Dear Friends,\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Our country is at an auspicious moment. It is wracked both by the biological pandemic of COVID-19, and the social plague of racism and injustice, and both need to be dealt with head-on: honestly, openly, with the willingness to work for the betterment of all. Without exaggeration, it seems that the magnitude of the issues, and their consequences are of biblical proportions.<\/p>\r\n
Which brings us to 929: biblical proportions and connections is us.<\/p>\r\n
In our rhythm of a chapter-a-day, we have just begun what are known as \"the Twelve\" (Trei-asar) latter prophets. We are in mid-Hosea, and will soon progress to Joel, Amos, Jonah, Micha and the rest. There is a wealth of material here that relates to matters of very contemporary import: working for social justice, ending oppression, protecting the powerless, fighting callousness and apathy, insights into the nature of the good society, and more.<\/p>\r\n
We are inviting you to share your thoughts on issues of the day in light of Biblical teaching. How are you inspired to act? What motivates your engagement with the challenges of our generation?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Where to begin? There's so much: there's Amos chapter 5 (a favorite of Dr. King's). And there's also Zechariah 7, Micah 6 (often quoted as the very essence of Jewish teaching), Malachi 3 and much, much more.<\/p>\r\n If you've contributed posts to 929: we encourage you to dip into this summer's material of these 12 short and inspiring books, and contribute again.\u00a0If you've never written for 929: contact our education director Shira Hecht-Koller at\u00a0shirahk@929.org.il<\/a>\u00a0or our editor Jeremy Benstein at\u00a0jeremy@929.org.il<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 and we'll help you get on board. It's not hard, and we are always looking for new voices and perspectives.<\/p>\r\n Be in touch today!<\/p>\r\n The English 929 Team<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76408,"alt":"","title":"Header - 929 people","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people.jpg","width":2500,"height":1429,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-300x171.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-768x439.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":439,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-1024x585.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":585,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":878,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1171,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-1200x686.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":686,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-735x420.jpg","home_baner-width":735,"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":"Reflect With Us. Write For Us. Connect With Us.","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"details inside...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76408,"alt":"","title":"Header - 929 people","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people.jpg","width":2500,"height":1429,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-300x171.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-768x439.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":439,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-1024x585.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":585,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":878,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1171,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-1200x686.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":686,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Header-929-people-735x420.jpg","home_baner-width":735,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"76356","color":"#effaea","size":"2","name":"Malaise Without Reason ","post_title":"Malaise Without Reason","slug":"malaise-without-reason","old_id":"76356","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":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"To forget the source of our unhappiness\u2026and our happiness\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" Never to be happy because we are in Galut (exile).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Never to enjoy a meal without feeling: this bread is unconsecrated!<\/span><\/p>\r\n Never to drink a cup of wine without ruing the fact that it cannot be poured out on the altar as a libation to God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Never to observe a holiday in its proper fashion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Never to celebrate a wedding or a birth without thinking: our children are doomed!<\/span><\/p>\r\n Never to feel God\u2019s closeness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Always to view ourselves as \u201cwanderers\u201d among the gentiles (the root word for \u201cwanderers\u201d here is the same as that used to describe Cain\u2019s curse back in Genesis).<\/span><\/p>\r\n That is how Hosea foresees the lot of the Jewish people in exile.<\/span><\/p>\r\n But is that an accurate depiction of American Jewry today?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Or has Hosea perhaps omitted the most terrible curse of all: to feel the malaise without understanding the reason for it?<\/span><\/p>\r\n To run to psychiatrists. To overeat. To abuse alcohol\u2026or one\u2019s spouse. To jump from woman to woman, bed to bed. To kiss the mezuzah a hundred times. To take one\u2019s family to an overpriced European hotel for Passover. To work and find no satisfaction in it. To learn the \u201cdaf\u201d every day\u2026and then to feel hollow inside afterwards. To participate in every \u201csocial justice\u201d cause\u2026except our own.<\/span><\/p>\r\n To forget the source of our unhappiness\u2026and our happiness.<\/span><\/p>\r\n To forget that we are exiles.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Grae Dickason \/ pixabay<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76357,"alt":"","title":"hos9-depressed","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed.jpg","width":1920,"height":1279,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1279,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-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":"Malaise Without Reason","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"To forget the source of our unhappiness\u2026and our happiness","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76357,"alt":"","title":"hos9-depressed","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed.jpg","width":1920,"height":1279,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1279,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-depressed-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"76348","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Grapes Of Wrath, Grapes Of Wonder ","post_title":"Grapes Of Wrath, Grapes Of Wonder","slug":"grapes-of-wrath-grapes-of-wonder","old_id":"76348","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). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. He has now returned to Jerusalem where he is continuing his research and teaching activities.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Marc Bregman is the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies emeritus, at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33878,"alt":"Marc Bregman","title":"Marc Bregman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","width":361,"height":488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-222x300.jpg","medium-width":222,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","medium_large-width":361,"medium_large-height":488,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","large-width":361,"large-height":488,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":361,"1536x1536-height":488,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":361,"2048x2048-height":488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman.jpg","post_full_size-width":361,"post_full_size-height":488,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Marc-Bregman-311x420.jpg","home_baner-width":311,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Grapes can be beautiful on the outside, but a whole other thing on the inside\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" In our chapter, Hosea details the punishment that shall befall Israel for repeatedly falling into apostasy. This prophecy contains a curious simile: \u201cI found Israel as grapes in the wilderness. Your fathers seemed to Me like the first fig to ripen on a fig tree\u201d (verse 10). This seems to be a positive note, in line with the characterization of grapevines, figs and fig trees elsewhere in Scripture (see Num. 13:23-24, Deut. 8:8 and I Kings 5:5).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n However, grapes also sometimes have a negative association (see Deut. 32:32). Indeed, Hosea\u2019s comparison of Israel to \u201cgrapes in the wilderness\u201d continues: \u201cBut when they came to Baal-Peor, they turned aside to shamefulness. Then they became as detested as they had been loved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Midrash Tanhuma Buber Lekh Lekhah 21 elaborates on Scripture\u2019s multivalent characterization of grapes. \u201cI found Israel as grapes in the wilderness.\u201d This verse describes Israel at Mount Sinai as resembling grapes. Just as grapes are attractive on the outside but unattractive on the inside, so was Israel when it stood at Mount Sinai. Though they responded: \u201cAll the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will obey\u201d (Exodus 24:7), this was spoken only with their mouth, but their heart was not steadfast. As David said: \u201cYet they deceived Him with their speech, lied to Him with their words....They were not true to His covenant\u201d (Psalms 78:36-37).<\/span><\/p>\r\n However, just as grapes provide both food and drink, so too in Israel there are both \u201cchildren of Torah\u201d (i.e. scholars) and \u201cchildren of action\u201d (i.e. those who keep the commandments without studying them). But, on the other hand, just as grapes contain seeds, so Israel included \u201criffraff (asafsuf) in their midst\u201d (Numbers 11:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n The verse from Hosea also plays a role in the Rabbis\u2019 approach to dreaming. According to Bavli Berakhot 56b, one who sees grapes in a dream should rise early and immediately recite the verse: \u201cI found Israel as grapes in the wilderness\u201d\u00a0 (understood as referring to God\u2019s love of Israel), lest another verse first comes to mind: \u201cThe grapes for them are poison\u201d (Deut. 32:32 \u2013 referring to Israel\u2019s transgressions). This statement is part of the extensive Talmudic discussion of how to deal with dreams (Bavli Berakhot 55a-57b), which includes a prayer to be said along with the Priestly Benediction: Lord of the World! I am Yours and my dreams are Yours\u2026if they are good dreams, confirm them and reinforce them [and may they be fulfilled]\u2026 This prayer, referred to as Tefillat Hatavat Chalom<\/em> (\u201cPrayer for Improving a Dream\u201d) remains a Jewish tradition to our time (see Mishnah Berurah 130 and <\/span>The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion<\/span><\/i>, pp. 207-208 s.v. \u201cDreams\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76349,"alt":"","title":"hos9-grapes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Grapes Of Wrath, Grapes Of Wonder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Grapes can be beautiful on the outside, but a whole other thing on the inside\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76349,"alt":"","title":"hos9-grapes","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":864,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1080,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-grapes-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"76352","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Paradigms of Deep Corruption ","post_title":"Paradigms of Deep Corruption","slug":"paradigms-of-deep-corruption","old_id":"76352","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":49926,"post_title":"Binyamin Cohen","slug":"binyamin-cohen","old_id":"49926","first_name":"Binyamin ","last_name":"Cohen ","description":"Binyamin Cohen is a Jewish Studies teacher at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in Deerfield, IL. He completed his Master\u2019s in Jewish Education through Pardes Day School Educators Program in conjunction with Hebrew College. He is originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and currently lives in Chicago.","short_description":"Binyamin Cohen is a Jewish Studies teacher at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in Deerfield, IL. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":49927,"alt":"","title":"binyamin cohen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen.jpg","width":800,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen-768x960.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":960,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/binyamin-cohen-336x420.jpg","home_baner-width":336,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The punishment? To be wanderers among the nations\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" The structure of Tanakh often plays a role in zeroing in on the main ideas a passage is trying to convey. This chapter\u2019s midmost verse, and its midmost word, hold special significance. The verse is verse 9, and the word is \u05d4\u05b6\u05e2\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05e7\u05d5\u05bc, <\/span>he\u2019emiku<\/span><\/em> \u201cthey have deeply\u201d. Throughout this chapter, the prophet describes the sinfulness and waywardness of Ephraim, and his eventual destruction. These two midpoints tell us why: \u201cThey have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will punish their sins.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n Firstly, they are corrupt. Secondly, this is not a new corruption; they have failed to learn from the past. Thirdly (and this is emphasized by this word being the midpoint), their corruption is deep; these are not some superficial mistakes or inadequacies, this is deep-seated rot. The Tanakh is not frequently lent to hyperbole or extraneous adverbs, so the use of <\/span>he\u2019emiku<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> \u201cdeeply\u201d, is even more notable.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The prophet also tells us the nature of this deep corruption: it is just like the corruption \u201cin the days of Gibeah\u201d. Rashi notes that this could mean two different things. It could mean the corruption exemplified by the story of the <\/span>pilegesh<\/span><\/em>, concubine, of Gibeah, which is told in Judges 19-21. Or it could mean the corruption exemplified by Gibeat Shaul, the home of Saul, and, in Rashi\u2019s understanding, a stand-in for the Israelites\u2019 demand for a king in I Samuel 8.<\/span><\/p>\r\n These two stories offer different paradigms of corruption, which the prophet is saying are both at play in Ephraim\u2019s demise. The story of the <\/span>pilegesh<\/span><\/em> of Gibeah is a violent, chaotic, story, full of rash decisions, disregard for human life, and immorality (if you don\u2019t know it, go read it; you won\u2019t be disappointed). The prophet is telling Ephraim that they have become deeply corrupt on an interpersonal, human-to-human level. They have, simply put, forgotten how to be human.<\/span><\/p>\r\n In I Samuel 8, the Israelites are on seemingly firm ground when they demand Samuel give them a king. But Samuel and God try to remind them of two things, to no avail: that there is only one true King; and that what they think a king is supposed to be, the kind of leader they want, is not really the kind of leader they need. They ask for a king to judge\/govern them, like all the nations. In doing so, they\u2019re both rejecting God\u2019s rule, and forgetting that they <\/span>aren\u2019t<\/span><\/i> like all the nations.<\/span><\/p>\r\n The prophet is telling Ephraim that their deep corruption is a corruption of what it means to be human, what it means to be God\u2019s treasured people, and what it means to be a unique people. Ephraim\u2019s own actions have led them to fade into the morass of history; \u201cthey shall be wanderers among the nations\u201d (v.17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n Image: Amnon Beker, Concubine of Gibeah, 2000, by courtesy of the artist.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76354,"alt":"","title":"hos9-becker - pilegesh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","width":1024,"height":846,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-300x248.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":248,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-768x635.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-1024x846.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":846,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":846,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":846,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":846,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-508x420.jpg","home_baner-width":508,"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":"Paradigms of Deep Corruption","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The punishment? To be wanderers among the nations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76354,"alt":"","title":"hos9-becker - pilegesh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","width":1024,"height":846,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-300x248.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":248,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-768x635.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":635,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-1024x846.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":846,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":846,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":846,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":846,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-becker-pilegesh-508x420.jpg","home_baner-width":508,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"76432","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"1","name":"Hosea, The Party Pooper","post_title":"Hosea, The Party Pooper","slug":"hosea-the-party-pooper","old_id":"76432","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":73524,"post_title":"Yaakov Beasley","slug":"yaakov-beasley","old_id":"73524","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Beasley ","description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, the host of the TanachTalks podcast, and the author of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah: Lights in the Valley (Maggid Press, 2020). ","short_description":"Yaakov Beasley is the Tanakh Coordinator at Yeshivat Hesder Lev haTorah, podcast host and author. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":73525,"alt":"","title":"yaakov beasley","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","width":409,"height":484,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-254x300.jpg","medium-width":254,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","medium_large-width":409,"medium_large-height":484,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","large-width":409,"large-height":484,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","1536x1536-width":409,"1536x1536-height":484,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","2048x2048-width":409,"2048x2048-height":484,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley.jpg","post_full_size-width":409,"post_full_size-height":484,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/yaakov-beasley-355x420.jpg","home_baner-width":355,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"For the people rejoice in the gifts, even as they spurn the Giver\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" If any chapter in Hosea exemplifies the difficult life a prophet led, chapter 9 is definitely it. Hosea begins his direct rebuke of the people as follows: \"Rejoice not, O Israel, on joyous occasions, like the peoples, for you have strayed from your God: you love a harlot's hire on all threshing floors of corn,\u201d and continues to predict that \"The threshing floor and the wine cellar shall not feed them, and fresh wine shall fail her \u2026 They shall not pour libations of wine to the Lord, they will not please Him; their sacrifices are like bread of mourners to them.\" From the context of his words, we are able to recreate when and where the prophet spoke, details not often available to the reader.<\/span><\/p>\r\n From the chapter's beginning, we get the sense that Hosea is speaking at a celebration, specifically the festival of the harvest (Sukkot) in the fall. The purpose of the holiday is to express appreciation both for the gifts of the earth and for the continued care God extended to his people from the moment that they left Egypt. However, from Hosea's words, it is clear that the focus of the celebration has shifted from the Giver to the gifts. The emphasis is on the threshing floors filled with grain, the vats filled with wine. Therefore, promises Hosea, the land will no longer produce its bounty, and ultimately, the people will be separated from the land, unable to offer what they consider to be sacrifices in Egypt and Assyria while thistles and briars grow where the celebrations once occurred.<\/span><\/p>\r\n However, Hosea cleverly allows the people to voice their reaction to his words (verse 7), and it is harsh. To them, he is no more than a party crasher, uninvited and unwanted. They accuse him of being foolish; they imply that they are the wise ones. More importantly, they declare unequivocally that he is insane. Clearly the bounty that they enjoy reflects God's favor!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n But Hosea perseveres. He understands why their reaction is so hostile\u2013 for great is their iniquity. Clearly he has managed to touch a nerve, to awake some hidden feeling of conscience and guilt behind their fa\u00e7ade. However, rather than acknowledge the truth of his message, they prefer to vent their anger and ridicule on the messenger. Somehow, they will silence him and marginalize him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Hosea concludes this section by returning to one of his favorite metaphors \u2013 the prophet is a watchman, looking to the future to warn the people of impending dangers. However, states Hosea, he must not only look outwards, but around him as well, for the people have laid traps wherever he steps.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76433,"alt":"","title":"hos9-gift","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Hosea, The Party Pooper","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"For the people rejoice in the gifts, even as they spurn the Giver","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76433,"alt":"","title":"hos9-gift","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-1024x1024.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-1200x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos9-gift-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"76345","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"2","name":"Are You Meshuga? ","post_title":"Are You Meshuga?","slug":"are-you-meshuga","old_id":"76345","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":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":" According to v. 7 in our chapter, among the things for which Israel will be held to account is the disdain in which they held their prophets: \u201cThe days of punishment have come for your heavy guilt; the days of requital have come\u2014 let Israel know it! The prophet was distraught, the inspired man driven mad (<\/span>meshuga<\/span><\/em>) by constant harassment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n The word <\/span>meshuga<\/span><\/em> has become so much a part of contemporary English that it has even earned an entry in that paragon of lexicography, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), where it is defined as \u201cE<\/span>sp. in Jewish usage: mad, crazy; stupid.\u201d<\/span> In Tanakh, it appears 7 times; with only 3, including our verse, pertaining to prophecy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n Was madness a prerequisite to be a prophet?<\/span><\/p>\r\n Let us first look at the other two verses.<\/span><\/p>\r\n Arguably, acceding to a divine imperative to call out others on their faults and inform them of the harmful consequences of their misdeeds requires a disregard for personal safety and disdain for one\u2019s own reputation that verge on the irrational. Who but a \u201cmadman\u201d would place himself in jeopardy by telling truth to power?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Are You Meshuga?","tile_main_caption":"Acceding to a divine imperative to call out others requires a disregard for personal safety that verges on the irrational. Who but a \u201cmadman\u201d would tell truth to power?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","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,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"76339","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"He Was A Shade-Giving Tree ","post_title":"He Was A Shade-Giving Tree","slug":"he-was-a-shade-giving-tree","old_id":"76339","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"509","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But now he causes his own sons to be slain\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":" 9:13 \u201c\u2018Ephraim as I saw him--a palm frond planted in a meadow. But Ephraim brings out his sons to the slayer.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n The Hebrew <\/span>tsor<\/span><\/em> seems to refer to \u201cTyre,\u201d the Phoenician city, but both a talmudic source and many modern scholars link it to a term that means \u201cpalm frond,\u201d which makes far better sense as something planted in a meadow. Ephraim was seen by God as a luxuriant plant, but his own actions led to the killing of his sons (or \u201cchildren\u201d) by invaders.<\/span><\/p>\r\n From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"He Was A Shade-Giving Tree","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But now he causes his own sons to be slain","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"Hosea","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"509","date":"20270811","wall_id":"509"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"76341","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - 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\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t\r\n\t