Check 'em out here on this page - and happy holiday!<\/p>\r\n
Jacob, the child, is sleeping. Jacob, the child, is dreaming. And there is no ramp in his dream to which the soldiers and murderers push him. In the dream of the child Jacob, his father and mother appear, from whom he is torn, and they whisper to him: \"Remember, I am with you: I will protect you wherever you go\" (Genesis 28:15).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The child Jacob - perhaps he was nicknamed Jacob\u2019ele or Yankele - does not want to open his eyes and wake up to the nightmare in which he will find out, \"How full of awe\/fear is this place!\" (28:17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n And the child Jacob\u2019s ladder\/stairway, there are no angels ascending or descending, neither in that order nor in any other order.<\/span><\/p>\r\n According to one explanation, the word \u201cladder\/stairway\u201d derives from the Hebrew root s\u2019l\u2019l, whose meaning is a ramp. \u00a0On the ramp in Auschwitz, people of flesh and blood degraded the child Jacob to the lowest level of \"not being human\" whereas on the ladder of Jacob our forefather, the angels ascended, and only afterwards did they descend.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The dream meets our patriarch Jacob while he wallows in fear due to his retreat into exile when Esau threatened his life. The night vision, when his head is resting on a stone instead of a pillow, is God's way of assuring Rebecca and Isaac\u2019s son that He will protect him until he returns to the land He promised him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n When he awakens, our patriarch Jacob announces that this is the gate to heaven. \u00a0My mother who survived Auschwitz will never forget the chimneys that opened up in the direction of heaven. Up to her last day, that smell of horror, not angels, will accompany her. She did not dream anything there, and if she dreamed, she forgot.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Like our father Jacob, she, too, made the long journey to the land that was established for her. <\/span><\/p>\r\n According to Midrash Tanchuma, God suggested to our patriarch Jacob to ascend the ladder\/stairway. \u00a0However, Jacob, afraid, refused. When he awoke, he took the stone that was under his head and turned it into a monument. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n One brave boy, whose name was not Jacob but Hanus Hachenburg from the Terezin ghetto, left behind his dream for us to remember forever, before he was exterminated in 1944:<\/span><\/p>\r\n But anyway, I still believe I only sleep today,<\/span> From: <\/span>\u201c<\/span><\/i>I never saw another butterfly\u2026 Children\u2019s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp 1942-1944<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/em> McGraw-Hill, New York, 1971. Printed in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The above essay is dedicated to the late Naphtali Lau-Lavie, an Israeli journalist, author, and diplomat. Lavie's entire family was murdered during the Holocaust, with the exception of his brother, Yisrael, who would later become the Chief Rabbi of Israel.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38147,"alt":"","title":"auschwitz-jacob","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","width":1024,"height":550,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-300x161.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":161,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-768x413.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":413,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-1024x550.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":550,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":550,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":550,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":550,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-782x420.jpg","home_baner-width":782,"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":"Jacob\u2019s Ladder on the Ramp in Auschwitz","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"I am with you wherever you go","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":38147,"alt":"","title":"auschwitz-jacob","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","width":1024,"height":550,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-300x161.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":161,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-768x413.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":413,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-1024x550.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":550,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":550,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":550,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":550,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/auschwitz-jacob-782x420.jpg","home_baner-width":782,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"28","chapter_main_number":"28","date":"20251007","wall_id":"28"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"408","name":"Holocaust","old_id":"808"}]},{"order":3,"id":"71052","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Jacob: Boundary-Crosser ","post_title":"Jacob: Boundary-Crosser","slug":"jacob-boundary-crosser","old_id":"71052","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":69185,"post_title":"Elliott Rabin","slug":"elliott-rabin","old_id":"69185","first_name":"Elliott ","last_name":"Rabin","description":"Elliott Rabin is Director of Thought Leadership at Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, where he edits Prizmah's magazine HaYidion, writes, produces podcasts and manages research projects. He formerly served as Director of Educational Programs for RAVSAK: The Jewish Community Day School Network and Director of Education for the 92nd Street Y\u2019s Makor\/Steinhardt Center. and served as Assistant Editor at Harper\u2019s Magazine. He is the author of two books on Tanakh: The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility (JPS, March 2020), and Understanding the Hebrew Bible: A Reader\u2019s Guide (Ktav). \r\nPhoto by: Adele Rabin","short_description":"Elliott Rabin is Director of Thought Leadership at Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":69187,"alt":"","title":"Elliott Rabin.Photo by Adele Rabin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin.jpg","width":3293,"height":2957,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-300x269.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":269,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-768x690.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":690,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-1024x920.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1379,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1839,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-1200x1078.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1078,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Elliott-Rabin.Photo-by-Adele-Rabin-468x420.jpg","home_baner-width":468,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"28","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Surviving the road","post_main_content_content":" Jacob is the first character in the Bible whose experiences on the road are described for the reader. While Abraham is similarly forced to travel, we read uniquely about Jacob\u2019s adventures on the road, alone, in a strange place. \u201cJacob left Beer-sheba, and set out for Haran\u201d (28:10)\u2014these are fateful words. In the Bible, to be on the road, journeying from one location to another, is not a condition for romance or envy. The road is a lawless expanse between the comfort, familiarity and safety of inhabited spaces, a place where people can disappear or die without anyone finding out. The most fearsome instance of this danger can be found in the episode of the broken-neck heifer in Deuteronomy 21, which conveys a ritual to be performed when a person is found slain in the no-man\u2019s-land between cities.<\/span><\/p>\r\n It is not surprising, then, that the road is where we find Jacob, for tricksters are, to cite one famous example, road-runners by nature. Their fierce native independence renders them eager to cast off societal bonds, or to antagonize and threaten society to the point where they are forced to flee. The Yoruba trickster Eshu, for example, goes on the road to seek \u201cescape from the prescription of social laws.\u201d For his part, Jacob seeks safety after provoking his brother\u2019s rage (his mother is further concerned for his marital prospects). Still, flight often comes with a cost. The Winnebago trickster Wakdjunkaga is \u201cdesocialized, to be represented as breaking all his ties with man and society.\u201d Jacob is shorn of family ties and exposed to unseen dangers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n These experiences illustrate another aspect of the trickster tradition he shares: Jacob as boundary-crosser. Tricksters are characterized by their fluidity: they cross boundaries sometimes out of defiance and provocation, but just as frequently change form as an adaptation to new circumstances. Their very bodies are amorphous and changeable, able to alternate between human, animal and divine forms. These forms can shift so subtly and rapidly that the reader may not know what form a particular trickster inhabits until the middle of the tale.<\/span><\/p>\r\n While Jacob does not display this full range of crossings typical of a mythological trickster\u2014he doesn\u2019t actually become an animal, a deity, a woman\u2014he does freely cross boundaries. His earlier triumph over his brother is partly rooted in his ability to cross back and forth over the gender divide. By donning goat-skins, he deceives his father about his masculinity while inhabiting an animal body. Even more so, on his travels, when he first lies down to sleep, Jacob experiences being on the crossroads of human and divine encounter in a way that blurs the distinction between these two realms.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Excerpted from <\/span><\/i>The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility <\/span>by Elliott Rabin by permission of the Jewish Publication Society. \u00a92020 by Elliott Rabin.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":69430,"alt":"","title":"BiblicalHero","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","width":3200,"height":2372,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-768x569.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":569,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1024x759.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1518,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1200x890.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":890,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-567x420.jpg","home_baner-width":567,"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":"Jacob: Boundary-Crosser","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Surviving the road","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":69430,"alt":"","title":"BiblicalHero","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","width":3200,"height":2372,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-300x222.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":222,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-768x569.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":569,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1024x759.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":759,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1518,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-1200x890.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":890,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero-567x420.jpg","home_baner-width":567,"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":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"28","chapter_main_number":"28","date":"20251007","wall_id":"28"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"442","name":"Journey","old_id":"842"},{"term_id":"490","name":"Jacob","old_id":"890"},{"term_id":"492","name":"Trickster","old_id":"892"}]},{"order":4,"id":"38182","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 28 ","post_title":"MiliMiliM - The Hebrew Corner - Gen 28","slug":"milimilim-the-hebrew-corner-gen-28","old_id":"38182","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"28","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u05e1\u05d5\u05dc\u05dd - Sulam - Ladder","post_main_content_content":" The image of <\/span>sulam Ya\u2019akov,<\/span><\/em> \u201cJacob\u2019s Ladder\u201d is a striking one, firing imaginations of readers for generations. To the modern reader, familiar with Hebrew, there is nothing extraordinary about the word <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em>, \u201cladder.\u201d It\u2019s a common household item, and seems natural enough. <\/span><\/p>\r\n But this word does have something special about it. It is a Biblical leprechaun, a one-hit wonder. It is what is known in the trade as a <\/span>hapax legomenon<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>which is Greek for \u201csomething having only been said once.\u201d In other words, it appears only once in the entire Tanakh - i.e., here. A \u201chapax\u201d always raises the question: with no other uses of the word, no other contexts to compare - how are we sure we know what it means?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Before we answer that, how common is this? How many of these unique words are there in the Tanakh? Well, it depends how you count. Because Hebrew is a language based on roots, if something is a unique use but of a known root - does that count or not? There are about 1100 of those - that is words only used once, but clearly connected to a root that is used in different forms, so we\u2019re more sure of what those words mean. But that leaves 400 words in the Tanakh which are truly unique, and no clear connections to anything else in Hebrew. <\/span><\/p>\r\n These not only invite a range of interpretations, but also end up being good fodder for modern coinages. For instance the words <\/span>gvinah, zechuchit<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>tzlil<\/span><\/em> (the first two from the Book of Job, the third from Judges) are words whose meaning in their original context was not agreed upon, but were pressed into service to mean things that modern Hebrew did not have a usable word for: \u201ccheese,\u201d \u201cglass,\u201d and \u201csound\u201d (or \u201cnote\u201d), respectively. <\/span><\/p>\r\n The same is true of the word <\/span>chashmal<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>which technically is not a hapax since it appears three times (in Ezekiel), but that doesn\u2019t make its mystical meaning any clearer. Translated as <\/span>electra<\/span><\/em> (\u201camber\u201d) in the Septuagint, it was adopted to mean \u201celectricity\u201d in modern Hebrew.<\/span><\/p>\r\n So back to our <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em>. We use the term \u201cladder\u201d but it may have been more of a staircase or even ramp (which would be more accessible in case there were differently abled angels). It could be connected to the Akkadian <\/span>simmiltu<\/span><\/em>, meaning \"steps,\u201d which is indeed one way of parsing these words, by looking at cognates in related Semitic languages.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Now common in modern Hebrew, <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em> has given us two other uses. One is the use of the word to mean \u201cmusical scale\u201d (e.g., the <\/span>sulam<\/span><\/em> of <\/span>si bemol<\/span><\/em>, b-flat). The other is that the consonants of the word, <\/span>s-l-m<\/span><\/em>, have been turned into a root themselves, and are the basis of the term <\/span>haslama<\/span><\/em>, \u201cescalation,\u201d a word unfortunately seen often in the news of the region in the context of increasing tension or violence.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":102973,"alt":"","title":"-622f116528a28--622f116528a2agen28- milim sulam.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/08\/622f116528a28-622f116528a2agen28-milim-sulam.jpg-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":" Artwork by: Ben Schachter<\/p>","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - 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She is the Executive Director & Founder of Jewish Fertility Foundation and resides in Atlanta, GA with her husband Jason and their two children, Levi and Avidan.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Elana Bekerman Frank is the Executive Director & Founder of Jewish Fertility Foundation and resides in Atlanta, GA","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38046,"alt":"","title":"elana bekerman frank","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","width":146,"height":190,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414-146x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":146,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","medium-width":146,"medium-height":190,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","medium_large-width":146,"medium_large-height":190,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","large-width":146,"large-height":190,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","1536x1536-width":146,"1536x1536-height":190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","2048x2048-width":146,"2048x2048-height":190,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","post_full_size-width":146,"post_full_size-height":190,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/elana-bekerman-frank-e1534497853414.jpg","home_baner-width":146,"home_baner-height":190}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Despite medical breakthroughs, all of the raw negative feelings, pressure, jealousy, marital stress and pain are still as real and painful as they were for Rachel","post_main_content_content":" Gen 29: 31 \u2013 \"And the LORD saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n The pressure is on for Rachel. Her womb is barren. She is infertile. She cannot produce a child. This is HER issue. Rachel feels this sense of guilt and shame that her body has failed her. Jacob is not the one with fertility issues, he has children with his other wife, Leah. Where does that leave Rachel? Frustrated, sad, angry, jealous, stuck and alone. Many women (and men) who suffer from infertility today relate to Rachel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The verse implies that fertility is a reward or a pity-present gifted to Leah and that because Rachel was loved, she deserved to suffer. There is a stigma surrounding fertility where the woman is blamed for this medical issue that does not exist when it comes to other medical conditions. Certainly infertility feels like a punishment. It is an attack on all of your plans and visions for your future. As someone who has gone through what Rachel has gone through, I have asked myself \u201cWhat did I do wrong to deserve this?\u201d \u201cWhy me?\u201d And even, \u201cWhy her, and not me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rachel gets to a place in her fertility journey where she envied her sister Leah and tells her husband, Jacob, \u201cGive me children, or I shall die.\u201d Infertility really is that powerful. Jewish identity is so intertwined with children that it often leaves adults without children feeling alone, isolated, and even suicidal. Couples struggling to build their own families feel left out of Jewish life cycle events, holiday celebrations, Shabbat invites, and they are often overlooked or not included in leadership roles within the Jewish Community. Emotions are raw and painful and Jacob too is frustrated. He tells Rachel that it really has nothing to do with him, it\u2019s up to God. Jacob may be trying to be a supportive partner but instead, he further alienates himself from Rachel, leaving her even more alone. Fertility puts additional pressure and stress on marriages. This is not how they envisioned their life together.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Thanks to medicine, fertility breakthroughs and adoption, women and families today have many more options and resources on how to face their infertility. However, all of the raw negative feelings, pressure, jealousy, marital stress and pain are still as real and painful as they were for Rachel in Biblical times.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":38226,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_776784970","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970.jpg","width":4000,"height":2667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1366,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shutterstock_776784970-630x420.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":"Emotions 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He is currently CEO of the Commonwealth Jewish Council, formerly a governor of London's Police Service, Chair of a hospital board, principal of a high school, Chair of the Third World Development charity, Tzedek, advisor to the UK governement on curriculum development and Race Equality and deputy director of a municipal education authority. Clive works worldwide in the fields of community development, education development and diversity and lectures regularly at JW3, London's flagship community centre, of which he was also a founding trustee.","short_description":"Clive Lawton is co-founder of Limmud, and works worldwide in the fields of community development, education and diversity .","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37499,"alt":"","title":"Clive Lawton","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton.jpg","width":1168,"height":1262,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-278x300.jpg","medium-width":278,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-768x830.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":830,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-948x1024.jpg","large-width":948,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton.jpg","1536x1536-width":1168,"1536x1536-height":1262,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton.jpg","2048x2048-width":1168,"2048x2048-height":1262,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-1111x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1111,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Clive-Lawton-389x420.jpg","home_baner-width":389,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"29","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We are all amalgams of our families, echoes of our siblings, continuations of our parents, vanguards for our children","post_main_content_content":" Brothers and sisters eh? Can\u2019t live with \u2018em, can\u2019t live without \u2018em! And then add the complication and intensification of twins!<\/span><\/p>\r\n Much is made of how Jacob and Esau are so very different, but that\u2019s probably a gross over-simplification. While they\u2019re together, the contrast between them is evident. But once apart\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n In this chapter, we see Jacob, the mummy\u2019s boy, going off on his own and before long, he\u2019s not only doing the he-man thing, rolling the stone off the mouth of the well all by himself, but he kisses Rachel virtually at first sight. How Esau can you get! And as if that wasn\u2019t Esau enough, he weeps on kissing her, utterly overwhelmed by love at first sight. This is Esau-style, hedonistically in the moment, moved beyond reason.<\/span><\/p>\r\n And then unfolds the well-known story of Laban\u2019s duplicity \u2013 and of course Jacob getting his comeuppance. Jacob can\u2019t complain about being tricked at his (first) wedding, and he doesn\u2019t. He knows that he took advantage of his father\u2019s inability to see in order to get what wasn\u2019t his, so that Laban obscures Jacob\u2019s vision to give him what he doesn\u2019t want is beautifully poetic justice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n And then the sisters\u2026 I\u2019ve always disliked the practice, when we bless our daughters on Friday evening \u2013 I hope you do, it\u2019s a beautiful practice! \u2013 we say \u2018May you be like Sara, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah\u2019. Not me! I reverse those two and say, \u2018Leah and Rachel\u2019. Leah\u2019s never loved as she should be, nor is she given the due she deserves as elder sister. And, of course, being a Levi too, she\u2019s my great-great-great-\u2026 grandmother . She had a tough deal in her lifetime, we don\u2019t have to compound it by our mealy-mouthed blessings. \u00a0I\u2019m not demoting her for anyone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n There\u2019s sisterly jealousy too then, with Rachel wishing she could produce children as Leah does, while no doubt Leah wishes she could procure love and admiration as her sister does.<\/span><\/p>\r\n So this is a chapter about everyone failing to value their own qualities while also failing to notice that they probably embody those of other family members too. We are all amalgams of our families, echoes of our siblings, continuations of our parents, vanguards for our children.<\/span><\/p>\r\n How lovely that the chapter ends with Leah at last seeming to find a kind of peace (no thanks to Jacob!). 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World Built, Destroyed, Then Rebuilt ","post_title":"A World Built, Destroyed, Then Rebuilt","slug":"a-world-built-destroyed-rebuilt","old_id":"73727","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47374,"post_title":"Joe Wolfson","slug":"joe-wolfson","old_id":"47374","first_name":"Joe ","last_name":"Wolfson ","description":"Joe Wolfson is the co-director of the OU JLIC Rabbi at NYU's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life. \r\nHe runs a daily 929 whatsapp group which can be joined at www.tinyurl.com\/tanakhnyu \r\n","short_description":"Joe Wolfson is the co-director of the OU JLIC Rabbi at NYU's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life .\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":47375,"alt":"","title":"joe 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story of 20th Century Jewry through the life of one of its leaders\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Deep into the books of prophecy, Ezekiel, seemingly out of the blue, references three stories from very different places in Tanakh.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u201cIf these three men\u2014Noah, Daniel, and Job\u2014should be in it, they would by their righteousness save only themselves\u2014declares the Lord GOD\u201d (verse 14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Different historical moments, varied geographical locations. What do Noah, Daniel and Job have in common with one another and why would the prophet reference them?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rashi explains: \u201cFor these three, saw three worlds: a world built, a world destroyed, a world rebuilt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Noah. Job. Daniel. Each one saw the world they were born into destroyed. That destruction itself became a world. Finally they saw a new world rebuilt in the aftermath. Living in the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel hints to his listeners that they too are in a similar position. A great world. Destroyed. And will be rebuilt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n My teacher, Rav Yehuda Amital, founding rosh yeshiva of Har Etzion - who was born in the simple and pious world of pre-war Hungary, survived the horrors of the Shoah, before moving to Israel where he became a significant political figure and a great religious leader\u00a0 - would quote this Rashi to describe his own life.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \u2018I have seen in my days \u2013 in the words of the Sages \u2013 a world built, a world destroyed, and a world rebuilt. I have seen Jews taken to Auschwitz, and I have seen Jews dancing at the declaration of the State. I have seen the victory celebration after the six-day war, and I have been with soldiers in Suez. I have lived a very long life in a very short space of time\u2019<\/span><\/p>\r\n Learning this chapter in the days between Yom HaShoah and Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut gives us a sense of the poetry of Jewish history. Like Noah, Job and Daniel, the story of the Jewish people in the 20th and 21st century is of a world built, a world destroyed, and a world rebuilt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Rav Yehudah Amital, 2007 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73739,"alt":"","title":"ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","width":800,"height":1139,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-211x300.jpg","medium-width":211,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-719x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":719,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-719x1024.jpg","large-width":719,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1139,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1139,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-295x420.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A World Built, Destroyed, Then Rebuilt","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The story of 20th Century Jewry through the life of one of its leaders","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73739,"alt":"","title":"ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","width":800,"height":1139,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-211x300.jpg","medium-width":211,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-719x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":719,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-719x1024.jpg","large-width":719,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1139,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1139,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1139,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Rav_yehuda_amital-295x420.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"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":"14","chapter_main_number":"466","date":"20270613","wall_id":"466"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"73741","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Who\u2019s That With Noah and Job? ","post_title":"Who\u2019s That With Noah and Job?","slug":"whos-that-with-noah-and-job","old_id":"73741","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":"466","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Was it Daniel - or Dan\u2019il?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" \u201cThe word of the LORD came to me: O mortal, if a land were to sin against Me and commit a trespass, and I stretched out My hand against it and broke its staff of bread, and sent famine against it and cut off man and beast from it, even if these three men\u2014Noah, Daniel, and Job\u2014should be in it, they would by their righteousness save only themselves\u2014declares the Lord GOD\u201d (vs. 12-14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n God tells Ezekiel that the situation among the Israelites is so bad that even the most righteous people would be hard-pressed to save themselves, or even their families, let alone others. Two of the three figures He names, Noah and Job, had the reputations of righteousness. God declared to Noah: \u201cI have seen you righteous in this generation\u201d (Gen. 7:1), and He called Job \u201cperfectly straight, God fearing, and avoiding evil\u201d (Job 1:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The medieval exegetes assumed that the Daniel mentioned here was the biblical Daniel, but while he was unquestionably a virtuous man, there are problems with his inclusion in this trio. First, unlike Noah and Job, Daniel is never distinguished in Scripture as distinctively righteous. Two, while the biblical Daniel was Jewish, Noah and Job were not. Three, as he was a contemporary of Ezekiel, it is unclear how that prophet\u2019s audience would even have known of him. I am not even sure that the reference here is to the biblical Daniel at all if we look carefully at the spelling of his name. While the biblical character is Da-ni-yel (with a <\/span>yod<\/span><\/i>), our third man is Da-ni-el (no <\/span>yod<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Curiously, there was a Daniel who fit all these criteria: a reputedly righteous non-Jew of antiquity. He was a king mentioned in a Canaanite myth known as the Epic of Aqhat, his name was Dan\u2019il, and he is described there as an ideally righteous ruler. This identification is possibly reinforced by the solo reference to Da-ni-el in 28:3, a prophecy that is directed specifically towards the King of Tyre (<\/span>Tzor<\/span><\/i>), a Canaanite city.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The consensus of the medievals is that the common denominator among these three is that each survived a catastrophe: Noah, the flood; Daniel, the destruction of the Temple; and Job, the manifold disasters that befell him. And Moshe Greenberg, while accepting the identification with the Ugaritic Dan\u2019il, nevertheless noted: \u201cHere they serve to underline the ruthless, rigorous discrimination God exercises when he punishes a wicked community\u201d (Anchor Bible <\/span>Ezekiel<\/span><\/i>, 258).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Daniel Job and Noah, the Three Righteous Men, Canterbury Cathedral, Window XV, detail \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73742,"alt":"","title":"ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral,_window_nXV_detail","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","width":630,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail-300x286.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":286,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail-441x420.jpg","home_baner-width":441,"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":"Who\u2019s That With Noah and Job?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Was it Daniel - or Dan\u2019il?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73742,"alt":"","title":"ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral,_window_nXV_detail","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","width":630,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail-300x286.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":286,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":600,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez14-Canterbury_Cathedral_window_nXV_detail-441x420.jpg","home_baner-width":441,"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":"14","chapter_main_number":"466","date":"20270613","wall_id":"466"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"73781","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Heard It Through A Grapevine ","post_title":"Heard It Through A Grapevine","slug":"heard-it-through-a-grapevine","old_id":"73781","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":73789,"post_title":"Benjy Forester","slug":"benjy-forester","old_id":"73789","first_name":"Benjy ","last_name":"Forester ","description":"Benjy Forester is a rabbinical student at JTS and a rabbinic fellow with the Center for Small Town Jewish Life","short_description":"Benjy Forester is a rabbinical student at JTS and a rabbinic fellow with the Center for Small Town Jewish Life","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":73791,"alt":"","title":"benjy+forester","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","width":150,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":199,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/benjyforester.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"467","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Israel shouldn\u2019t try to be like the other trees of the forest\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Ezekiel 15 introduces a prophetic parable, using the image of a charred grapevine to paint a gloomy picture of destruction for the Israelites. Repeatedly, God questions the utility of this grapevine. Unlike the other trees of the forest, the wood of the grapevine is too thin and delicate to use even to construct something simple like a peg to use as a hanger. Thus, even in its optimal state, the grapevine is useless in comparison to the other lumber-bearing trees of the forest. Then, God points out that once ignited by fire and charred on the ends and in the middle, the already feeble grapevine becomes truly useless.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Why evoke the grapevine at all, and why dismiss its utility in these ways?<\/span><\/p>\r\n If one wants to craft fine wooden items, a grapevine is indeed a poor choice. Whether those vessels are tools of war or of labor, someone who needs thick trees for sturdy products will indeed dismiss grapevines as mere weeds. This world of physical utility evokes an archetype of the nations of the world. While those nations are not necessarily evil, they lack the charge of holiness that is imbued within the Israelites. By evoking this first understanding of the grapevine compared to the other trees, God hints to the Israelites that they had lost touch with their particular mission, imagining foolishly that they could integrate to the world of the nations around them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Having already dismissed the grapevine as useless, why then explain why it would be even more useless charred? Isn\u2019t that obvious?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n I want to suggest that the message of this parable is that if the Israelites were to have internalized that they, the grapevine, are not meant to be like the other trees of the forest, they would come to realize that their real utility, their real <\/span>raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/span><\/i> is to bear fruits that produce not only flavor and merriment, but also sanctity. Once charred, their true strength becomes neutralized. If the Israelites had understood their mission to bring sanctity into the world, they would have seen the particular preciousness of the grapevine amongst a forest of trees. Instead, the Israelites ignorantly abandoned the sacred potential of the grapevine. So, God says, if the Israelites want to be like those mighty trees that are not only useful for crafting but also for firewood, God will assign them that exact fate and punish the grapevine for imagining it could be something that it is not.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73785,"alt":"","title":"ez15-vineyard","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard.jpg","1536x1536-width":1500,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard.jpg","2048x2048-width":1500,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-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":"Heard It Through A Grapevine","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Israel shouldn\u2019t try to be like the other trees of the forest","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73785,"alt":"","title":"ez15-vineyard","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard.jpg","width":1500,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard.jpg","1536x1536-width":1500,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard.jpg","2048x2048-width":1500,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-vineyard-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"467","date":"20270614","wall_id":"467"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"73797","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"What Use Are You? ","post_title":"What Use Are You?","slug":"what-use-are-you","old_id":"73797","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":73524,"post_title":"Yaakov Beasley","slug":"yaakov-beasley","old_id":"73524","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Beasley ","description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, the host of the TanachTalks podcast, and the author of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: Lights in the Valley (Maggid Press, 2020). ","short_description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, podcast host and author. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":73525,"alt":"","title":"yaakov beasley","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","width":409,"height":484,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","medium_large-width":409,"medium_large-height":484,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","large-width":409,"large-height":484,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","1536x1536-width":409,"1536x1536-height":484,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","2048x2048-width":409,"2048x2048-height":484,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","post_full_size-width":409,"post_full_size-height":484,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"467","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ezekiel speaks in riddles, allegories, metaphors and parables\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Ezekiel's penchant to speak in riddles and allegories come to the forefront during the next ten chapters. Chapters 15, 17, 19 discuss a vine; 17 adds eagles and trees; there are proverbs from the people, and more parables about fires, a cauldron. So much so that Ezekiel complained to God that the people come to him, not because of the truth of his message, but the entertainment value he provided them:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Then said I, \"Alas, O Lord God, they say of me, 'Is he not an inventor of parables?' \"<\/span> (21:5)<\/span><\/p>\r\n Yet Ezekiel rarely offers the solution to his riddles, forcing his listeners to discover the hidden meaning for themselves. Carole Newsom writes that this is the power of Ezekiel's words \u2013 the metaphors serve to engage the listener, forcing their active involvement:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Metaphor derives much of its convincing power because it does not allow its listeners to be passive; but requires them to participate in the construction of its metaphorical meaning (A Maker of Metaphors: Ezekiel\u2019s Oracles Against Tyre.\" Interpretation 38 (1984), 153).<\/span><\/p>\r\n In chapter 15, Ezekiel presents his listeners with a sophisticated riddle \u2013 he introduces a situation, presents a series of rhetorical questions, then convinces his listeners of a truth about the situation, and only then reveals how it affects the reader \u2013 in other words, the listeners solve the riddle themselves. The riddle goes:<\/span><\/p>\r\n Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass all other wood - the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Does one take a peg from it on which to hang any object? (15.2-3)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The effectiveness of Ezekiel's illustration is in how it misleads its listeners. Of course, they would reply \u2013 no one uses vine wood for pegs. Vines do not surpass any wood at all - all they are good for is burning.<\/span> Through sleight of hand, Ezekiel causes his listeners to ignore the obvious purpose of vine wood \u2013 to produce grapes!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Throughout Tanach, the fruitful vine symbolizes the Jewish people (Gen. 49:22, Isaiah 5:1-7 \u2013 \u201cA song of the vineyard\u201d). This is a clever distortion of the historical tradition, and only too late, having given their cognitive assent, do the listeners realize that the <\/span>vine, of course, is Jerusalem. As such, Ezekiel declares in God's name, the useless city will be burned and consumed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Since the Jewish people dwelling in the city serve no purpose, why should he not destroy it to create the more useful fire?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73798,"alt":"","title":"ez15-riddle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Use Are You?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Ezekiel speaks in riddles, allegories, metaphors and parables","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73798,"alt":"","title":"ez15-riddle","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez15-riddle-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"15","chapter_main_number":"467","date":"20270614","wall_id":"467"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"73841","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"A Cosmic Betrothal Model ","post_title":"A Cosmic Betrothal Model","slug":"a-cosmic-betrothal-model","old_id":"73841","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"468","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God spreads God\u2019s robe over a consecrated Israel","post_main_content_content":" Ezekiel 16 depicts the nascent relationship between God and Israel in graphically erotic terms. God, the male protector, follows the feminine Israel from her birth \u201cwallowing in blood\u201d to her maturity into womanhood with \u201cfirm breasts and sprouted hair\u201d.\u00a0 Though fully formed physically she remains naked, prompting God to \u201cspread His robe\u201d over her, not simply to cover her nakedness, but to embrace her in marriage. God replaces the \u201claw of Moses and Israel\u201d which seals the earthly betrothal formula whereby the Jewish groom \u201cconsecrates\u201d the bride (<\/span>harei at mekudedshet li<\/span><\/em>), with a covenantal oath that publicly broadcasts an exclusive commitment to His national bride- <\/span>You became Mine<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Rabbinic traditions often view divine behaviour as a model for human beings. They understand the injunction to \u201cwalk in His ways\u201d (Deut.28:9) as a cardinal mitzvah demanding \u201cas He is so shall you be,\u201d philosophically recognizable as <\/span>imitatio dei<\/span><\/em>, and listed in the top ten of Maimonides\u2019 enumeration of positive commandments. There are thus two dimensions of God\u2019s betrothal of Israel which pose a model that \u201cwalking in His ways\u201d would oblige every mundane betrothal to include.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n The first is its national feature. When the pronouncement is made that regular marriage is sanctified in conformity with Mosaic law, there is the danger that the law\u2019s instrumental role also forging a national ethos might be lost in the technical complexities of what we term <\/span>halakha<\/span><\/em>. God\u2019s address to Jerusalem, the Jewish nation\u2019s capital, at the beginning of the chapter as His potential bride, introduces the national characteristic that hovers over every marriage, reminding the couple that its partnership contributes to Israel\u2019s nation building, the '<\/em><\/span>am<\/span><\/em>
\r\n<\/span>That I\u2019ll wake up, a child again, and start to laugh and play.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>I\u2019ll go back to childhood sweet like a briar rose,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Like a bell which wakes us from a dream,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Like a mother with an ailing child<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Loves him with woman\u2019s love.<\/span><\/p>\r\n