{"id":75116,"date":"2018-07-09T17:47:53","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1098\/"},"modified":"2023-12-22T15:30:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T13:30:32","slug":"wall-1098","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1098\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20231217-to-20231223"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1098","date_from":"20231217","date_to":"20231223","book":"Ezekiel","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"75082","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"The End of Kingship","post_title":"The End of Kingship","slug":"the-end-of-kingship","old_id":"75082","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). She received her PhD from Bar-Ilan\u2019s Department of Bible Studies, and teaches at the Institute for Advanced Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan University. 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":"486","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The monarchy failed - for good\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel records a harsh prophecy directed against the kings of Israel, the nation\u2019s leaders, whom he compares to shepherds who do not tend to their flocks. In the future, the leadership will be taken from these shepherds who failed in the past to properly lead the nation. God Himself will gather up the flock, rehabilitate it and hand it over to a different shepherd who will fulfill his role faithfully.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The new shepherd will be a descendant of David.\u00a0 However, the present model of leadership will come to an end. It will not be a mere technical replacement of personnel, but rather a fundamental change in the essence of the role. Therefore in speaking of David\u2019s future status he is not referred to as \u201cking\u201d but as a \u201cNasi\u201d \u2013 prince.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since the institution of kingship has failed, an alternative form of leadership must replace it. One of the roles of the king of Israel is to bring about a situation that will facilitate the Divine Presence coming to rest amongst the nation. The kings of Israel, as depicted in the book of Ezekiel, brought about the opposite situation: defilement and the distancing of the Divine Presence. Now it is too late; there is no repair for the corrupt kingship, and therefore it is replaced by the station of the \u201cNasi.\u201d<\/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":75083,"alt":"","title":"ez34-checkmate king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king.jpg","width":1920,"height":1208,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-300x189.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":189,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-768x483.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":483,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-1024x644.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":644,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":966,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1208,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-1200x755.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":755,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-668x420.jpg","home_baner-width":668,"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 End of Kingship","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The monarchy failed - for good","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75083,"alt":"","title":"ez34-checkmate king","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king.jpg","width":1920,"height":1208,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-300x189.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":189,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-768x483.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":483,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-1024x644.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":644,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":966,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1208,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-1200x755.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":755,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez34-checkmate-king-668x420.jpg","home_baner-width":668,"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":"34","chapter_main_number":"486","date":"20270711","wall_id":"486"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"119198","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Chapter Best Unread?","post_title":"A Chapter Best Unread?","slug":"a-chapter-best-unread","old_id":"119198","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":59587,"post_title":"Benjamin Morse","slug":"benjamin-morse","old_id":"59587","first_name":"Benjamin ","last_name":"Morse ","description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history at Vassar, Oxford, and the Courtauld before completing a PhD in biblical interpretation. His dissertation reads the Hebrew Bible\u2019s \u201cmodern methods\u201d through the lens of painting and collage. His illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever, has won multiple awards.\r\nPhoto by Lenka Opalena.","short_description":"Dr. Benjamin Morse studied religion and art history, and is the author and illustrator of the illustrated children\u2019s Torah, The Oldest Bedtime Story Ever. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":59588,"alt":"","title":"Benjamin Morse by Lenka Opalena","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","width":1069,"height":1576,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-203x300.jpg","medium-width":203,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":695,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-695x1024.jpg","large-width":695,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","1536x1536-width":1042,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena.jpg","2048x2048-width":1069,"2048x2048-height":1576,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-814x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":814,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Benjamin-Morse-by-Lenka-Opalena-285x420.jpg","home_baner-width":285,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"487","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"When ancient prophecy meets modern war\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

I must be nuts to take on Ezekiel\u2019s instructions to Mount Seir (Edom). As the IDF continue to hunt down Hamas, accusations of genocide fire at them from all corners of the world. It can be a losing battle informing friends that some of their terminology is straight out of the Soviet propaganda manual. \u201cHow ironic. Israel is <\/span>literally<\/span><\/em> the number one disseminator of propaganda,\u201d they reply. They\u2019re never going to read Jake Wallis Simon\u2019s <\/span>Israelophobia<\/em> <\/span>(2023) or hear a word against the UN, so I can only do so much when they break the What\u2019s App ceasefires I request. But I will try my best to do Ezekiel 35 some justice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In retaliation for handing Israel over to the Babylonian sword (5), the LORD is going to render the Edomites null and void (3). For their bloodthirsty and ancient hatred, blood shall pursue them (6). Their bodies will fill the valleys and watercourses (8). Their towns will lay empty, forever uninhabited (9). All because Edom wanted to possess \u201cthe two nations and the two lands\u201d (11) and \u201crejoiced when the heritage of the House of Israel was laid waste\u201d (15). Which rings a bell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Academic Israel-haters are fragile, ever threatened by cognitive dissonance. Hovering between posturing and the indignance of the oldest hatred, they self-proclaim as \u201canti-zionist\u201d, not that other word. They might generously concur that the Jewish State has a right to exist but simultaneously clamor, \u201cThey should give them all their land back.\u201d Even those who, in a pinch, admit rape is bad, regret to inform you that the oppressors had it coming. It is Israel\u2019s response to October 7th that has decimated the two-state solution which past and present Palestinian leadership have apparently worked tirelessly to negotiate. So naturally if Hamas promises to repeat their \u201ccounter-offensives\u201d, they\u2019re just expressing their \u2018nuanced subjectivities.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel articulates an equal retribution that the decolonizer will fear justifies an eye for an eye. That same activist calls terrorism \u201cresistance\u201d and employs other Orwellian vocabulary that the Palestinian Authority\u2019s Ministry of Information published to replace<\/span> \"the Israeli and American dissemination of poisoned terms.\"<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cI will act with the same anger and passion that you acted with in your hatred of them,\u201d says the LORD (11). This indeed envisions categorical annihilation. Call me a sucker for listening to what Israel\u2019s spokesmen tell the global media. Call me brainwashed for believing it is going out of its way to minimize civilian casualties by attempting evacuation strategies. But no matter how tragic the loss of life in Gaza is, Israel\u2019s retaliation does not follow these exilic extremes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The current campaign by air and ground creates a shocking level of desolation. While the graduate class opines over moral relativism, disciplined men and women attempt to eliminate an enemy that glorifies in the deaths of its own women and children. The only rule it plays by is manipulation. And when they\u2014by whom I mean the Hamas militants and leaders\u2014are destroyed, the whole world may truly rejoice (14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Courtesy of the author<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":119199,"alt":"","title":"-657f128cab3e8--657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg.jpeg","width":933,"height":672,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg-300x216.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":216,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg-768x553.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":553,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg.jpeg","large-width":933,"large-height":672,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg.jpeg","1536x1536-width":933,"1536x1536-height":672,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg.jpeg","2048x2048-width":933,"2048x2048-height":672,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg.jpeg","post_full_size-width":933,"post_full_size-height":672,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2023\/12\/657f128cab3e8-657f128cab3e9Ez35-BMorse.jpeg-583x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":583,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A 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Abhor The Edomites","post_title":"Don\u2019t Abhor The Edomites","slug":"dont-abhor-the-edomites","old_id":"75129","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64460,"post_title":"Vincent Calabrese","slug":"vincent-calabrese","old_id":"64460","first_name":"Vincent ","last_name":"Calabrese ","description":"Vincent Calabrese is a doctoral student in Jewish thought at the University of Toronto and a rabbinical student at the Hadar Institute","short_description":"Vincent Calabrese is a doctoral student in Jewish thought at the University of Toronto and a rabbinical student at the Hadar Institute","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64461,"alt":"","title":"vincent calabrese","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","width":2117,"height":2504,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-768x908.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":908,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-866x1024.jpg","large-width":866,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","1536x1536-width":1299,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese.jpg","2048x2048-width":1731,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-1015x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1015,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/vincent-calabrese-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"487","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"On the importance of not holding onto old hatreds\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The animosity between the brothers Jacob and Esau has a long afterlife in Jewish literature. Esau is understood to be the progenitor of the nation of Edom, with which the Israelites were often in conflict. In Rabbinic thought, Edom becomes conflated with the leviathan of the Roman Empire; then, because of the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of Rome, in medieval Jewish thought Edom became the symbol of Jewish oppression by Christians. At least some of the bitterness here was due to the sense of familial estrangement: Christianity and Judaism sharing roots, as did Jacob and Esau, but differing bitterly over who is the rightful heir.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the 35th chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet turns to castigate the Edomites for their cruel opportunism in the downfall of the Israelites. Edom \u201charbored an ancient hatred and handed the people of Israel over to the sword in their time of calamity,\u201d during the Babylonian invasion (35:5). This act of betrayal is remembered in other Biblical texts as well, such as the psalm which contains the anguished petition that God \u201cRemember\u2026against the Edomites the day of Jerusalem\u2019s fall; how they cried, \u201cStrip her, strip her to her very foundations!\u201d (Psalms 137:7) Moments like this, coupled with the aforementioned tendency to conflate Edom with later enemies of the Jewish people, fed a reluctance to give up this rivalry even though the Edomites as a people have long since vanished from history.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In light of this seeming inability to forget the past, it is worth attending to a moment in Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy against Edom. The Edomites are condemned because they \u201c<\/span>harbored an ancient hatred<\/span><\/i> and handed the people of Israel over to the sword\u201d (35:5). It was this careful cultivation of a grudge\u00a0 which led the Edomites to the cruelty they displayed during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. Such grudge-keeping is ultimately deleterious, corroding the character of the one who refuses to forget, if not to forgive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is worth noting that the Torah itself actually forbids holding grudges against those whom we might be most disposed to do so: \u201cYou shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land\u201d (Deuteronomy 23:8). Other grievances (such as those with the Amonites, Moabites, and with Amalek) are treated more unforgivingly, leading to places in the tradition which evince discomfort: finding a way to accept the Moabite Ruth as the ancestor of King David, for example, or transforming the mitzvah to wipe out Amalek into a call to purge ourselves of the cruel opportunism of which Amalek is made a mere symbol. Taken together, these moments constitute a powerful testimony to the importance of <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> holding on to and nurturing our ancient hatreds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75130,"alt":"","title":"ez35-reconciliation","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation.jpg","width":1920,"height":1439,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-1024x767.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":767,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1151,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1439,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-1200x899.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":899,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-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":"Don\u2019t Abhor The Edomites","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"On the importance of not holding onto old hatreds","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75130,"alt":"","title":"ez35-reconciliation","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation.jpg","width":1920,"height":1439,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-1024x767.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":767,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1151,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1439,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-1200x899.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":899,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez35-reconciliation-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":"35","chapter_main_number":"487","date":"20270712","wall_id":"487"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"75190","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Raining Blessings","post_title":"Raining Blessings","slug":"raining-blessings","old_id":"75190","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":74351,"post_title":"Noam Goldberg-Kellman","slug":"noam-goldberg-kellman-2","old_id":"74351","first_name":"Noam ","last_name":"Goldberg-Kellman ","description":"Noam Goldberg-Kellman is a senior at SAR High School and a recipient of Maharat\u2019s Emerging Scholars Award. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":74352,"alt":"","title":"noam goldberg kellman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman.jpeg","width":602,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman-300x300.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman.jpeg","medium_large-width":602,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman.jpeg","large-width":602,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman.jpeg","1536x1536-width":602,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman.jpeg","2048x2048-width":602,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman.jpeg","post_full_size-width":602,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/noam-goldberg-kellman-422x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":422,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"488","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The land as divine partner, and human reward\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel 36 is God\u2019s promise to restore the Land of Israel in preparation for the People of Israel\u2019s return. God vows to protect the land-- \u201dI will care for you, I will turn to you\u201d (36:9) and apologizes for allowing her to \u201cbecome a prey and a laughingstock to the other nations round about\u201d (36:4). The Book of Ezekiel is no stranger to God\u2019s relationship with a personified Israel, but God\u2019s love poem to the land in Chapter 36 feels very different from His condemnation of the personified Jerusalem a few chapters earlier. In Chapters 16 and 23, God accuses Jerusalem of whoring with other nations and disavows her out of disgust and anger. Why is God now, only a few chapters later, eager to protect and restore the land He turned his back on?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though they are both places in a relationship with God, there is a difference between the Jerusalem of Chapters 16 and 23 and the Land of Israel. While Jerusalem represents Israel, the unfaithful wife, in the metaphor of marriage between God and the people, the Land of Israel is not a literary device. The land is actually God\u2019s partner.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There has always been a unique dialectic between God and the Land of Israel. Since Genesis, drought and famine in the Land of Israel have altered our ancestors\u2019 stories. And in Leviticus, the first reward listed in the Blessings and Curses is: \u201cIf you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit\u201d (Lev 26:3-4). Throughout the Books of the Prophets, God constantly threatens and punishes the people with a lack of rain, and people are always praying to God and repenting their sins in an effort to achieve rain. The obsession with rain in Ancient Israel is not surprising given the cultural and economic centrality of agriculture and Israel\u2019s lack of a sufficient body of water. And Israel\u2019s apparent geographical deficiency is \u2018intentional.\u2019 It forces the Israelites to rely on God for rain, thus for their lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Land of Israel has always been a tool through which the Israelites connect to God and repent for their sins. In Chapter 36, God is still angry at the people of Israel. They have not yet repented or realized the severity of their sins. But even though God has not yet forgiven the people, He understands that they need the land in order to repent. God restores the Land of Israel before the people deserve it, and trusts that they will achieve full redemption after they return.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":50275,"alt":"","title":"dt11-rain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain.jpg","width":1920,"height":1285,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain-768x514.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":514,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain-1024x685.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":685,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1028,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1285,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain-1200x803.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":803,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/dt11-rain-628x420.jpg","home_baner-width":628,"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":"Raining 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would Eleanor do?","post_main_content_content":"

In NBC\u2019s philosophical comedy \u201cThe Good Place\u201d Eleanor Shellstrop, played by Kristen Bell, finds herself recently dead and in \u201cThe Good Place\u201d, only to quickly realize there has been a mistake. Eleanor was not a very good person when she was alive, and she doesn\u2019t belong in \"The Good Place\" at all. Eleanor tries to pretend she fits in with the other remarkable people in the \u201cneighborhood\u201d, but quickly changes tack and tries to convince another character to give her \u201cgood person lessons\u201d. While viewers enjoy the comedic value of Eleanor\u2019s studies in ethics and moral philosophy, they\u2019re also forced to confront a fundamental ethical conundrum: If we do the right thing, but we do it for the wrong reasons, is it still \u201cgood\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter of Ezekiel poses the same question\u2026 about us and God. Once again, we read in this chapter a promise from God to replace our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. <\/span>In chapter 11, I wrote about this switch <\/span><\/a>as evidence of a brave and vulnerable move towards living a fulfilling life. But in this chapter, the same seemingly compassionate act is not a show of God\u2019s love or a move towards a more whole-hearted human existence, but is really in God\u2019s self-serving interest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter contains all the prophecies of salvation and restoration that a destroyed people could want: we will be back on our land, the land will be prosperous, and we will be returned to our former glory. But lest we think we deserve any of this, God claims that our \u201credemption\u201d is really just a way for God to save face. We may feel like we are living free on our land, but only in service of God. Even our new hearts of flesh will not be for our own benefit, but in service of God, \u201cthat I [God] will cause you to follow my laws and faithfully observe my rules\u201d. We get back everything we lost and more, but at the cost of our free will.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though God does not present this restoration as a choice to the Israelite people, we modern readers have the chance to consider: would we rather have a sort of redemption but know we don\u2019t deserve it? Or would we reject this \u201cfake\u201d redemption if it comes with ethical strings attached? And, perhaps ironically, if we choose option B, do we actually deserve the redemption more than if we had taken it in option A?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Official poster for the first season of \"The Good Place\" \/ wikipedia (fair use)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75188,"alt":"","title":"ez36-good place","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","width":247,"height":264,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","medium-width":247,"medium-height":264,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","medium_large-width":247,"medium_large-height":264,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","large-width":247,"large-height":264,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","1536x1536-width":247,"1536x1536-height":264,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","2048x2048-width":247,"2048x2048-height":264,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","post_full_size-width":247,"post_full_size-height":264,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","home_baner-width":247,"home_baner-height":264}},"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":"Doing The Right Thing For The Wrong Reasons\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"What would Eleanor do?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75188,"alt":"","title":"ez36-good place","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","width":247,"height":264,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","medium-width":247,"medium-height":264,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","medium_large-width":247,"medium_large-height":264,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","large-width":247,"large-height":264,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","1536x1536-width":247,"1536x1536-height":264,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","2048x2048-width":247,"2048x2048-height":264,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","post_full_size-width":247,"post_full_size-height":264,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez36-good-place.jpg","home_baner-width":247,"home_baner-height":264}},"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":"36","chapter_main_number":"488","date":"20270713","wall_id":"488"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"75231","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Our Hope Is (Not Yet) Lost","post_title":"Our Hope Is (Not Yet) Lost","slug":"our-hope-is-not-yet-lost","old_id":"75231","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":"489","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A tribute to an anthem (Hatikvah) and a scholar (Moshe Greenberg)\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel\u2019s description of the dry bones may be one of the best-known individual biblical prophecies. It is beloved of Christians (\u201cDem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones, all in the Valley of the Lord\u201d) and Muslims (Qur\u2019an 2:259: \u201c<\/span>Look at the bones, how We set them together, then clothed them with flesh\u201d), too.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Of all the Jewish associations with the dry bones (including Yaakov Kirschen\u2019s comic strip), one predominates. Between 1882-1887, an early modern Hebrew poet named Naphtali Herz Imber (1856-1909) lived in Palestine. There, in Jerusalem, he published his first book of poems, <\/span>Barkay<\/span><\/em> (Morning Star), including one called <\/span>Tikvateinu<\/span><\/em> (Our Hope). Put to a popular Central European folk tune (akin to Smetana\u2019s \u201cMoldau\u201d), it was sung at the 6<\/span>th<\/span> Zionist Congress in 1903. In 1905, in Rishon Letziyon, the last two lines were changed from <\/span>lashuv le\u2019eretz avoteinu<\/span><\/em> (to return to the land of our ancestors) to <\/span>lihiyot `am chofshi be\u2019artzeinu<\/span><\/em> (to be a free nation in our land). It became the default anthem of the State of Israel, but its official status was not conferred by the Knesset until 2004.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The title, \u201cHatikvah\u201d (The Hope), derives from v. 11 of our chapter: \u201cAnd He said to me, O mortal, these bones are the whole House of Israel. They say, our bones are dried up, our hope is gone (<\/span>avda tikvateinu<\/span><\/em>) ; we are doomed.\u201d Building on the restorative nature of the continuation of the prophecy, Imber infused new life and spirit into Ezekiel\u2019s vision, and his poem confidently declares, <\/span>`od lo \u2018avdah tikvateinu<\/span><\/em>: our hope is not yet lost.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 37 was the last chapter that Moshe Greenberg prepared in his monumental commentary. There are printed editions of Rashi\u2019s commentary on Job, where in chapter 40 it says: \u201cHeretofore was Rashi\u2019s opus; henceforth, is not Rashi\u2019s language.\u201d This is attributed to Rashi\u2019s death at this point in his exegetical labors; the commentary on the balance of Job is attributed to later exegetes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ezekiel 37 might well bear a like notation attesting to the conclusion of Greenberg\u2019s commentary (chapters 38-48 in the Anchor series were edited by Stephen L. Cook). <\/span>As I wrote in the introduction to my comments on Ezekiel<\/span><\/a>, I had the good fortune not only to study with Moshe Greenberg, but to have been part of a class that served him as a laboratory while he was conducting his research and writing. He was widely recognized for his knowledge of the ancient Near East, coupled with erudition in classic Jewish rabbinic texts, and was almost single handedly responsible for securing academic recognition at the Hebrew University for medieval biblical exegesis (<\/span>parshanut<\/span><\/em>) as a scholarly discipline. May his memory be for a blessing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Tikvateinu <\/em>- the original hand-written manuscript of the first verse and chorus of Hatikva (Israel\u2019s national anthem), in the handwriting of the author Naftali Herz Imber, and with his signature, 1907\/8 \/ Hebrew wikipedia (National Library of Israel)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75232,"alt":"","title":"ez37-hatikva","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","width":630,"height":465,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva-300x221.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":221,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":465,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":465,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":465,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":465,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":465,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva-569x420.jpg","home_baner-width":569,"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":"Our Hope Is (Not Yet) Lost","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A tribute to an anthem (Hatikvah) and a scholar (Moshe Greenberg)\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75232,"alt":"","title":"ez37-hatikva","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","width":630,"height":465,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva-300x221.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":221,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","medium_large-width":630,"medium_large-height":465,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","large-width":630,"large-height":465,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","1536x1536-width":630,"1536x1536-height":465,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","2048x2048-width":630,"2048x2048-height":465,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva.jpg","post_full_size-width":630,"post_full_size-height":465,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-hatikva-569x420.jpg","home_baner-width":569,"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":"37","chapter_main_number":"489","date":"20270714","wall_id":"489"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"75241","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Unfinished Business","post_title":"Unfinished Business","slug":"unfinished-business-2","old_id":"75241","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":72765,"post_title":"George Daniel Frankel","slug":"george-daniel-frankel","old_id":"72765","first_name":"George Daniel","last_name":"Frankel","description":"Danny Frankel lives in New York City. He is the author of \u201cDan Shall Judge His People: 5 Essays on Torah im Derech Eretz and the Breuer Community Today.\u201d\r\n","short_description":"Danny Frankel lives in New York City. He is the author of \u201cDan Shall Judge His People: 5 Essays on Torah im Derech Eretz and the Breuer Community Today.\u201d\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":72766,"alt":"","title":"danny frankel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel.jpg","width":1822,"height":2743,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-680x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":680,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-680x1024.jpg","large-width":680,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1360,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-797x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":797,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/danny-frankel-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"489","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Reviving the dry bones and restoring them to their land was the easy part\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Ezekiel\u2019s magnificent prophecy of the \u201cdry bones\u201d and their return to Israel concludes: \u201c\u2026and I will place you in your own land; and you shall know that I the Lord have spoken, and performed it, says the Lord.\u201d (37:14)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Comments Rabbi Dr. S. Fisch in the Soncino Tanach: \u201cWhen the miracle of Israel\u2019s national revival is performed, the people\u2019s faith in God will be firmly established\u2026Israel\u2019s restoration could not be achieved by human power, but only by the spirit of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Flash forward to May 14, 1948. The remnant of the Jewish people - those who survived the inquisitions and the pogroms and, having been given up for dead, the Holocaust - have been restored to their homeland. Now they stand on the brink of statehood.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ben-Gurion presides over a council meeting in Tel Aviv that is drafting the text of the new state\u2019s Declaration of Independence. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon, leader of the Mizrachi party, insists that the God of Israel be mentioned in the document. Aharon Zisling, a founder of the Labor party, protests: \u201cI cannot possibly sign a document which refers to a God whom I do not believe in at all!\u201d Rabbi Maimon proposes that the concluding sentence begin \u201cPlacing our trust in the Rock of Israel and its Redeemer.\u201d His opponents counter that \u201cRedeemer\u201d can only refer to God. Ben-Gurion referees a compromise: Drop \u201cRedeemer\u201d and keep \u201cRock of Israel\u201d which each side can interpret as they will. Because it is late on Friday afternoon, erev Shabbat<\/em>, Rabbi Maimon agrees.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Natan Alterman\u2019s famous poem \u201cThe Silver Platter\u201d, written late in 1947, the people are depicted, \u201cheartbroken but breathing\u201d, standing in anticipation of a \u201cunique miracle.\u201d Were they expecting another Mount Sinai, another gift from on high? Perhaps they were conditioned in this hope by our text here in Ezekiel, and by others like it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But there was no miracle, no gift from on high. The \u201csilver platter\u201d upon which was served Israel\u2019s victory in the upcoming War of Independence\u2014and all of Israel\u2019s subsequent wars\u2014was Israel\u2019s own soldiers, its precious youth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Who performed the major work of redemption in these battles: God? Or the battle-weary soldiers in Alterman\u2019s poem, the young boy and the young girl who \u201cfall in shadow\u201d at the people\u2019s feet?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One wonders: what if God really had presented us with the land of Israel on a \u201csilver platter\u201d? Would that have been sufficient to restore the \u201cGaon Yaakov<\/em>\u201d, the Jewish national pride that had been shattered in the Holocaust?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The State of Israel has enjoyed hardly a full day of peace since its inception and currently \u201cenjoys\u201d the opprobrium of much of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It turns out that reviving the dry bones and restoring them to their land was the easy part. Restoring the reputation of a tarnished and tardy God\u2014and persuading an often unconvinced Diaspora\u2014remain to be accomplished.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Vision of the Dry Bones - The Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem (detail), Benno Elkan, artist \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75242,"alt":"","title":"ez37-menorah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","width":639,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-300x281.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","medium_large-width":639,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","large-width":639,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","1536x1536-width":639,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","2048x2048-width":639,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","post_full_size-width":639,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-448x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":448,"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":"Unfinished Business","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Reviving the dry bones and restoring them to their land was the easy part","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75242,"alt":"","title":"ez37-menorah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","width":639,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-300x281.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","medium_large-width":639,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","large-width":639,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","1536x1536-width":639,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","2048x2048-width":639,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah.jpeg","post_full_size-width":639,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ez37-menorah-448x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":448,"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":"37","chapter_main_number":"489","date":"20270714","wall_id":"489"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"75247","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"A Vision Of Hope","post_title":"A Vision Of Hope","slug":"a-vision-of-hope","old_id":"75247","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64462,"post_title":"Analia Bortz","slug":"analia-bortz","old_id":"64462","first_name":"Analia ","last_name":"Bortz ","description":"Rabbi Dr. Analia Bortz is a medical doctor with postdoctoral studies in Bioethics. 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How are we to understand the narrative in Ezekiel 37? Which \u201cdry bones\u201d are those ascending back to Jerusalem?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHe led me all around them; there were very many of them spread over the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, \u201cO mortal, can these bones live again?\u201d I replied, \u201cO Lord GOD, only You know.\u201d And He said to me, \u201cProphesy over these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus, said the Lord GOD to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you and you shall live again. I will lay sinews upon you, and cover you with flesh, and form skin over you. And I will put breath into you, and you shall live again. And you shall know that I am the LORD!\u201d I prophesied as I had been commanded. And while I was prophesying, suddenly there was a sound of rattling, and the bones came together, bone to matching bone\u201d (Ezek. 37:2-7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Babylonian Talmud (b. Sanhedrin 92b) records a debate about the vision\u2019s meaning: \u201cRabbi Eliezer says: \u2018The dead whom Ezekiel resurrected stood on their legs, sang a song [of praise], and died.\u2019 Rabbi Judah says: \u2018In truth, it is a parable.\u2019 Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Yossi the Galilean says: \u2018The dead whom Ezekiel resurrected moved to Israel, got married, and had sons and daughters.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The vision of Dry Bones is shown to the Prophet Ezekiel as an answer to his question about the future restitution of life to those who follow God\u2019s commandments. The righteous will prevail, transforming the metaphor of national resurrection into a vision about individual resurrection as the recompense reserved for the righteous for their piety during their earthly life. The Prophet hints that the sum of each moral individual\u2019s acts will bring redemption, and so everyone should work towards that goal which will shower the collective with blessings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The notion of resurrection grew in popularity among the Rabbinic sources of the Second Temple period, and Ezekiel\u2019s vision was seen as a message of comfort and solace. The Rabbis introduced this concept in the second blessing of the Amidah, and brought hope to the people of Israel especially in times of despair.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: The Vision of Ezekiel, by Leonhard Kern, Schwabisch Hall, c. 1640-1650, alabaster - Bode-Museum \/ 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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":"490","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Actually, Gog the Magogite\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

At the start of our chapter, God instructed Ezekiel: \u201cSet thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him\u201d (2). As noted by the medieval exegetes, Gog is a proper noun, the name of a ruler, and Magog is a place name, his kingdom. Accordingly, the proper reference would be \u201cGog <\/span>of<\/span><\/em> Magog\u201d; however, common parlance is \u201cGog <\/span>and<\/span><\/em> Magog\u201d (as in the oft-cited rabbinic idiom: \u201cThe war of Gog and Magog\u201d). The English language went one step further, creating the combined form \u201cGogmagog,\u201d which the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines as \u201ca giant, a man of immense stature and strength.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Gen. 10:2 identifies Magog, Meshech, and Tubal as children of Noah\u2019s youngest son, Japheth, (who was also the ancestor of Javan or Greece and Maday or Medea). While Magog is new to these prophecies, Meshech and Tubal have already featured prominently in them. 27:13, part of a prophecy to Tyre, listed: \u201cJavan, Tubal, and Meshech\u2014they were your merchants; they trafficked with you in human beings and copper utensils,\u201d and 32:26, depicting Pharaoh\u2019s descent to Sheol (the Netherworld), mentions Meshech and Tubal as his companions there.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A close reading of 38:2, however, reveals an anomaly that is not reflected in the translation: literally, the Hebrew text refers to \u201cGog of the land of <\/span>the<\/span><\/em> Magog\u201d (<\/span>ha-Magog<\/span><\/em>). Ordinarily, proper nouns do not take the definite article (the Moses? the Ezekiel?); therefore, explained Eliezer of Beaugency, \u201cthe <\/span>heh<\/span><\/em> necessitates explaining it as Magogite, similar to Canaanite (<\/span>ha-Kena`ani<\/span><\/em>) or Amorite (<\/span>ha-Emori<\/span><\/em>), because we never find [the absolute form] <\/span>ha-Kena`an<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Image: Gogmagog. This and Corineus were a pair of figures displayed at Guildhall, London, carved by Captain Richard Saunders in 1709 \/ 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