingly, the Israelites do not respond to the threat from God that they are disposable like clay, and they do not change their behavior.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the prayer at Kol Nidre flips the script. Where the metaphor in Jeremiah comes to teach the Israelites about their fragile state and how close they are to destruction, the metaphor in the piyyut<\/em> turns towards re-imagination. \u201cUse us for good,\u201d the piyyut<\/em> proclaims to God. \u201cWe submit ourselves as raw material, and call upon You to remember our relationship and help us become something better than we are.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When faced with our own fragility, we can give up like the Israelites in the time of Jeremiah and, or we can lean in to this vulnerability, and seek to be malleable. Yom Kippur is the day of judgement, but it is also the day of atonement. God may decide our fate, but we are not unchangeable in the face of our circumstances. Rather, we accept that we always can improve. It will take patience and perhaps it will be uncomfortable, but the best outcome we can hope for is to live our lives like a piece of clay in the hands of the master potter, investing the time and energy to go from a piece of mud to a vessel for beauty.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70293,"alt":"","title":"Jer18-mud","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Potter and the Clay - I","tile_main_caption":"From Mud To Masterpiece","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We flip the script on the potter metaphor","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70293,"alt":"","title":"Jer18-mud","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-mud-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"437","name":"Prayer","old_id":"837"},{"term_id":"760","name":"Yom Kippur","old_id":"1160"}]},{"order":5,"id":"70295","color":"#e2f4fa","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":6,"id":"70298","color":"#e2f4fa","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":7,"id":"70286","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Pottery Masterpiece Class\u00a0 ","post_title":"A Pottery Masterpiece Class\u00a0","slug":"a-pottery-masterpiece-class","old_id":"70286","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64462,"post_title":"Analia Bortz","slug":"analia-bortz","old_id":"64462","first_name":"Analia ","last_name":"Bortz ","description":"Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz is a medical doctor with postdoctoral studies in Bioethics. She is the first female Latin American rabbi, and is a AJWS Global Justice Fellow in 2019-2020 She and her husband Rabbi Mario Karpuj founded Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia. She is the author of The Voice of Silence: A Rabbi's Journey into a Trappist Monastery and Other Contemplation (2017)","short_description":"Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz is a medical doctor and with her husband Rabbi Mario Karpuj founded Congregation Or Hadash in Sandy Springs, Georgia. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64463,"alt":"","title":"analia bortz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","width":225,"height":225,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","medium_large-width":225,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","large-width":225,"large-height":225,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","1536x1536-width":225,"1536x1536-height":225,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","2048x2048-width":225,"2048x2048-height":225,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","post_full_size-width":225,"post_full_size-height":225,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/analia-bortz.jpg","home_baner-width":225,"home_baner-height":225}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We are these pieces of clay, facing the endless opportunities of creation and re-creation\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Like the clay in the hand of the potter<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>He expands it at will and contracts it at will<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>So are we in Your hand, O Preserver of kindness.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Look to the covenant and ignore the Accuser.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

This piyyut<\/em>, medieval poetic composition, has its foundation on Jeremiah 18:6. The prophet cries: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

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

Our sages observed this frightening verse and reflected on Israel as they said: Master of the world, this is what you said to us: \"As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in mine, O house of Israel.\" This is why, even though we are sinners and fill You with anger and exasperation, don't leave us, because we are the material and You are our Maker. If this Maker created a jar, and left a tiny stone in it, when it came out of the oven, it would drip and leak. But who caused it to leak and lose its contents? You, the Potter who made it!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why pottery? Is it because this art reflects the uniqueness of each product or is it because the crevices of imperfection in the porous material are what develops the essence of beauty in each piece?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As one of the <\/span>oldest human inventions<\/span><\/a>, pottery has been around since before the Neolithic period, with objects dating as far back to 29,000 BCE. Pottery has been preserved throughout history witnessing emerging civilizations and downfalls of nations and cultures.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Pottery is fragile. Pottery reflects in this poem the vulnerability of life. But pottery also shows resilience. In its process of creation, pottery is fired at very high temperatures in order to become hard, evoking human beings\u2019 spirits that through the passage of difficult times acquire strength to keep moving on.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We are these pieces of clay, unformed when we are born, facing the endless opportunities of creation and re-creation in the vast world of chances. We are expecting God to crystallize the words of Jeremiah \u201cI may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be built and planted\u201d (Jer. 18:9)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As you watch the walls of the Temple fall, dear Prophet Jeremiah, I offer you my words of consolation:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Powdering crevices of impermanence<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Spilled blood and words of intolerance<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Have flooded the streets of your city<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Abandoning the Potter, Master of Beriah.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But we have come back as masters of Yetzirah<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Rebirthed with renewed fresh alveoli of opportunities<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To breath, to live, to rebuild, to heal, to plant, to harvest.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To recreate the Potter\u2019s creation.<\/span><\/em><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70287,"alt":"","title":"jer18-pots","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-1024x575.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":575,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":863,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1079,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-1200x674.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":674,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Potter and the Clay - IV","tile_main_caption":"A Pottery Masterpiece Class\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We are these pieces of clay, facing the endless opportunities of creation and re-creation\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70287,"alt":"","title":"jer18-pots","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-1024x575.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":575,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":863,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1079,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-1200x674.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":674,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer18-pots-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"558","name":"Creation","old_id":"958"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"}]},{"order":8,"id":"70305","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Alterability of Fate ","post_title":"The Alterability Of Fate","slug":"the-alterability-of-fate","old_id":"70305","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":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And a prophetic message of both destroying and building\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In our chapter, God instructs Jeremiah to go to the potter\u2019s workshop where he would receive a prophecy. He sees the potter take a broken vessel and refashion it, whereupon God informs him that He can do the same to Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shadal* offered the following insight into the parable and its prophetic meaning:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The meaning of the parable is that the potter intends to fashion a specific utensil from the clay; but if that utensil breaks in the process, then he will make out of the [same] clay a different vessel from what he intended, according to whatever may occur to him at that moment. So does God decree good for the [Jewish] nation. If it repents from its [wicked] ways and is transformed from what it was, then God will alter His [evil] decree and the fate of the nation will be completely changed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The particularly poignant imagery of the potter and his clay was incorporated into an anonymous Ashkenazic piyyut<\/em> (liturgical poem) that is featured in the Yom Kippur eve service, where it is accompanied by similar examples of craftsmen and their wares such as silversmiths, woodworkers, and glaziers. Its lead verse (and presumed title) is taken directly from v. 6: \u201cLike clay in the hands of the potter\u201d (<\/span>kachomer beyad hayotzer<\/span><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verbs used in the prophecy of this chapter are of two kinds: Both the negative terms\u2014uprooted, pulled down, and destroyed (7)\u2014and the positive\u2014to build and plant (9)\u2014are the very ones that God used in 1:10 to characterize Jeremiah\u2019s incipient mission. These two dimensions, the destructive and the constructive, epitomize his prophetic career.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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

Image: David Roberts: The Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem (detail), 1850 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70307,"alt":"","title":"Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","width":797,"height":329,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem-300x124.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":124,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem-768x317.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":317,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","large-width":797,"large-height":329,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","1536x1536-width":797,"1536x1536-height":329,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","2048x2048-width":797,"2048x2048-height":329,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","post_full_size-width":797,"post_full_size-height":329,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","home_baner-width":797,"home_baner-height":329}},"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 - V","tile_main_caption":"The Alterability Of Fate","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And a prophetic message of both destroying and building","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70307,"alt":"","title":"Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","width":797,"height":329,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem-300x124.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":124,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem-768x317.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":317,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","large-width":797,"large-height":329,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","1536x1536-width":797,"1536x1536-height":329,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","2048x2048-width":797,"2048x2048-height":329,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","post_full_size-width":797,"post_full_size-height":329,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Jer18-Roberts_Siege_and_Destruction_of_Jerusalem.jpg","home_baner-width":797,"home_baner-height":329}},"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":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"}]},{"order":9,"id":"70263","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"An Encouraging Encounter At The Pottery Workshop ","post_title":"An Encouraging Encounter At The Pottery Workshop","slug":"an-encouraging-encounter-at-the-pottery-workshop","old_id":"70263","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38552,"post_title":"Benny Lau","slug":"benny-lau","old_id":"38552","first_name":"Benny","last_name":"Lau ","description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai. 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Jeremiah is vacillating between the king's message of hope and his own knowledge that even reform will not save Jerusalem. He waits for God to guide him through this maze of uncertainty, and ultimately he receives a prophetic vision. Chapter 18 describes Jeremiah's visit to a potter's workshop. The opening verses of the chapter suggest that God has bidden him to go to the workshop after his pleas to hear the word of the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The prophet has been seeking God's word in an effort to resolve the conflict burning within him. How can he live with the knowledge that God will uproot and tear down, obliterate and destroy, alongside the hope of spiritual renewal, the ingathering of exiles, and the promise of security in the land? In the workshop, Jeremiah meets the potter sitting at his wheel and creating vessels, constantly destroying his handiwork in order to form a vessel he considers superior. God guides Jeremiah through an understanding of his first vision, which indeed foretold destruction and eventual flourishing. However, despite Huldah's fatalistic diagnosis, in Jeremiah's world there is room for correction and healing. Hopelessness and despair have seized the people in view of the enormity of their sin. Even those who hear the king reading from the newly discovered Torah scroll do not believe in the power of repentance:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Now, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: \"Thus said the Lord: I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you, so let each man turn from his evil way, and reform your ways and actions. But they will say: \u2018It is hopeless; we will follow our own notions,\u2019 and each man will act on the wickedness of his stubborn heart\u201d (18:11-12).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The people are convinced that the king's campaign will not alter the harsh decrees, and that there is no way to survive the wrath of God. As a result, a familiar attitude coalesces: \"Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.\" Let us at least enjoy life while it lasts. Jeremiah's prophetic encounter at the pottery workshop inspires him to support the king's program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>. Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cThe Destruction May Yet Be Averted\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Potter and the Clay - VI","tile_main_caption":"An Encouraging Encounter At The Pottery Workshop","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But hopelessness and despair have seized the people","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"451","name":"Hope","old_id":"851"},{"term_id":"571","name":"Repentance","old_id":"971"}]},{"order":10,"id":"117893","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah18 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah18","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-jeremiah18","old_id":"117893","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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18:14 \u201cDoes the snow of Lebanon leave the rock of the highland field? Do foreign waters dry up, the cold flowing streams?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Do foreign waters dry up, \/ the cold flowing streams<\/span><\/em>: This line has engendered conflicting interpretations. The verb that appears in the received text, <\/span>yinatshu<\/span><\/em>, \u201cbe smashed,\u201d is scarcely appropriate for water and this translation accepts a widely used emendation, <\/span>yinashtu<\/span><\/em>, which involves merely a reversal of two consonants. The poet is evidently still thinking of Lebanon: its cold mountain streams never dry up, just as the snow on these slopes never melts from the rocks. One detects a polemic thrust in the idea that these foreign waters continue to flow faithfully whereas Israel has betrayed its God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Foreign Waters Continue to Flow","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Whereas Israel has betrayed","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"435","name":"Water","old_id":"835"}]},{"order":12,"id":"70302","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Killing The Messenger Won\u2019t Save You From The Truth\u00a0 ","post_title":"Killing The Messenger Won\u2019t Save You From The Truth\u00a0","slug":"killing-the-messenger-wont-save-you-from-the-truth","old_id":"70302","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":66417,"post_title":"Maor Greene","slug":"maor-greene","old_id":"66417","first_name":"Maor ","last_name":"Greene ","description":"Maor Greene is a rabbinical student and doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at Jewish Theological Seminary. They are writing their dissertation on metaphors of violent speech in Psalms. They currently accompany others on their spiritual journeys through their work as a Jewish spiritual director. They hold degrees from Duke University (BS), Princeton Theological Seminary (M Div), Hebrew University (MA), and JTS (M Phil). ","short_description":"Maor Greene is a rabbinical student and doctoral student in Hebrew Bible at Jewish Theological Seminary.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":66418,"alt":"","title":"maor greene","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","width":240,"height":240,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":240,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","medium_large-width":240,"medium_large-height":240,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","large-width":240,"large-height":240,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","1536x1536-width":240,"1536x1536-height":240,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","2048x2048-width":240,"2048x2048-height":240,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","post_full_size-width":240,"post_full_size-height":240,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/maor-greene.jpg","home_baner-width":240,"home_baner-height":240}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"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":13,"id":"70289","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Of False Prophets And Unfulfilled Prophecies ","post_title":"Of False Prophets And Unfulfilled Prophecies","slug":"of-false-prophets-and-unfulfilled-prophecies","old_id":"70289","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":70197,"post_title":"Shmuel Phillips","slug":"shmuel-phillips","old_id":"70197","first_name":"Shmuel ","last_name":"Phillips ","description":"Shmuel Phillips holds a law degree from the University of London and is the author of Judaism Reclaimed: Philosophy and Theology in the Torah - www.JudasimReclaimed.com. He lives in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Shmuel Phillips is the author of Judaism Reclaimed: Philosophy and Theology in the Torah - www.JudasimReclaimed.com.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":70204,"alt":"","title":"Shmuel Philips","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","width":269,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips-269x300.jpg","medium-width":269,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","medium_large-width":269,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","large-width":269,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","1536x1536-width":269,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","2048x2048-width":269,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","post_full_size-width":269,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Shmuel-Philips.jpg","home_baner-width":269,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It\u2019s all in the grammar...","post_main_content_content":"

\u2026I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be \u2026destroyed; but if that nation\u2026turns back from its wickedness, I change My mind concerning the punishment I planned... At another moment, I may decree that a nation or a kingdom shall be built and planted; but if it \u2026does not obey Me, then I change My mind concerning the good I planned to bestow upon it<\/span> (verses 7-10).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The implications of these verses for the process of authenticating prophets have prompted considerable Rabbinic discussion. On the one hand, we read: \u201cIf the prophet shall speak in the name of God and that thing will not be or come about\u2026God has not spoken\u2026you shall not fear him\u201d (Deut. 18). Yet Jeremiah\u2019s words in this passage seem to undermine the veracity of this prophetic litmus test, since God is prepared to revoke a prophecy should people alter their behavior.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his introduction to the Book of <\/span>Haggai<\/span>, Malbim grapples with unfulfilled prophecies which predicted the imminent onset of a Messianic era in the early Second Temple period. Malbim cites Midrashic sources that such prophecies were not intended as definitive statements of future events, rather they were contingent upon the righteous conduct of the nation in that era. Malbim\u2019s solution appears to be borne out by Jeremiah\u2019s statement that \u201cBut if it [then] does what is evil in My eyes, disobeys My voice, then I will retract the good which I had said to bestow upon it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This approach is emphatically rejected however by Maimonides, who writes that no positive prophecy is ever withdrawn (Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah<\/em> 10:4). Maimonides argues that, were prophecy to be subject to change, this would disqualify the authentication of a prophet which is premised on the accuracy of his or her predictions. This is the case when Jeremiah condemns a putative prophet, Chananiah ben Azzur, as false on the basis of an inaccurate positive prediction (chap. 28).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Yehudah Loew (Maharal) proposes an original solution, separating prophecies into two distinct categories: promises of what will transpire should the recipients be found deserving, and definitive statements of an irrevocable divine decision. Detecting which mode of prophecy is being transmitted requires a close reading of the biblical text. A prophecy presented in the future tense signifies that the prediction is contingent upon the worthiness of those involved. This form of future-tense promise is the subject of the revocable prophecy disclosed by Jeremiah in this chapter. Other prophecies, by contrast, employ \u201cprophetic past tense\u201d, to indicate an unalterable and sealed divine decision. It is such a past-tense prophetic declaration that leads Jeremiah to impugn the credibility of Chananiah ben Azzur (\u201cI <\/span>have<\/span><\/em> broken the yoke of the king of Babylon\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This subtle grammatical distinction holds the key to explaining surprising reactions by prophets to God\u2019s word throughout the biblical texts; most notably the sudden dissipation of prior doubts exhibited by Abraham (Covenant of the Parts) and Moses (Burning Bush) once future-tense contingent promises are replaced by past-tense prophetic statements of certainty.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: John Singer Sargent: Frieze of the Prophets, c 1892, MFA-Boston \/ 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False Prophets And Unfulfilled Prophecies","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It\u2019s all in the 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\u201cJeremiah throughout the Liturgy\u201d<\/a> by Shir Yaakov Feit: Where do texts from this prophet appear in our prayers?<\/p>\r\n

\u201cRoads in the Bible\u201d<\/a> by Cameron Hamm: Tanakh texts about literal and metaphorical travel.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Jeremiah 18","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"18","chapter_main_number":"418","date":"20270406","wall_id":"418"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":16,"id":"70261","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 18 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 18","slug":"points-to-ponder-jeremiah-18","old_id":"70261","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"418","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. The riddle of Jeremiah\u2019s dedication<\/em>. When Jeremiah was dedicated as a prophet 17 chapters ago, he received his mission: \u201cSee, I appoint you this day Over nations and kingdoms: To uproot and to pull down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant\u201d (1:10). How can the same mission both destroy and build? To overthrow and to plant? Verses 7-10 in our chapter explain to Jeremiah, that this is the essence of prophecy. The future in the hands of God, is like \u201cclay in the hands of the potter.\u201d The divine decision just who He will \u201cuproot and pull down, o destroy and overthrow\u201d and who to \u201cbuild and to plant\u201d is dependent on human behavior.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Is everything reversible<\/em>? And what happens when the clay dries and becomes solid? Can then too a new vessel be formed from one that was deformed? Can we always update the future? The answer is in the next chapter.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. The looking glass<\/em>. Sometimes it helps to know what other people think, in order to realize that there is a problem. That\u2019s what the prophecy of verses 13-17 tries to do. The other nations have a hard time believing that Israel is leaving their source of life and vitality, and betraying it. It simply does not make sense.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Jeremiah - the lone voice<\/em>. It can\u2019t possibly be the case that everyone is wrong and you are write, the people say to Jeremiah. \u201cFor instruction shall not fail from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor oracle from the prophet\u201d (verse 18). But it\u2019s easy to understand them, and their choice to listen to other legitimate sources of authority. 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