{"id":70835,"date":"2018-07-09T17:46:59","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-434\/"},"modified":"2023-10-08T16:06:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-08T13:06:15","slug":"wall-434","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-434\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Jeremiah-34"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"434","date":"20270428","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"70787","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 34 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Jeremiah Chapter 34","slug":"jps-audio-bible-jeremiah-chapter-34","old_id":"70787","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":"434","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 34","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_34","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":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"118244","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"A Peaceful Death","post_title":"A Peaceful Death","slug":"a-peaceful-death","old_id":"118244","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. 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Our<\/span> chapter<\/span><\/a> predicts the death in Babylonian captivity of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah (see<\/span> 2 Kings 25:6-21)<\/span><\/a>. Jeremiah promises King Zedekiah that he will die in peace, that incense will be burned for him and that the people shall lament him (<\/span>34:5<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to Talmud Bavli<\/span> Moed Katan<\/span><\/a>, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: With regard to King Zedekiah, the<\/span> verse<\/span><\/a> states: \u201cYou will die a peaceful death; and as incense was burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn incense for you, and they will lament for you\u201d. And can such things not be inferred by an argument from the minor to the major? For, Zedekiah, king of Judah, performed only one good deed that is explicitly mentioned in the Bible, in lifting Jeremiah out of the pit before he died (see<\/span> Jer. 38:10<\/span><\/a>), he was nevertheless promised to die in peace. All the more so, should the sons of Rabbi Yishmael be rewarded by dying in peace...<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to Talmud Bavli<\/span> Avodah Zarah<\/span><\/a>, one burns items due to the death of kings as an expression of grief, and this is not subject to the prohibition of imitating the<\/span> ways of the Amorites<\/span><\/a>. For, it is stated that Jeremiah prophesied to Zedekiah king of Judah: \u201cYou will die a peaceful death; and as incense was burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn incense for you, and they will lament for you.\u201d And just as one burns items upon the death of the Israelite kings, so too one burns items upon the death of the heads of the Sanhedrin (see further, Maimonides,<\/span> Mishneh Torah Laws of Mourning<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In discussing the purpose of the<\/span> eulogy<\/span><\/a>, Talmud Bavli<\/span> Sanhedrin<\/span><\/a> refers to what Jeremiah promised Zedekiah: \u201cYou will die a peaceful death; and as incense was burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn incense for you, and they will lament for you\u201d. If you say that the purpose of the eulogy is to honor the living relatives of the deceased, what difference does it make to the deceased if he is eulogized? The Gemara answers that Jeremiah was promising Zedekiah that he should enjoy the thought that Israel shall be honored through him at his funeral just as they were honored through his ancestors at their funerals.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In discussing the greatness of peace,<\/span> Sifre Bamidbar<\/span><\/a> states that<\/span> \u201c<\/span>great is peace<\/span><\/a>,\u201d for even the dead need peace. For it is written in<\/span> Genesis 15:15<\/span><\/a>, that God promised Abraham: \"And you will come to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a ripe old age\". And similarly, Jeremiah promises Zedekiah: \u201cYou will die a peaceful death; and as incense was burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn incense for you, and they will lament for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":118245,"alt":"","title":"-6522a874a81f6--6522a874a81f8jer33-incense smoke.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/10\/6522a874a81f6-6522a874a81f8jer33-incense-smoke.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Peaceful Death","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Including incense, lamentations - 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Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Failure to grant liberty leads to the loss of liberty\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Over a half a millennium after the Israelite liberation from Egypt the Jews arrive at a nadir of moral deterioration. Jeremiah 34 relates an incident that occurred approximately in the spring of 588 BCE, as Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Realizing that something may have been amiss internally to providentially warrant such an impending catastrophe, King Zedekiah issues a proclamation to abide by the law of emancipation which apparently had been ignored by the Jewish slave-owners.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The incident is bracketed by the initial decree demanding \u201cdror\u201d (release\/liberty) for the slaves (v.9) and at the end by a punitive \u201cdror\u201d (v.17) in its metaphorical sense of a divine <\/span>release<\/span><\/i> of the Israelites to destructive forces. This indicates a measure for measure justice aimed at the evils perpetrated by the slave-owners- <\/span>You did not obey Me and proclaim release, therefore I will proclaim your release<\/span><\/i>. They will be exposed to \u201csword, pestilence, famine,\u201d and made \u201ca horror to all the kingdoms of the earth\u2019 (34:17). In other words, they will be defenseless before natural disaster at the hand of the Supreme Master, and to invasion by enemy human masters. This finely measured justice precisely mirrors the slave experience of relentless vulnerability to the capricious whims of his master.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A litany of ills follows, including the total devastation of Israel\u2019s political structures and forced exile. Refusal to liberate slaves is the cardinal sin eliciting a total loss of political sovereignty. The Jews, as a nation, suppressed individual autonomy and so they lose political autonomy. The term \u201cdror\u201d, according to a rabbinic opinion, signifies the freedom to \u201clive wherever one wishes and transport one\u2019s wares throughout the country\u201d (B. <\/span>RoshHaShanah <\/span><\/i>9b). Slavery quashes the essential constituents of individual fulfillment- mobility that traverses an entire community, ability to sustain oneself, and free market exchange. Thus, the state, an institution necessary for flourishing on a national scale, is dismantled in turn. Failure to grant <\/span>dror<\/span><\/i> leads to the loss of <\/span>dror<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The immediate revocation of emancipation after the Babylonian threat subsided reflects the dismal state to which the Israelites had sunk. The slave owners did not simply restore the status quo, but rather, according to its vocalized variant (qeri), <\/span>vayachbishum, <\/span><\/i>based on the root <\/span>to conquer\/subjugate, <\/span><\/i>intensified their oppression. This act of \u201cconquering\u201d resonates with a reversion to that primordial human state whose unmitigated exercise of power over the environment, \u201cfill the world, and <\/span>conquer<\/span><\/i> it,\u201d (Gen 1:28) lacked the balance of the second creation placing man in service of his environment, \u201cto serve it and conserve it\u201d (Gen 2:15). The term \u201cserve\u201d (<\/span>le\u2019ovdah<\/span><\/i>) is from the same root as the term \u201cslave\u201d (<\/span>eved<\/span><\/i>) suggesting an ethical model which demands assuming a posture of subservience for oneself rather than imposing it on others. Late in biblical history the Israelites regress, instituting that very brutality of domination unchecked by a moderating dimension of subservience and humility, from which they themselves were originally liberated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Photo by: Wally Gobetz, Liberty Bell, Philadelphia PA, 2008 \/ flickr<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71496,"alt":"","title":"jer34-liberty bell","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell.jpg","width":2847,"height":1897,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Measure For Measure","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Failure to grant liberty leads to the loss of liberty","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71496,"alt":"","title":"jer34-liberty bell","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell.jpg","width":2847,"height":1897,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-liberty-bell-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"71489","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Short-Lived Liberation From Slavery ","post_title":"Short-Lived Liberation From Slavery","slug":"short-lived-liberation-from-slavery","old_id":"71489","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":51424,"post_title":"Bracha Jaffe","slug":"bracha-jaffe","old_id":"51424","first_name":"Bracha ","last_name":"Jaffe ","description":"Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as Community Educator and Director of Mercaz Center for Adult Education in Beth Tfiloh synagogue in Baltimore, MD. As a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, she has interned in shuls in New York and Houston as well as participating in chaplaincy programs at New York Presbyterian Hospital and at a maximum security women's prison. ","short_description":"Rabbanit Bracha Jaffe serves as Community Educator and Director of Mercaz Center for Adult Education in Beth Tfiloh synagogue in Baltimore, MD.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":51425,"alt":"","title":"bracha jaffe","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","width":1107,"height":1085,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-300x294.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":294,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-768x753.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":753,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-1024x1004.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1004,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","1536x1536-width":1107,"1536x1536-height":1085,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","2048x2048-width":1107,"2048x2048-height":1085,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe.jpg","post_full_size-width":1107,"post_full_size-height":1085,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/bracha-jaffe-429x420.jpg","home_baner-width":429,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Duplicitous elites doom the nation\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Each time I read this chapter in Jeremiah, my breath catches in my throat in pain. The behavior of the elite class of Jews described within is unthinkable and reprehensible. They are holding slaves far beyond the time that they should have set them free.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah is very clear about its attitude towards keeping Hebrew slaves. It does not assume slavery to be a condition of birth that can never be changed. The Hebrew slave is to be set free after 6 years or during the Jubilee year if it comes first. It is only due to unfortunate economic circumstances that Jews allowed themselves to become slaves to other Jews in the first place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These upper-class Jews have been repeatedly warned by Jeremiah regarding the consequences of their actions. And - finally - it seems that they have learned their lesson, they heed the warning and they let their slaves go:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cEveryone, officials and people, who had entered into the covenant [with King Zedekiah] agreed to set their male and female slaves free and not keep them enslaved any longer; they complied and let them go\u201d (v. 10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Imagine the joy and jubilation among the Hebrew slaves. Men and women dancing in the streets with smiles on their faces as they return to their homes and their families. Yet they barely had time to drink in their newly found freedom when it was abruptly taken away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c<\/b>But afterward they turned about and brought back the men and women they had set free, and forced them into slavery again\u201d (v. 11).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These Jews did the unimaginable and went back on their word, seemingly without a moment\u2019s thought or regret. This very action is what tipped the balance and set the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in motion. God cannot abide a world where people mistreat each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We recently read Parashat Terumah containing a dazzling description of the holy Ark, that housed the Tablets in the Temple. It was made of acacia wood - overlaid with pure gold on the outside and inlaid with pure gold on the inside. There is a powerful message embedded here: we must not be duplicitous, we must live with integrity and honesty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

May our actions on the outside match our values on the inside and may they both reflect the ethical and moral code of conduct prescribed in the Torah.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51447,"alt":"","title":"dt23-slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1245,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-768x498.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1024x664.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":996,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1245,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1200x778.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-648x420.jpg","home_baner-width":648,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Short-Lived Liberation From Slavery","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Duplicitous elites doom the nation\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51447,"alt":"","title":"dt23-slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1245,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-300x195.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-768x498.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":498,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1024x664.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":664,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":996,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1245,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-1200x778.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":778,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt23-slavery-1-648x420.jpg","home_baner-width":648,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"71482","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Split Calves ","post_title":"The Split Calves","slug":"the-split-calves","old_id":"71482","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":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A new reading of the violated covenant\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

At the end of chapter 34, God castigates the people for reneging on King Zedekiah\u2019s proclamation that the inhabitants of Jerusalem free their slaves. God promised a punishment in kind- just as the people did not release their slaves, they will become slaves to Babylonia. The prophet proclaims in verse 18: \"I will make the men who violated My covenant, who did not fulfill the terms of the covenant which they made before Me, [like] the calf which they cut in two so as to pass between the halves.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This image conjures up the memory of Abraham in Genesis walking through a line of split animals in his covenant with God. Yet we see no such ceremony in Jeremiah or in the book of Kings. There also is only one animal in this ceremony as opposed to the five for Abraham. Finally only the calf appears here. Why the calf? The calf reminds us of three famous calves in history: The Golden Calf of the desert, and Jeroboam's two calves. The Golden Calf was solitary, however, and never split. The Northern Tribes lived \"in between\" Jeroboam's calves, but why would God hearken back to this troubled time? In verse 19, God refers to the \"The officers of Judah and Jerusalem, the officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the halves of the calf.\"\u00a0 Who are all of these anonymous people? Who is left in Judah and \"all the land\" when all that remains are the inhabitants of Jerusalem?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s possible that the two calves are actually both the Golden Calf <\/span>and <\/span><\/i>Jeroboam's calves. The ceremonial splitting is God's saving the people at two previous threats of destruction. After the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses prayed, God relented, and a new covenant was struck. This new covenant began with the building of the tabernacle, and culminated with Solomon's building of the Temple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After Solomon's death, the kingdom split in two and the epoch of destruction began with the erection of Jeroboam's calves. It was in between the Golden Calf and Jeroboam's calves that Israel was at the pinnacle of nationhood. It was in between these two calves that the people solidified their covenant with God. But it was after they passed through these two calves that the downward trend began. It was then that the leaders of Judah, the priests, and the people of land began to forget that covenant with God. This is why Jeremiah refers to the anonymous group of leaders and people of the land. It was the failure of all these individuals- both the leadership and the people - to heed the covenant made with God in the Golden Age between the two calves. Instead of the pinnacle of nationhood with the building of the Temple, these people will now see the destruction of that very same ultimate symbol of the covenant with God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Jeroboam sets up two golden calves, from the Bible Historiale (anon.), 1372 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71487,"alt":"","title":"jer34-calves","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","width":330,"height":349,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves-284x300.jpg","medium-width":284,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","medium_large-width":330,"medium_large-height":349,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","large-width":330,"large-height":349,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","1536x1536-width":330,"1536x1536-height":349,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","2048x2048-width":330,"2048x2048-height":349,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","post_full_size-width":330,"post_full_size-height":349,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","home_baner-width":330,"home_baner-height":349}},"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 Split Calves","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A new reading of the violated covenant\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71487,"alt":"","title":"jer34-calves","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","width":330,"height":349,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves-284x300.jpg","medium-width":284,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","medium_large-width":330,"medium_large-height":349,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","large-width":330,"large-height":349,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","1536x1536-width":330,"1536x1536-height":349,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","2048x2048-width":330,"2048x2048-height":349,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","post_full_size-width":330,"post_full_size-height":349,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-calves.jpg","home_baner-width":330,"home_baner-height":349}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"118243","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah34","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Jeremiah34","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-jeremiah34","old_id":"118243","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"4","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Tanakh Podcast","tile_main_caption":"Jeremiah 34: From Freedom To Slavery","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the reign of Zedekiah, the people make a covenant to free their slaves, and then they re-enslave them. But why? 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From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The permanent subjugation of one man to another is a denial of the message of the Exodus\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In this chapter, while the Babylonians are ravaging the surroundings of Jerusalem, we learn more about why the city is to be destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God recalls to Jeremiah how King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people of Jerusalem to release their Hebrew slaves. Everyone duly let their slaves go free. But then they had second thoughts and enslaved them once again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For not permanently releasing their Hebrew slaves, God warns, the people of Jerusalem will be \u201creleased to the sword, to pestilence and to famine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why was this so bad? Why did hanging on to Hebrew slaves bring destruction upon the whole city?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A fascinating passage in Ramban\u2019s commentary on the Torah (Exodus 21:2) explains why the Laws of Hebrew slaves open Parshat Mishpatim, showing how freeing slaves is an expression of the most fundamental Jewish principles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe laws (of Parshat Mishpatim) begin with the Hebrew slave because the release of a slave in the seventh year is a reminder of the exodus from Egypt, which is mentioned in the first of the Ten Commandments. As it says (explaining the reason to free slaves,) \"and you shall remember that you were a bondman in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today\" (Devarim 15:15).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ramban explains that the birth of the Jewish people in God\u2019s act of liberation from Egypt entails the command to free slaves. The permanent subjugation of one man to another is a denial of the message of the Exodus.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He continues: \u201cit serves also as a reminder of the creation like Shabbat, because the seventh year of the slave involves rest from working for his master, like the seventh day (of the week.)\u201d Freeing slaves enacts our recognition of God as Creator of the world. Just as we stop work and rest on Shabbat in acknowledgement of creation, so to ensuring the slaves stop work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This explains, Ramban says, invoking our chapter, why \u201cthe prophet was very severe about it, saying: \"I made a covenant with your fathers\u2026 At the end of seven years, shall you release every man his manservant, and every man his maidservant (13-14), and decreeing exile on its account (17-22), just as the Torah decrees exile for [violation of] the sabbath of the land (Lev. 26:34-35).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter then continues Jeremiah\u2019s litany against the trampling of economic freedom and dignity in Judah. Throughout the book, he has castigated the people for ignoring shabbat, violating shmita (the year of release) and now denying slaves their freedom. These are central among the reasons for the impending destruction.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71493,"alt":"","title":"jer34-end slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery.jpg","width":1920,"height":1310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-768x524.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":524,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-1024x699.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":699,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1048,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-1200x819.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":819,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-616x420.jpg","home_baner-width":616,"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":"Rest And Release","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The permanent subjugation of one man to another is a denial of the message of the Exodus","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71493,"alt":"","title":"jer34-end slavery","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery.jpg","width":1920,"height":1310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-768x524.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":524,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-1024x699.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":699,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1048,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-1200x819.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":819,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-end-slavery-616x420.jpg","home_baner-width":616,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"71498","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Ends of Two Brothers ","post_title":"The Ends of Two Brothers","slug":"the-ends-of-two-brothers","old_id":"71498","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. 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Jeremiah was instructed to meet King Zedekiah and to reassure him that although Jerusalem would be destroyed (2) and he would be exiled to Babylonia (3), he himself would not be slain (4). In translation, Jeremiah\u2019s words were: \u201cYou will see the King of Babylon face to face\u201d (3), but in Hebrew he used `<\/span>ayin<\/span><\/i>, eye, rather than <\/span>panim<\/span><\/i>, face.\u00a0 Considering that Nebuchadnezzar would have Zedekiah blinded after slaying his sons in front of him (2 Kings 25:7), we cannot dismiss the possibility that Jeremiah\u2019s words here (and in 32:4) were tinged with irony.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah then prophesied to Zedekiah as follows: \u201cYou will die a peaceful death; and as incense was burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn incense for you\u201d (5). This prediction stands in sharp contrast to Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy about an earlier king, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah\u2019s brother, for whom he predicted: \u201cHe shall have the burial of an ass, dragged out and left lying outside the gates of Jerusalem\u201d (22:19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not their deaths and burials alone stand in contrast; so do the ways in which they would be mourned. For Zedekiah, Jeremiah prophesied, \u201cAnd they will lament for you \u2018Ah (<\/span>hoy<\/span><\/i>), lord!\u2019\u201d (34:5), while for Jehoiakim he predicted, \u201cThey shall not mourn for him, \u201cAh, brother! Ah, sister!\u201d They shall not mourn for him, \u201cAh, lord! Ah, his majesty!\u201d (22:18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Parsing these two sentences, Shadal* (on 22:18) distinguished between the similar\u2014yet not identical\u2014ways in which the dead used to be lamented. First, he dismissed the possibility that regardless of who had died men would say to each other \u201cAh, brother,\u201d and women would say \u201cAh, sister,\u201d because the parallel phrase\u2014utilizing lord and majesty\u2014applies to only one subject, the king. Then he dismissed an alternative explanation that royal lamentations began with brother and sister and ended with lord and majesty, because the repetition of \u201cthey shall not mourn for him\u201d implies that they are unrelated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Instead, he seconded the interpretation given by Radak that the brother and sister epithets were restricted to family members, while lord and majesty were public property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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

Image: Medieval manuscript depiction of a royal body being laid in a coffin \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71499,"alt":"","title":"jer34-royal funeral","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","width":956,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-768x434.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":434,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","1536x1536-width":956,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","2048x2048-width":956,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","post_full_size-width":956,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-744x420.jpg","home_baner-width":744,"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 Ends of Two Brothers","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A look into ancient mourning practices","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71499,"alt":"","title":"jer34-royal funeral","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","width":956,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-768x434.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":434,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","large-width":956,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","1536x1536-width":956,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","2048x2048-width":956,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral.jpg","post_full_size-width":956,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer34-royal-funeral-744x420.jpg","home_baner-width":744,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"71470","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Judahites Renege ","post_title":"The Judahites Renege","slug":"the-judahites-renege","old_id":"71470","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And the enslavers become enslaved\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

34:11 \u201cBut they went back afterward and brought back the male slaves and the slavegirls whom they had set free, and they forced them to be male slaves and slavegirls.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This may have been during the early months of 587 B.C.E, when the Babylonians temporarily lifted the siege, an event alluded to in verse 21. This act of reclaiming the slaves reflects not only the bad faith of the Judahites but also their previous inclination to ignore the injunction (Exodus 21:2, Deuteronomy 15:1-2) that a Hebrew slave had to be set free at the end of seven years. He was thus less a slave than an indentured servant. God invokes the violation of this law in verse 14.\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":"The Judahites Renege","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And the enslavers become enslaved","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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"71472","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"588 BCE: The Siege Has Begun ","post_title":"588 BCE: The Siege Has Begun","slug":"588-bce-the-siege-has-begun","old_id":"71472","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38552,"post_title":"Benny Lau","slug":"benny-lau","old_id":"38552","first_name":"Benny","last_name":"Lau ","description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai. In addition, he is the rabbi of the Ramban synagogue in Jerusalem and is a community leader, activist, author, and public speaker.","short_description":"Rav Benny Lau is the founder and co-head of the Israeli initiative 929 along with Gal Gabbai.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":1708,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/8-1.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Evidence from the Lachish Letters\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

At the conclusion of Jeremiah's prophecy, the text immediately switches back to the harsh reality on the ground, the worst battle Jerusalem has ever faced. All of Judah's fortified cities have fallen, with the exception of Lachish and Azekah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In 1935, a British excavation of Tel Lachish shed surprising light on this verse (34:7). In a well-preserved room by the city's gate, in an archaeological stratum from the time of the Babylonian conquest, archaeologists discovered an archive of some twenty letters, written in ink on ostraca (pottery shards), which became known as \"the Lachish letters.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This unprecedented discovery included the correspondence conducted during those fateful days. Most of the letters were sent by a clerk or minor official named Hoshaiah, stationed outside Lachish, to his superior, Joash, stationed at Lachish. The letters are written in paleo-Hebrew. Some document the Judean kingdom's final days. In letter 4, lines 10-13, the clerk writes to his commanding officer: \"And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs that my lord has given, because we cannot see Azekah.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Apparently, Hoshaiah was stationed at a vantage point between Azekah and Lachish, tracking the signals sent out by these two fortified cities, bonfire by night and smoke by day. The letters thus complement the account in the Book of Jeremiah. The prophet reports that of all of Judah's fortified cities, only Azekah and Lachish remained; soon afterward, the Lachish letters report that Azekah too has fallen \u2014 its fires have been extinguished, and only those of Lachish can still be seen. The Babylonian army approaches from the sea (as noted, large armies preferred to invade Jerusalem by sea, from the west, as it was safer and easier). The troops drop anchor at Ashkelon, which Babylonia conquered in 605 BCE. The armies march through the Shephelah and crush all of Judah's defensive outposts along the way, until only Lachish and Azekah remain outside of Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The connection between the Lachish letters and the verse in Jeremiah sheds a harsh but clear light on the Babylonian war on Judah. The campaign advanced toward Jerusalem with virtually no resistance. Despite the grand coalition between the nations of the region, Judah was left to face the great empire of the north alone. Perhaps this explains the verse from Lamentations: \"All her allies betrayed her, became her enemies\" (Lam. 1:2). At this point, Judah's entire army has mobilized for war. There is a mass enlistment. Simultaneously, King Zedekiah sends urgent appeals to Egypt for reinforcements, as we will see below. The year is 588 BCE, the siege of Jerusalem has begun, and most of Judah's cities have already fallen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>. Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cJeremiah\u2019s Reply to King Zedekiah\u2019s Delegates\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69252,"alt":"","title":"jer-lau2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","width":884,"height":635,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-300x215.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":215,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-768x552.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":552,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","large-width":884,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","1536x1536-width":884,"1536x1536-height":635,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","2048x2048-width":884,"2048x2048-height":635,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2.jpg","post_full_size-width":884,"post_full_size-height":635,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/jer-lau2-585x420.jpg","home_baner-width":585,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"588 BCE: The Siege Has Begun","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Evidence from the Lachish Letters","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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"70882","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Jeremiah 34 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Jeremiah 34","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-jeremiah-34","old_id":"70882","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cWhen the Covenant Fails: Return to Egypt\u201d<\/a> by Tali Adler: Could the Exodus ever be reversed?<\/p>\r\n

\u201cLiving in the Land, Living with the Land\u201d<\/a> by William Plevan: Explore what do we owe to where we live.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Jeremiah 34","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":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"71468","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 34 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Jeremiah 34","slug":"points-to-ponder-jeremiah-34","old_id":"71468","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":"434","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Royal burial<\/em>. \u201cAs incense was burned for your ancestors, the earlier kings who preceded you, so they will burn incense for you, and they will lament for you \u2018Ah, lord!\u2019\u201d The prophecy promises an aromatic funeral, and a dignified eulogy, befitting a king (verse 5). Was this prophecy fulfilled? In five chapters (Jer. 39), we\u2019ll know at least part of what happens.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. On-scene reporting<\/em>. Verse 7 gives an up-to-the-minute account of the situation in the kingdom of Judah: \u201cwhen the army of the king of Babylon was waging war against Jerusalem and against the remaining towns of Judah\u2014against Lachish and Azekah, for they were the only fortified towns of Judah that were left.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Why talk about the freeing of slaves<\/em>? Why did King Zedekiah choose to address this problems specifically? Perhaps because it was a severe social issue, and he wanted to advance equity and justice. Or perhaps it is because he felt a connection between enslavement within a society and enslavement to a foreign power, and in correcting the internal situation he hoped to influence the national one. And perhaps there are other reasons connected to wartime, and the difficulty in holding slaves during a siege.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. The covenant of the pieces<\/em>. Just like the covenant with Abraham 419 chapters ago (Gen. 15), which was established through a ceremony where animals were cut in two, the covenant in the days of Zedekiah was made in a similar ceremony, alluded to in the punishment for its desecration: \u201cI will make the men who violated My covenant, who did not fulfill the terms of the covenant which they made before Me, [like] the calf which they cut in two so as to pass between the halves\u201d (verse 18).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Serial covenant-breakers<\/em>. That\u2019s the conclusion from the story of the release of the slaves, and their re-enslavement. If you remember, that was the conclusion in chapter 11 as well, where the issue was a general covenant, possibly the covenant from the days of Josiah.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  6. What\u2019s the connection<\/em>? In 578 BCE, the Babylonian siege on Jerusalem was temporarily lifted. Had the slaves been released during the siege, and with its easing, been re-enslaved? There are good reasons to think the two are connected.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Jeremiah 34","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"34","chapter_main_number":"434","date":"20270428","wall_id":"434"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","link_teaser":"","listen_link":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/70835"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}