{"id":73763,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:40","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-475\/"},"modified":"2023-11-30T06:37:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T04:37:46","slug":"wall-475","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-475\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-Ezekiel-23"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"475","date":"20270624","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"74133","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - Ezekiel Chapter 23 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - Ezekiel Chapter 23","slug":"jps-audio-bible-ezekiel-chapter-23","old_id":"74133","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":"475","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 23","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_23","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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"118981","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"More Accusations of Unfaithfulness ","post_title":"More Accusations of Unfaithfulness","slug":"more-accusations-of-unfaithfulness","old_id":"118981","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":"475","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The symbolism of this chapter is \u2018in tents\u2019\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 23 is another extremely graphic chapter. Ezekiel uses very explicit sexual imagery to describe the unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah. The conceit is that the two nations are twin sisters who have lived their whole lives as promiscuous prostitutes whoring themselves out to every other nation. Ezekiel plays off God\u2019s description of the young nation in chapter 16:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I let you grow like the plants of the field; and you continued to grow up until you attained to womanhood, until your breasts became firm and your hair sprouted. You were still naked and bare (16:7).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Haggadah quotes this verse as a prooftext that the Israelites multiplied exponentially in Egypt. The women were pregnant so often that their breasts were always ready to express breastmilk for their numerous babies.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In chapter 23, however, these breasts are tools of lust and abuse. The word appears five times in Ezekiel. Once in chapter 16, and four times in chapter 23. The names given to the two nations both have a root in \u201ctent\u201d. Rashi explains that Israel was called <\/span>Ohela<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>\u201ca tent\u201d because of the tent made for the golden calves in the north. Judah was called <\/span>Oheliba<\/span><\/em> \u201cmy tent is in it\u201d because the Temple was in Judah.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This could also be a play on the blessing from Balaam in Numbers; \u201cHow fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel!\u201d (Num. 24:5). The commentators explain that the prophet praised Israel after leaving Egypt for having modest tents that did not open into a neighbor\u2019s tent to emphasize the modesty of the nation that left Egypt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel turns that around and proclaims that these tents are not praiseworthy. They have both been foul and immodest from the beginning. Balaam\u2019s blessing ends with \u201cBlessed are they who bless you, Accursed they who curse you!\u201d (Numbers 24:9). Ezekiel\u2019s chapter ends only with curses:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

They shall punish you for your wantonness, and you shall suffer the penalty for your sinful idolatry. And you shall know that I am the Sovereign GOD (verse 49).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102518,"alt":"","title":"-621dc7250635d--621dc7250635egen19-door 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Accusations of Unfaithfulness","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The symbolism of this chapter is \u2018in tents\u2019","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":102518,"alt":"","title":"-621dc7250635d--621dc7250635egen19-door 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Death Of Desire ","post_title":"The Death Of Desire","slug":"the-death-of-desire","old_id":"74407","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":72765,"post_title":"George Daniel Frankel","slug":"george-daniel-frankel","old_id":"72765","first_name":"George Daniel","last_name":"Frankel","description":"Danny Frankel lives in New York City. He is the author of \u201cDan Shall Judge His People: 5 Essays on Torah im Derech Eretz and the Breuer Community Today.\u201d\r\n","short_description":"Danny Frankel lives in New York City. He is the author of \u201cDan Shall Judge His People: 5 Essays on Torah im Derech Eretz and the Breuer Community Today.\u201d\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":72766,"alt":"","title":"danny frankel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel.jpg","width":1822,"height":2743,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-680x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":680,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-680x1024.jpg","large-width":680,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1360,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-797x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":797,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"475","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Wedded to God in a match without love\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The closest parallel to our chapter in prophetic literature is the story of Gomer, the adulterous wife of the prophet Hosea.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is one crucial difference. There, Hosea, representing God, is commanded to take his wife back with the immortal formula \u201cAnd I will betroth you unto Me for ever\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Here, there is no second betrothal. Although they begin life as God\u2019s possession (\u201c\u2026and they became Mine\u201d, v.4), there is no indication that Oholah and Oholibah remain \u201cMine\u201d after their tribulations are over. Ezekiel ends the chapter abruptly with his cold and ubiquitous refrain: \u201c\u2026and you shall know that I am the Lord God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel is difficult for the modern reader because he focuses on idolatry (presented here as adultery). We don\u2019t relate.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is no idolatry today because we have no desire for it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What happened to the Jewish people\u2019s desire for idolatry? A clue is offered in verse 27: \u201cI will put an end to your wantonness (i.e., idolatry).\u201d While being exiled from Israel to Babylonia, the Jewish people underwent a transformation that excised the urge for idolatry from their psyches.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to the Talmud the Men of the Great Assembly prayed that the yearning for idolatry should be removed from the Jewish people. And proof of their success was that by the time of the Maccabees, Jews were willing to die rather than worship idols.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Buoyed by their success, the Men of the Great Assembly then prayed that the yearning for sexual immorality also be removed! Then something went terribly wrong: chickens stopped laying eggs. The Men of the Great Assembly had gone too far.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Could it be that their first prayer also had unintended consequences, that something essential had been lost?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Adultery is an overflowing of the banks of desire. Absent desire, there is no adultery\u2026and no love. Have we lost not only the yearning for idolatry, but also the yearning for closeness to God?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Pew Study has revealed us to be, by and large, the one religion most devoid of any attachment to God. Even among the Orthodox, we feel more comfortable talking about Jewish law than about God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When an evangelist approaches us in Times Square and says to us \u201cJesus loves you\u201d, we are discomfited and don\u2019t know how to reply. When we see a Muslim prostrate himself on his prayer rug in public, we are embarrassed\u2026and slightly envious.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As Amos Oz quotes S.Y. Agnon in \u201cA Tale of Love and Darkness\u201d: \u201cI fear God but I don\u2019t love God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After 2000 years of persecution culminating in the Holocaust, can any Jew say with a straight face that God loves us\u2026or that we love God?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In chapter 16, verse 25, Ezekiel accused us of \u201copening (our) legs to every passerby.\u201d Yet, after 2000 years, it is fair to say that we have been more loyal to God than God has been to us. So, we remain wedded to God\u2026in a match without love.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74408,"alt":"","title":"ez23-estranged","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged.jpg","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"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 Death Of Desire","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Wedded to God in a match without love","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74408,"alt":"","title":"ez23-estranged","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged.jpg","width":1920,"height":1357,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-300x212.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":212,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-768x543.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":543,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-1024x724.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":724,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1086,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1357,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-1200x848.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":848,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-estranged-594x420.jpg","home_baner-width":594,"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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"74397","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Oholah And Oholibah ","post_title":"Oholah And Oholibah","slug":"oholah-and-oholibah","old_id":"74397","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":"475","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Two sisters of one mother: Samaria and Jerusalem\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

This chapter contains two sections: 1-34 and 36-49 (the status of v.35 is moot), presenting, respectively, a main oracle and a subordinate one. \u201cThe main oracle,\u201d wrote Moshe Greenberg, \u201cis an allegory about two nymphomaniacal sisters, representing Samaria and Jerusalem, whose excesses and bad ends are set out in chronological order\u201d (<\/span>Ezekiel<\/span><\/i>, 488). The secondary oracle consists of a bill of indictment, terms of judgment of said indictment, and sentencing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The names of the sisters are Oholah, representing Samaria, and Oholibah, representing Jerusalem. These names recur in a poem by Shlomo Ibn Gabirol (11<\/span>th<\/span> century, Spain), entitled <\/span>Shomron Kol Titein<\/em> <\/span>(Samaria Cries Out), which has become a fixture of the Kinot recited on Tish`a b\u2019Av. Just what they mean and signify is debatable.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Eliezer of Beaugency explained that Oholah means \u201cher own [particular?] tent\u201d while Oholibah means \u201cMy tent is within her.\u201d Radak elaborated further, explaining that \u201cher tent signifies that I [God] have no share in it, referring to the [golden] calves made by Jeroboam,\u201d and Oholibah means \u201cI dwell within her because the Holy Temple is the place of My glory.\u201d Malbim added the observation that Oholah is called the \u201colder\u201d sister because the ten tribes were more populous than Judah.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

According to <\/span>Rabbi Yoel bin Nun<\/span><\/a>, the \u201cone mother\u201d (2) of the two sisters stands for the united kingdom of David and Solomon, the \u201cwhoring in Egypt\u201d represents Solomon\u2019s foreign wives, in general, and Pharaoh\u2019s daughter, in particular, and may also allude to the fact that Jeroboam ben Nebat, who split that united kingdom, found refuge in Egypt at a critical moment. He also pointed to vs. 14-15, \u201cMen sculpted upon the walls, girded with belts round their waists and with flowing turbans on their heads,\u201d as evidence of Ezekiel\u2019s acquaintance with Assyrian-Babylonian culture as has been confirmed from archaeological finds from his era.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Two Sisters Dancing, Marino Bovi (1757 - 1813)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74401,"alt":"","title":"ez23-sisters 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And Oholibah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Two sisters of one mother: Samaria and Jerusalem","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74401,"alt":"","title":"ez23-sisters 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Blue ","post_title":"True Blue","slug":"true-blue","old_id":"74363","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":"475","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Believe it or not, the Tanach didn\u2019t have a word for it\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 23, Ezekiel tells the story of two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah. Oholah represents Samaria and Oholibah represents Jerusalem. He goes on to tell the story of their infidelity and adultery, and God\u2019s angry reaction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In verse 40, the prophet describes how Oholibah prepared herself for her suitors: \u201cyou bathed, painted your eyes, and donned your finery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The verb for \u201cpainted\u201d is <\/span>kachal<\/span><\/em>. This is the only appearance of this verb in the Bible, and it specifically means painting the eyes (and eyelids). In post-biblical literature, it also refers to cosmetics, and a related word is <\/span>mikchol<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 originally a painting stick for makeup, and is now a general term for paintbrush.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Arabic cognate, <\/span>kuhl<\/span><\/em>, meant powder used to darken the eyelids, and entered English as \u201ckohl.\u201d In Arabic, when the definitive article was added (\u201cthe\u201d), it was pronounced <\/span>al-kuhul<\/span><\/em>. First referring to a fine powder, it eventually came to refer to the \u201cpure spirit of anything.\u201d In English it became \u201calcohol\u201d and was used to describe the intoxicating spirit of wine, the \u201calcohol\u201d of the liquor. Later it became the name for the chemicals we are familiar with today.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Arabic also turned the same root into the word <\/span>kakhli<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>for the color navy blue (presumably a common color for eyeliner.) Based on this word, in the late 19<\/span>th<\/span> century, the linguist Rabbi Zeev Yavetz coined the word <\/span>kachol<\/span><\/em>\u00a0for the color blue.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This may be surprising \u2013 could Hebrew have existed for thousands of years without a word for the color blue?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Well, first of all, there is a word for a shade of blue \u2013 <\/span>techelet<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>However, while today <\/span>techelet<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is a much lighter blue, like the color of the sky, in biblical Hebrew it was a shade of violet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But secondly, scholars have discovered that over the course of their development, languages introduce words for colors following a common pattern. They always start off with words for \u201cblack\u201d and \u201cwhite\u201d (or \u201cdark\u201d and \u201clight\u201d). If they only have three words for colors, the third is almost always \u201cred.\u201d The fourth color word to be introduced is yellow or green. Only after those colors do we find words for blue (and brown).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This isn\u2019t to say that speakers of those languages couldn\u2019t see more than two or three colors, but they simply didn\u2019t have words to describe them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a major debate among linguists about how the presence or absence of a word in a language affects the thought process of the speakers. Some say it has a major effect, some say much less so. One example given to show the impact is that speakers of languages with different words for light and dark blue, like Modern Hebrew (and Russian), are more likely to see them distinctly on a spectrum.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So while ancient Hebrew (like ancient Greek and Sanskrit) did not have a word for dark blue, in modern Hebrew <\/span>kachol<\/span><\/em>\u00a0takes a central place \u2013 with the national colors of Israel being white and blue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74364,"alt":"","title":"ez23-blue","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue.png","width":1280,"height":897,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-300x210.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":210,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-768x538.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":538,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-1024x718.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":718,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":897,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":897,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-1200x841.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":841,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-599x420.png","home_baner-width":599,"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":"True Blue","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Believe it or not, the Tanach didn\u2019t have a word for it","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74364,"alt":"","title":"ez23-blue","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue.png","width":1280,"height":897,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-300x210.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":210,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-768x538.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":538,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-1024x718.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":718,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":897,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":897,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-1200x841.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":841,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-blue-599x420.png","home_baner-width":599,"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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"74403","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Israel As Addict ","post_title":"Israel As Addict","slug":"israel-as-addict","old_id":"74403","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":"475","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"They reached a point where they simply couldn\u2019t help themselves\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel employs in chapter 23 a graphic metaphor for the spiritual \u201cadultery\u201d of the Jewish people, resulting in God\u2019s fury, an image that appears in a variety of forms throughout Tanach. Perhaps the most radical instance of such a metaphor is the prophetic vision appearing in Hosea. See this prophetic book as well as Milton Steinberg\u2019s posthumously published, unfinished novel, <\/span>The Prophet\u2019s Wife.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

In Ezekiel\u2019s version, two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah, represent Judah and Israel (v. 4), and become \u201cmarried\u201d to God. But they are so deeply enamored with the non-Jewish world, that they literally \u201cprostituted themselves\u201d again and again in order to hopefully woo the objects of their affections. And ever so ironically, perhaps in the spirit of <\/span>mida keneged mida<\/span><\/i>, \u201cmeasure for measure,\u201d God unleashed the very cultures at whom they \u201cthrew\u201d themselves, in order to humiliate and slaughter them and their offspring.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A secondary metaphor appearing in chapter 23:31-34 is the \u201ccup of desolation\u201d that these women will be \u201crequired\u201d to drink:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cYou walked in your sister\u2019s path; therefore, I will put her cup into your (<\/span>Oholibah\u2019s<\/span><\/i>) hand. Thus said the Lord GOD: You shall drink of your sister\u2019s cup, so deep and wide; it shall cause derision and scorn, it holds so much. You shall be filled with drunkenness and woe. The cup of desolation and horror, the cup of your sister Samaria (<\/span>Oholah<\/span><\/i>). You shall drink it and drain it and gnaw its shards\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is as if the determination of these women to subject themselves to\u00a0 the abuses of the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Babylonians was an irrational urge, an addiction to the intoxicating substance that filled these cups, that they ever more desperately sought to sate. Malbim on v. 34 writes in terms reminiscent of an unthinking addict:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The first time, they would drink the contents of the cup (v. 32.) The second time, they would \u201csuck up\u201d whatever remained on the sides of the cup (v. 34.). And the third time, they would crush the shards of the cup\u2026 in order to try to extract what had been absorbed into the cup\u2019s sides (Ibid.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The portrayal of sinful behavior such as this as a type of dependency that cannot be rationally accounted for, let alone controlled, by the perpetrator, suggests some deep-seated, inherent psychological flaw that might justify an \u201cinsanity defense.\u201d Might the Jewish people have reached a point, orchestrated by God Himself, where they simply couldn\u2019t help themselves, thereby mitigating to a certain extent their blameworthiness?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74405,"alt":"","title":"ez23-wine-love","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love.jpg","width":1920,"height":1279,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1279,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez23-wine-love-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":"Israel 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In these final chapters of condemnation of Jerusalem, Ezekiel returns to the difficult metaphor that we encountered in chapter 16, the portrayal of Jerusalem as a promiscuous and foolish woman: promiscuous in the manner with which she bestowed her favours on others, foolish in that she (the harlot) is paying others to receive her gifts. We shall suggest a rationale for the metaphor at the end. This chapter becomes the basis of one of the most famous kinnot (lamentations) we say on the night of Tisha BeAv. There, the poet transforms the chapter into a dialogue between the two sisters, each bemoaning her fate and suggesting that they suffered more than the other.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is one significant difference between the two chapters. In chapter 16, Ezekiel lambasts the woman who represents Jerusalem for her idolatry \u2013 her religious behavior and outlook having been irreversibly corrupted by the influences of the surrounding nations. In our chapter, which is the penultimate chapter of a series in which Ezekiel declares and justifies the final verdict of Jerusalem's destruction, the people are now judged for their consistent political flirtations \u2013 one day they looked to Egypt for support, the next day they turned to Babylon. The parable goes as follows:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\"Born\" in Egypt, the sisters Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Judah) both marry the speaker (God) and bear children. However, the eldest sister Oholah is soon unfaithful, cheating with the Assyrians. She is killed, clearly in retribution for her unfaithfulness. The younger sister Oholibah also lusted after the Assyrians \u2013 but now, instead of learning the necessary lesson from Oholah's fate, becomes even more depraved, engaging in even more wanton behavior than her sister \u2013 Judah would turn first to Egypt, than to Babylon, but return again to Egypt in a futile attempt to gather support from the southern power for her political escapades. Ezekiel describes the southern kingdom's fatal turn to Egypt for support as a desperate attempt to return to an old lover \u2013 \"<\/span>Thus <\/span>you longed for the lewdness of your youth\u2026\" (Ezekiel 23.21) Ultimately, like her sister, Oholibah's husband would give her into her lovers' hands, and they would strip her and kill her. \u201cThey shall repay you for your lewdness \u2026 and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD\u201d (v. 49)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why does Ezekiel continually return to this troubling metaphor of the Jewish people as harlots? We can make one suggestion, based on Ezekiel's audience in Babylon. Having been forcibly removed from their homes in Judah just a few years before, some of them may have felt that their being in exile represented, as it were, the idea that God was no longer faithful to them or the covenant. Countering this, Ezekiel responds with his explicit metaphors to describe the history of the Jewish people as one of constant disloyalty to God, to both appreciate His patience and cause them to look inwards for the sources of their difficulty.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74411,"alt":"","title":"Ez23-Calder_Introspection","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","width":502,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","medium_large-width":502,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","large-width":502,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","1536x1536-width":502,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","2048x2048-width":502,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","post_full_size-width":502,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection-352x420.jpg","home_baner-width":352,"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":"Look Inward For The Source Of Your Troubles","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It\u2019s not God that has been unfaithful","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74411,"alt":"","title":"Ez23-Calder_Introspection","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","width":502,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","medium_large-width":502,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","large-width":502,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","1536x1536-width":502,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","2048x2048-width":502,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection.jpg","post_full_size-width":502,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Ez23-Calder_Introspection-352x420.jpg","home_baner-width":352,"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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"118986","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ezekiel23","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-Ezekiel23","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-ezekiel23","old_id":"118986","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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Instructions: Answer ten out of the following twelve questions.\u00a0 Write in ink, not pencil.\u00a0 Make sure you write legibly and to the point.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. Why do the righteous suffer?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Why do the wicked prosper?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. Why is God's face hidden,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>His prism of yellow, red and blue<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Stored in a locked drawer<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Of gray?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Why does Oholibah sit solitary \u2014<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>She that was great among the nations,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The city that was full of people,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Now widowed, now orphaned?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Why does Oholibah have none to comfort her<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Among all her lovers,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>All they who have betrayed her<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And dealt treacherously with her,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>As she weeps in the night<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>For her children?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  6. Why have Oholibah's pursuers overtaken her<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Within the straits<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And trodden her<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>As in a winepress?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  7. Why have Oholibah's gates sunk into the earth,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Their bars broken and shattered,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Her curtains all torn,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Her tents all burnt?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  8. Why does Oholibah shiver,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Stripped of her jewels and ornaments,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Stripped of her diadem and the rich brocade of her robes,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Stripped of all her garments \u2014 all \u2014<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>With only her hands<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>To cover her nakedness?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  9. Why are there no grapes on the vine,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>No figs on the fig-tree,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The harvest past,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The summer gone,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And in her fields, serpents have been sent,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Basilisks that cannot be charmed?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  10. Why has death come to your windows, Oholibah,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And invaded your palaces,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Cutting off children from your streets<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And young men from your broad places,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>So that the carcasses of men fall<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Like dung upon the open field,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Like a handful of grain after the harvest<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Which none gathers?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  11. Why do your princes, Oholibah, run aimlessly<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Like gazelles that find no pasture, no still waters,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And flee<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>From stalking jackals,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>From packs of determined wolves?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  12. What simile or metaphor may I make for you, Oholibah,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>To what can I liken you, so that you may be comforted \u2014<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>For your breach is as great as the sea,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Who can heal you?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Oholibah","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What simile or metaphor may I make for you, Oholibah, \/ To what can I liken you, so that you may be comforted","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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"74357","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Evoking A Concupiscent Woman ","post_title":"Evoking A Concupiscent Woman","slug":"evoking-a-concupiscent-woman","old_id":"74357","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":"475","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ezekiel\u2019s persistent morbid obsession with female sexuality\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    23:3 \u201c\u2018And they played the whore in Egypt, in their youth, they played the whore there. Their breasts were squeezed and there were their virgin teats fondled.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    As in chapter 16, Ezekiel takes the conventional metaphor of whoring as an image of idolatry (and also of alliances with foreign powers) and pushes it to a level of sexual explicitness as does no other biblical writer. Nowhere else in the Bible does one find this sort of direct reference to fondling breasts in sexual play, and nowhere else does one encounter an evocation of a concupiscent woman allured by the largeness of the male sexual organ (verse 20). There are passages in this prophecy where the allegorical referent of idolatry virtually disappears as the sexual foreground is flaunted. Ezekiel looks distinctly like a man morbidly obsessed with the female body and with female sexuality, exhibiting a horrified fascination with both. The word in the second verset of this line, <\/span>dad<\/span><\/em>, is represented by some as \u201cnipple,\u201d but on dubious grounds. It is a phonetic cousin of <\/span>shad<\/span><\/em>, the standard word for \u201cbreast.\u201d It occurs only here and in Proverbs 5:19, where it does not seem to mean \u201cnipple\u201d either. In any case, \u201cfondling\u201d (the more general sense of the verb is \u201cknead\u201d) does not work well for nipples, although it is appropriate for breasts.\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":"Evoking A Concupiscent Woman","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Ezekiel\u2019s persistent morbid obsession with female sexuality","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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"74073","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Ezekiel 23 ","post_title":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Ezekiel 23","slug":"sefaria-source-sheets-ezekiel-23","old_id":"74073","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42228,"post_title":"Sefaria","slug":"sefaria","old_id":"42228","first_name":"","last_name":"Sefaria","description":"Sefaria is a non-profit organization dedicated to building the future of Jewish learning in an open and participatory way. 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    \u201cEvery Time \u05e9\u05db\u05d1 Means Sex in TaNaKH\u201d<\/a> by Alex Friedman: Is there \u201cgood\u201d sex in the Torah?<\/p>\r\n

    \u201c\u05dc\u05e4\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd \u05de\u05e9\u05d5\u05e8\u05ea \u05d4\u05d3\u05d9\u05df & \u05e9\u05e0\u05d0\u05ea \u05d7\u05d9\u05e0\u05dd Beyond the Letter of the Law & Causeless Hatred\u201d <\/a>by Alberto Diwan: Hate and benefit of the doubt<\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - Ezekiel 23","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":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"74192","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Ezekiel 23 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- Ezekiel 23","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-ezekiel-23","old_id":"74192","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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      \r\n\t
    1. Taking it up a notch<\/em>. In chapter 16 Ezekiel presented the parable of \u201cthe whore\u201d in order to describe the severity of Jerusalem\u2019s sin. In chapter 17, the parable of the eagles and the vine emphasized the extremity of the unfaithfulness. This chapter takes it to a whole new level in the difficult descriptions, and messages. It makes for painful reading.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    2. Oholah and Oholibah<\/em>. The names of the two sisters contain the element <\/span>ohel, <\/span><\/i>\u201ctent.\u201d Literally - \u201cher tent,\u201d and \u201cmy tent is in her.\u201d What do the names add to the parable? Good question! Try to answer it, on your own, or with the help of the commentators.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    3. Not a momentary lapse<\/em>. According to the parable, the treachery of Samaria and Jerusalem is not a fall, but rather a natural occurrence. Frem the very beginning, still in Egypt, even before the marital covenant. And continuously after that, towards every one, even her lovers, and not just towards God. Why does the prophet choose to present the situation in this way? This explains the force of the wrath, that it is appropriate for the force of the disaster of the destruction. But, then again - what does it say about the possibility for atonement and repair?<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
    4. Memories from Egypt<\/em>. What happened during the exile in Egypt? The portrait that Ezekiel portrays is particularly dark, and full of accusations of Israel.The story from Exodus is much more pleasant. Not perfect, but very appropriate for the fulfillment of the commandment \u201ctell your children\u201d on seder night<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Ezekiel 23","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"23","chapter_main_number":"475","date":"20270624","wall_id":"475"},"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\/73763"}],"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=73763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}