{"id":74455,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:44","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1096\/"},"modified":"2023-12-08T14:09:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T12:09:28","slug":"wall-1096","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1096\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20231203-to-20231209"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1096","date_from":"20231203","date_to":"20231209","book":"Ezekiel","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"119057","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"Happy Hanukkah! 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the entire 929 family:","tile_main_caption":"Happy Hanukkah!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"May it be a much-needed source of light!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":119058,"alt":"","title":"-65715c3b35b00--65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG.jpg","width":682,"height":685,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG.jpg","medium_large-width":682,"medium_large-height":685,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG.jpg","large-width":682,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":682,"1536x1536-height":685,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":682,"2048x2048-height":685,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG.jpg","post_full_size-width":682,"post_full_size-height":685,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/65715c3b35b00-65715c3b35b01929-hanukkah.JPG-418x420.jpg","home_baner-width":418,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"28","chapter_main_number":"480","date":"20270701","wall_id":"480"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"516","name":"Holidays","old_id":"916"}]},{"order":2,"id":"103411","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Who Sold Joseph? ","post_title":"Who Sold Joseph?","slug":"who-sold-joseph","old_id":"103411","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":"37","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"If you think it was his brothers - you may want to read a little more closely\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Jacob favors Joseph. He gives Joseph a colored coat. The brothers are jealous. Joseph has his two dreams that even rankle Jacob. Jacob sends Joseph to spy on his brothers and then\u2026 what happens?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical <\/span>Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat<\/em> <\/span>depicts the most common explanation<\/span><\/a>:<\/span> the brothers plot to throw Joseph into a pit and leave him there to die (the musical even captures some Rashi about snakes in the pit). Instead, a group of Ishmaelites pass by, and the brothers decide to sell Joseph to them for silver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The problem is the text does not seem to follow this version. Starting with 37:18, the brothers see Joseph approaching and think about killing him. Reuben instructs them not to kill Joseph, but instead put him in a pit. Reuben\u2019s wishes to distract the brothers and then return to retrieve Joseph from the pit. The brothers attack Joseph, throw him into the pit, and then sit for a meal. During the meal, a group of Ishmaelites pass by. Judah tells the brothers they should not kill Joseph but instead sell him. Reuben clearly did not tell the other brothers of his plot to return to Joseph. They still believe the plan is to kill him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is where the text gets interesting. \u201cWhen Midianite traders passed by, they pulled Joseph up out of the pit. They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt\u201d (verse 28). Using only the pronoun \u201cthey,\u201d the text is ambiguous. However, it opens with describing a band of Midianite traders. Why add this fact if the \u201cthey\u201d is the brothers pulling Joseph out of the pit and selling him to the Ishmaelites?! It must mean that while the brothers were plotting, the Midianites passed, saw Joseph in the pit, and the Midianites pulled him out of the pit and sold him. This makes sense because in the very next verse, Reuben returns to the pit and is astonished that Joseph is missing. The text never mentions that Reuben left the brothers, so why should he be surprised that Joseph was gone if they sold him?!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He then returns to the brothers to tell them Joseph is gone. The brothers do not respond that they sold Joseph. Instead, they panic and dip the coat in blood. The chapter ends with the tell-tale verse \u201cThe Midianites meanwhile, sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his prefect\u201d (verse 36). If the brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, why are the Midianites mentioned here? Contra Andrew Lloyd Weber, they must have been the ones to sell him in the beginning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Konstantin Flavitsky, Children of Jacob sell his brother Joseph, 1855 \/ wikipedia<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77074,"alt":"","title":"Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","width":790,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-300x228.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":228,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-768x583.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":583,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","large-width":790,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":790,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":790,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","post_full_size-width":790,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-553x420.jpg","home_baner-width":553,"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 Sold Joseph?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"If you think it was his brothers - you may want to read a little more closely","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77074,"alt":"","title":"Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","width":790,"height":600,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-300x228.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":228,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-768x583.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":583,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","large-width":790,"large-height":600,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":790,"1536x1536-height":600,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":790,"2048x2048-height":600,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky.jpg","post_full_size-width":790,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Amos2-Joseph-Konstantin_Flavitsky-553x420.jpg","home_baner-width":553,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"37","chapter_main_number":"37","date":"20251020","wall_id":"37"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"523","name":"Joseph","old_id":"923"},{"term_id":"561","name":"Brothers","old_id":"961"}]},{"order":3,"id":"103413","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Reuben\u2019s Shot At Redemption ","post_title":"Reuben\u2019s Shot At Redemption","slug":"reubens-shot-at-redemption","old_id":"103413","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":41916,"post_title":"Sandra E. Rapoport","slug":"sandra-e-rapoport","old_id":"41916","first_name":"Sandra E. ","last_name":"Rapoport ","description":"Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, Bible teacher, and award-winning author whose books give voice to the women of the Bible. Her third book, Biblical Seductions, was a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist and a Boston Globe Top-Ten Bestseller. Her fourth and most recent book, The Queen & The Spymaster, is a novel based on the story of Esther.","short_description":"Sandra E. Rapoport is an attorney, Bible teacher, and award-winning author of four books on Bible and Midrash.\r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":41917,"alt":"","title":"sandra rapoport","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","width":150,"height":175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":175,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":175,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":175,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":175,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sandra-rapoport.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":175}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"37","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The brothers sell Joseph, and frustrate Reuben\u2019s attempt at returning to his father\u2019s good graces\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Primogeniture, or birth order determining the right of succession, is probably the most important driving force in the Genesis narratives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

By the rules of primogeniture, Reuben\u2014firstborn son of Jacob and Leah\u2014should have emerged as leader of Jacob\u2019s twelve sons, later the twelve tribes of Israel. But this doesn\u2019t happen. Reuben cedes the firstborn crown by interfering with Jacob\u2019s conjugal rights to Bilhah. Simeon and Levi, next in line, disappoint their father Jacob by violently rescuing Dinah from Shechem, and are also disqualified. Judah, the fourth son, seems headed down the same road. He dips his brother Joseph\u2019s torn tunic in goat\u2019s blood, and presents it to their father, implying that Joseph is dead.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But was Reuben the \u201cunstable\u201d bad-guy Jacob painted him? Consider that in chapter 37\u2014 detailing the brutal sale of Joseph\u2014 we read of two near-heroic acts by Reuben. The text uses the word <\/span>hitzil<\/span>\u2014\u00a0<\/span>he saved\u00a0<\/span><\/em>\u2014twice, in verses 21 and 22. Reuben, listening to his nine angry brothers plotting to beat Joseph to death, determines <\/span>to save Joseph from their hands<\/span>, <\/span>va-<\/span>yatzilehu<\/b> miyadam<\/span><\/em>.<\/em> Rather than stand the brothers down and be overpowered, Reuben\u2019s two-part plan is to divert them from murder (\u201cdon\u2019t spill his blood\u2014throw him in the pit instead!\u201d), and then to surreptitiously snatch Joseph from the pit after nightfall, save him, and return him to their father.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A quick sale of the boy by the brothers to passing traders thwarts Reuben\u2019s plan. He returns to the scene after an errand to find Joseph gone! In anguish, Reuben tears his clothes, thinking they have killed him. Turning from the now-empty pit, Reuben confronts his brothers. \u201cThe boy is gone! <\/span>Now<\/span><\/em> what shall I do?!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Reuben is distraught. He had thought to save Joseph <\/span>and redeem himself<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> in one heroic act. Had he been able to extract Joseph from the pit and return him to their father, he might have been restored as firstborn in Jacob\u2019s sights. The text subtly hints at this by its use, twice (in verses 29 and 30), of the verb <\/span>vayashav<\/span><\/em>, \u201che returned.\u201d The word also recalls <\/span>teshuvah<\/span><\/em>, \u201crepentance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Reuben had mixed motives in trying to save Joseph from death. But by twice using the word <\/span>hitzil<\/span><\/em>, the text gives Reuben credit for trying. Alas, his brothers had other plans, and Joseph is tossed over the back of a camel and taken down to Egypt.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":72387,"alt":"","title":"jer45-anguish","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish.jpg","width":1280,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Reuben\u2019s Shot At Redemption","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The brothers sell Joseph, and frustrate Reuben\u2019s attempt at returning to his father\u2019s good graces","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":72387,"alt":"","title":"jer45-anguish","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish.jpg","width":1280,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jer45-anguish-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Genesis","chapter":"37","chapter_main_number":"37","date":"20251020","wall_id":"37"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"562","name":"Reuben","old_id":"962"},{"term_id":"563","name":"First Born","old_id":"963"}]},{"order":4,"id":"39186","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Tamar\u2019s Plan B ","post_title":"Tamar\u2019s Plan B","slug":"tamars-plan-b","old_id":"39186","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34891,"post_title":"Miriam Gedwiser","slug":"miriam-gedwiser","old_id":"34891","first_name":"Miriam","last_name":"Gedwiser ","description":"Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at Ramaz Upper Upper school and is a core faculty member at Drisha. She has a BA from the University of Chicago in the History and Philosophy of Science and a JD from NYU School of Law. She studied in the Drisha Scholars Circle as well as at other programs in Israel and Boston, and has taught at a variety of synagogues and Hillels. She previously practiced commercial litigation at a large law firm, and completed a judicial clerkship in the Southern District of New York","short_description":"Miriam Gedwiser teaches Talmud and Tanakh at Ramaz and at Drisha.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":60045,"alt":"","title":"Miriam Gedwiser 2 cropped","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","width":453,"height":522,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-260x300.jpg","medium-width":260,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","medium_large-width":453,"medium_large-height":522,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","large-width":453,"large-height":522,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":453,"1536x1536-height":522,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":453,"2048x2048-height":522,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":453,"post_full_size-height":522,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Miriam-Gedwiser-2-cropped-1-364x420.jpg","home_baner-width":364,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"38","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In the end, she gets what she came for, and the fruits of the encounter continue to grow","post_main_content_content":"

Many wish to read Tamar as the master manipulator of this story: She guides Judah into both impregnating her and admitting it later, and her brashness makes her the mother of a line of bold leaders.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But what, exactly, was Tamar\u2019s plan? Trick Judah into sleeping with her and then - what? \u00a0What if Judah had had payment with him, making collateral unnecessary? What would she have shown him when he later ordered her burned? Tamar the master planner seems to have left a lot to chance. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The medieval Italian commentator R. Ovadiah Sforno offers a surprising take: \u201cShe thought that when Judah saw her without widow\u2019s garments he would ask her why she had shed those garments. She would answer him that the time had come for Shelah to marry her.\u201d \u00a0Tamar never planned to lure Judah into a sexual encounter - she just wanted a conversation! <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Judah, however, failed to recognize her (more on that in a minute), so when he propositioned her she started asking questions. \u00a0When it became clear that he would give her identifying objects, she leaned in to plan B: establishing the name of her dead husbands not through their brother, but through their father.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How could Judah not recognize his own daughter-in-law? \u00a0Her face was covered, but what of her voice? Here, R. Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (\u201cNetziv\u201d) offers a fascinating insight: \u00a0Once Judah had decided from afar that the veiled women at the intersection was a sex worker, he was predisposed not to recognize her. Since it did not occur to him that his daughter-in-law would engage in such work, her voice did not register. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Where Tamar had hoped to have a reasonable conversation between adults, she encounters a man who cannot see her as a conversation partner once he has classified her as a sexual partner. Judah therefore traps her into a plan B that is much messier than what she had intended.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tamar-the-master-manipulator is often held out as a powerful female role model. \u00a0What can we do with Tamar-the-still-powerless, who sleeps with her father-in-law only because he is incapable of registering her as a person worthy of talking things over with? In the end, she gets what she came for: a child form Judah\u2019s line--and also an admission from Judah. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

After that, \u201che was not intimate with her again.\u201d The sexual relationship that had been founded on ignoring Tamar\u2019s voice could not survive the recognition that \u201cShe is more right than I.\u201d \u00a0But the fruits of the encounter continue to grow, however, until the end of history.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":39309,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_462453199","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","width":6000,"height":3000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"Tamar\u2019s Plan B","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In the end, she gets what she came for, and the fruits of the encounter continue to grow","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":39309,"alt":"","title":"shutterstock_462453199","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","width":6000,"height":3000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/shutterstock_462453199-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"38","chapter_main_number":"38","date":"20251021","wall_id":"38"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"365","name":"Gender","old_id":"765"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"567","name":"Tamar","old_id":"967"}]},{"order":5,"id":"39299","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Becoming His Brother's Keeper ","post_title":"Becoming His Brother's Keeper","slug":"becoming-his-brothers-keeper","old_id":"39299","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39167,"post_title":"Jacqueline Osherow","slug":"jacqueline-osherow","old_id":"39167","first_name":"Jacqueline ","last_name":"Osherow ","description":"Jacqueline Osherow is an American poet, and Distinguished Professor at University of Utah.","short_description":"Jacqueline Osherow is an American poet, and Distinguished Professor at University of Utah.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39168,"alt":"","title":"jaqueline 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was the first person in the entire Tanakh to admit he was wrong\u2026","post_main_content_content":"

[Judah] sells his brother into slavery and deceives his father into thinking his son is dead. But Judah will <\/span>actually<\/span><\/em> lose not one, but two sons, in quick succession, in the very next chapter. We\u2019re told that Judah\u2019s eldest Er is \u201cevil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord slew him\u201d (Gen. 38:7); next Onan, asked by his father to \u201craise up seed to his brother\u201d refused to act as a brother should \u2026\"and the Lord and he slew him also\u201d (Gen. 38:9\u201310).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Again, we have an increasingly intensified measure-for-measure scenario. Onan\u2019s failure to serve as brother is very like the failure of his father, Judah, to act as a true brother, which in turn, was like his own father, Jacob\u2019s failure to treat his own brother in a brotherly way. Indeed, thus far in Genesis, from the time of the very first set of brothers, Cain and Abel, we have found no individual even remotely willing to serve as a \u201cbrother\u2019s keeper.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But what is remarkable within Judah is that change\u2014genuine human change\u2014takes place. Judah redeems himself. And with Judah, the book of Genesis moves from being primarily a narrative of human beings in relation to God to becoming a narrative of human beings in relation to one another. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the great patriarchs; Judah becomes a great human being\u2014not only the forefather but the archetype of his nearly larger-than-life descendant, David.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From being the man who masterminded the sale of his brother into slavery, Judah becomes the ideal of a \u201cbrother\u2019s keeper.\u201d The great transformation in him begins with a life-changing encounter with his resourceful daughter-in-law, Tamar. Robert Alter has demonstrated the resonance of the word \u201crecognition\u201d in the narratives of Joseph and his brothers and Judah and Tamar (<\/span>The Art of Biblical Narrative<\/span><\/em>). <\/span>Haker-na<\/span><\/em> \/ \u201cPlease recognize the coat,\u201d the brothers demand of their father (Gen. 37:32): <\/span>haker-na<\/span><\/em> \/ \u201cRecognize to whom this seal cord and staff belong,\u201d asks Tamar, who has been impregnated by Judah when she\u2019s disguised herself as a harlot by the side of the road (Gen. 38:25)\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cTake her and burn her,\u201d he says when he learns that his daughter-in-law is pregnant. But when she shows him the \u201cseal-cord and staff\u201d of the \u201cman by whom\u201d she \u201chas conceived,\u201d he changes his position (Gen. 38:25). Interestingly, the text in Hebrew says simply <\/span>vayikar yehudah<\/em> <\/span>\/ \u201cand Judah recognized\u201d (Gen. 38:26); the verb here lacks a direct object. Of course, one possible meaning is that he recognized the staff and seal cord, but another is that\u2014seeing his own staff and signet ring out of context, in the hands of the pregnant woman he would so readily have had burned\u2014\u201che recognized\u201d his flawed self. It\u2019s that \u201crecognition\u201d of his own flaws that enables him to become the true \u201cflesh\u201d of his brother, and, in doing so, the true \u201cflesh\u201d (as opposed to spiritual) hero of Genesis.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The words that follow are remarkable: <\/span>tzadkah mememi<\/span><\/em> \/ \u201cShe\u2019s more righteous than I.\u201d Here we have, in Genesis 38, the first instance in the Bible of a person admitting he\u2019s in the wrong. All other accused people either blame someone else\u2014\u201cThat woman you gave me gave me of the tree,\u201d says Adam; \u201cthe snake deceived me,\u201d says Eve (Gen. 3:12\u201313)\u2014or ask rhetorical questions, like Cain\u2019s \u201cam I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d (Gen. 4:9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(Excerpted and reprinted with permission from the essay \u201c'That We May Live and Not Die': Judah as Life Force of Genesis,\" by Jaqueline Osherow, in:<\/span> Reading Genesis Beginnings<\/span><\/a><\/em>,<\/em> Beth Kissileff, editor, Bloomsbury, 2016, pp.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>224-226).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39061,"alt":"","title":"micah weiss","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110.jpg","width":310,"height":416,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110-224x300.jpg","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110.jpg","medium_large-width":310,"medium_large-height":416,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110.jpg","large-width":310,"large-height":416,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110.jpg","1536x1536-width":310,"1536x1536-height":416,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110.jpg","2048x2048-width":310,"2048x2048-height":416,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-e1535868016110.jpg","post_full_size-width":310,"post_full_size-height":416,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/micah-weiss-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"39","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A story to help us shift the balance back towards empathy","post_main_content_content":"

The vast majority of survivors of sexual assault are cisgender women. <\/span>It\u00a0<\/span>is important for women\u2019s stories of gender-based violence to continue to be\u00a0<\/span>uplifted through the #metoo movement. In addition, we should not forget the\u00a0<\/span>many stories of cisgender men, trans, and gender non-conforming people who are\u00a0<\/span>also survivors amongst us.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The story of Joseph\u2019s assault at the hands of Potiphar\u2019s Wife<\/span> in Genesis 39<\/span> is just such a story.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We could read Joseph as just any old straight man, or we might read his character with an overlay of queerness from the many hints in the Torah and rabbinic literature that Joseph had an extra flair of flamboyance in his gender presentation and sexuality. The Torah particularly focuses on Joseph\u2019s good looks and youth (Genesis 37:2, 39:6). Bereishit Rabbah interprets the emphasis on his youth to say that he liked to fix up his hair, and touch up his eyes to appear good looking. Contemporary readers looking for queer stories in the Torah have read these hints and others to create a reading of Joseph as queer.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Torah may emphasize Joseph\u2019s beauty in his encounter with Potiphar\u2019s Wife, but I read her primary motivating force as the desire to assert power over another, as is the case with most instances of sexual assault. Potiphar\u2019s Wife makes repeated, unwanted sexual advances towards Joseph, culminating in the use of physical force. When Joseph flees, she wields the social and political power she holds over Joseph to accuse him of the very crime she herself has committed. This perpetrator narrative resonates with familiar tropes of victim blaming. Joseph has no voice to defend himself and is thrown in jail.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whether Joseph was straight, queer, asexual, cis-male or transgender doesn\u2019t matter in the slightest as a reason for his abuse, but these readings do allow the experiences of those not easily seen in the text of the Torah or the public discussion of sexual assault to be more visible. Oftentimes, initial judgments connected to a survivor\u2019s identity and the situation they find themselves in cloud our capacity to listen and leave us overly fixated on the \u201ctruth\u201d of what happened in a claim of sexual assault. This unfortunate default line of inquiry gives great power to our inevitable biases and makes the survivors\u2019 needs invisible. Once we have given so much power to judgment, it is hard to shift the balance back towards empathy. \u00a0The next time you hear someone brave enough to come forward with a story of assault, I encourage you to withhold judgment and ask yourself, \u201chow would Joseph want me to respond to this story if it were his?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Cover art by Elisheva Horowitz, courtesy of the artist.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":39398,"alt":"","title":"Yoseph's runs from Potifar's wife-G39","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39.jpg","width":1500,"height":1175,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39-300x235.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":235,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39-768x602.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":602,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39-1024x802.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":802,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39.jpg","1536x1536-width":1500,"1536x1536-height":1175,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39.jpg","2048x2048-width":1500,"2048x2048-height":1175,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39-1200x940.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":940,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Yosephs-runs-from-Potifars-wife-G39-536x420.jpg","home_baner-width":536,"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":"#HeToo - 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I never understood exactly what Joseph's greatness was in refusing to sleep with Potiphar's wife. I do not claim that it did not require a modicum of moral backbone to refuse her seduction. But is his resistance to have sexual relations with a married woman, the wife of a man to whom Joseph is a slave, a man who trusted Joseph and entrusted him with the management of his entire household, a man who would have had Joseph executed in the event that he learned Joseph had committed adultery with his wife - something that would justify Joseph becoming labeled a supreme righteous individual? \u00a0I doubt it. The temptation exists, but resisting her advances is not great heroism.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moreover, not only is Joseph considered the paragon of every future righteous man, his resistance to temptation rises to the level of an impeccable example of sexual restraint and self-control. Righteous Joseph is the address of those who seek inspiration around the whole issue of masturbation and the prohibition of shedding seed in vain. This is all the more strange when we discover that according to the Midrash, Joseph could not resist at all. Yes, you read it right. The Talmud already tells us that Joseph succumbed to his sexual urge, did not conquer his will and spilled his seed. Of course he did not sleep with Potiphar's wife, but \"his semen was emitted from between his fingernails\" (Sota 36b) - that is, he put his hands on his genitals and the sperm broke through his fingers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How can one understand this dissonance between Joseph's reputation and his reputed achievements? George Orwell, in his Reflections on Gandhi<\/em>, once said that \u201cmany people genuinely do not wish to be saints, and it is probable that some who achieve or aspire to sainthood have never felt much temptation to be human beings.\u201d Joseph's real temptation is the temptation to be superhuman. It would have been easy for the authors of the Bible and the Talmud to turn Joseph into an unattainable ideal. But true righteousness is not absolute purity, but rather honest humanity. Joseph is tempted and shows his imperfection. This is a righteous man who can be said to be \u201cthe foundation of the world\u201d (Proverbs 10:25) since the world is not founded on immaculate people - that is, those that do not exist.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":96751,"alt":"","title":"ecc7-angel 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Parables And Coca-Cola ","post_title":"Prophecy, Parables And Coca-Cola","slug":"prophecy-parables-and-coca-cola","old_id":"74444","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"476","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Feeling the story works better than knowing the facts\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The book of Ezekiel includes more parables than any other book of prophets. Chapter 24 includes prophecies that close out a lengthy passage dealing with God\u2019s rebuke of the Jewish people, and it does so with the use of parables.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word \u201cparable\u201d comes from the Greek word \u201cparabol\u0113\u201d, which literally means \u201cthrowing alongside\u201d: a comparison or an analogy. In the parable of the pot that opens this chapter, our sages explain that the description of setting the pot to boil illustrates the beginning of the siege on Jerusalem. The parable continues with \u201cgood cuts of meat\u201d representing the leaders of Judah who mistakenly believe they are taking refuge in safety (which turns out to be like a pot on fire), and the bones at the bottom of the pot an analogy for the elite of the Jewish nation who will protect those placed in the pot above them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Why would God choose to have prophets use parables to warn His nation and motivate them towards repentance? A September 2008 article in <\/span>Scientific American Mind<\/span><\/i> illustrated through two studies that subjects were more likely to change their minds when their brains were presented with stories rather than facts. Similarly, in the world of marketing, ads that tell a story about a product rather than merely reel off facts, produce better results (think about Coca Cola teaching the world to sing.) Previous prophets tried the analytical, fact-based approach to changing the minds of the nation to no avail, so it\u2019s time to ramp up a new angle of persuasion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jack Sammons, Mercer University School of Law (Parables and Pedagogy, 2005) defines the purpose of parables as being for \u201cprimarily orienting, disorienting and then reorienting the listener to matters\u2026by a jolting reminder to the listener of things he or she already knows.\u201d The point, he says, is not to show people what they don\u2019t know but what they do know. Surely by now, after all the prophets\u2019 efforts to rebuke and clearly detail the people\u2019s transgressions and resulting consequences, this audience knows cerebrally what\u2019s coming, but they haven\u2019t yet felt it in their hearts.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These parables, that are presented with increasing frequency in the Books of the Prophets may be God\u2019s way of bridging that gap between mind and heart to ensure that the Jewish nation goes beyond simply <\/span>knowing<\/span><\/em> what is happening and why, but <\/span>feels<\/span><\/em> it their heart and soul.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74445,"alt":"","title":"ez24-cola","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-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":"Prophecy, Parables And Coca-Cola","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Feeling the story works better than knowing the facts","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74445,"alt":"","title":"ez24-cola","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-cola-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":"24","chapter_main_number":"476","date":"20270627","wall_id":"476"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"74442","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"\u201cIf You Can\u2019t Stand The Heat\u201d\u00a0 ","post_title":"\u201cIf You Can\u2019t Stand The Heat\u201d\u00a0","slug":"if-you-cant-stand-the-heat","old_id":"74442","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. 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Ezekiel begins the final chapter describing the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem with a date: the tenth of Tevet, during in the ninth year of the reign of Zedekiah, the date on which Nebuchadnezzar began the siege on Jerusalem (II Kings 25:1; Jeremiah 39:1; 52:4). By highlighting the date, Ezekiel demonstrates the veracity of his message. When the reports of the Babylonian army laying the siege reach the exiles, and they conclude that Ezekiel's prophecies describe the events in Judah perfectly, hopefully they will start to listen to his message, and that even those who doubted him will realize that \u201ca prophet was in their midst\u201d (2:5; 33:33).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel gives his listeners one final allegory to describe the imminent destruction \u2013 the preparation of a large pot to boil an animal. The first verses are pleasant, describing what appears to be the cooking of a delicious meat stew:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Set the pot \u2026 and also pour water into it. Gather its pieces to it, every good piece, the thigh and the shoulder, fill it with the choice limbs. Take the choice of the flocks and also arrange the limbs under it; make it boil well so that all its limbs will also boil into its midst (v. 3-5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The commentator Moshe Alshich suggests that this section, the placing of the various cuts of meat and pouring water over the mixture, is meant to be understood positively. God gathered all the groups within the Jewish people together, pouring His spirit (the water) upon them. He arranged the ingredients so that the best taste would come forth - symbolizing God's hope that the Jewish people in the land of Israel would mature into the people that would serve as God's partner. However, Ezekiel reveals that the pot was either rusted or filthy on the inside, symbolizing the people's internal corruption. This meant that the food inside the pot was worthless. Therefore, says Ezekiel, the only way to purify the pot is to purge it by heat, so that the fire consumes everything within<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Radak understands the metaphor differently, emphasizing the addition of water to the stew and suggesting that Ezekiel is predicting the prolonged suffering and siege that awaited the people:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThis is what a person does \u2026 first he places it upon his lips, then fills it with water, and then places meat in it and lights a fire under it, until the meat is cooked. The placing of the pot upon the lips symbolizes the proximity of Nebuchadnezzer to Jerusalem \u2026 the pouring of the water into it foretells that the fire will not burn it quickly, for water prevents the meat from cooking quickly - without water, the fire causes it to roast quickly, but if there is water, the meat will cook slowly. Likewise, the siege lasted from the ninth year of Zedekiah until his twelfth year, with the inhabitants of the city slowly dying off from hunger and the plague and the sword.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":73510,"alt":"","title":"ez11-pot meat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-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":"\u201cIf You Can\u2019t Stand The Heat\u201d\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But they couldn\u2019t get out of the metaphorical pot","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":73510,"alt":"","title":"ez11-pot meat","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/ez11-pot-meat-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":"24","chapter_main_number":"476","date":"20270627","wall_id":"476"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"74439","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Where There Are No Comforters, There Is No Mourning\u00a0 ","post_title":"Where There Are No Comforters, There Is No Mourning\u00a0","slug":"where-there-are-no-comforters-there-is-no-mourning","old_id":"74439","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. 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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":"476","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But there is an endemic self-centeredness at the core of Israelite society\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

God commissions Ezekiel to perform a shocking form of \u201cstreet theatre\u201d, transforming his own life into an embodied portent (<\/span>mofet<\/span><\/i> v. 24) of Israel\u2019s future. He must suppress any customary mourning rites at the loss of his own wife! In contemporary terms Ezekiel was compelled to abstain from sitting <\/span>shiva<\/span><\/i> or any of its overt expressions of grief. Jewish mourning customs are in fact derived from those from which Ezekiel is commanded to desist (<\/span>Moed Katan <\/span><\/i>15a).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashi understands Ezekiel\u2019s restraint as a symbolic allusion to the punishing extent of the destruction. It portends death so all-encompassing that \u201cthere will not be even one person who is not a mourner and there can be no mourning where there are no comforters.\u201d However, there is another allusive layer to Ezekiel\u2019s strange behaviour. The prospect of no comforters for those in need of comfort mirrors an endemic self-centeredness at the core of Israelite society. Those who enjoy privileged positions capable of providing comfort do not provide it for the disadvantaged who need it like orphans, widows, immigrants, defenseless family members, and the elderly, as described in 22:6-12.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel\u2019s repeated phrase \u201ceye\u2019s desire\u201d (<\/span>machmad ayin<\/span><\/i>) exposes this moral breakdown when read in light of its only other appearance in a prior biblical narrative. In I Kings 20, Ahab, king of Israel, hastily surrenders to the foreign king Ben-Hadad\u2019s sabre rattling demands to submit everything to his control, including economic (<\/span>gold, silver<\/span><\/i>) and human resources, (<\/span>the choicest wives and children<\/span><\/i>). However, once Ben Hadad clarifies that his demand intends invading the king\u2019s own house and wives for the \u201cdesires of your eyes\u201d- <\/span>My underlings will come tomorrow and search through your palace<\/span><\/i> (I Kings 20:6)- Ahab reconsiders his submission and consults with his elders deciding on a policy of resistance rather than capitulation. Ben Hadad\u2019s subtle addition of the phrase resonates with Ahab\u2019s personal possessions and relationships which prompts him to an about-face. Only the stark realization of losing his own \u201cdesires\u201d changed his initial willingness to sell his nation out.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps this is the meaning of Ezekiel\u2019s use of the same phrase to identify those three most cherished objects the people stand to lose- spouse ( v.16), Temple (v.21), and children (v 25). It emphasizes their tunnel vision fixated solely on their personal relationships whether in social or religious contexts. Their eyes are directed inward, toward their own families. Their Temple dedication is self-serving, manipulated to attract divine benefits for themselves. Ezekiel cites God\u2019s possessive form \u201cMy Temple\u201d almost exclusively in prophetic literature, appearing in his book fifteen out of the sixteen times in the entire biblical corpus outside of Leviticus. This possessive provides a particular corrective to the popular distorted view of the spiritual centre as the \u201cpeople\u2019s\u201d, a magical place to exploit for glory and gain, rather than God\u2019s (Mine) and dedication to His commandments.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are indeed no authentic comforters anywhere to be found and so there can be no mourners for the loss of their \u201ceyes desires.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Vimy Ridge Memorial, photo by Guy Dugas \/ 2011<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74440,"alt":"","title":"ez24-vimy ridge","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Where There Are No Comforters, There Is No Mourning\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But there is an endemic self-centeredness at the core of Israelite society \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74440,"alt":"","title":"ez24-vimy ridge","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge.jpg","width":1920,"height":1440,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1440,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez24-vimy-ridge-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Ezekiel","chapter":"24","chapter_main_number":"476","date":"20270627","wall_id":"476"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"74493","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Just Deserts ","post_title":"Just Deserts","slug":"just-deserts","old_id":"74493","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":"477","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Malicious glee - and some irony\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

As observed by Radak (in his opening remarks to this chapter): \u201cNow, he began with the catastrophe [to befall] the nations neighboring the Land of Israel who rejoiced in its destruction.\u201d Those nations are, respectively, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the Philistines.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In 6:11, we encountered the word <\/span>ach<\/span><\/i> <\/a>(translated \u201cAha!\u201d), and we noted a difference of opinion among the commentators whether it was a cry of anguish (Rashi, Kara, Radak) or joy (Malbim). Here, in v.3, we find that Ammon was accused of crying HE\u2019ACH (again translated \u201cAha!\u201d) on the downfall and exile of Israel. This time, given the context as noted, even Rashi and Radak are obliged to define it as joyful. (Moshe Greenberg rendered it as \u201cexpressing malicious glee,\u201d <\/span>Ezekiel<\/span><\/i> 518.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Chapter 21, we cited Malbim\u2019s interpretation <\/span><\/a>of v.2:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cSet your face\u201d: This is what prepared him to know which direction to face while prophesying about the siege of Jerusalem (v.13 ff.). Here, he told how Nebuchadnezzar engaged in divination to determine whether to turn left\u2014towards Rabat Ammon\u2014or right\u2014to Jerusalem. The lot fell to the south, which was to his right, to wit: \u201cIn his right hand came up the omen against Jerusalem\u201d (27).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In other words, going southward from Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar could have attacked either Ammon, which was situated to his west or left, or Jerusalem, which lay to his right or east. Now, in 25:4, Radak used that to highlight the irony underlying Ammon\u2019s prospective punishment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He said: Even though they escaped Nebuchadnezzar, whose lot fell on Jerusalem, they ought not rejoice on that account, because the nations of the east\u2014Medea and Persia\u2014will overcome them and inherit their land.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Edom\u2019s participation in the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, alluded to in v.12, is elaborated on in greater detail in the Book of Obadiah, and cited in Psalm 137:7: \u201cRecall, O Lord, of the Edomites, of the day of Jerusalem, who cried \u2018raze it, raze it\u2019 to its very foundation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Allegory of Rout and Pillage, Dirck Vellert (Flemish; roundel), c. 1520 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74494,"alt":"","title":"ez25-rout and pillage","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","width":593,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage-297x300.jpg","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","medium_large-width":593,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","large-width":593,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","1536x1536-width":593,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","2048x2048-width":593,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","post_full_size-width":593,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage-416x420.jpg","home_baner-width":416,"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":"Just Deserts","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Malicious glee - and some irony\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74494,"alt":"","title":"ez25-rout and pillage","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","width":593,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage-297x300.jpg","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","medium_large-width":593,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","large-width":593,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","1536x1536-width":593,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","2048x2048-width":593,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage.jpg","post_full_size-width":593,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez25-rout-and-pillage-416x420.jpg","home_baner-width":416,"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":"25","chapter_main_number":"477","date":"20270628","wall_id":"477"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"74543","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"The Fate Of Tyre ","post_title":"The Fate Of Tyre","slug":"the-fate-of-tyre","old_id":"74543","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33877,"post_title":"Marc Bregman","slug":"marc-bregman","old_id":"33877","first_name":"Marc","last_name":"Bregman","description":"Marc Bregman received his Ph.D. from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1991. He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). 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Our chapter is the first of three prophecies of Ezekiel (Chapters 26-28) against the city of Tyre (Tzor). Tyre is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world, having been settled in the first half of the third millennium BCE. Tyre\u2019s fabulous wealth (see Ezekiel Chapter 27, Zechariah 9:3), was dependent on its production of \u201cTyrian purple\u201d, a dye produced from the Murex snail, that was reserved for royalty. In Biblical times, a \u201cthread of blue\u201d dyed with this aristocratic color was required to be included in the Tzitzit (\u201ctassels\u201d) of the Tallit, (Numbers 15:38) \u2013 see also Bavli Menahot 44a and Shabbat 26a.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the days of David, relations with Tyre were amicable (see 2 Samuel 5:11). This continued when Solomon built the First Temple and a royal palace in Jerusalem: \u201cKing Hiram of Tyre supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that he required\u201d (I Kings 9:11). However, by the time of Isaiah, relations with Tyre had deteriorated to the extent that this prophet foretells its utter destruction (Isaiah ch. 23).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Indeed, in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered Tyre after a complicated siege, which necessitated his building a causeway from the mainland to the coastal island on which Tyre was originally built.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The rabbinic sages learned from the destruction of Tyre that God punishes the foreign nations with the very things about which they act haughtily. Tyre was inordinately proud of its fabled beauty: \u201c\u2026O Tyre, you boasted, I am perfect in beauty. Your frontiers were on the high seas. Your builders perfected your beauty\u201d (Ezekiel 27:3-4). For this reason, God declares Tyre\u2019s destruction: \u201cThus said the Lord God: I am going to deal with you, O Tyre! I will hurl many nations against you, as the sea hurls its waves\u201d (Ezekiel 26:3). Ezekiel\u2019s rage is directed particularly against the ruler of Tyre: \u201cThe word of the Lord came to me: O mortal, say to the prince of Tyre: Thus said the Lord God: Because you have been so haughty and have said: I am a god; I sit enthroned like a god in the heart of the seas, whereas you are not a god but a man, though you deemed your mind equal to a god\u2019s\u2026By the hands of strangers you shall die\u201d (Ezekiel 28:1-2, 10) (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Shirata 2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In rabbinic literature, Tyre came to be associated with the oppressive Roman empire According to Midrash Tanhuma Bo\u2019 4, all the plagues that the Lord brought against the Egyptians in Egypt, He will bring against Rome, as it is said: \u201cWhen word comes to Egypt, they will be in anguish at the report from Tyre \u2013 Tz[o]r\u201d (Isaiah 23:5). Rabbi Eleazar ben Pedat said: Wherever Scripture writes Tz[o]r without the letter Vav, so that it can be read Tz[a]r (i.e. oppressor) it refers to Rome, which, like Egypt, oppressed Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: John Martin, Destruction of Tyre, 1840, Toledo Museum of Art \/ Google Art - wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74544,"alt":"","title":"ez26-martin destruction of tyre","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","width":783,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-300x230.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":230,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-768x588.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":588,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","large-width":783,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","1536x1536-width":783,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","2048x2048-width":783,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","post_full_size-width":783,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-549x420.jpg","home_baner-width":549,"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 Fate Of Tyre","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Erstwhile ally of Israel - now despised foe","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74544,"alt":"","title":"ez26-martin destruction of tyre","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","width":783,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-300x230.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":230,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-768x588.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":588,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","large-width":783,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","1536x1536-width":783,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","2048x2048-width":783,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre.jpg","post_full_size-width":783,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-martin-destruction-of-tyre-549x420.jpg","home_baner-width":549,"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":"26","chapter_main_number":"478","date":"20270629","wall_id":"478"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"74549","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Divine Weakness ","post_title":"Divine Weakness","slug":"divine-weakness","old_id":"74549","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":72948,"post_title":"Tova Ganzel","slug":"tova-ganzel","old_id":"72948","first_name":"Tova ","last_name":"Ganzel ","description":"Dr. Tova Ganzel is the Director of the Midrasha at Bar-Ilan University, and is one the first trained women\u2019s halakhic advisors (Yoatzot Halacha). 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Her work is mainly on the Hebrew Bible in the context of the larger ancient Near Eastern world. \r\n","short_description":"Dr. Tova Ganzel is the Director of the Midrasha at Bar-Ilan University, and is one the first trained women\u2019s halakhic advisors (Yoatzot Halacha).","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":72949,"alt":"","title":"tova ganzel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel.jpg","width":892,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel-268x300.jpg","medium-width":268,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel-768x861.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":861,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel.jpg","large-width":892,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel.jpg","1536x1536-width":892,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel.jpg","2048x2048-width":892,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel.jpg","post_full_size-width":892,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/tova-ganzel-375x420.jpg","home_baner-width":375,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"478","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Apparently, a different god watched over Tyre\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Tyre was an economic and cultural power throughout the duration of the Israelite kingdom.\u00a0 This was the source of various problems: including the introduction of idolatry in the times of Solomon and Ahab and causing problems regarding Shabbat observance in Nehemiah\u2019s days. There were periods when positive ties prevailed between Israel and Tyre, including the building of David\u2019s house by emissaries from Tyre and Hiram\u2019s assistance in building the Temple.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians, Tyre withstood the siege throughout the period of the Babylonian empire. The steadfastness of Tyre in contrast with the destruction of the Temple served to compound the psychological difficulty facing the inhabitants of Jerusalem: now, God\u2019s status in the eyes of the nations had fallen even more. Not only had the god of the Babylonians seemingly prevailed over the God of Israel, but there seemed to be a different god that watched over Tyre that was even stronger than the Babylonian power. In effect, Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s conquest of Jerusalem proved to the nations what they had wanted to demonstrate, namely, the weakness of the God of Israel. This religious challenge, and the desecration of God\u2019s Name among the nations, are apparently the reason for the length and vehemence of the prophecy regarding Tyre. Tyre \u2013 which, from the earliest history of the Israelite monarchy maintained commercial ties with it \u2013 has grown arrogant to the point where it has presumed itself above the Lord God of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy to Tyre and to Sidon ends with the ingathering of Israel in its land. This does not appear to be an after-thought to the prophecy, but rather an essential component, a conclusion that completes the prophecies of destruction to the nations. Sanctification of God\u2019s Name in the eyes of the nation begins with their downfall, but it will not be open and clear until God gathers up His nation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Published in conjunction with hatanach.com. For the <\/span>full article see here.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74550,"alt":"","title":"ez26-angel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel.jpg","width":1920,"height":882,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel-300x138.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":138,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel-768x353.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":353,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel-1024x470.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":470,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":706,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":882,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel-1200x551.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":551,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez26-angel-914x420.jpg","home_baner-width":914,"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":"Divine 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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":"479","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The source of the Source\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 27, Ezekiel laments the fate of Tyre. This Phoenician city, on the Mediterranean coast, led a network of sea trade throughout the entire region. Before the Babylonian conquest, Tyre is described as trading with Egypt, Assyria, Arabia, and the Greek Islands. One particular town involved in those trading routes was Gebal. Ezekiel describes their citizens this way in verse 9:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cGebal\u2019s elders and craftsmen were within you,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Making your repairs.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>All the ships of the sea, with their crews,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Were in your harbor<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To traffic in your wares.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gebal did not only cooperate with Tyre, but with Israel as well, in the time of Solomon:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c\u2026Solomon\u2019s masons, Hiram\u2019s masons, and the men of Gebal shaped them. Thus, the timber and the stones for building the house were made ready.\u201d (I Kings 5:32)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Both of these verses show that Gebal was known for woodworking, as well as trade.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gebal, or <\/span>Geval\u00a0<\/span><\/em>in Hebrew, was located on what today is the northern coast of Lebanon, between Beirut and Tripoli. While the origin of the name is subject to some debate, many think it is related to the Hebrew word <\/span>gevul<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cboundary, border.\u201d That word is cognate with the Arabic <\/span>jabal<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 <\/span><\/i>\u201cmountain,\u201d since mounds were often used to mark borders. So Gebal probably meant something like \u201cfrontier town.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One product particularly associated with Gebal was papyrus, since the traders of Gebal imported that important product from Egypt, and then continued selling it to the Aegean countries. Those Greek speaking countries pronounced Gebal somewhat differently: Byblos.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Byblos was so associated with papyrus, that the Greek word for Egyptian papyrus was <\/span>byblos<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>From that word derived the related <\/span>biblion<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meaning \u201cpaper, scroll\u201d, and this developed into the familiar words in English, \u201cbiblio-\u201c a prefix meaning \u201cbook,\u201d and Bible \u2013 \u201cthe Book\u201d (originally in Latin the phrase was <\/span>biblia sacra<\/span><\/em>, \u201choly books\u201d, and later abbreviated to just <\/span>biblia).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s interesting to think about how this partnership between Israel and Phoenicia has evolved over the millennia. Initially, Israel needed to import Phoenician wood and craftsmen. Later, the very concept of the Bible was exported all over the world. Perhaps some future cooperation will return!<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74605,"alt":"","title":"ez27-bible","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-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":"Bybliography","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The source of the Source","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74605,"alt":"","title":"ez27-bible","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez27-bible-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":"27","chapter_main_number":"479","date":"20270630","wall_id":"479"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":15,"id":"74652","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"The Case Of The Missing Gemstones ","post_title":"The Case Of The Missing Gemstones","slug":"the-case-of-the-missing-gemstones","old_id":"74652","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":70715,"post_title":"Judry Subar","slug":"judry-subar","old_id":"70715","first_name":"Judry ","last_name":"Subar","description":"Judry Subar, who lives in Potomac, Maryland, spent most of his professional career as a lawyer with the federal government in Washington, DC. Since his retirement, Jud has been involved in various writing and educational projects.","short_description":"Judry Subar spent most of his professional career as a lawyer with the federal government in Washington. Since his retirement, he has been involved in various writing and educational projects.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":70716,"alt":"","title":"judry subar","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","width":400,"height":400,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","medium_large-width":400,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","large-width":400,"large-height":400,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","1536x1536-width":400,"1536x1536-height":400,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","2048x2048-width":400,"2048x2048-height":400,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","post_full_size-width":400,"post_full_size-height":400,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/judry-subar.jpg","home_baner-width":400,"home_baner-height":400}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"480","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Hinting at the importance of doubt amidst certainty\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

There sits Ezekiel in Babylon; yes, sometimes he lies down, sometimes he stands, and sometimes he even flies, but for now let\u2019s imagine him sitting in his study, working hard to draft Chapter 28 of his very own book. As he searches for themes, he pulls a Tanach from the bookshelf. Flipping through the volume he finds two ideas that meld into one. He reads early in Genesis about Eden and its garden. And he sees in Exodus 28:17-20 that the Children of Israel used a variety of precious stones to decorate the High Priest\u2019s fancy uniform. Maybe, he muses, he can fashion a midrash from the two stories.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In verse 13, he does just that. His words draw a picture of so many beautiful gems that must have been found in the Garden at the dawn of humanity, not just the two identified in Genesis 2:12. Ezekiel names nine of them; all nine are among the twelve precious stones that Exodus tells us were displayed by the High Priest. Thinking about the jewels lying on the floor of the Garden seems to evoke for Ezekiel an era of abundance and innocence whose existence is just a distant memory. But his recollection of the breastplate\u2019s stones, and the highly ordered world that they represent, inspires him to prophesy about divine anger.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We might wonder, though, why three of the priestly breastplate\u2019s stones were left unlisted by Ezekiel. We learn in Exodus Rabbah 38:9 that the three holy gems not found in Ezekiel 28 are linked to the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, and Gad. We know from Jacob\u2019s blessings found in Genesis 49 that the identities of those three tribes were bound up with concepts of judicial action, speed, and military might, respectively. With those images of the three tribes in mind, we can see what they have in common. When a court sits in judgment, when a runner strains to break the tape at the end of a course, when an army marches toward victory, any wavering, any uncertainty, can undermine the attempt to achieve justice, victory, and conquest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps by leaving out those symbols, Ezekiel is suggesting that as important an attribute as rational certitude might be, some doubt -- born, perhaps, of hazy dreams of a far-off past -- helps to soften an overly harsh and forbidding sense of the divine.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74653,"alt":"","title":"ez28-gemstones","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","width":630,"height":626,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":626,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":626,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":626,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":626,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":626,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones-423x420.jpg","home_baner-width":423,"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 Case Of The Missing Gemstones","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Hinting at the importance of doubt amidst certainty","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74653,"alt":"","title":"ez28-gemstones","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","width":630,"height":626,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":626,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":626,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":626,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":626,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":626,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-gemstones-423x420.jpg","home_baner-width":423,"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":"28","chapter_main_number":"480","date":"20270701","wall_id":"480"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":16,"id":"74656","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Cutting The Deified King Down To Size\u00a0 ","post_title":"Cutting The Deified King Down To Size\u00a0","slug":"cutting-the-deified-king-down-to-size","old_id":"74656","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. 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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":"480","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The two sides of the Tyre\/Israel divide\r\n\r\n\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel opens chapter 28 by censuring Tyre\u2019s royalty for the extreme arrogance of self-deification, for \u201cyou have said \u2018I am a god\u2019\u201d (v.2), reflecting a feature endemic to ancient Near Eastern cultures whose kings were considered divine. The Egyptian Pharaohs for example were thought to descend from their pagan deities. Political corrosion compounds its abhorrent pagan theology. The state and its population are there to worship and promote the interests of king and, therefore the deified king easily becomes a tyrannical oppressor rather than a public servant. Deuteronomy\u2019s unique law of the king (Deut. 17) which prohibits the king from accumulating gold and silver, horses, and wives - i.e. empowerment through wealth, armaments, and alliances - precisely prevent the king from becoming an all-powerful despot.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though Ezekiel prophesies an ignominious end for Tyre\u2019s prince at the \u201chands of strangers.\u201d (v.9), he concludes the chapter predicting a bright future for the Israelites who will be repatriated to their homeland from the diaspora. The two prophecies bracket the chapter, inviting us to contrast Tyre\u2019s and Israel\u2019s destinies. Yet there is a profoundly subtle symmetry between the two suggesting a deeper theological and political message.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Tyre\u2019s ruler proclaims \u201cI sit in the seat of God\u201d, that is he claims a divine throne, while Israel is destined to \u201csit on their own soil\u201d (25). Israel thus understands its place and limitations on earth as opposed to Tyre\u2019s king who believes he occupies the heavens. Tyre\u2019s prince dedicates his skills to increase <\/span>his <\/span><\/i>wealth and inflate <\/span>his<\/span><\/i> treasuries while Israel as a collective will \u201cbuild houses and plant vineyards.\u201d (26) Tyre\u2019s self-aggrandizing delusions will be terminated by an onslaught of \u201cstrangers\u201d who will strike down Tyre\u2019s king (7,10) while Israel\u2019s future follows a reverse direction back to their land from dispersion and subjugation to other nations (25). Israel will \u201csit\u201d securely on its land (26) while Tyre\u2019s human \u2018god\u2019 will be \u201cbrought down to the Pit \u201d (8). The term \u2018Pit\u2019 (<\/span>shachat)<\/span><\/i> appears often as a synonym for the netherworld (eg Ps. 16:10). Thus, he is dethroned from his seat above all other living human beings and plunged to the very depths beneath them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Finally, the prophecy moves from the social\/political to the spiritual ramifications of the Tyre\/Israel divide. Those \u201cstrangers\u201d literally \u2018desecrate\u2019 Tyre\u2019s monarch culminating in bringing down to earth the one who thought himself a deity: \u201cYou will be proven a man and not a God at the hand of those who desecrate you.\u201d (v.9). The root of the term desecrate (<\/span>chalal<\/span><\/i>) bears assonance with the terms signifying his previous wealth\/strength (<\/span>cheyl-v.4,5<\/span><\/i>) and the corpse he will become (<\/span>chalal-v.8<\/span><\/i>), dashing his sense of immortality. In direct contrast, Israel\u2019s collective nation building will \u201csanctify\u201d God (25) and lead other nations to \u201cknow\u201d God as the Lord (26). In other words, the deified tyrant whose subjects are instruments for his personal glory ends in desecration while the community that comes together to build a homeland for the benefit of all ends in sanctification.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":74657,"alt":"","title":"ez28-king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king.png","width":838,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-196x300.png","medium-width":196,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-670x1024.png","medium_large-width":670,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-670x1024.png","large-width":670,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king.png","1536x1536-width":838,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king.png","2048x2048-width":838,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-786x1200.png","post_full_size-width":786,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-275x420.png","home_baner-width":275,"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":"Cutting The Deified King Down To Size\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The two sides of the Tyre\/Israel divide \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":74657,"alt":"","title":"ez28-king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king.png","width":838,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-196x300.png","medium-width":196,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-670x1024.png","medium_large-width":670,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-670x1024.png","large-width":670,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king.png","1536x1536-width":838,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king.png","2048x2048-width":838,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-786x1200.png","post_full_size-width":786,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez28-king-275x420.png","home_baner-width":275,"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":"28","chapter_main_number":"480","date":"20270701","wall_id":"480"},"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\/74455"}],"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=74455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}