{"id":72892,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:20","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1091\/"},"modified":"2023-11-03T14:26:51","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T12:26:51","slug":"wall-1091","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1091\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20231029-to-20231104"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1091","date_from":"20231029","date_to":"20231104","book":"Ezekiel","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"37155","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Rape of Lot ","post_title":"The Rape of Lot","slug":"the-rape-of-lot","old_id":"37155","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36303,"post_title":"Esther Israel","slug":"esther-israel","old_id":"36303","first_name":"Esther","last_name":"Israel","description":"Esther Israel is a Jerusalem educator who teaches in different places and settings, working with different age-groups and varied audiences. She has an M.A. in Bible from Hebrew U. and is active in the Jerusalem community gardens and works in narration \/ dubbing. \r\n","short_description":"Esther Israel is a Jerusalem educator ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36351,"alt":"","title":"esther israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793.jpg","width":840,"height":852,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793-296x300.jpg","medium-width":296,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793-768x779.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":779,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793.jpg","1536x1536-width":840,"1536x1536-height":852,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793.jpg","2048x2048-width":840,"2048x2048-height":852,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/esther-israel-e1532930792793-414x420.jpg","home_baner-width":414,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"19","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A story about daughters and their father, and about Israel and two neighbor nations","post_main_content_content":"

A story about daughters and their father, and about Israel and two neighbor nations<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Are Lot's nameless daughters mad or sane? Getting their father drunk so they can couple with him and steal his sperm?! Leaving aside, momentarily, the question what they thought was happening in the rest of the world, and why they thought this was the only chance for them to procreate, I'll focus on the matter of them raping their father.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On one hand, is this not an act of revenge against their own father who was willing to throw them to the howling mob for the sole purpose of gang rape? But \u2013 why would <\/span>their<\/span><\/em> raping their sorry excuse for a father satisfy that need? Seeing it thus would, at most, present the <\/span>poetic<\/span><\/em> justice of their acts, \"measure for measure\", meted out to the \"Righteous Man of Sodom\", but would not give a victim the lost sense of protection and vindication she needs.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aside from the obvious fact that this story is clearly told from a male perspective, we must recognize that its purpose is external to itself: Abravanel says: \u00a0\"This story was told to teach the closeness of these two nations, Ammon and Moab, with Israel, and therefore [i.e., lest we get too chummy with them] The Blessed One commanded \"No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord ... \" (Deut. 23:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We can bring proof for this understanding of the story of Lot and his daughters from the preceding verse in Deuteronomy 23:2 which states that \"no one <\/span>misbegotten<\/span><\/em> shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If so, the story in Genesis 19 is not about the pursuit of justice revenge by the daughters of Lot, but an etiological story which explains the necessary future estrangement, and frequently, animosity, between Israel and its two cousin \u2013 nations. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Lot and His Daughters by Artemisia Gentileschi, c. 1635-38 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102527,"alt":"","title":"-621dd4d695f6d--621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi,_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","width":800,"height":998,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-768x958.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":958,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":998,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":998,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":998,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":998,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"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 Rape of Lot","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A story about daughters and their father, and about Israel and two neighbor nations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102527,"alt":"","title":"-621dd4d695f6d--621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi,_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","width":800,"height":998,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-768x958.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":958,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":998,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":998,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":998,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":998,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/621dd4d695f6d-621dd4d695f6egen19-Gentileschi_Artemisia_-_Lot_and_his_Daughters.jpg-337x420.jpg","home_baner-width":337,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"THE BURNING OF SODOM, by Camille Corot, 1843-57, French painting, oil on canvas. This was exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1857. An angel leads Lot and his two daughters to safety, but left behind is Lot's wife","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"19","date":"20250924","wall_id":"19"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"457","name":"Rape","old_id":"857"},{"term_id":"458","name":"Nations","old_id":"858"}]},{"order":2,"id":"37195","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Looking Back at Lot's Wife ","post_title":"Looking Back at Lot's Wife","slug":"looking-back-at-lots-wife","old_id":"37195","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37187,"post_title":"Rebecca Newberger Goldstein","slug":"rebecca-newberger-goldstein","old_id":"37187","first_name":"Rebecca","last_name":"Newberger Goldstein","description":"Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a philosopher and a novelist. She received her PhD in philosophy from Princeton, and is the author of ten books of fiction and non-fiction. She has received numerous awards, including both a Guggenheim and a MacArthur Fellowship. in 2015 she received the National Humanities Medal for \"bringing philosophy into conversation with culture.\"","short_description":"Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is a philosopher and a novelist.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37190,"alt":"","title":"rebecca n goldstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","width":265,"height":328,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691-242x300.png","medium-width":242,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","medium_large-width":265,"medium_large-height":328,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","large-width":265,"large-height":328,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","1536x1536-width":265,"1536x1536-height":328,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","2048x2048-width":265,"2048x2048-height":328,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-e1533674875691.png","post_full_size-width":265,"post_full_size-height":328,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/rebecca-n-goldstein-315x420.png","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"19","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"She was turned into salt either because God couldn\u2019t forgive her this desire . . . or because He could","post_main_content_content":"

Rabbi David Kimchi (a thirteenth-century exegete known by the acronym Radak) points out that in Genesis it is sulfur and fire that are said to have rained down on Sodom. But in Deuteronomy, when Moses, before dying, warns the children of Israel not to repeat the sins of the past, he speaks of sulfur and salt as having been poured onto the doomed city. In the course of explaining the discrepancy, Radak says that in fact all the people of Sodom became pillars of salt. The outcome of the physical devastation wrought upon Sodom was that the place itself became sulfur, while the people became salt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hence\u2014at least if one follows Radak\u2014it seems that Lot\u2019s wife was not the spectacular aberration I had always thought. Her fate was continuous with those who had been left behind. Suddenly I felt the whole story of Lot\u2019s wife shifting.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

She was told not to look and she looked, says the Bible. And her punishment came swift and horrible, added my teacher, following the traditional interpretation I, too, had thought inevitable. But I read the story differently now: <\/span><\/p>\r\n

She looked back to see if her two firstborn daughters were following, and she saw that they weren\u2019t and what had become of them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In such a moment of grief one knows only one desire: to follow after one\u2019s child, to experience what she\u2019s experienced, to be one with her in every aspect of suffering. Only to be one with her. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

And it was for this desire that she was turned into a pillar of salt. She was turned into salt either because God couldn\u2019t forgive her this desire . . . or because he could.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Excerpted and reprinted with permission from the essay \u201cLooking Back at Lot\u2019s Wife,\u201d in: <\/span>Reading Genesis Beginnings<\/span><\/i><\/a>, Beth Kissileff, editor, Bloomsbury, 2016, p. 113).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61050,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-grief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Looking Back at Lot's Wife","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"She was turned into salt either because God couldn\u2019t forgive her this desire . . . or because He could","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61050,"alt":"","title":"2sam21-grief","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","width":1440,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-225x300.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","1536x1536-width":1152,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief.jpg","2048x2048-width":1440,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam21-grief-315x420.jpg","home_baner-width":315,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"19","chapter_main_number":"19","date":"20250924","wall_id":"19"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"366","name":"Commentators","old_id":"766"},{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"459","name":"Forgiveness","old_id":"859"}]},{"order":3,"id":"102628","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Hagar The Stranger ","post_title":"Hagar The Stranger","slug":"hagar-the-stranger","old_id":"102628","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Abraham wasn\u2019t sensitive to her oppression, but God wanted the nation that came from him to understand what oppression felt like\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In <\/span>my post on Genesis Chapter 16<\/span><\/a>, I related an interpretation of the Sarai and Hagar story provided by Rabbi David Fohrman. Rabbi Fohrman continued his analysis of this episode with a brilliant (in my opinion) comparison of these chapters with the story of the Israelites\u2019 experience in Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why, asks Fohrman, does the introduction of Hagar in Genesis 16 begin with a mention of her nationality as an Egyptian, almost immediately on the heels of God telling Abraham \u201cyour seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they (the Egyptians) will enslave and oppress them (15:13)?\u201d Is the Torah trying to draw our attention to a possible connection between these two historical episodes?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consider these similarities, as explained by Fohrman:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the foretelling of the Israelites slavery (15:13) and with respect to Sarah\u2019s treatment of Hagar (16:6), the Torah uses the same word \u201c<\/span>inu<\/span><\/em> - oppressed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Chapter 21, Hagar was expelled from Abraham and Sarah\u2019s house and was left wandering in the desert, similar to the Israelites\u2019 eventual expulsion from Egypt and desert-wandering.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Before sending Hagar away, Abraham placed bread on her shoulder, evoking a similar image of the Israelites carrying their unleavened bread as they fled.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Hagar and her son Ishmael were close to perishing, an angel appeared to Hagar and told her \u201c<\/span>Al tiri\u2019<\/span><\/em> \u2013 do not fear (21:17)\u201d, and they were saved from dying of thirst by the miraculous appearance of a well. Similarly, when the Israelites were faced with certain death at the shore of the Red Sea, Moses told them \u201c<\/span>Al tira\u2019u<\/span><\/em> \u2013 do not fear (Exodus 14)\u201d, and they were saved from certain death by the splitting of the sea \u2013 another miracle involving water.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The moral that Rabbi Fohrman draws in this telling is that Hagar, as her very name suggests, was a stranger (<\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>) in Abraham and Sarah\u2019s household, and experienced oppression. This episode is a foreshadowing of the oppression to be experienced by the Israelites when they will be \u201ca stranger \u2013 <\/span>ger<\/span><\/em>\u201d in Hagar\u2019s homeland. Abraham wasn\u2019t sensitive to Hagar\u2019s oppression, but God wanted the nation that came from him to understand what oppression felt like. Unless we did, we would not be able to fulfill the future commandment \u201cYou shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him (Exodus 22).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Listen to Rabbi Fohrman\u2019s full audio-video explanation on the<\/span> AlephBeta website).<\/span><\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":36806,"alt":"","title":"hagar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","width":626,"height":176,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-300x84.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":84,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","medium_large-width":626,"medium_large-height":176,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","large-width":626,"large-height":176,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","1536x1536-width":626,"1536x1536-height":176,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","2048x2048-width":626,"2048x2048-height":176,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","post_full_size-width":626,"post_full_size-height":176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","home_baner-width":626,"home_baner-height":176}},"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":"Hagar The Stranger","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Abraham wasn\u2019t sensitive to her oppression, but God wanted the nation that came from him to understand what oppression felt like","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":36806,"alt":"","title":"hagar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","width":626,"height":176,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar-300x84.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":84,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","medium_large-width":626,"medium_large-height":176,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","large-width":626,"large-height":176,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","1536x1536-width":626,"1536x1536-height":176,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","2048x2048-width":626,"2048x2048-height":176,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","post_full_size-width":626,"post_full_size-height":176,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hagar.jpg","home_baner-width":626,"home_baner-height":176}},"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":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"469","name":"Egypt","old_id":"869"}]},{"order":4,"id":"37325","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Is Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations? ","post_title":"Is Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations?","slug":"is-divine-election-based-on-moral-considerations","old_id":"37325","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37274,"post_title":"Tomer Persico","slug":"tomer-persico","old_id":"37274","first_name":"Tomer ","last_name":"Persico","description":"Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and teaches at the department for Comparative Religion in Tel-Aviv University. He is a social activist for freedom of religion in Israel and has published works on techniques of meditation in the Jewish tradition (past and present).\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Tomer Persico is a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and teaches at the department for Comparative Religion in Tel-Aviv University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37277,"alt":"","title":"tomer persico","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","width":125,"height":102,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","thumbnail-width":125,"thumbnail-height":102,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","medium-width":125,"medium-height":102,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","medium_large-width":125,"medium_large-height":102,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","large-width":125,"large-height":102,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","1536x1536-width":125,"1536x1536-height":102,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","2048x2048-width":125,"2048x2048-height":102,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","post_full_size-width":125,"post_full_size-height":102,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/tomer-persico-e1533716740845.jpg","home_baner-width":125,"home_baner-height":102}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"21","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Reflections on Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs","post_main_content_content":"

The reader of the stories of Hagar\u2019s expulsion (Genesis Chapter 16 and here in Chapter 21) is impressed by a repeating pattern: various family developments cause Sarah to expel Hagar in the desert. There, an angel of God finds her and rescues her from death and promises her greatness and protection. This Divine intervention is perceived by us as carrying a moral valence: the good God helps the needy Hagar and promises her a bright future, as compensation or as a consolation prize for her grief. In my opinion, however, this interpretation is incorrect.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If we look at the stories of the Bible, it seems that indeed, \u00a0although the characters God chooses share certain features in common, it is not something related to a just reward or punishment. God simply chooses the lowly and weak: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Saul, David - all lowly in one form or another. However, their election did not come as compensation for something bad that had happened to them. In fact, often they are chosen even though they themselves do rather bad things (David is a prime example of this). Divine election in the Bible has no direct relationship to morality.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Election that is driven by moral considerations is something we encounter later. For example, in the words of Jesus what is called the Sermon on the Mount in the Christian Bible (\"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land\" which is found in Matthew 5:3) or in midrashim of the Sages (for example, the midrash on the diminution of the moon relative to the sun, in Tractate Chullin 60b). \u00a0In those instances, there is a close connection between the conclusions that are drawn and God\u2019s will to provide some type of compensation or reward. In the words of Ethics of the Fathers (5:23), \u201caccording to the effort\/pain is the reward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What becomes evident here is a cultural shift that is expressed in the perception of God's actions: from the view that at least part of God's greatness is his ability to choose \"out of nothing\" without any reason or logic, to the view that sees a moral basis for election not only as a necessity, but as a virtue, a virtue that the Supreme Judge can appropriately boast.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And yet, at this time, these two concepts compete with one another, and even today it is happening around the relationship between Isaac and Ishmael, i.e. Jews and Arabs. On the one hand, there is the concept that claims that \"God promised us\" the entire country and the \"Arabs\" should move out of the way. \u00a0And on the other hand, there is a claim that, without meeting moral standards, the Divine election is invalid or irrelevant. Ask yourself how you perceive Divine election: Is it an order without a justification, or a call and even a moral demand?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102634,"alt":"","title":"-6223cd1dddb4e--6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass tree book path.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","width":861,"height":634,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-300x221.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":221,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-768x566.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":566,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","large-width":861,"large-height":634,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":861,"1536x1536-height":634,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":861,"2048x2048-height":634,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":861,"post_full_size-height":634,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-570x420.jpg","home_baner-width":570,"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":"Is Divine Election Based on Moral Considerations?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Reflections on Isaac and Ishmael, Jews and Arabs","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102634,"alt":"","title":"-6223cd1dddb4e--6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass tree book path.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","width":861,"height":634,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-300x221.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":221,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-768x566.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":566,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","large-width":861,"large-height":634,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":861,"1536x1536-height":634,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":861,"2048x2048-height":634,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":861,"post_full_size-height":634,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/6223cd1dddb4e-6223cd1dddb4fgen21-compass-tree-book-path.jpg-570x420.jpg","home_baner-width":570,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"21","date":"20250928","wall_id":"21"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"}]},{"order":5,"id":"37584","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies ","post_title":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies","slug":"the-akeidah-in-art-4-studies","old_id":"37584","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37128,"post_title":"Anne Gordon","slug":"anne-gordon","old_id":"37128","first_name":"Anne","last_name":"Gordon","description":"Anne Gordon is the deputy Ops & Blogs editor at The Times of Israel, and a co-founder of Chochmat Nashim. She holds a BA in History & Philosophy and an MA in Judaic Studies from Harvard University, and after nearly a decade of beit midrash study in Israel and the US, she is a graduate of the Drisha Scholars Circle. Anne began teaching in 1991, and has taught widely since then, in the US and Israel.","short_description":"Anne Gordon is the deputy Ops & Blogs editor at The Times of Israel, and a co-founder of Chochmat Nashim.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37129,"alt":"","title":"Anne Gordon","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","width":873,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-300x247.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":247,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-768x633.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":633,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","large-width":873,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","1536x1536-width":873,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","2048x2048-width":873,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon.jpg","post_full_size-width":873,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Anne-Gordon-509x420.jpg","home_baner-width":509,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"22","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Rembrandt and Caravaggio on the Ultimate Sacrifice","post_main_content_content":"

Sometimes, when there is so much to say, the best path is to say nothing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story of the binding of Isaac may be one such case.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The narrative is one of the most poignant in any literature, the very notion that an elderly father must raise his hand against his beloved son, one whom he had awaited for more decades than most people live, in whom lay the unactualized promise of myriad descendants, whom he loved dearly, namely, Isaac.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Indeed, biblical commentators, theologians, and philosophers throughout the ages have tackled the many burning questions of this story. How could God ask Abraham to do this? How could Abraham be so willing? What did Isaac know about the enterprise -- and if he knew about it, was he as passive as the text suggests? Where was Sarah (on the assumption that she would never have let Abraham undertake this sacrifice of her son had she but known about it)? Soren Kierkegaard\u2019s poetic Fear and Trembling (pub. 1843) is a study of the Akedah. The Netziv (R. Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, 1816-1893) explores the multiple meanings of what it means to be \u201ctested\u201d by the Divine, and the process of refinement that surpasses the not incidental accomplishment of passing God\u2019s test. And the Midrash, particularly Bereishit Rabbah, goes out of its way to blame the Satan -- inserting him in conversation with not only Abraham, but also God, to provide some manner of explanation for what otherwise seems incomprehensible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When the underlying truth is incomprehensible and pathos are unbearable, words often fail.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Sometimes, the fine arts can capture what cannot be discussed -- the powerful emotions that emerge from line and color.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Hence, Rembrandt\u2019s \u201cSacrifice of Isaac\u201d -- it hangs in St. Petersburg\u2019s Hermitage in a tucked away corner, and if you round that corner and stand before the 6-foot tall work, you may find that the poignancy of the moment he depicts hits you full force, in no small part because of Rembrandt\u2019s masterful interplay of light and dark.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

And Caravaggio, whose two studies of the scene convey -- to this viewer -- the mix of Abraham\u2019s hesitation, determination, and consternation. Note also the differences in the three angels of these classical works. And Isaac\u2019s presence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAbraham and the Sacrifice of His Son Isaac\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\r\n


\r\n\"\"
\r\nBut it is another work of Rembrandt\u2019s -- this time, a small sketch -- that best captures what may be most impossible to convey in the biblical text. Housed at Museum Bredius in the Netherlands, \u201cAbraham Taking Isaac to the Sacrificial Altar\u201d shifts the focus from Abraham\u2019s manner of heeding God\u2019s decree to the relationship between Abraham and Isaac -- on a path where all that matters passes from father to son and back again without words.<\/span><\/p>\r\n


\r\n\"\"<\/p>\r\n

The artworks presented here can be found at (listed respectively):<\/p>\r\n

Rembrandt's Sacrifice, Hermitage<\/a>
\r\nCaravaggio I<\/a>
\r\nCaravaggio II<\/a>
\r\nRembrandt sketch<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Akedah in Art: 4 Studies","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Rembrandt and Caravaggio on the Ultimate Sacrifice","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":37592,"alt":"","title":"Akedah4-Caravaggio-2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","width":1279,"height":986,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-300x231.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":231,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-768x592.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":592,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-1024x789.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":789,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1279,"1536x1536-height":986,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1279,"2048x2048-height":986,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-1200x925.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":925,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Akedah4-Caravaggio-2-545x420.jpg","home_baner-width":545,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"22","chapter_main_number":"22","date":"20250929","wall_id":"22"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":6,"id":"37540","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Akeidah (Binding of Isaac): A Secular Interpretation ","post_title":"The Akeidah (Binding of Isaac): A Secular Interpretation","slug":"the-akeidah-binding-of-isaac-a-secular-interpretation","old_id":"37540","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37441,"post_title":"A. B. Yehoshua","slug":"a-b-yehoshua","old_id":"37441","first_name":"Abraham B.","last_name":"Yehoshua","description":"Abraham B. Yehoshua is an Israeli novelist, essayist, and playwright, published as A. B. Yehoshua. The New York Times called him the \"Israeli Faulkner.\"\r\n\r\n","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37442,"alt":"","title":"abyehoshua","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/abyehoshua.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"22","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Staging a drama to insure continuity - whether it makes sense or not","post_main_content_content":"

The common ground of all Jewish identities are several foundational stories that have shed their obvious historical signs of time and place and have become myths. These myths have become the components of the infrastructure of both religious and secular Jewish consciousness and identity, and have effectively preserved the identity of many Jews over thousands of years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I dare to say that the myth of the Akedah (\u201cThe Binding of Isaac\u201d) is more important to Jewish consciousness than the myth of crucifixion to Christians. For although the myth of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion is a cornerstone in the religious consciousness of Christians, the myth of the Akedah is of great importance and meaning both in the religious realm and in the Jewish national realm.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The heart of the story raises serious moral problems, and here I do not have much new to add. If I were a religious person, that is, someone who believed in the existence of Divine Providence, and in the existence of a God who actually spoke to Abraham, the story of the Akedah would have been morally damaging to my religious faith. Abraham's behavior is morally egregious. The opening sentence: \"God put Abraham to the test\" (Genesis 22:1) softens the cruelty of God, for there was no intention here to carry out the inexplicable slaughter of Isaac but only a test of the power of Abraham's faith. God clearly signifies here that he can be absolutely unjust. \u00a0And without regard to Abraham's actual response, the very willingness of God to subject Abraham to such a test is a sign of a moral flaw.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham's moral fault is more severe than God\u2019s. Without advancing arguments, questions, or objections, Abraham is willing to fulfill a completely inscrutable and unjust divine command. And in order to prove the extent of his faith and trust in God, Abraham is prepared to abandon logic and sense of natural justice and to actually kill an innocent human being.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems to me that it is possible to partially salvage the morality of this story by understanding it from a purely secular perspective that asserts that there is no God, and that Abraham's actions are completely autonomous. That is, he made them based on his own calculations and out of his own free will.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At a mature age, Abraham left his father Terah\u2019s house for the sake of a new faith. Now, at the end of his life, and after he finally had a son from his wife Sarah, he could well imagine that his son might do to him what he had done to his father. How could Abraham ensure that such a thing did not happen to his son?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abraham tries to ensure the continuity of his new faith by engraving it in the chain of generations that will be born of his descendants. He thus stages a drama through which he will try to ensure the continuity of his faith in his son Isaac. \u00a0In other words, he wants to embed in Isaac the continuity of his faith in the One God not only intellectually but in an existential way. It is as if he says to Isaac: \u201cWhether or not you like this God of mine, whether this belief system makes sense to you or not, you must ensure its continuity and accept it, for all your existence and life have been given to you by virtue of it. If you do not believe in my faith, you will die out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to this secular interpretation, Abraham did not intend to kill Isaac at first, but only to threaten him and frighten him. Thus, Abraham is innocent of murderous intent or blind obedience to a \"divine\" command to commit murder. But he is not exempt from the fear of Isaac. Indeed, the concept of \"Isaac\u2019s fear\/terror\" (see Genesis 31:42) is a dominant concept born from the story of the Akedah and is found in our prayers and in our medieval religious poetry. This is the case even if he did not intend to kill but only threaten Isaac. And it, too, is morally problematic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(This essay is a summary of a longer article by the same title which can be found in Hebrew at<\/span> www.929.org.il\/page\/22\/post\/678<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":87308,"alt":"","title":"ps94-bind bound chain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","width":1280,"height":1121,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-300x263.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":263,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-768x673.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":673,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1024x897.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":897,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1121,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1121,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1200x1051.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1051,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-480x420.png","home_baner-width":480,"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 Akeidah (Binding of Isaac): A Secular Interpretation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Staging a drama to insure continuity - whether it makes sense or not","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":87308,"alt":"","title":"ps94-bind bound chain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","width":1280,"height":1121,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-300x263.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":263,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-768x673.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":673,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1024x897.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":897,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1121,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1121,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-1200x1051.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1051,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ps94-bind-bound-chain-480x420.png","home_baner-width":480,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"22","chapter_main_number":"22","date":"20250929","wall_id":"22"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"375","name":"Faith","old_id":"775"},{"term_id":"418","name":"Abraham","old_id":"818"},{"term_id":"436","name":"Morality","old_id":"836"}]},{"order":7,"id":"80065","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Akedah Project ","post_title":"The Akedah Project","slug":"the-akedah-project","old_id":"80065","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":"571","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The Akedah Project explores the story of the Binding of Isaac (\u201cakedah<\/em>\u201d means \u201cbinding\u201d in Hebrew), which is one of the most confounding narratives in the Bible. Scholars, rabbis, artists, teachers, poets, and readers have tried to make sense of this story for millennia, which has given us a range of lenses through which we can read it, even as we bring the new questions, ideas, and perspectives that come with every new generation of readers.<\/p>\r\n

Traditionally, the Akedah is chanted in synagogue on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. Many of us will not attend synagogue in person this year due to the worldwide pandemic, and we are all looking for help making sense of our world in these challenging times. So, this year, we invited some of the most prominent scholars, teachers, thinkers, activists, and artists to investigate and present the story in their own way.<\/p>\r\n

Here you will find more than 30 videos, each offering coming to the Akedah from a different angle. If you like what you see here, The Akedah Project is just the beginning. We believe that a plurality of voices can be brought together to explore the vast canon of Jewish literature. Tradition tells us that the Torah has \u201cseventy faces,\u201d and we look forward to exploring them with you.<\/p>\r\n

Click here for the full collection of videos at the Akedah Project<\/a><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80067,"alt":"","title":"akedahproject","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","width":1200,"height":628,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-300x157.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-768x402.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":402,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1024x536.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":628,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":628,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1200x628.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":628,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-803x420.jpg","home_baner-width":803,"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 Akedah Project","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Music, art, videos, more!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80067,"alt":"","title":"akedahproject","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","width":1200,"height":628,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-300x157.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":157,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-768x402.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":402,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1024x536.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":628,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":628,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-1200x628.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":628,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/akedahproject-803x420.jpg","home_baner-width":803,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"571","date":"20271107","wall_id":"571"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"118626","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Ben Adam","post_title":"Ben Adam","slug":"ben-adam","old_id":"118626","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":101758,"post_title":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam","slug":"naomi-bromberg-bar-yam","old_id":"101758","first_name":"Naomi ","last_name":"Bromberg Bar-Yam ","description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","short_description":"Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam is a social worker and advocate in maternal and child health. She explores her work and life through Torah drashot, rituals and children\u2019s stories.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101760,"alt":"","title":"-62028435af471--62028435af472Naomi Bromberg Bar-Yam.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","width":361,"height":449,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-241x300.jpg","medium-width":241,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":449,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":449,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":449,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":449,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":449,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/02\/62028435af471-62028435af472Naomi-Bromberg-Bar-Yam.jpg-338x420.jpg","home_baner-width":338,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"453","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Like Adam, Ezekiel was exiled. And like Adam, he started over\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The term Ben Adam \/ son of man\/Adam appears 107 times in Tanakh, 93 of those times in the book of Ezekiel. It is the way God addresses Ezekiel throughout the book. No other prophet or biblical personality is referred to in this way so often and consistently.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi offers two complementary explanations: Because Ezekiel was the only human in the heavens to see the Celestial Chariot, he is named Ben Adam; and because Ezekiel alone among humans saw it, God calls him son of man, so that he will not become haughty. Abrabanel explains that, just as Adam was exiled from Eden, so Ezekiel was exiled from Israel, so he is Ben Adam, son of Adam.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like other prophets, Ezekiel prophesies to Israel of God\u2019s anger, their punishment of exile and their return, and he prophesies to other nations about their dire fates.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From the first chapter, Ezekiel, Ben Adam, also has extraordinary experiences and visions, even for a prophet. He goes on, and takes us on, journeys that are powerful, vivid and yet hard to understand: God\u2019s battle chariot; God enthroned over Jerusalem; dry bones resurrected as Israel will be resurrected and returned to our homeland; the war of Gog and Magog, in which Israel\u2019s enemies are destroyed bringing a period of peace; and a vision and description of a third Temple (Ezekiel lived after the destruction of the first Temple) and, with it, the return of God\u2019s presence in Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel is the first prophet of the Exile, his time, energy and prophecies focused on the Israelites exiled to Babylonia. The first exile, of the 10 tribes of Northern Israel, had no prophets or leaders, no promise to them of their return. They were absorbed into the cultures where they were exiled. This exile is different. Before they are exiled, God makes clear, through the words of multiple prophets, that this exile is temporary and they will return.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Adam, mankind, was exiled from Eden, and he, and we, made a productive, though troubled, life outside of Eden. Ezekiel, Ben Adam, is also at a moment of exile and starting again. The People of Israel has been decimated; the diaspora has begun. To this day, we have never fully returned to Israel and it took several millennia to be sovereign in our own land again. He, and we, have made a productive, though troubled, life outside of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God addresses Ezekiel as Ben Adam. We are all Ben (or Bat) Adam. Like Ezekiel, we have the potential for extraordinary experiences, visions of restoration.\u00a0 As Ezekiel and all of our prophets teach, it is up to us to create the reality, the Eden and the return to Israel, as God\u2019s partner.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: William Blake, God Judging Adam (detail), 1795 \/ wikimedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":64989,"alt":"","title":"is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","width":517,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795-287x300.jpg","medium-width":287,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","medium_large-width":517,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","large-width":517,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","1536x1536-width":517,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","2048x2048-width":517,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","post_full_size-width":517,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795-402x420.jpg","home_baner-width":402,"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":"Ben Adam","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Like Adam, Ezekiel was exiled. And like Adam, he started over","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":64989,"alt":"","title":"is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","width":517,"height":540,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795-287x300.jpg","medium-width":287,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","medium_large-width":517,"medium_large-height":540,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","large-width":517,"large-height":540,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","1536x1536-width":517,"1536x1536-height":540,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","2048x2048-width":517,"2048x2048-height":540,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg","post_full_size-width":517,"post_full_size-height":540,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-God_judging_adam_blake_1795-402x420.jpg","home_baner-width":402,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"453","date":"20270525","wall_id":"453"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"883","name":"Ezekiel","old_id":"1283"},{"term_id":"1005","name":"Adam","old_id":"1405"}]},{"order":9,"id":"72979","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Ezekiel\u2019s Chariot Vision of God ","post_title":"Ezekiel\u2019s Chariot Vision of God","slug":"ezekiels-chariot-vision-of-god","old_id":"72979","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":"453","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And the origins of Jewish mysticism\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

As we begin our study of the Book of Ezekiel, we should note that interpreting Ezekiel\u2019s astonishing visions proved for some downright dangerous! Talmud Bavli Hagigah 13a tells of an inexperienced person who when trying to expound the mysterious term \u201cchashmal\u201d (electrum? amber?) found only in the Book of Ezekiel (1:4, 27 and 8:2), a fire shot forth and consumed him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Reservations about the content of Ezekiel\u2019s sometimes astonishingly graphic visions are reflected already in the earliest stratum of rabbinic literature. The Mishnah (Hagigah 4:10) records a majority ruling that Ezekiel\u2019s opening vision of \u201cthe Chariot \u2013 Ha-Merkavah\u201d (Chapter 1) may not be used as a haftarah (\u201cprophetic reading\u201d), though a minority opinion, that of Rabbi Yehudah, permits its use. Nevertheless, Talmud Bavli Megillah 31a rules that \u201cnowadays,\u201d Ezekiel chapter 1 is read as the haftarah on the first day of Shavuot. This led to the current practice on Shavuot, to read Ezekiel\u2019s Chariot vision as the haftarah (Ezekiel 1:1\u201328, 3:12) following the Torah Reading of the Revelation at Sinai (Exodus 19:1-20:23).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Elsewhere, the Mishnah (Hagigah 2:1) rules that Ezekiel\u2019s chariot vision may not be interpreted even in the presence of one person unless he is a Sage who understands on his own. Bavli Hagigah 11b-14b preserves an extensive discussion on this mishnaic ruling. Here we find explicit explanation of rabbinic reservations about the prophecies of Ezekiel. Because some of Ezekiel\u2019s words contradict other passages in Scripture (compare Ezekiel 18:20 to Exodus 20:5), the Sages at one time considered \u201cconcealing\u201d it, i.e. excluding the entire Book of Ezekiel from the Biblical canon. However, Hananya ben Hizkiya burned up 300 kegs of oil to provide light in a secluded upper chamber until he managed to interpretively resolve these contradictions, thereby maintaining Ezekiel\u2019s canonicity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The same extensive Talmudic discussion includes narratives about the extraordinary events that occurred when Sages in the circle of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai (1<\/span>st<\/span> century CE) interpreted the opening chapter of Ezekiel. We are told that when Rabbi Eleazar ben Arakh expounded Ezekiel\u2019s vision of God, the Shekhinah and the ministering angels appeared. Fire descended from heaven, encircling all the trees in the field who began singing: \u201cPraise the Lord, from the land\u2026the fruit trees and all the cedars\u201d (Psalms 148:7-9). An angel responded: \u201cThis is indeed the Work of the Chariot \u2013 Ma\u2019aseh Ha-Merkavah\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Indeed, \u201cMa\u2019aseh Merkavah\u201d is one of the names of a whole genre of works known in academic research as the Merkavah Literature. These works which greatly expand on Ezekiel\u2019s chariot vision, evolved from late antiquity until the early Middle Ages and influenced medieval Kabbalah and Hasidism. They feature traditions of various individuals who ascended through the \u201cHeavenly Palaces \u2013 Hekhalot\u201d seeking to behold God sitting on His celestial throne (see Isaiah Chapter 6). According to Gershom Scholem (Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, pp. 40 and following), this extensive and variegated literature represents the first phase in the development of Jewish mysticism.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Engraved illustration of the \"chariot vision\" of the Biblical book of Ezekiel, after an earlier illustration by Matthaeus (Matth\u00e4us) Merian (1593-1650), for his \"Icones Biblicae\" , 1670 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72999,"alt":"","title":"ez1-Ezekiel's_vision","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","width":417,"height":323,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","medium_large-width":417,"medium_large-height":323,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","large-width":417,"large-height":323,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","1536x1536-width":417,"1536x1536-height":323,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","2048x2048-width":417,"2048x2048-height":323,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","post_full_size-width":417,"post_full_size-height":323,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","home_baner-width":417,"home_baner-height":323}},"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":"Ezekiel\u2019s Chariot Vision of God","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And the origins of Jewish mysticism","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72999,"alt":"","title":"ez1-Ezekiel's_vision","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","width":417,"height":323,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","medium_large-width":417,"medium_large-height":323,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","large-width":417,"large-height":323,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","1536x1536-width":417,"1536x1536-height":323,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","2048x2048-width":417,"2048x2048-height":323,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","post_full_size-width":417,"post_full_size-height":323,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez1-Ezekiels_vision.jpg","home_baner-width":417,"home_baner-height":323}},"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":"Ezekiel","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"453","date":"20270525","wall_id":"453"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"72976","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Spellbound ","post_title":"Spellbound","slug":"spellbound","old_id":"72976","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":59587,"post_title":"Benjamin Morse","slug":"benjamin-morse","old_id":"59587","first_name":"Benjamin ","last_name":"Morse ","description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history at Vassar, Oxford, and the Courtauld before completing a PhD in biblical interpretation. His dissertation reads the Hebrew Bible\u2019s \u201cmodern methods\u201d through the lens of painting and collage. His illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever, has won multiple awards.\r\nPhoto by Lenka Opalena.","short_description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history, and is the author and illustrator of the illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":59588,"alt":"","title":"Benjamin Morse by Lenka Opalena","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","width":1069,"height":1576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":695,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","large-width":695,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","2048x2048-width":1069,"2048x2048-height":1576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-814x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":814,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-285x420.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"453","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ezekiel 1 Read by Jessica Rabbit\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

One of my most God-conscious friends is a Slovak bombshell with better English than most native speakers. After our ulpan in Jerusalem in 1997, she became Bratislava\u2019s most popular MTV presenter. She\u2019s been in front of the cameras ever since.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

FaceTiming this morning from our respective quarantines, we reflected on what freaks the ancient prophets were. Hosea naming his kid Not Loved and Ezekiel\u2019s episodes with excrement wouldn\u2019t have been crowd pleasers. \u201cActs of faith,\u201d she said, \u201clook as bizarre to non-believers today as they did to them back then.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

She and I had bonded over talks like this ever since we formed an exclusive club of two the first day of ulpan. So there was no question of who would read the chapter I chose from Ezekiel for my gay wedding ten years later. It could only be Vera.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For all of its spectacular details, the passage ultimately attests to the limits there are to describing God. Almost everything Ezekiel sees is \u201clike\u201d but <\/span>not quite<\/span><\/i> something on earth: the likeness of four beings, the likeness of a man, the likeness of fiery coals, etc.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the heart of the blinding vision extraordinaire there glows \u201csomething like gleaming amber\u201d. When Vera read these words, knowing friends chuckled at my mischief in highlighting my wedding with an allusion to Amber Valletta (a portal to the divine for this gay boy since her first <\/span>Vogue<\/span><\/i> cover in February 1993). But it was Vera who set the revelation on fire, branding it on their hearts forever.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Before the service we had seen her alongside her unworthy boyfriend, dressing down a figure-hugging gown with a short denim jacket. When the time came for her to read, she removed the jacket to reveal a silhouette last seen in Toontown. Every man and woman\u2019s jaw dropped as she strode up the aisle, turned towards the lectern, and reverenced the moment with a dramatic pause before addressing her page of Scripture.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

She lured us backwards in time as the first phrases rolled from her lips: \u201cIn the thirtieth year\u2026 in the fourth month\u2026 on the fifth day of the month.\u201d The guttural emphasis she laid on the river <\/span>Che<\/span><\/i>bar presaged the transfixing close of the opening line: \u201cthe heavens were opened\u2026 and I saw <\/span>visions of God<\/span><\/i>.\u201d I had abridged the chapter so that people would stay rapt, and by the time she sealed the prophecy with \u201c<\/span>This<\/span><\/i> was the <\/span>appearance <\/span><\/i>of the <\/span>likeness <\/span><\/i>of the <\/span>glory of God<\/span><\/i>,\u201d not a soul was thinking about the sanctity of marriage.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The erotics of biblical literature are as plain as day to some of us. Ezekiel\u2019s relationship to prophecy is so physical, he eats his scroll. His radiant apparition even culminates in something like human loins and the \u201cfire below\u201d (v. 27). His divine encounter puts me in touch with him and suggests he was more than spellbound by the golden chariot. He was seduced.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Ian Sklarsky<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72977,"alt":"","title":"Ez1 Vera by Ian Sklarsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky.jpg","width":2048,"height":2868,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-731x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":731,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-731x1024.jpg","large-width":731,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":1097,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":1462,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-857x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":857,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"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":"Spellbound","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Ezekiel 1 Read by Jessica Rabbit","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72977,"alt":"","title":"Ez1 Vera by Ian Sklarsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky.jpg","width":2048,"height":2868,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-731x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":731,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-731x1024.jpg","large-width":731,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":1097,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":1462,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-857x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":857,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Ez1-Vera-by-Ian-Sklarsky-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"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":"Ezekiel","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"453","date":"20270525","wall_id":"453"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"73081","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Human: No Less, No More ","post_title":"Human: No Less, No More","slug":"human-no-less-no-more","old_id":"73081","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":"454","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Grounded, lofty, full of potential\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

He\u2019s known as \u201cson of Adam,\u201d which Abarbanel points out seems like kind of a superfluous description. \u201cIt is known that every one of the prophets was a son of Adam, and why was Ezekiel identified with this? And it is known that this \u2018name\u2019 is not a disgrace and is also not praise.\u201d What\u2019s the big deal about the fact that Ezekiel is human; why does it have to be highlighted every time he\u2019s addressed?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Several commentaries suggest that in the context of having experienced the profound vision of chapter one, Ezekiel needed to be brought down a notch, reminded of his humanity. \u201cHe called him \u2018son of Adam\u2019 so he would not become arrogant and think himself like one of the angels, because he\u2019d seen this great vision\u201d (Metzudat David). In this approach, Ezekiel\u2019s humanity isn\u2019t bad, per se, but it is less-than. He has seen such lofty sights that he needs to regain balance, to remain grounded, through repeated reminders that he is not so lofty himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the other hand, humans \u2013 as humans \u2013 have some loftiness to us too. Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer suggests Ezekiel is referred to as \u201cson of man\u201d as a constant reminder of his role as part of the great destiny of the Jewish people, specifically in relation to all of humanity: If the children of Israel are to be a light unto the many children of Adam, they must see themselves as part of that larger picture \u2013 and their prophet all the more so.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The lofty mission of the Jewish people, and the destiny of humanity as a whole, may not be angelic, but midrashic tradition likes to point out the advantage in that: only humans can actualize God\u2019s laws; angels are incapable of fulfilling His purpose for the world. So Ezekiel\u2019s humanity might be neither disgraceful nor praiseworthy, as Abarbanel noted \u2013 but it is both grounded and divine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps Ezekiel\u2019s nickname is meant to both emphasize and bridge the gap, to remind him that while there is vast difference between what he saw and what he is, he \u2013 and his people \u2013 have tremendous potential and responsibility to transcend it by working towards their divine purpose.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And as the prophet of the exile, he pursues that goal surrounded by a similar gap: reminders of the distance between the Jewish people and the divine presence on one hand, and the eternal fact of their mission in His Name on the other. They may be distant, but they can and must move towards each other.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73082,"alt":"","title":"ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280.png","width":1280,"height":1115,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-300x261.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-768x669.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":669,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-1024x892.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":892,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1115,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1115,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-1200x1045.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1045,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-482x420.png","home_baner-width":482,"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":"Human: No Less, No More","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Grounded, lofty, full of potential","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73082,"alt":"","title":"ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280.png","width":1280,"height":1115,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-300x261.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-768x669.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":669,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-1024x892.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":892,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1115,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1115,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-1200x1045.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1045,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-vitruvian-man-4995947_1280-482x420.png","home_baner-width":482,"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":"Ezekiel","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"454","date":"20270526","wall_id":"454"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"73084","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Ezekiel Eats His Words (Not) ","post_title":"Ezekiel Eats His Words (Not)","slug":"ezekiel-eats-his-words-not","old_id":"73084","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37561,"post_title":"Deena Cowans","slug":"deena-cowans","old_id":"37561","first_name":"Deena ","last_name":"Cowans","description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS and alumnus of the Master's in Public Administration- Development Practice at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). \r\nDeena is the Director of Education (Rosh Chinuch) at Camp Ramah in the Rockies since January 2016, and was the Youth and Family Programs at Congregation Ansche Chesed in 2016-2017.","short_description":"Deena Cowans is a rabbinical student at JTS, and the Director of Education at Camp Ramah in the Rockies","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37562,"alt":"","title":"deena cowans","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","width":181,"height":207,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","medium-width":181,"medium-height":207,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","medium_large-width":181,"medium_large-height":207,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","large-width":181,"large-height":207,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","1536x1536-width":181,"1536x1536-height":207,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","2048x2048-width":181,"2048x2048-height":207,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","post_full_size-width":181,"post_full_size-height":207,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/deena-cowans-e1534076835642.jpg","home_baner-width":181,"home_baner-height":207}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"454","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It\u2019s God\u2019s words he eats, and expresses\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Normally, when we say someone is \u201cgoing to eat their words\u201d, we mean that they are going to have to retract what they said. The idiom conveys shame or defeat. Perhaps when we eat our words, we feel the embarrassment of having to go back on what we said, as if the words we had spoken were somehow bitter or rotten, and now we must suffer their consequences. Sometimes, we must eat our words as a sign of our defeat, as if they are a bitter poison we had intended to wield against someone else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But in this chapter, as Ezekiel is called by God to be God\u2019s prophet among the Israelites, Ezekiel is made to literally eat his words just as God charges him to faithfully fulfill his mission. God feeds him a scroll, covered on both sides in lamentations and dirges. The implication is that these are the words that Ezekiel is to deliver as prophecy to the Israelites, for God has warned him that he must persevere even if the people don\u2019t listen. Though the English expression \u201cto eat your words\u201d was not part of the Biblical Hebrew vernacular, there is a sense in this chapter that Ezekiel might want to retract his words someday, rather than continue prophesying to the rebellious Israelites. But Ezekiel, as a prophet of God, cannot \u201ceat his words\u201d even if he wanted to.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the call of prophecy: to stand up for a message of truth and justice, even when it is not easy. We can all be modern-day prophets, when we champion righteousness and integrity against a rising tide of apathy. Each one of us who strives to seek truth and advocate for our beliefs may someday feel that we want to \u201ceat our words\u201d, to recant our message in the face of opposition and pressure. Though the idea of \u201ceating our words\u201d may sound abhorrent, we may come to feel that it is better than standing up alone. When we feel alone, called to prophecy we know will be ignored, we can take comfort in our mission, knowing it is the same as Ezekiel\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73085,"alt":"","title":"ez2-eat happy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","width":910,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","large-width":910,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","1536x1536-width":910,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","2048x2048-width":910,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","post_full_size-width":910,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-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":"Ezekiel Eats His Words (Not)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It\u2019s God\u2019s words he eats, and expresses","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73085,"alt":"","title":"ez2-eat happy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","width":910,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","large-width":910,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","1536x1536-width":910,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","2048x2048-width":910,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy.jpg","post_full_size-width":910,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez2-eat-happy-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":"Ezekiel","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"454","date":"20270526","wall_id":"454"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"73142","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Eating God\u2019s Words ","post_title":"Eating God\u2019s Words","slug":"eating-gods-words","old_id":"73142","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":"455","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Did he mean that literally?\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Prior to God informing Ezekiel how he will encounter resistance from the Jewish people regarding his messages to comply with Divine Directives, and that God will enable him to speak convincingly and articulately whenever it is determined that he should, a most arresting vision is described\u00a0 by the prophet: \u201cHe said to me, \u201cMortal, eat what is offered you; eat this scroll, and go speak to the House of Israel.\u201d So I opened my mouth, and He gave me this scroll to eat, as He said to me, \u201cMortal, feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll that I give you.\u201d I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey to me\u201d (1-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whereas some classical commentaries treat this vision as something to be interpreted figuratively: \u201c\u2026He said to him that he should \u201ceat\u201d the Megilla until it is \u201cdigested\u201d and inscribed on the Tablet of his heart, as is written: (Tehillim 40:9) \u201cI delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is in my inmost parts\u201d (Malbim). Or Radak: \u201cThis is the way of the parable that he (<\/span>Ezekiel<\/span><\/i>) should not \u201cvomit out\u201d (<\/span>his message<\/span><\/i>) from his mouth, but rather let his stomach first \u201cdigest...\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems to me that this directive could also be meant to be taken quite literally, i.e., Ezekiel is being told by God to chew, swallow, and become fortified by physically internalizing the pages of this \u201cScroll.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Such an interpretation would constitute a literal fulfillment regarding the importance of honoring a Torah scholar due to what he has existentially made of himself: \u201cRava said: How foolish are the rest of the people who stand before a Torah scroll that passes before them, and yet they do not stand before a great man, when a sage passes before them\u201d (<\/span>i.e., the sage is comparable to a living Sefer Tora<\/span><\/i> - Makkot 22b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

An idiomatic expression that one often hears is: \u201cYou are what you eat.\u201d Medievalists explained some laws of kashrut in terms of avoiding consuming carnivores because one should not become blood-thirsty like them. For instance, Abravanel: \u201cEating meat generates within the eater evil characteristics, i.e., extreme cruelty and \u2026 anger, to the point that cattle and sheep, and other forms of life that eat grasses, whether moist or dry, like straw, are many (<\/span>and permitted<\/span><\/i>) \u2026 The same is true regarding fowl, i.e., birds, turtle doves, pigeons, chickens, because they nourish themselves from grasses and grain, (<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>) they do not kill or tear apart other animals. However, animals that do kill others, and birds that crush (<\/span>with their talons<\/span><\/i>) gain nutrition from meat, and therefore they have within them anger \u2026 and \u2026 cruelty\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Consuming God\u2019s Scroll should then have the opposite effect, turning the \u201ceater\u201d into someone with the most desirable attributes and characteristics.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Illuminated manuscript, English, c.1146.-The letter \"E\" with a Biblical scene: \"Ezekiel eats the scroll\" (Ezekiel 3, 1-4), From the Lambeth Bible, Ms.3, fol.258 v. London, Lambeth Palace Library.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73143,"alt":"","title":"ez3-eating","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","width":561,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating-300x257.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":257,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","medium_large-width":561,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","large-width":561,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","1536x1536-width":561,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","2048x2048-width":561,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","post_full_size-width":561,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating-491x420.jpg","home_baner-width":491,"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":"Eating God\u2019s Words","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Did he mean that literally?\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73143,"alt":"","title":"ez3-eating","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","width":561,"height":480,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating-300x257.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":257,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","medium_large-width":561,"medium_large-height":480,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","large-width":561,"large-height":480,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","1536x1536-width":561,"1536x1536-height":480,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","2048x2048-width":561,"2048x2048-height":480,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating.jpg","post_full_size-width":561,"post_full_size-height":480,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-eating-491x420.jpg","home_baner-width":491,"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":"Ezekiel","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"455","date":"20270527","wall_id":"455"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"73137","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"The Old-New City ","post_title":"The Old-New City","slug":"the-old-new-city","old_id":"73137","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"455","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Herzl's vision becomes Israeli reality, with inspiration from Ezekiel\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

At the end of the nineteenth century, Theodore Herzl traveled far and wide to enlist support for his vision of a sovereign Jewish state as the solution to what many referred to as \"the Jewish question.\" Herzl realized that he needed to help people imagine what this reality could be like. So he wrote a utopian novel depicting daily life in the not-yet-born state some fifty years hence. He called his futuristic German novel <\/span>Altneuland<\/span><\/i> (\"Old-New Land\"), and published in 1902, it envisioned an \"old-new\" land for an ancient and renewing people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Altneuland<\/span><\/i>, was translated into Hebrew shortly thereafter, by another prominent Zionist thinker and writer, Nahum Sokolow. Perhaps<\/span> divinely inspired, Sokolow didn't go for the sort of prosaic, hyper-literal title he could have chosen. Instead, he borrowed the highly poetic word pair <\/span>Tel Aviv<\/span><\/i> from the biblical phrase \"And I came to the <\/span>golah<\/span><\/i> [the exile community] that dwelt in Tel Aviv by the Chebar Canal\" (Ezekiel 3:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though this biblical Tel Aviv was located in Babylonia, Sokolow chose it both as a corrective\u2014the name of the Zionist vision being taken from a place of the first great exile\u2014and because he understood the phrase to mean exactly the same combination of \"old\" (<\/span>tel<\/span><\/i> = archaeological mound) and \"new\" (<\/span>aviv<\/span><\/i> = \"spring\") that Herzl had intended with his original title, <\/span>Altneuland.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

But where did Herzl get his idea of <\/span>altneu<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> \"old-new,\" for his book in the first place? Chances are he was impressed by one of the oldest still functioning synagogues in all of Europe, the Altneuschul of Prague. Built in 1270, it was called \"the New Shul\" since at the time there was an even older one standing. But when a newer synagogue was built in the sixteenth century, the new one, of course, became \"the New Shul.\" And so the older \"new shul\" became known, as it is to this day, as the Altneuschul. That much is history.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But there is a conjecture, fanciful but nonetheless lovely, among the Jews of Prague. According to legend, the original name comes not from the Germanic-Yiddish <\/span>alt-neu<\/span><\/i>, \"old-new,\" but actually from a purely Hebrew phrase that sounds very similar: <\/span>al-t\u2019nai<\/span><\/i>, meaning \"on condition.\" This version has it that stones for the synagogue<\/span> were miraculously brought from the Temple in Jerusalem itself, \"on condition\" that they be returned when needed there\u2014that is, when the Messiah comes, the Jews return to Israel, and the Temple is rebuilt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So the city of Tel Aviv, an ancient mound of the new spring, whose name originally had its roots in the Babylonian exile, has been renewed in the Herzlian vision of the \"Old-New Land,\" which is also connected to a messianic vision of return. And if Israel is the Alt-neu Land, then Hebrew becomes the \"alt-neu-<\/span>langue<\/span><\/i>,\" which has ancient roots entwined with the ancient roots of the people who call it their own, but whose revival has defied Herzl\u2019s pessimism over and over again since the state was founded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Michal Ben-Hamu<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73138,"alt":"","title":"ez3-tel aviv","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-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":"The Old-New City","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Herzl's vision becomes Israeli reality, with inspiration from Ezekiel","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73138,"alt":"","title":"ez3-tel aviv","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez3-tel-aviv-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":"Ezekiel","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"455","date":"20270527","wall_id":"455"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","link_teaser":"","listen_link":"","other_title":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/72892"}],"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=72892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}