{"id":72893,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:21","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-456\/"},"modified":"2023-11-05T15:05:06","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T13:05:06","slug":"wall-456","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-456\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Ezekiel-4"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"456","date":"20270530","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"72904","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Ezekiel Chapter 4 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Ezekiel Chapter 4","slug":"jps-audio-bible-ezekiel-chapter-4","old_id":"72904","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"456","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Ezekiel Chapter 4","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/user-753876298\/jps_audio_bible_ezekiel_chapter_4","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"118675","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Kosher Scrolling ","post_title":"Kosher Scrolling","slug":"kosher-scrolling","old_id":"118675","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ezekiel\u2019s peculiar culinary missions\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel starts his prophetic mission with a lot of performative prophecy. Chapter 4 begins a full-scale Lego set complete with towers, siege instruments, walls, and more. Ezekiel is then instructed to lay on his left side and right side for days at a time to symbolize the punishments of Israel and Judah. At the end of the chapter, God instructs Ezekiel to eat rationed low-quality food and use human feces as fuel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2018So,\u2019 said GOD, \u2018shall the people of Israel eat their bread, impure, among the nations to which I will banish them\u2019\u201d (verse 13).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This, of course, is not the first time God instructed Ezekiel to eat something as part of his prophecy. At the start of chapter 3, God asked Ezekiel to eat the scroll that he gave him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Does Ezekiel really have to eat these things? The commentators are mostly unanimous that God did not actually make Ezekiel eat the scroll in chapter 3. Instead, this is taken as a metaphor for Ezekiel accepting the instructions of God as if they were sweet honey. Chapter 4, however, seems to indicate that he does have to eat these cakes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then I said, \u2018Ah, my Sovereign GOD, my person was never defiled; nor have I eaten anything that died of itself or was torn by beasts from my youth until now, nor has foul flesh entered my mouth\u2019\u201d(verse 14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel protests the commandment to eat the bread using fuel from human waste. His response and God\u2019s changing of the charge to animal waste shows that he is expected to eat the bread.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the commentators look at this verse to explain their interpretation of chapter 3.\u00a0 Ezekiel does not protest the fact that he is asked to eat a scroll of paper with words written on it. The fact that he does not protest means that he did not have to eat the scroll. This raises the halachic question, can one eat a scroll? If the scroll was written with a papyrus-like plant with plant-based inks, then the scroll would be kosher. If it was written with a non-kosher animal skin or with ink from a squid or other animal, then it would not be. The fact that Ezekiel does not protest could mean that the scroll was \u201ckosher\u201d or it could mean that it was a metaphor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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","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":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A desultory digression on dung and degradation\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In Ezekiel 4, many omens are listed to be carried out by the prophet as symbolic indicators for what God intends to do to the Jewish people due to their overall recalcitrance (vs. 1-11.) Of greatest theological interest, is God\u2019s relenting (vs. 12-15) regarding one aspect of one of the omens\u2019 details, as a result of the prophet\u2019s plaint:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Eat it as a barley cake; you shall bake it on human excrement before their eyes. So,\u201d said GOD, \u201cshall the people of Israel eat their bread, impure, among the nations to which I will banish them.\u201d Then I said, \u201cAh, my Sovereign GOD, my person was never defiled; nor have I eaten anything that died of itself or was torn by beasts from my youth until now, nor has foul flesh entered my mouth.\u201d The answer came: \u201cSee, I allow you cow\u2019s dung instead of human excrement; prepare your bread on that.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God faces the dilemma that since, for the most part, only certain individuals qualify to become prophets, they will by definition, be reluctant to carry out personal degradations to gain the attention of the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The fact that God allows for \u201cchanging His mind\u201d implies a particular flexibility ordinarily not associated with Him. It is possible that He knew all along that His demand that the prophet not only prepare, but also eat the disgusting food constituted \u201coverreaching,\u201d and He was prepared to follow \u201cPlan B\u201d as soon as Ezekiel voiced any objection (similar to what is evidenced in Exodus 32:14; 33:17; and Numbers 14:20).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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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":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Bread, water, sleeping on the ground: the keys to happiness and prosperity","post_main_content_content":"

In<\/span> our chapter<\/span><\/a> and the<\/span> following chapter<\/span><\/a> God commands Ezekiel to do a number of symbolic acts to graphically foretell the approaching conquest and destruction of Jerusalem.<\/span> Ezekiel Chapter 4<\/span><\/a> opens:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And you, O mortal, take a brick and put it in front of you, and incise on it a city, Jerusalem\u2026Thus, it shall be under siege, you shall besiege it. This shall be an omen for the House of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0A<\/span> clay tablet<\/span><\/a> incised with the schematic map of Nippur, showing its key structures, was discovered in the excavations of that Mesopotamian city. Significantly, the area around ancient Nippur is where Ezekiel was active, as we learn from<\/span> Ezekiel's own statement<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And I came to the exile community that dwelt in Tel Abib by the Chebar Canal, and I remained where they dwelt. And for seven days I sat there, stunned (<\/span>mashmim<\/span><\/em>), among them (cf.<\/span> Ezekiel 1:1<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Chebar Canal was also known as<\/span> Purat Nippur<\/span><\/a>, the \u201cEuphrates (<\/span>Perat<\/em> <\/span>in Hebrew) of Nippur (see<\/span> Midrash Genesis Rabbah<\/span><\/a>).<\/span> Tel Abib<\/span><\/a>, mentioned in our Chapter, was near Nippur. In modern times the Akkadian name of this ancient Mesopotamian city, <\/span>Tel Ab\u00fbbi<\/span><\/em>, was eventually adapted as the name for what became the Israeli metropolis of<\/span> Tel Aviv<\/span><\/a> (\u201cHill of Spring\u201d), founded on April 11, 1909 on the sand dunes on the beach outside Jaffa.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the<\/span> continuation of our chapter<\/span><\/a>, God tells Ezekiel to lie first on his right side for 390 days and then to lie on his left side for 90 days. The<\/span> Talmud Bavli<\/span><\/a> relates that a \u201cheretic\u201d (<\/span>mina<\/span><\/em>\u2019<\/span><\/i>) found these seemingly contradictory instructions so bewildering as to suggest that God was here behaving like a \u201cjester\u201d (<\/span>gahkan<\/span><\/em>)!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the<\/span> next symbolic prophecy<\/span><\/a> God instructs Ezekiel to prepare and eat bread made from \u201cwheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer\u201d and to \u201cdrink water by measure\u2026 a sixth of a <\/span>hin<\/span><\/em> from time to time\u201d(<\/span>Ezekiel 4:11<\/span><\/a>). A sixth of a <\/span>hin<\/span><\/em> is roughly two-thirds of a quart. In the verse, this amount is described as <\/span>bimsurah<\/em> <\/span>(literally \u201cby measure\u201d), apparently suggesting that this is only enough liquid to prevent deadly dehydration. This is to prophecy that \u201cthe people of Israel shall eat their bread, impure, among the nations to which I [God] will banish them\u201d (<\/span>Ezekiel 4:13<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel\u2019s meager diet is a symbolic prophecy that God will: \u201cbreak the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, in anxiety, and drink water by measure\u2026\u201d (<\/span>Ezekiel\u00a0 4:16-17<\/span><\/a>). The Rabbinic Sages interpret Ezekiel\u2019s divinely imposed asceticism as the \u201cWay of Torah:\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You shall eat bread with salt, and drink water by measure. You shall sleep on the ground. Your life will be one of privation, and in Torah shall you labor. If you do this: \u201cYou shall enjoy the fruit of your labors. You shall be happy, and you shall prosper\u201d (<\/span>Psalms 128:2<\/span><\/a>). \u201cYou shall be happy\u201d in this world; \u201cand you shall prosper\u201d in the world to come (<\/span>Mishnah Avot 6:4<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":105670,"alt":"","title":"-62a6f19c20f88--62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Way Of Torah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Bread, water, sleeping on the ground: the keys to happiness and prosperity","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":105670,"alt":"","title":"-62a6f19c20f88--62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/11\/62a6f19c20f88-62a6f19c20f8alex2-bread.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"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":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"410","name":"Torah","old_id":"810"},{"term_id":"415","name":"food","old_id":"815"},{"term_id":"506","name":"Prophecy","old_id":"906"},{"term_id":"883","name":"Ezekiel","old_id":"1283"}]},{"order":5,"id":"73178","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Kusemet! ","post_title":"Kusemet!","slug":"kusemet","old_id":"73178","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64450,"post_title":"David Curwin","slug":"david-curwin","old_id":"64450","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Curwin ","description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","short_description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64452,"alt":"","title":"david curwin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","width":427,"height":464,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-276x300.png","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","medium_large-width":427,"medium_large-height":464,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","large-width":427,"large-height":464,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","1536x1536-width":427,"1536x1536-height":464,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","2048x2048-width":427,"2048x2048-height":464,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","post_full_size-width":427,"post_full_size-height":464,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-387x420.png","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Now how is that spelt?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 4, Ezekiel is commanded to take symbolic action to mirror the siege on Jerusalem. He is told to lie on his side for 390 days, and to eat bread made up of six different grains. This type of bread would echo the way people under siege would bake with whatever ingredients they could find.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Looking at the verse we find an interesting view into the grains that were used at that time:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cFurther, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer. Put them into one vessel and bake them into bread. Eat it as many days as you lie on your side: three hundred and ninety.\u201d (Ezekiel 4:9)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The last grain mentioned is <\/span>kusmim<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 <\/span>kusemet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0in the singular (as in Exodus 9:32). The translation above renders it as \u201cemmer.\u201d Emmer is a kind of wheat and was one of the first crops to be domesticated in the ancient Near East. However, in the Middle Ages, the rabbis (such as Rashi on Ezekiel 4:9) began to identify it with spelt, a grain not found in Israel or Egypt in biblical times.\u00a0 And in Modern Hebrew, spelt is known by the Talmudic form of its plural: <\/span>kusmin<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, the singular form <\/span>kusemet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0refers to a different grain in Hebrew: buckwheat. Since buckwheat is not a grass, not only is not related to wheat, it\u2019s not even a grain. It is a fruit seed, which originated in China, and only arrived in Europe about 500 years ago. So how did it come to be identified with the grain that Ezekiel was ordered to eat?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is no clear answer to this question. One clue, however, is that the European translations of the Bible that first began translating <\/span>kusemet<\/span><\/em> as buckwheat were in the Low German language, which was spoken in Northern Germany and Holland. And Holland had two popular legends at the time about buckwheat. One was that it was brought to Europe from the Holy Land, and the other was that the Dutch form, \"<\/span>boek weit\"<\/span><\/i>, was so named to honor its origin in the Bible (i.e. they understood it as \u201cbook wheat\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Neither of those legends were true. It was called buckwheat because it looked similar to the seeds of beech trees, and while it may have been brought to Europe by Arabs and Turks, it did not grow in the Land of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But legends have a strength of their own, and if people believed that buckwheat was a biblical grain from Israel, then it wasn\u2019t too long before they began translating <\/span>kusemet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0as buckwheat. Eventually this association spread to the Jews of Europe as well, and we arrived at the unusual situation where in Modern Hebrew <\/span>kusemet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>means \u201cbuckwheat\u201d, <\/span>kusmin<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cspelt,\u201d and neither refer to the grain Ezekiel ate: emmer wheat.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73179,"alt":"","title":"emmer - spelt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","width":1280,"height":375,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-300x88.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":88,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-768x225.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-1024x300.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":375,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":375,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-1200x352.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":352,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","home_baner-width":1280,"home_baner-height":375}},"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":"Kusemet!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Now how is that spelt?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73179,"alt":"","title":"emmer - spelt","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","width":1280,"height":375,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-300x88.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":88,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-768x225.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":225,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-1024x300.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":375,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":375,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt-1200x352.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":352,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/emmer-spelt.jpg","home_baner-width":1280,"home_baner-height":375}},"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":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"73186","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"(In)Appropriate Activities ","post_title":"(In)Appropriate Activities","slug":"inappropriate-activities","old_id":"73186","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But perhaps this too was only in a vision...\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In our introduction to Ezekiel, we pointed out that traditional exegesis placed him in Babylon in approximately 592, shortly before the destruction of the Temple. In this chapter, God instructed him to carve an image of the city of Jerusalem on a brick (1), draw a picture of siege implements arrayed against it (2), and take \u201can iron plate\u201d and place it between himself and the image as \u201can omen for the House of Israel\u201d (3). Then, he was directed to spend 390 days sleeping on his left side (4-5), followed by 40 days on his right side (6), the former linked to the punishment of the House of Israel and the latter to that of the House of Judah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is but one of several instances in Tanakh in which God instructed prophets to do strange things that turn out to be fraught with great symbolism. Jeremiah was instructed: \u201cGo buy yourself a loincloth of linen, and put it around your loins, but do not dip it into water\u201d (13:1) and then to hide it in the cleft of a rock (13:4). Later, he was told to retrieve it, and its deterioration became a symbol of the fate Israel would suffer. Isaiah was told to go about \u201cnaked and barefoot\u201d (20:3); Hosea was instructed to marry a harlot (1:2); and Ezekiel, as we just saw, was directed to eat a scroll (3:1). Maimonides (Guide 2:46) regarded all such incidents as occurring only in prophetic visions, following the paradigm of Abraham and the covenant of the pieces (Gen. 15), which is explicitly designated a vision (<\/span>mar\u2019eh<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Apropos of the depiction of Jerusalem under siege, there is an interesting difference of opinion amongst the exegetes regarding their precise identification. The verse (2) mentions <\/span>dayyeq, solelah, machanot<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>karim<\/span><\/i>. Apart from <\/span>machanot<\/span><\/i>, camps, which is a common biblical word, here is how their definitions are distributed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

dayyeq<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

solelah<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

karim<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

\r\n

Rashi<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

catapult<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

earthen siege ramp<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

perimeter guards<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

\r\n

Eliezer of Beaugency<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

battering ram<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

siege tower<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

noisemakers<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

\r\n

Radak<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

siege tower<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

earthen siege ramp<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

officers\/battering ram<\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

One can match the choices made in several Jewish English translations\u2014e.g., JPS, ArtScroll, Soncino\u2014 with these terms according to the opinions of the exegetes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72030,"alt":"","title":"jer40-eye-1280141_1920","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920.jpg","width":1584,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-248x300.jpg","medium-width":248,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-768x931.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":931,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-845x1024.jpg","large-width":845,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920.jpg","1536x1536-width":1267,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920.jpg","2048x2048-width":1584,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-990x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":990,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-347x420.jpg","home_baner-width":347,"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":"(In)Appropriate Activities","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But perhaps this too was only in a vision...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72030,"alt":"","title":"jer40-eye-1280141_1920","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920.jpg","width":1584,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-248x300.jpg","medium-width":248,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-768x931.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":931,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-845x1024.jpg","large-width":845,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920.jpg","1536x1536-width":1267,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920.jpg","2048x2048-width":1584,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-990x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":990,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer40-eye-1280141_1920-347x420.jpg","home_baner-width":347,"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":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"73213","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Beyond Masculine And Feminine, Good And Evil ","post_title":"Beyond Masculine And Feminine, Good And Evil","slug":"beyond-masculine-and-feminine-good-and-evil","old_id":"73213","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38928,"post_title":"Genevieve Greinetz","slug":"genevieve-greinetz","old_id":"38928","first_name":"Genevieve ","last_name":"Greinetz","description":"Genevieve Greinetz is currently in her third year at Hebrew College Rabbinical School. In her undergraduate at Colorado State University, she studied eastern religion, philosophy, and literature. After graduating, she spent a year studying yoga and living at an ashram in the Santa Cruz mountains in CA. She worked as an organic farmer and studied Chinese tea with a master for several years before beginning her Master\u2019s in Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA, which she completed in 2016. \r\n","short_description":"Genevieve Greinetz is currently in her third year at Hebrew College Rabbinical School.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38933,"alt":"","title":"Genevieve Greinetz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437.jpg","width":848,"height":864,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437-294x300.jpg","medium-width":294,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437-768x782.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":782,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437.jpg","1536x1536-width":848,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437.jpg","2048x2048-width":848,"2048x2048-height":864,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-900x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":900,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Genevieve-Greinetz-e1535526296437-412x420.jpg","home_baner-width":412,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Non-kabbalistic symbolism of right and left in Ezekiel\u2019s bizarre tasks\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In Ezekiel 4:4, God asks Ezekiel to lie on his left side for 390 days to atone for the House of Israel, and then asks him to turn over and lay on his right side for another 40 days to atone for the House of Judah. The only explanation for the bizarre request is that the 390 days correspond to the 390 years of punishment that would have been enacted on Israel, and the 40 days to the 40 years of punishment for Judah. The midrash explains that God is being merciful by punishing one person instead of an entire nation, which is true, and yet the sheer oddity of the passage stands.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since the medieval period, when Kabbalistic interpretations became more common, there developed accepted symbolic connotations of the left and right sides. The left correlates with the quality of judgement and is the side from which all evil comes, while the right side is associated with love and a potential overabundance of goodness. Furthermore, the left side is associated with the feminine, and the right with the masculine. This association of feminine, evil, and left side, and the parallel association of masculine, goodness, and right side is not original to Kabbalah and dates back to the ancient Greek conception of the body where it was theorized that males were birthed from semen that issued from the right testicle, and females from the left testicle. The entirety of the Greek conception of the body including the 5 humors is obviously outdated, and yet still remaining in the Jewish imagination is the problematic association between the left side, the \u201cfeminine,\u201d and evil.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here, in Ezekiel 4, as well as later in chapter 16, we see that the left and right are associated with north and south; the left being associated with north and Jerusalem, the right being associated with south and Judah. This left and right formation predates Greek ideas of the body, as well as Kabbalah, and here, there are no assumptions or associations regarding good and evil, or feminine and masculine. Perhaps these lines, and Ezekiel\u2019s odd prescribed means to atone, can open our imagination beyond the strictures of ancient Greek and medieval theories of good, evil, masculine, and feminine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Ardon Windows (detail) at the Natrional Library in Jerusalem, Mordechai Ardon, 1984 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73214,"alt":"","title":"ez4-sephirot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-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":"Beyond Masculine And Feminine, Good And Evil","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Non-kabbalistic symbolism of right and left in Ezekiel\u2019s bizarre tasks\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73214,"alt":"","title":"ez4-sephirot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","width":800,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-sephirot-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":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"73181","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Ezekiel\u2019s Performance Art ","post_title":"Ezekiel\u2019s Performance Art","slug":"ezekiels-performance-art","old_id":"73181","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":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Build a diorama, lie on your side for a year and a half, and eat weird bread\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

If the elusiveness of Ezekiel Chapter 1 caught me by surprise it was nothing compared to how far my jaw dropped while reading Chapter 4. Funnily enough I had just seen a documentary about a very strange Canadian performance artist when I encountered this strange piece of biblical performance art.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s evident that simply speaking to the people about the impending doom and their need to repent hasn\u2019t been successful. Not for Isaiah nor for Jeremiah. Writing it down in scrolls was also unsuccessful. So, as any good leader or teacher knows, you need to find a new approach. And God chooses an unlikely medium. This time, Ezekiel is to deliver the prophecy by enacting the coming destruction of the Temple and siege of Jerusalem, and its impact on those left behind, through a wild performance with several acts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Act 1 involves sculpture. Ezekiel is to take a brick and engrave an image of Jerusalem on it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Act 2, Ezekiel is directed to enact the siege of Jerusalem through a depiction that includes ramparts, battling rams and iron griddles standing in as walls.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Act 3 begins the intense performance of the prophecy. Ezekiel is to lay on his left side for 390 days, representing the number of years that the tribes of Israel had sinned against God. Following that he\u2019s to turn over to his right side and continue laying another 40 days, representing the years of iniquity by the tribe of Judah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Finally, in Act 4, Ezekiel asks for a change in direction. God instructed him to take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt and bake bread\u2026over a dung fire made from human excrement. Ezekiel could sculpt, create dioramas, even lie on his side for 430 days, but he argued against the human excrement and God allowed him the creative license to use cattle dung instead.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We know that even the medium of this very visceral performance art didn\u2019t change the outcome of destruction and exile for the Jewish people. God had a different ending in mind and used every method available to get His message across.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Aside from the biblical lessons in this chapter about the Ultimate Director, there is a rather quirky modern-day carryover.<\/span> Ezekiel 4:9 bread<\/span><\/a> is popular among health-conscious and whole food consumers - and kosher to boot - and now we know<\/span> the story behind Ezekiel Bread<\/span><\/a> (from Huffington Post). Thankfully dung of any kind is not part of that narrative.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73182,"alt":"","title":"ez4-ezekiel 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not in words, but in symbolic acts - until the destruction\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The Book of Ezekiel moves from silence to speech, from distance to love. Opening with a harsh atmosphere of detachment and silence, it moves to symbolic acts steeped in longing, finally closing with prophecies of salvation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Silence and speech form a framework for the Book of Ezekiel. Once he is proclaimed a prophet, Ezekiel is commanded to remain silent (3:24-27), with the decree of total silence coming on the day when the siege around Jerusalem begins (24:25-27). From that time until the destruction of the Temple, Ezekiel has no prophecies for the nation of Israel, but only for the nations of the world (chapters 25-32). Only on the day that the refugee arrives from Jerusalem and shares the information about the Temple\u2019s destruction, is Ezekiel finally commanded to open his mouth (33:21-22) to offer prophecies of salvation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How are we to understand this behavior?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After Ezekiel is commanded to remain silent, he is instructed to perform a series of symbolic acts. Chapters 4 and 5 contain commands to lie on his side, to eat certain kinds of food and drink, to shave his hair and so forth \u2013 all without a word of speech. In chapters 6 and 7, Ezekiel is told to speak \u2013 but not to the people. \u201cO mortal, turn your face toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy to them\u201d (6:2); \u201cYou, O mortal, [say:] Thus said the Lord GOD to the land of Israel\u201d (7:2). Only in chapter 12 are the symbolic acts accompanied with a command to speak to the nation of Israel: \u201cSay to them\u201d (12:10).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Silence comes with the prophecies of exile, and it serves as a sort of <\/span>Hester Panim<\/span><\/i> \u2013 God is hiding His face from His people. This is like a parent whose child misbehaves and who rejects his child, abandoning him, saying: I want nothing to do with you. The child remains alone, and the parent retires to his room and cries: \u201cMy inmost self must weep\u201d (Jeremiah 13:17). Out of longing for his child, he tries to find ways to communicate with him without words. One he sees that his child, indeed, desires a relationship, he slowly reciprocates and begins to speak with him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That is how the Book of Ezekiel progresses. It begins with total silence and disconnect. Then the prophet receives commands to engage in symbolic acts without actual spoken communication. For 430 days Ezekiel performs these symbolic acts at home, paying no attention to his audience. The final symbolic act takes place in Chapter 12, but this time it is performed in front of the people and the prophet is commanded to speak with them. Throughout the years of siege around Jerusalem there was silence, but with the destruction of the Temple, Ezekiel begins to speak prophecies of redemption.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73196,"alt":"","title":"ez4-silence","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","width":800,"height":1199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"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":"From Silence to Speech","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Communicating not in words, but in symbolic acts - until the destruction","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73196,"alt":"","title":"ez4-silence","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","width":800,"height":1199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez4-silence-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"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":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"73184","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Ezekiel's Symbolic Actions and their Meaning ","post_title":"Ezekiel's Symbolic Actions and their Meaning","slug":"ezekiels-symbolic-actions-and-their-meaning","old_id":"73184","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":72948,"post_title":"Tova Ganzel","slug":"tova-ganzel","old_id":"72948","first_name":"Tova ","last_name":"Ganzel ","description":"Dr. Tova Ganzel is the Director of the Midrasha at Bar-Ilan University, and is one the first trained women\u2019s halakhic advisors (Yoatzot Halacha). 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Generally speaking, the Latter Prophets, unlike the Earlier Prophets, do not perform miracles. Therefore, in order to convey their messages effectively, they must employ both elevated speech and symbolic acts. Perhaps for this reason Ezekiel only conveys his prophecies after a series of symbolic actions performed at the beginning of his prophetic career. Indeed, the difficulty of convincing the nation of the authenticity and reliability of God\u2019s prophets is clearly demonstrated in Jeremiah\u2019s struggle against the false prophets. In the book of Ezekiel too \u2013 even in the prophecies that follow the Destruction \u2013 the prophet\u2019s audience treats his words as mere poetry and they continue sinning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel\u2019s symbolic acts are a step-by-step demonstration of what is yet to happen due to the sins of the nation: first the siege with no response from God; the unbearable hunger and thirst; and finally \u2013 annihilation of most of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, only a few of whom will escape and be saved.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Provided in connection with hatanach.com. For full article <\/span>see here<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Ezekiel's Symbolic Actions and their Meaning","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Meant to be a tangible demonstration - they are still treated as \u201cmere poetry\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"73169","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Siege Bread ","post_title":"Siege Bread","slug":"siege-bread","old_id":"73169","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Don\u2019t try this recipe at home\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

4:9 \u201cAnd you, take you wheat and barley and beans and lentils and millet and emmer and put them in a single vessel and make them into bread for yourself the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred ninety days you shall eat it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Although one American Christian group actually markets bread purportedly made from this recipe, it is in fact siege bread, made not from wheat but from a combination of grains and legumes because of the lack of sufficient wheat supplies. The Talmud reports an experiment in which the bread was made with these ingredients and a dog would not touch it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Siege Bread","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Don\u2019t try this recipe at home","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"118674","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ezekiel4 ","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ezekiel4","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-ezekiel4","old_id":"118674","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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\u201cJerusalem Anthology-Ezekiel\u201d<\/a> by Michael Feuer: Prophecy about Jerusalem in Ezekiel<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Ezekiel 4","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"456","date":"20270530","wall_id":"456"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"73167","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - Ezekiel 4 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - Ezekiel 4","slug":"points-to-ponder-ezekiel-4","old_id":"73167","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":"456","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Seriously!?<\/em> Almost everything. This time it\u2019s not a metaphor or a vision. There were real objects used. Real food. In real time. A real person. Ezekiel.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Playing both roles<\/em>. In the siege, Ezekiel plays both God, who keeps His eye on Jerusalem (and not in a good way), and also the enemy, who besieges it. Perhaps there was a shortage of available actors for this drama. Or perhaps because the enemy is sent by God in any event to punish Jerusalem.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Beginners math, advanced historiography<\/em>. In order to decipher the meaning of the number of days that Ezekiel lay on each side, you need a little math and a lot of history. 390 years could be the length of the entire monarchy. Counting from David to the destruction (which is closer to 400 years - but let\u2019s not be petty), the sin of the House of Israel then is the collective wrongdoing of Judah and Israel together, making the entire monarchic period one long continuous sin. But if the \u201cHouse of Israel\u201d refers only to Israel, then perhaps the sinful years are counted already from the time of the Judges, until the destruction of Samaria.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The forty years of sin that were counted especially to Judah could refer to the years of the kingship of Menashe, one of the most evil kings, whose sins, according to the Book of Kings, brought about the destruction.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. You are what you eat<\/em>. Ezekiel is required to do a lot of difficult things in this chapter. He responds with unwillingness only to the demand that he eat unpure bread. \u201cThen I said, \u2018Ah, Lord GOD, my person was never defiled; nor have I eaten anything that died of itself or was torn by beasts from my youth until now, nor has foul flesh entered my mouth.\u2019\u201d (v. 14).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Nutritious?<\/em> The ingredients of the \u201csiege bread\u201d sound like a healthy recipe. But that\u2019s not the point. Using these different grains (wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emmer), some of which were thought then to be fit only for animal consumption, symbolizes a shortage of food. 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