{"id":70837,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1087\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T13:37:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T10:37:05","slug":"wall-1087","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1087\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20231001-to-20231007"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1087","date_from":"20231001","date_to":"20231007","book":"Jeremiah","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"107561","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Shmini Atzeret: Is It Its Own Holiday?","post_title":"Shmini Atzeret: Is It Its Own Holiday?","slug":"shmini-atzeret-is-it-its-own-holiday","old_id":"107561","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":"146","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Does 8 = 7 + 1?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cOn the eighth day you shall hold an <\/span>atzeret<\/em> <\/span>(assembly);<\/span> you shall not work at your occupations\u201d (verse 35). Is Shmini Atzeret a separate holiday or not? There are a few ways of answering this question.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1) Number of sacrifices<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

For<\/strong>: The sacrifices of Sukkot start at 13 and go down by one every day until they are at seven. The 8<\/span>th<\/span> day is one sacrifice, so it follows the descending number.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Against<\/strong>:<\/b> Sukkot stops at 7, and the 8<\/span>th<\/span> day jumps to 1, showing it is a separate holiday. Homiletically Sukkot sacrifices number 70 corresponding to the 70 nations of the world. Shmini Atzeret is one sacrifice symbolizing the Israelites. This could signify that the day is separate from Sukkot, even if it is related.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2) The Name of the Holiday<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

For<\/strong>: The holiday seems to be introduced as a different day in verse 35. It is also called something different in Leviticus: \u201cOn the eighth day you shall observe an <\/span>atzeret<\/em> <\/span>and bring an offering by fire to God\u201d (Leviticus 23:36). No other day of Sukkot has a special name, yet here God says this day is an <\/span>azteret<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Against<\/strong>: Later in Deuteronomy, the seventh day of Passover is also called <\/span>atzeret<\/span><\/em>: \u201cAfter eating unleavened bread six days, you shall hold an <\/span>atzeret<\/em> <\/span>for your God on the seventh day: you shall do no work\u201d (Devarim 16:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3) Historical:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

a- \u201cHe read from the scroll of the Teaching of God each day, from the first to the last day. They celebrated the festival seven days, and there was an <\/span>atzeret<\/em> <\/span>the eighth, as prescribed\u201d (Nechemia 8:18).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For<\/strong>: It says they celebrated the festival for seven days and then the 8<\/span>th<\/span> day is called something different.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Against<\/strong>: The \u201clast day\u201d is the 8<\/span>th<\/span> day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

b- \u201cAt that time Solomon kept the Feast for seven days\u2014all Israel with him\u2014a great assemblage from Lebo-hamath to the Wadi of Egypt.\u00a0 On the eighth day they held an <\/span>atzeret<\/span><\/em>; they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the Feast seven days\u201d (II Chronicles 7:7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For<\/strong>: It says Solomon had the feast seven days, and then the eighth day is called something different.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Against<\/strong>:\u00a0 It is still called the 8<\/span>th<\/span> day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This ambiguity makes its way into halachic questions. Does one eat in the sukkah on Shmini Atzeret? Many people have the custom to eat in the sukkah without a blessing, but others will specifically not eat in the sukkah on Shmini Atzeret. On the other hand there is a different blessing for Shmini Atzeret both during kiddush and the prayers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97540,"alt":"","title":"est9-question celebration","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-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":"","tile_main_caption":"Shmini Atzeret: Is It Its Own Holiday?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Does 8 = 7 + 1?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97540,"alt":"","title":"est9-question celebration","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/est9-question-celebration-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":"29","chapter_main_number":"146","date":"20260322","wall_id":"146"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"516","name":"Holidays","old_id":"916"},{"term_id":"575","name":"Interpretation","old_id":"975"}]},{"order":2,"id":"97845","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Shemini Atzeret \/ Simchat Torah: Go Deeper Into The Holidays","post_title":"Shemini Atzeret \/ Simchat Torah: Go Deeper Into The Holidays","slug":"shemini-atzeret-simchat-torah-go-deeper-into-the-holidays","old_id":"97845","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":"837","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Click here to see all the materials on 929 for the holiday readings","post_main_content_content":"

Shmini Atzeret <\/strong>(outside of Israel):<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Torah Reading<\/em>: Deuteronomy chapters 14<\/a>, 15<\/a>, 16<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Haftarah<\/em>: I Kings 8<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Simchat Torah:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Torah Reading<\/em>: Vezot Habrachah,\u00a0 Deuteronomy chapters 33<\/a> and 34<\/a>,\u00a0 and Bereshit chapter 1<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Haftarah<\/em> - Joshua chapter 1<\/a><\/p>\r\n

image by: Ron Almog, 2008 (CC 2.0) \/ flickr<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97847,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah.jpg","width":3648,"height":2736,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Special Holiday Collection","tile_main_caption":"Shemini Atzeret \/ Simchat Torah: Go Deeper Into The Holidays","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click inside to see all the materials on 929 for the holiday readings","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97847,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah.jpg","width":3648,"height":2736,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan8-simchat-torah-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Daniel","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"837","date":"20281113","wall_id":"837"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"516","name":"Holidays","old_id":"916"},{"term_id":"721","name":"Text","old_id":"1121"}]},{"order":3,"id":"71335","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Passing Moment Of Hope And Consolation ","post_title":"A Passing Moment Of Hope And Consolation","slug":"a-passing-moment-of-hope-and-consolation","old_id":"71335","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44114,"post_title":"Shalom Holtz","slug":"shalom-holtz","old_id":"44114","first_name":"Shalom ","last_name":"Holtz ","description":"Shalom E. Holtz is Professor of Bible at Yeshiva University. He is the author of numerous comparative studies of biblical and ancient Near Eastern law. His most recent book is Praying Legally (2019), which examines courtroom metaphors in Hebrew prayer. ","short_description":"Shalom E. Holtz is Professor of Bible at Yeshiva University.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":44115,"alt":"","title":"shalom holtz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/shalom-holtz.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"431","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The Hebrew Bible, especially the Book of Kings, remembers Josiah, the Judean king at the beginning of Jeremiah's career, for consolidating worship of the God of Israel in Jerusalem (2 Kings 22\u201323:30; 2 Chronicles 34\u201335:19). Taking political advantage of the decline in Assyrian authority over the territory directly to Judah's north, the former Kingdom of Israel, Josiah extended his reforming activities into what was once a separate, even enemy, kingdom. According to 2 Kings 23, after Josiah purged idolatry from Jerusalem and its environs, he proceeded to destroy temples at Bethel and Samaria, \"which the kings of Israel had built, vexing [the Lord]\" (2 Kings 23:19). The Book of Chronicles has Josiah at work even further from Judah, \"in the towns of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali\" (2 Chronicles 35:6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A good part of Jeremiah 31 originates in this period of expansion of Judean authority into Israel's territories. It predicts the replanting of \"the hills of Samaria\" (5), near the kingdom's capital city of the same name, and \"the watchmen on the heights of Ephraim\" announcing the return to Zion (6). The prophecy uses the tribally specific name Ephraim (9, 18, 20), and calls him God's \"dear son\" (20). It also offers comfort to the wailing Rachel, Ephraim's paternal grandmother in the Torah (15). The Hebrew Bible's account closely associates the kingdom of Israel with the tribe of Ephraim, whose territory and population were main power bases for the kingdom. For example, Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led the original split from the Kingdom of Judah under Rehoboam son of Solomon, descended from this tribe (1 Kings 11:26\u201329; 12:1\u201335). Originally, the restoration and return of \"Israel\" in the prophecy (2, 4, 7, 9, 10, 21), referred to the political entity distinct from \"Judah.\" Jeremiah envisioned a restored united monarchy under Josiah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This hopeful moment in history passed all too quickly, and Judah itself would fall to Babylon.\u00a0 The prophecy, however, remained as part of Jeremiah's \"scroll of consolation\" (see Jer 30:1\u20133). The prophecy's original political significance faded. At the same time, the prophecy acquired new meaning as later Jewish readers identified with the restored Ephraim and Israel.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"A Passing Moment Of Hope And Consolation","tile_main_caption":"With the fading of the prophecy's original political significance, the prophecy acquired new meaning as later Jewish readers identified with the restored Ephraim and Israel.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"31","chapter_main_number":"431","date":"20270425","wall_id":"431"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"71258","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Listening to Women\u2019s Voices ","post_title":"Listening to Women\u2019s Voices","slug":"listening-to-womens-voices","old_id":"71258","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":"431","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A Judahite prophet in today\u2019s Israel\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The prophet Jeremiah sits down on a vacant chair at the Israeli Parliament, and hears Dr. Ruth Calderon\u2019s opening remarks when she is installed as a member of the Knesset. Dr. Calderon opens a page of the Talmud and teaches a class instead of a boring introduction to her own biography. The Haredi member of the Shas ultra-Orthodox party drops his jaw. A woman?\u00a0 So much erudition in Talmudic discourse! Prophet Jeremiah doesn\u2019t know what the Talmud is (it was written after his death) so he decides to take a Torah class instead. He attends a class at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, and is delighted to hear some discussion on the Book of Genesis. The voice of the teacher is soft, her knowledge is measureless, her name is Dr. Avivah Zornberg, she reads excerpts from her published book, \u201cThe Beginning of Desire.\u201d The prophet is confused, who is Kant and what is this philosopher doing in this Book of Genesis?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perplexed by Dr. Zornberg\u2019s scholarship and sophistication, Jeremiah decides to take a walk. It\u2019s a beautiful summer morning and the people of Jerusalem are celebrating the beginning of a new month. It\u2019s Rosh Hodesh Elul. When the prophet arrives at the Western Wall he joins in the singing of Hallel, that special joyous prayer. He is mesmerized by the voices of the Women of the Wall and he starts singing and dancing, joining them in prayer, trying to focus in the spirit of the moment instead of the disturbing verbal aggression and intolerance that surround them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah is puzzled by the scene, then he does a reality check. He opens his book to chapter 31, verse 17:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThere is hope for your future-declares the Lord, Your sons shall return to their Land.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah learns what we habitually forget\u2014that the locus of possibility expands when the unimaginable is imagined and then made real through systematic effort. The sons have returned to the Land, after two thousand years of exile, the romanticized utopian vision becomes a reality. After all, it is part of the nature of humankind to start with romance and build actuality. The fact is that the sons have a place in the State of Israel, but, what about the daughters? Are the imaginations of women less vivid than men? Should their minds be denied the privilege of contemplating the countless orbs of argent light? Should women\u2019s voices and teachings be silenced?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah is ecstatic to know that there is something he can do about his writings. He adds just one word to the verse: <\/span>Your sons and daughters shall return to their Land.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah is pleased, then he opens Yochi Brandes\u2019 book,<\/span> The Secret Book of Kings <\/span><\/i>and enjoys its reading.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Photo: Women of the Wall, Yochi Rappeport, 2016 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71311,"alt":"","title":"jer31-Women_of_the_Wall","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall.jpg","width":3000,"height":2003,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-768x513.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":513,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-1024x684.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":684,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1026,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1367,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-1200x801.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":801,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-629x420.jpg","home_baner-width":629,"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":"Listening to Women\u2019s Voices","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A Judahite prophet in today\u2019s Israel","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71311,"alt":"","title":"jer31-Women_of_the_Wall","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall.jpg","width":3000,"height":2003,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-768x513.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":513,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-1024x684.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":684,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1026,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1367,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-1200x801.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":801,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer31-Women_of_the_Wall-629x420.jpg","home_baner-width":629,"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":"31","chapter_main_number":"431","date":"20270425","wall_id":"431"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"71253","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Rachel\u2019s Tears Comfort Leah\u2019s Descendants ","post_title":"Rachel\u2019s Tears Comfort Leah\u2019s Descendants","slug":"rachels-tears-comfort-leahs-descendants","old_id":"71253","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":"431","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"She becomes the mother of the entire people\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Jeremiah, serving at this early stage as a tailwind for the vision of national healing, tells of a prophecy about the children of Rachel, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, who were exiled from their lands by Assyria. He has already promised her children that they will again plant vineyards on the Samarian hills. Now he illuminates his words: Those who passed by Ramah (the village of a-Ram, adjacent to Ramallah) as they were exiled will return. The procession of exiles passed by Rachel\u2019s Tomb on the \u201cRoad to Ephrath.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is much disagreement about the location of this tomb. In the context of this chapter, the opinion of Noga Hareuveni seems most plausible: He identifies Ephrat with Nahal Perat (Wadi Qelt). Rachel, weeping for her children, is called upon to hold back her tears, for her children will return from hostile lands to their own borders \u2014 to Samaria.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By turning directly to the tribes of Israel and mentioning Rachel, Jeremiah reaches the climax of his prophecies of consolation. The conflict between Rachel and Leah, between Joseph and Judah, between the House of David and the House of Saul, is about to end. Ephraim is the firstborn, and Rachel is the true mother.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A note: Our interpretation of Jeremiah's famous words \"A voice is heard in Ramah...\" undermines two basic, highly charged premises within Jewish tradition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

First, tradition places Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem in Judah, at a site that has been sanctified by thousands of years of Jewish tears. Second, Rachel is one of the most beloved figures in all of Jewish tradition: in Midrash, liturgy, poetry, literature, and art. The explanation offered here \u2014 that Rachel is buried in the portion of Benjamin and weeps only over her direct descendants, Ephraim and Manasseh \u2014 detracts from the raw emotion and power of these midrashim.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When discussing these famous lines, it is impossible not to mention the midrashic tradition \u2014 and all subsequent Jewish traditions \u2014 of Rachel comforting Leah's descendants as they go into exile, forty years after Jeremiah spoke these words:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Nebuzaradan exiled them, they passed by there, and Rachel left her grave and wept and begged for mercy on their behalf, as it says: \"A voice is heard in Ramah, of mourning and great weeping \u2014 Rachel weeping for her children\" [Jer. 31:14]. And God responds: \"your work will be rewarded \u2014 declares the Lord...your children will return to their borders\" [31:15]. (Rashi, ad loc.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This midrash, and Rashi in its wake, has an awesome power. It has elicited Jewish tears throughout the generations, irrevocably sanctifying the site. And Rachel has become the mother of all Jews, including those descended from her sister, Leah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Lau, Binyamin. <\/span>Jeremiah: The Fate of a Prophet<\/span><\/em>. Maggid Books, 2013. \u201cA Voice Is Heard in Ramah\" in the Post-Biblical Collective Jewish Memory\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":"Rachel\u2019s Tears Comfort Leah\u2019s Descendants","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"She becomes the mother of the entire 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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"31","chapter_main_number":"431","date":"20270425","wall_id":"431"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"71362","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Literate, Yet Oral\u00a0 ","post_title":"Literate, Yet Oral\u00a0","slug":"literate-yet-oral","old_id":"71362","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64758,"post_title":"Avraham Norin","slug":"avraham-norin","old_id":"64758","first_name":"Avraham ","last_name":"Norin ","description":"Avraham Norin teaches in Israel at the Machon Meir and Ora conversion program. He lives in the Southern Hebron Hills with his wife and six children.","short_description":"Avraham Norin teaches in Israel at the Machon Meir and Ora conversion program","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64759,"alt":"","title":"avraham norin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","width":1064,"height":1600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1021,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin.jpg","2048x2048-width":1064,"2048x2048-height":1600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/avraham-norin-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"432","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Each mode of communication exists for a different purpose\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

This is the second piece of a three-part series that probes the relationship between written and oral societies, based on the Book of Jeremiah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our previous piece<\/span><\/a>, we discussed the apparent discrepancy between the archaeology finds of 'Izbet Sartah, which indicated that Biblical Israel was a literate society, and our reading of Jeremiah chapter 26, which indicated that it was an oral society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics, wrote an article \"<\/span>The Future of Written Culture: Envisioning Language in the New Millennium<\/span><\/a>\" showing that no discrepancy exists. She writes there \"To speak of a society having a written culture is not at all the same thing as saying that some members of that society are literate. The difference lies in the ways in which literacy functions in the life of the community.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To understand the function of literacy in Jeremiah's society, we will examine oral and written communication in Jeremiah chapter 32. The chapter begins with Jeremiah\u2019s imprisonment in the courtyard of the king, and King Zedekiah ORALLY INFORMING him that his imprisonment is due to the prophecies which he SAID. Jeremiah TELLS the guards of the courtyard a new prophecy concerning the arrival of his uncle. As predicted, his uncle arrives and ORALLY REQUESTS Jeremiah to buy his field. We see that speech was the dominant mode of communication in Jeremiah's time period.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, in the continuation of the chapter, we see that written communication also had a role in Jeremiah's society. Jeremiah WRITES a deed to make the transaction. The deed had two WRITTEN parts to it - the sealed and the open. The open part allowed people to READ the transaction without breaking the seal. Jeremiah hands over the deed in the presence of witnesses who SIGNED their signature on the document. The chapter ends with words of comfort, describing the time when God will return the Jewish People to their homeland, and many WRITTEN transactions to buy land will take place.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We see that Jeremiah's society was literate, yet it remained an oral society. Writing was the mode of communication when speech was insufficient. While routine communication was conducted orally, testimonies, messages for future generations, and ideas which needed extreme clarity were written down.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Parenthetically, these two methods of communication are also found in Deuteronomy 6:4-8, the section known as the first paragraph of the <\/span>Sh'ma<\/span><\/i>. The section has an oral communication component: \"HEAR, O Israel\", the imperative to MEMORIZE and SPEAK the words of the Torah, and to teach them to our children through CONSTANT REPETITION.\u00a0 The section also contains commandments (which are symbolic by nature) based on the written word: THE WORDS of the Torah should be adorned upon our arms and between our eyes, and to WRITE these words upon our doorposts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the final part of the series, as a commentary to Jeremiah chapter 45, we will discuss a change which occurred to the Biblical society in regards to their usage of the written word.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image by Ben Schachter, courtesy of the artist.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71363,"alt":"","title":"Jer36-spoken written","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","width":924,"height":738,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-300x240.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":240,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-768x613.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":613,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","large-width":924,"large-height":738,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","1536x1536-width":924,"1536x1536-height":738,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","2048x2048-width":924,"2048x2048-height":738,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","post_full_size-width":924,"post_full_size-height":738,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-526x420.jpg","home_baner-width":526,"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":"Literate, Yet Oral\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Each mode of communication exists for a different purpose","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71363,"alt":"","title":"Jer36-spoken written","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","width":924,"height":738,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-300x240.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":240,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-768x613.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":613,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","large-width":924,"large-height":738,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","1536x1536-width":924,"1536x1536-height":738,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","2048x2048-width":924,"2048x2048-height":738,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written.jpg","post_full_size-width":924,"post_full_size-height":738,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer36-spoken-written-526x420.jpg","home_baner-width":526,"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":"32","chapter_main_number":"432","date":"20270426","wall_id":"432"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"71396","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Dr. God ","post_title":"Dr. God","slug":"dr-god","old_id":"71396","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":"433","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Heal us, and we shall be healed!\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In our Chapter, God beckons the prophet: \u201cCall to Me and I will answer you\u2026\u201d (33:3). In the continuation of this divine apparition, God refers to: \u201c\u2026the corpses of the men whom I struck down in My anger and rage, hiding My face from this city because of all their wickedness\u201d (verse 5). God then promises His healing and reconstruction: \u201cI am going to bring her relief and healing. I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of true favor. And I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Israel, and I will rebuild them as of old\u201d (verses 6-7).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The phrase translated here \u201cabundance of true favor \u2013 \u2018ateret shalom ve-\u2018emet\u201d is problematic, as indicated by the note in the New JPS translation (1985): \u201cMeaning of Heb. uncertain\u201d, referring specifically to the word \u2018ateret found in Scripture only here in this nominal construct form. Rashi comments briefly that \u2018ateret should be understood as \u201cblessing\u201d. Rabbi David Kimhi (RaDaK) understands \u2018ateret as \u201cabundance of prayer\u201d (ribui tefillah) by comparison with Genesis 25:21.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This line of interpretation is adopted by the 14<\/span>th<\/span> century Spanish scholar Israel ben Joseph Al-Nakawa in his Menorat Ha-Maor (ed. Enelow, II p. 40) in his discussion of synagogue prayer: The congregation in the synagogue should be amiable and loving. For then their prayer will be heard by their Father in Heaven, as it says: \u201cI will reveal to them prayer of peace and truth\u201d -- as apparently understood by Al-Nakawa. For he continues: \u2018ateret is prayer. During \u2018ateret (i.e. prayer) there is peace. And behold this is truth. But if not (i.e. if there is no peace during prayer) there is no truth. Therefore, the entire congregation should be friends and there should not be among them jealousy, hatred or competitiveness at all \u2013 how much the more so in the synagogue, in order to honor the Shekhinah (\u201cdivine presence\u201d) that dwells in the synagogue\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jeremiah\u2019s revelation of God\u2019s promise of healing is less problematic linguistically, but no less open to midrashic interpretation. According to Midrash Shir Ha-Shirim Rabbah (4:13) on Song of Songs 4:5, a human being cannot prepare a proper dressing without examining the wound. But God, by Whose word the world was created, first prepares the dressing and then inflicts the wound. This is suggested by God\u2019s promise in our Chapter about those \u201cmen whom I struck down in My anger and rage \u2026I will heal them\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God\u2019s promise of divine healing seems to answer Jeremiah\u2019s earlier plea: \u201cHeal me, O Lord, and let me be healed! Save me and let me be saved! For You are my glory\u201d (Jeremiah 17:14). This verse, reformulated in the plural for communal prayer, provides the Scriptural basis for the 8<\/span>th<\/span> blessing in the daily Amidah: \u201cHeal us, O Lord, and we shall be healed. Save us and we shall be saved \u2026 For You, O God-King, are a faithful and merciful Healer. Blessed are You, O Lord, who heals the sick of Your people Israel\u201d.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71397,"alt":"","title":"jer33-stethoscope","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Dr. God","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Heal us, and we shall be healed!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71397,"alt":"","title":"jer33-stethoscope","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer33-stethoscope-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"33","chapter_main_number":"433","date":"20270427","wall_id":"433"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"71402","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Sound Of Mirth And Gladness ","post_title":"The Sound Of Mirth And Gladness","slug":"the-sound-of-mirth-and-gladness","old_id":"71402","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"433","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A joyous Jeremiad just in time for Purim: I will restore the fortunes as of old\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Just like the chapters of destruction and warning are depressing, dark and graphic, the consolation chapters are uplifting and joyful, as if one can hear the heartwarming music from between the lines:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Thus said the LORD: Again there shall be heard in this place, which you say is ruined, without man or beast\u2014in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man, without inhabitants, without beast; the sound of mirth and gladness, the voice of bridegroom and bride, the voice of those who cry, \u201cGive thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good, for His kindness is everlasting!\u201d as they bring thanksgiving offerings to the House of the LORD. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as of old\u2014said the LORD (33:10-11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Five different voices of joy are named in this chapter. The Talmud in Tractate Brachot (6a) tells us that \u201canyone who benefits from the feast of a groom but does not cause him to rejoice violates the five voices mentioned in this verse\u201d. And what about the one who causes the groom to rejoice? The Gemara continues: \u2018He is privileged to acquire the Torah, which was given with five voices, as it is stated: \u201cAnd it was on the third day, when it was morning, there were sounds [<\/span>kolot<\/span><\/i>], and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and the voice of the <\/span>shofar<\/span><\/i>\u201d (Exodus 19:16).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Kolot,<\/span><\/i> the plural for <\/span>kol<\/span><\/i>, voice, which is used here, suggests at least two sounds, while \u201cthe voice of the shofar\u201d is one more. The passage continues: \u201cAnd when the voice of the <\/span>shofar<\/span><\/i> grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by a voice\u201d (Exodus 19:19). Along with the three previous voices, the second shofar and the voice with which God answered Moses total five voices at the revelation at Sinai.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ben Yehoyada is surprised we\u2019re looking for a reward for doing a mitzvah. Would we ask this about every mitzvah? Shouldn\u2019t it be just the joy and pleasure of the celebration? Nevertheless, since it says, there must be an extra one. Perhaps just like separation is emblematic of great pain, so is sharing in a union of joy, expressed in many voices (are there coincidentally all together 10?).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s nice to come to this chapter specifically on Purim. Unlike Hanukkah when we \u201csee\u201d the light, on this day we make some noise, whether with megillah reading itself or the grogger. The Pesikta Zutarta suggests that we emphasize eating and drinking on Purim, because eating and drinking connect and bring people together. And we read about Esther\u2019s command (4:16): \u201cGo gather all the Jews\u201d. May we have a jubilant day, in many voices of joy!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:Jean-Franco de Troy - Le Couronnement d'Esther, 1825 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71403,"alt":"","title":"Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_d'Esther","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","width":800,"height":583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-300x219.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":219,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-768x560.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":560,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":583,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":583,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":583,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-576x420.jpg","home_baner-width":576,"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 Sound Of Mirth And Gladness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A joyous Jeremiad just in time for Purim: I will restore the fortunes as of old","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71403,"alt":"","title":"Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_d'Esther","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","width":800,"height":583,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-300x219.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":219,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-768x560.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":560,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":583,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":583,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":583,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer33-de_Troy_-_Le_Couronnement_dEsther-576x420.jpg","home_baner-width":576,"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":"33","chapter_main_number":"433","date":"20270427","wall_id":"433"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"71495","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Measure For Measure ","post_title":"Measure For Measure","slug":"measure-for-measure","old_id":"71495","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. 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":10,"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":11,"id":"71492","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Rest And Release ","post_title":"Rest And Release","slug":"rest-and-release","old_id":"71492","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"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":12,"id":"71539","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Relocation, Relocation, Relocation! ","post_title":"Relocation, Relocation, Relocation!","slug":"relocation-relocation-relocation","old_id":"71539","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"435","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The advantages of a highly portable lifestyle","post_main_content_content":"

In this chapter, Jeremiah is told to highlight the descendants of Jonadab ben Rechab as an abject lesson in loyalty and discipline, when attempting to get the Jewish people to adhere to God\u2019s directives. The Rechabites\u2019 ancestor had instructed them that in order to survive, they had to be careful about four things: 1) they shouldn\u2019t drink wine; 2) build houses, 3) sow fields, or 4) grow vineyards. Instead, they should live in tents. And however tempted a human being might be to drink wine, the Rechabites refused to imbibe, citing their forebearer\u2019s instructions as their inviolate guide: \u201cAnd we have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us: we never drink wine, neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters\u201d (8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Rechabite\u2019s self-control and allegiance to their ancestor is indeed admirable, and God cites their example as reflecting negatively upon the Jews\u2019 recalcitrance to follow His lead: \u201cThe commands of Jonadab son of Rechab have been fulfilled: he charged his children not to drink wine, and to this day they have not drunk, in obedience to the charge of their ancestor. But I spoke to you persistently, and you did not listen to Me\u201d (14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One wonders why Jonadab thought it important to try to shape the culture of his future generations in this particular manner<\/span>. <\/span>Radak ventures a rationale:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Houses, fields, and vineyards restrict a person to his place. In the event of a famine, or war, he would die early, due minimally, to worry (<\/span>were he not able to simply pick up and relocate<\/span><\/i>.) If on the other hand, he would possess none of these things, whenever he would see whether the place wherein he was living was beneficial, he would remain; but should he conclude that staying threatened his best interests, he would go to a different place where he thought conditions were better for him\u2026 Drinking wine would be particularly detrimental to this type of ever-evaluating lifestyle since it muddles the mind of the one who indulges\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

RaDaK\u2019s explanation is not only interesting in its own right, but it helps to explain how the Kenites, relatives of the Rechabites, so easily complied with Saul\u2019s request when he came to attack Amalek: \u201cSaul said to the Kenites: Come, withdraw at once from among the Amalekites, that I may not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they left Egypt. So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites\u201d(I Samuel 15:6).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Nomads can just \u201cbug out\u201d and easily relocate.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71541,"alt":"","title":"jer35-portable","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable.png","width":1280,"height":1172,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-300x275.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-768x703.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":703,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-1024x938.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":938,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1172,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1172,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-1200x1099.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1099,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-459x420.png","home_baner-width":459,"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":"Relocation, Relocation, Relocation!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The advantages of a highly portable lifestyle","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71541,"alt":"","title":"jer35-portable","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable.png","width":1280,"height":1172,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-300x275.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-768x703.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":703,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-1024x938.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":938,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1172,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1172,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-1200x1099.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1099,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-portable-459x420.png","home_baner-width":459,"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":"35","chapter_main_number":"435","date":"20270429","wall_id":"435"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"71533","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"\u201cWhy Can\u2019t You Be More Like Jonadab\u2019s Kids!\u201d ","post_title":"\u201cWhy Can\u2019t You Be More Like Jonadab\u2019s Kids!\u201d","slug":"why-cant-you-be-more-like-jonadabs-kids","old_id":"71533","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":"435","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Why a life in tents is - less intense","post_main_content_content":"

Modern wisdom generally frowns on this sort of motivational tactic; there\u2019s a delicate balance between pointing out positive examples and disparaging those whom we\u2019d like to emulate those role models.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But an ancient prophet\u2019s job is to rebuke, not to mince words or worry about hurt feelings. And so God instructs Jeremiah to first provide an opportunity for the Rechabites, descendants of Jonadab, to show off their dutiful teetotalling by refusing an offer of wine \u2013 and second, to rub his people\u2019s collective face in it:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe commands of Jonadab son of Rechab have been fulfilled: he charged his children not to drink wine, and to this day they have not drunk, in obedience to the charge of their ancestor. But I spoke to you persistently, and you did not listen to Me\u201d (35:14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(One wonders whether the persistence might itself have contributed to the people turning a deaf ear, a theory supported by parental experience.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the course of this display, we discover that Jonadab instilled another value in his descendants too, to which they\u2019ve similarly adhered: Not only do they not drink wine, but they are not to plant vineyards \u2013 or build houses, or do anything else that might attach them to a particular location. Instead, \u201cyou shall live in tents all your days, so that you may live long upon the land\u2026\u201d (7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does a nomadic existence bring long life?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Radak offers a logical, pragmatic explanation: \u201cBecause houses and fields and vineyards hold a person back in his place, in the event of famine or sword; and he will die after a shortened span because of worry\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Having lots of stuff can be stressful (as in Avot 2:7), and stress can affect health (as we well know). And as Radak also points out, abstaining from wine is valuable because wine \u201cconfuses the mind\u201d; perhaps he\u2019s referring to the impact alcohol can have on making safe decisions (in addition to its other effects on health). Good advice, Jonadab!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the other hand, Chomat Anach (commentary of Haim Yosef David Azulai, the Chida) suggests a more philosophical angle on the nomadic lifestyle: \u201cThey would always be humbled and know that a person is like a fleeting shadow, so why weary himself building wealth and houses?... resulting in contemplating service of God\u2026\u201d Here, too, the mental confusion that results from wine might be relevant, as impairing not just practical decisions but more general thought processes \u2013 including the philosophical and religious.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While this looks like a prophecy about blind obedience, maybe there\u2019s something deeper, a message about perspective and priorities. The Rechabites wouldn\u2019t be commended for listening to bad or destructive advice; they serve as valuable role models because they obeyed good advice, and the prophet wants his people to hear that too.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maybe if Jeremiah\u2019s people would lay off the wine and wealth a little, their heads would clear and they\u2019d realize the value of what he and his predecessors have been preaching so persistently, and start listening too.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71534,"alt":"","title":"jer35-nomads","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-1024x575.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":575,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":863,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1079,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-1200x674.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":674,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"\u201cWhy Can\u2019t You Be More Like Jonadab\u2019s Kids!\u201d","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Why a life in tents is - less intense","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71534,"alt":"","title":"jer35-nomads","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads.jpg","width":1920,"height":1079,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-1024x575.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":575,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":863,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1079,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-1200x674.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":674,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer35-nomads-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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Jeremiah","chapter":"35","chapter_main_number":"435","date":"20270429","wall_id":"435"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"71536","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Next Of Kin - Or Kenites?\u00a0 ","post_title":"Next Of Kin - Or Kenites?\u00a0","slug":"next-of-kin-or-kenites","old_id":"71536","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":"435","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Meet The Smiths\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

In 2 Kings 10, we encountered an individual named Jonadab ben Rechab, who was enlisted by King Jehu in the cause of eliminating Ba`al worship. In our chapter, God instructed Jeremiah to speak to his descendants (2) and ordered him to tempt them to drink wine. The Rechabites refused, explaining:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"We will not drink wine, for our ancestor, Jonadab son of Rechab, commanded us: 'You shall never drink wine, either you or your children. Nor shall you build houses or sow fields or plant vineyards, nor shall you own such things; but you shall live in tents all your days, so that you may live long upon the land where you sojourn.' And we have obeyed our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab in all that he commanded us\u2026\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our comments to 2 Kings 10, we noted the consensus of the traditional exegetes who, relying on 1 Chronicles 2:55 (\u201cthese are the Kenites, who came from Hammath, father of the House of Rechab\u201d), considered the Rechabites\/Kenites to be descended from Jethro, father-in-law of Moses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Shadal,* however, disagreed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we accept the interpretation [that the Kenites are descended from Jethro], why does [Scripture] mention Hammath, who is unknown, rather than Jethro? Moreover, why would the Book of Chronicles record [the genealogy of] the Kenites who aren\u2019t even Israelites?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It appears to me that the Rechabites were Israelites, and Judeans at that, and they are the Kinites [vocalized <\/span>kini<\/span><\/i>, rather than <\/span>keini<\/span><\/i>] cited in Chronicles. They were so called because they were smiths, which in Aramaic is <\/span>kin\u2019a<\/span><\/i>; they were not farmers or vintners; they were artisans who fashioned tools, and among them were also scribes and scholars (2 Chr. 2:55).<\/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 by Bens Schachter, courtesy of the artist<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":71537,"alt":"","title":"Jer35-MSokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow.jpg","width":1125,"height":1322,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-255x300.jpg","medium-width":255,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-768x902.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":902,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-871x1024.jpg","large-width":871,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":1125,"1536x1536-height":1322,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":1125,"2048x2048-height":1322,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-1021x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1021,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-357x420.jpg","home_baner-width":357,"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":"Next Of Kin - Or Kenites?\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Meet The Smiths\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":71537,"alt":"","title":"Jer35-MSokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow.jpg","width":1125,"height":1322,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-255x300.jpg","medium-width":255,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-768x902.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":902,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-871x1024.jpg","large-width":871,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":1125,"1536x1536-height":1322,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":1125,"2048x2048-height":1322,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-1021x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1021,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Jer35-MSokolow-357x420.jpg","home_baner-width":357,"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":"35","chapter_main_number":"435","date":"20270429","wall_id":"435"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"301","name":"Ben Schachter","old_id":"701"}]}],"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\/70837"}],"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=70837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}