in the United States, noting that the share of wealth belonging to the top 20% of earners has continued to grow. The gap is widening between the middle class and the upper echelons of society, with the US having higher income inequality than any other G7 country.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAs we start the book of Amos today, it\u2019s worth noting that we live in a time that parallels his in certain crucial ways. Academics situate Amos\u2019 prophecies in a time of economic prosperity: In the first half of the 8<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE, during the time of kings Joash and Jeroboam, the northern kingdom is no longer oppressed of Aram and not yet threatened by Assyria. Political calm brings prosperity, and with it the subjugation of the poor that is a central theme of the book.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe text describes Amos as \u201cwho was of the <\/span>Nokdim<\/span><\/em> (sheep breeders) from Tekoa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nAs Amos spends most of the book railing against the rich of Samaria, this phrase is critical \u2013 what is a <\/span>Noked<\/span><\/em> and where is Tekoa? Amos\u2019 profession before he turns up to prophesy against the excesses will help us understand who he is and how his audience sees him.<\/span><\/p>\r\nRadak, Rabbi David Kimchi, is one of a number of commentaries who sees \u201cNoked<\/em>\u201d as being a synonym for shepherd \u2013 implying poverty or a man-of-the-people status. He says Tekoa is in the tribe of Asher, which makes Amos a native son of the North. Perhaps he understands the people\u2019s despair because he has experienced it himself.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSome commentaries say that a <\/span>Noked<\/span><\/em> is something more (after all, the text could have called him a shepherd (<\/span>ro\u2019eh<\/span><\/em>) if it wanted.) Metzudat Tzion says that a Noked <\/em>would be appointed when sheep were many. This idea, that he might be a wealthy owner of many sheep or an overseer of many shepherds, is supported by a source that Metzudat Tzion brings telling us that the king of Moav was a Noked<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\nLater in our book, Amos will respond to the criticisms he faces from the priest of Bethel by saying, \u201c<\/span>\u201cI am not a prophet, and I am not a prophet\u2019s disciple. I am a cattle breeder and a tender of sycamore figs.<\/span>\u201d (7:14). Whereas prophets and priests work in an intellectual sphere, he positions himself in opposition to these leaders as a man of the earth.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIt\u2019s easy to see how Amos, with the credentials of real, practical life experience, would appeal to ordinary people as a prophet. Malbim situates him as a property owner, who oversees other <\/span>Nokdim<\/span><\/em>. He is in a position of responsibility, but not one of great honor or wealth. He sees the hardships of the people who serve under him and knows that the upper class does not recognize him as being wise, learned or influential. Nonetheless, says Malbim, Amos is willing to prophesy against this upper class.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nimage:\u00a0Favela de Parais\u00f3polis v. luxury apartments. This favela (shanti town) on the left is ironically called Parais\u00f3polis (Paradise city). Photo: Tuca Vieira<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77038,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","width":914,"height":608,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","large-width":914,"large-height":608,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","1536x1536-width":914,"1536x1536-height":608,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","2048x2048-width":914,"2048x2048-height":608,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","post_full_size-width":914,"post_full_size-height":608,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"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":"Social Justice in Amos","tile_main_caption":"Man Of The People, Man Of The Earth","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Preaching against injustice in a time of great inequality (sound familiar?)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77038,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","width":914,"height":608,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-768x511.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","large-width":914,"large-height":608,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","1536x1536-width":914,"1536x1536-height":608,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","2048x2048-width":914,"2048x2048-height":608,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela.jpg","post_full_size-width":914,"post_full_size-height":608,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-favela-631x420.jpg","home_baner-width":631,"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":"Amos","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"519","date":"20270825","wall_id":"519"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"77099","color":"#f7f7f5","size":"2","name":"The Central Sin: Oppression of the Poor ","post_title":"The Central Sin: Oppression of the Poor","slug":"the-central-sin-oppression-of-the-poor","old_id":"77099","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":39778,"post_title":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky","slug":"aliza-libman-baronofsky","old_id":"39778","first_name":"Aliza Libman ","last_name":"Baronofsky ","description":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a first-year student in the Advanced Kollel at Yeshivat Maharat and teaches at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, in Rockville, MD. She studied Tanach at Midreshet Lindenbaum and York University and previously taught Tanach and math at the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA. Aliza is the creator of www.chumashandmath.blogspot.com, a repository of interdisciplinary lesson plans. ","short_description":"Aliza Libman Baronofsky is a student in the Advanced Kollel at Yeshivat Maharat and teaches at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, in Rockville, MD. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":39779,"alt":"","title":"aliza baronofsky","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","width":1425,"height":1794,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-238x300.jpg","medium-width":238,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-768x967.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":967,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-813x1024.jpg","large-width":813,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","1536x1536-width":1220,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky.jpg","2048x2048-width":1425,"2048x2048-height":1794,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-953x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":953,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/aliza-baronofsky-334x420.jpg","home_baner-width":334,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"520","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A nation where the poor get poorer at the hands of a merciless justice system\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
(This post is the second in a series on social justice in Amos)<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn today\u2019s chapter, Amos finally turns to his true audience \u2013 the northern kingdom of Israel. His focus on income inequality is clear from his chastisement of the people: \u201cThey recline (<\/span>yatu<\/span><\/em>)<\/span><\/i> by every altar On garments taken in pledge, And drink in the House of their God Wine bought with fines (<\/span>anushim<\/span><\/em>) they imposed\u201d (2:8).<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe outlines of an economic system are being sketched out: There are poor people in need of capital who borrow money. Their clothing is taken from them as collateral (in contravention of the law from Exodus 22, which requires the lender to return the clothing nightly) and the upper class people who took their collateral use it as a blanket while reclining and drinking wine.<\/span><\/p>\r\nMany rare words are in use in this verse, so that some amount of commentary is needed for any clear understanding. The verb \u201c\u05d9\u05b7\u05d8\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u201d, <\/span>yatu<\/span><\/em>, translated here as reclining, comes from the definition that means \u201cto stretch out.\u201d It is not commonly used this way, but reminds us of the prohibition against unjust court rulings in the book of Deuteronomy (16:19): \u201c\u05dc\u05b9\u05d0\u05be\u05ea\u05b7\u05d8\u05bc\u05b6\u05d4 \u05de\u05b4\u05e9\u05c1\u05b0\u05e4\u05bc\u05b8\u05d8\u201d <\/span>lo tateh mishpat<\/span><\/em>, \u2013 do not twist or pervert justice.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe adjective \u201c\u05e2\u05b2\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u05e9\u05c1\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u201d, <\/span>anushim<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> has a similar root to the word for \u2018punishment\u2019, which leads to the commentaries and translators to understand this wine to have been purchased with proceeds from court victories.<\/span><\/p>\r\nWho are the perpetrators here? Classical commentaries seize on the references to altars and \u201chouse of their God\u201d to suggest that this could be idolatry. We don\u2019t need to understand it this way. The altar could be the altar in the temple (\u201cevery altar\u201d could be rhetorical rather than plural); the House of their God could be the temple itself.<\/span><\/p>\r\nCould it be that the public servants are the villains here? The judges could be enforcing orders to seize collateral and imposing fines, perhaps in concert with the priestly class. Here, the benefits of the economic prosperity of the era can be seen to be accruing to a few, connected to the levers of power, who misuse the justice system to increase their own wealth.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe result is a nation where the poor get poorer at the hands of a merciless justice system. Looking back two verses we find: \u201cBecause they have sold for silver Those whose cause was just, And the needy for a pair of sandals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nRashi says this refers to judges who are taking bribes. But even judges who don\u2019t take bribes yet callously apply the law without regard for the consequences to the poor can be seen to be perverting the system. Even if the pledge can legally be taken, should it be taken such that the creditor (who has such excess that he uses the garment as a sheet) can recline while the debtor goes without?<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe society is fundamentally twisted, as the prophet will continue to explore in future chapters.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77104,"alt":"","title":"amos2-poverty","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-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":"Social Justice in Amos","tile_main_caption":"The Central Sin: Oppression of the Poor","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A nation where the poor get poorer at the hands of a merciless justice system","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77104,"alt":"","title":"amos2-poverty","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-poverty-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":"Amos","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"520","date":"20270826","wall_id":"520"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"77046","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Prophet Amos ","post_title":"The Prophet Amos","slug":"the-prophet-amos","old_id":"77046","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":"519","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Sheep breeder, dresser of sycamores, stutterer, ethical monotheist\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"Amos, the third book of the Twelve \u201cMinor\u201d Prophets, begins with a descriptive superscription: \u201cThe words of Amos, a sheep breeder from Tekoa, who prophesied concerning Israel in the reigns of Kings Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel, two years before the earthquake\u201d (1:1). This verse places the Prophet Amos in Judah in the 8<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE. That Amos is described as a \u201csheep breeder\u201d<\/span> from a village just south of Jerusalem, suggests that before becoming a prophet, Amos was an agriculturalist (see also 7:14) rather than an intellectual. Contemporary Biblical scholarship dates Amos as chronologically proceeding the prophecies preserved in the other prophetic books, though they come before in the traditional order of the books of the Hebrew Bible.<\/span><\/p>\r\nCuriously, Jewish tradition regards Amos as having had a speech defect like Moses (see Exodus 4:10). Leviticus Rabbah 10:2 and parallels preserve the following midrashic narrative of how Amos received his prophetic calling. Isaiah said: I was in my study-house, when I heard the voice of the Holy One saying: \u201cWhom shall I send? Who will go for us?\u201d (Isaiah 6:8). I sent Micah, but they struck him on the cheek, as it is written: \u201cWith a staff they strike on the cheek\u201d (Micah 4:14).\u00a0 I sent Amos, but they called him \u2018stammerer\u2019 (<\/span>pessilosa<\/span><\/em>\u2019 \u2013<\/span><\/i> Aramaic, from Greek <\/span>Psellos<\/span><\/em>). They said: Did the Holy One, blessed be He, have no one on which to settle His Shekhinah (Divine Presence) but on this tongue-tied stammerer?! Rabbi Pinchas said: Why was he called Amos? Because he was \u201claden of tongue\u201d (<\/span>amus bi-lshono<\/span><\/em>). <\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n(Rashi to Amos 7:14 finds evidence of Amos\u2019s speech impediment in his having described himself as a <\/span>boles shiqmim<\/em> <\/span>(\u201cdresser of sycamore figs\u201d) when he meant to say <\/span>bolesh shiqmim<\/em> <\/span>(\u201cinspector of sycamore figs\u201d). This suggests that Amos exhibited, in contemporary clinical terminology, \u201cpalatal fronting\u201d in his pronouncing \u201csh\u201d as \u201cs\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nSince the end of the 19th century, it has been asserted that \u201cAmos lays down, for the first time, the principles of a pure ethical monotheism\u201d (E.E. Atkinson, 1889).\u00a0 The words of Amos are regarded as the first Biblical prophecies to have been recorded in written form. In terms of literary style, \u201cAmos has always been admired for the purity of his language, his beauty of diction, and his poetic art\u201d. This is illustrated from the opening of his first recorded prophecy, which begins with a powerful and memorable audio-visual depiction: \u201cThe Lord roars from Zion. He shouts aloud from Jerusalem\u201d (Amos 1:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\nImage: Gustav Dor\u00e9, The Prophet Amos, Dor\u00e9's English Bible, 1866 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77047,"alt":"","title":"amos1-amos - dore","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","width":474,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore-237x300.jpg","medium-width":237,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","medium_large-width":474,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","large-width":474,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","1536x1536-width":474,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","2048x2048-width":474,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","post_full_size-width":474,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore-332x420.jpg","home_baner-width":332,"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 Prophet Amos","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Sheep breeder, dresser of sycamores, stutterer, ethical monotheist","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77047,"alt":"","title":"amos1-amos - dore","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","width":474,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore-237x300.jpg","medium-width":237,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","medium_large-width":474,"medium_large-height":599,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","large-width":474,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","1536x1536-width":474,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","2048x2048-width":474,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore.jpg","post_full_size-width":474,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-amos-dore-332x420.jpg","home_baner-width":332,"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":"Amos","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"519","date":"20270825","wall_id":"519"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"77040","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Amos: Carrying The Burden ","post_title":"Amos: Carrying The Burden","slug":"amos-carrying-the-burden","old_id":"77040","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":76938,"post_title":"Miriam Szafranski","slug":"miriam-szafranski","old_id":"76938","first_name":"Miriam ","last_name":"Szafranski ","description":"Miriam Szafranski teaches Tanakh at SAR High School and lives in Riverdale, and has never missed a day of 929 so far (bh) even insisting on completing the Perek when in labor with her son.\r\n","short_description":"Miriam Szafranski teaches Tanakh at SAR High School and lives in Riverdale. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":76939,"alt":"","title":"Miriam Khukhashvili","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili.jpg","width":996,"height":1791,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-167x300.jpg","medium-width":167,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-569x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":569,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-569x1024.jpg","large-width":569,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili.jpg","1536x1536-width":854,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili.jpg","2048x2048-width":996,"2048x2048-height":1791,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-667x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":667,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-234x420.jpg","home_baner-width":234,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"519","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A leader who was not to the manor born\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"As we are introduced to Amos the prophet, the 3rd of our \u201cminor\u201d prophets, it\u2019s interesting to note how his name (as if often the case with prophets) reflects his role. The name Amos means \u201ca load\u201d or \u201cto carry a load\u201d as if the prophet\u2019s role in carrying the repentance of the Jewish people on his back is tied up in his very essence.<\/span><\/p>\r\nAmos is the only one of our minor prophets whose job is specified in their introduction. He is a herdsman, a simple man and not a prophet by trade. Yet, his name means to carry the load. Even if he was a regular working man, he was tasked with the role of carrying the people towards repentance. Taking upon the \u201cload\u201d of responsibility to care for others, to look out for the spiritual well being of our fellow Jews is not a role that only goes to the leaders. It can go to the simple everyday man: the doctor, the lawyer, the herdsman. All those can carry the burden of the Jewish people on their backs too.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThis idea is essential to the teachings of Chassidut, spread by the movement\u2019s founder Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov. Prophecy, Torah, conversations with God are things that are not exclusively accessible to the scholarly, spiritual elite. \u201cThe wholesome simplicity of the simple Jew touches on the utterly simple essence of God\u201d in the writings of the Baal Shem Tov. This idea is expressed by the notion of a \u201cpintele yid<\/em>\u201d (the \u201clittle \u2018dot\u2019 of the Jew, the \"quintessential, core Jew\u201d). The Chassidic movement was essentially a response to the ideals of the time of the learned Yeshiva student being the best representative of a \u201cTorah Jew\u201d. Chassidut teaches that every Jew is a Torah Jew and has something to offer the larger collective of our people.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe Torah often lets us know the simple professions of our greatest leaders. Moses and David were both shepherds before they began their journeys as great leaders. It is not the most powerful, the richest or the strongest who are asked to carry the load of the people on their backs. In fact Amos himself later states in chapter 7 \"I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I am a cattle herder and an inspector of sycamores (verse 14).\u201d He is an everyday man. And it is the everyday man, the \u201csimple\u201d Jew, who is stronger than they will ever realize.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77041,"alt":"","title":"amos1-burden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden.png","width":975,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-229x300.png","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-768x1008.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1008,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-780x1024.png","large-width":780,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden.png","1536x1536-width":975,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden.png","2048x2048-width":975,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-914x1200.png","post_full_size-width":914,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-320x420.png","home_baner-width":320,"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":"Amos: Carrying The Burden","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A leader who was not to the manor born","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77041,"alt":"","title":"amos1-burden","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden.png","width":975,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-229x300.png","medium-width":229,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-768x1008.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1008,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-780x1024.png","large-width":780,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden.png","1536x1536-width":975,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden.png","2048x2048-width":975,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-914x1200.png","post_full_size-width":914,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos1-burden-320x420.png","home_baner-width":320,"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":"Amos","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"519","date":"20270825","wall_id":"519"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"77049","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Amos Show ","post_title":"The Amos Show","slug":"the-amos-show","old_id":"77049","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":48616,"post_title":"Yair Bernstein","slug":"yair-bernstein","old_id":"48616","first_name":"Yair ","last_name":"Bernstein ","description":"Yair Bernstein currently serves as a Shaliach of the World Zionist Organization to a school in Chicago, where he teaches, together with his wife, Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He holds an M.A. in Bible Studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem","short_description":"Yair Bernstein currently serves as a Shaliach of the World Zionist Organization to a school in Chicago.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":48617,"alt":"","title":"Yair Bernstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","width":248,"height":256,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-240x300.jpg","medium-width":240,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","medium_large-width":248,"medium_large-height":256,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","large-width":248,"large-height":256,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","1536x1536-width":248,"1536x1536-height":256,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","2048x2048-width":248,"2048x2048-height":256,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","post_full_size-width":248,"post_full_size-height":256,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Yair-Bernstein-e1549021062921.jpg","home_baner-width":248,"home_baner-height":256}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"519","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The city gates turn silent. People are confused, wondering if they heard correctly.\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"When I was working toward my MA in Bible Studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I took a course about the prophet Amos. It was the first prophetic text I studied in a course and I was excited to uncover the layers of the text. I was fortunate to have Dr. Nili Wazana as my professor. Throughout the course, Wazana took us on a journey to discover the beauty of this prophetic text, the meaning of it, and the tragedy of the person Amos, who tried and failed to warn the people of Israel of the ramifications of their actions. In our turbulent days, there is nothing more fitting than going back to the Prophet of Social Justice and reading his words.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nChapters 1 and 2 in the book of Amos, can not really be divided into two separate parts. The opening of the book of Amos is a work of beauty where Amos demonstrates his skills in public speaking. I can just imagine him standing at the gates of Beit-El, leaning on his shepherd\u2019s staff, looking at the people coming in and out of the city, and then he starts, with a loud and clear voice: \u201cThus said the LORD: For three transgressions of Damascus, For four, I will not revoke it\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n\u201cBut these are our enemies!\u201d the people of Israel would exclaim to each other. \u201cGod will punish our enemies!\u201d others would say \u201cWhat wonderful news!\u201c.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nHis crowd grows as he describes the punishment and predicts the destruction of each one of the nations that surround Israel. The people are excited, pushing each other to get a better look and hear the wise words of the Prophet Amos. But then, as his listeners are about to rejoice because of the incredible news that they are hearing, Amos reaches his main idea \u201cThus said the LORD: For three transgressions of Israel, For four, I will not revoke it.\u201d The city gates turn silent. People are confused, wondering if they heard correctly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\nAnd they did. Amos then goes on to describe in detail throughout the book all of the wrongdoings that the people are perpetrating. Namely, social sins that will lead ultimately to the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThat was probably quite a show.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/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":"The Amos Show","tile_main_caption":"\"For three transgressions of Israel, For four, I will not revoke it.\u201d The city gates turn silent. People are confused, wondering if they heard correctly.\u00a0","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":"Amos","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"519","date":"20270825","wall_id":"519"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"77076","color":"#eceffa","size":"1","name":"Not Three, But Four ","post_title":"Not Three, But Four","slug":"not-three-but-four","old_id":"77076","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":"520","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"1,2,3,4 - what are we being punished for?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"Our chapter begins: \u201cFor three transgressions of Moab, for four I will not revoke it because he burned the bones of the King of Edom to lime.\u201d Thereby, Amos continued his rebuke of Israel and the surrounding nations, utilizing a distinctive feature of biblical poetry and lyrical prose that has been designated, variously, as: \u201cthe numerical sequence x\/x+1\u201d or \u201cthe model of the ascending number.\u201d While some 30 such examples have been noted in Tanakh and traceable back to Ugaritic and Mesopotamian literature as well, Amos seems to be distinctive in his use exclusively of the sequence of 3 and 4.<\/span><\/p>\r\nSome scholars see its use as idiomatic, resembling such everyday phrases as \u201cone or two\u201d and signifying an unspecified number. In this case, Amos is saying that Moab has committed many, perhaps innumerable, sins, of which their treatment of the Moabite king is particularly egregious. Others, however, accord it greater precision signifying \u201cnot three, but [exactly] four.\u201d The medieval exegetes appear to have taken the latter approach, citing in evidence Job 33:29: \u201cTruly God does all these things two or three times to a man,\u201d which they uniformly interpret to mean that while God may overlook 2 or 3 sins\u2014since He is famously \u201cforgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin\u201d (Exodus 34:7)\u2014He will not acquit the fourth.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe \u201cidiomatic\u201d approach sees its evidence in the fact that in nearly all the examples cited by Amos only a single sin is mentioned, arguably proving that the numbers are only figurative.<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe \u201cprecise\u201d view, however, observes that regarding Israel\u2014which must be acknowledged as the crux of all of these similar prophetic utterings\u2014Amos actually enumerated four sins (verse 6-8):<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\t- \u201cBecause they have sold for silver those whose cause was just, and the needy for a pair of sandals.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
- You who trample the heads of the poor into the dust of the ground and make the humble walk a twisted course!<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
- Father and son go to the same girl, and thereby profane My holy name.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
- They recline by every altar on garments taken in pledge, and drink in the House of their God wine bought with fines they imposed.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77078,"alt":"","title":"amos2-1234","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","width":1027,"height":637,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-300x186.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-768x476.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":476,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-1024x635.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","1536x1536-width":1027,"1536x1536-height":637,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","2048x2048-width":1027,"2048x2048-height":637,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":637,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-677x420.png","home_baner-width":677,"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":"Not Three, But Four","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"1,2,3,4 - what are we being punished for?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77078,"alt":"","title":"amos2-1234","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","width":1027,"height":637,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-300x186.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-768x476.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":476,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-1024x635.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":635,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","1536x1536-width":1027,"1536x1536-height":637,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","2048x2048-width":1027,"2048x2048-height":637,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234.png","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":637,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-1234-677x420.png","home_baner-width":677,"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":"Amos","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"520","date":"20270826","wall_id":"520"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"77090","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Giving Wine To A Nazirite ","post_title":"Giving Wine To A Nazirite","slug":"giving-wine-to-a-nazirite","old_id":"77090","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":76938,"post_title":"Miriam Szafranski","slug":"miriam-szafranski","old_id":"76938","first_name":"Miriam ","last_name":"Szafranski ","description":"Miriam Szafranski teaches Tanakh at SAR High School and lives in Riverdale, and has never missed a day of 929 so far (bh) even insisting on completing the Perek when in labor with her son.\r\n","short_description":"Miriam Szafranski teaches Tanakh at SAR High School and lives in Riverdale. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":76939,"alt":"","title":"Miriam Khukhashvili","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili.jpg","width":996,"height":1791,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-167x300.jpg","medium-width":167,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-569x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":569,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-569x1024.jpg","large-width":569,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili.jpg","1536x1536-width":854,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili.jpg","2048x2048-width":996,"2048x2048-height":1791,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-667x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":667,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Miriam-Khukhashvili-234x420.jpg","home_baner-width":234,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"520","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Spiritual service and the world of things\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"
It\u2019s important to learn limitations, especially when engaging with the physical parts of the world. A nazirite is someone who practices limiting himself and does not partake in certain pleasures, such as wine. This seems like a pious, spiritual endeavor, yet the nazirite upon the completion of his oath as a nazirite brings a sin offering. There are many opinions offered as to why, among them is the idea that it is a sin to not partake of the pleasures of the world. The Lubavitcher Rebbe states that the nazirite brings a sin offering not because he didn\u2019t partake in the pleasures of the world, but because he mistook them for simple pleasures at all. Wine in and of itself is pleasurable, but the pleasure it brings should not be pleasure for pleasure\u2019s sake, rather an experience that brings us closer to the Divine. \u201cWhen a person abstains from wine, he is saying that he does not know how to sanctify such activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\nThe nazirite according to the Lubavitcher Rebbe is someone that does not know how to use the world around them for spiritual purposes. He brings a sin offering to attest that he sees physical things as merely physical. He is unable to look past them to see if they can serve a spiritual purpose.<\/span><\/p>\r\nIn this chapter, God chastises the people saying \u201cyou gave your nazirites wine\u201d as if to say \u201cyou gave them an item that they did not know how to use in a spiritual way.\u201d This chapter contains many themes of materialism. Amos says that the people sell their needy for shoes (6), drink wine in their altars, in their confiscated garments (8) and in doing so, indulge in pleasure for pleasure\u2019s sake. The shoes, the garments, the libations, are all materials that can be elevated in spirituality. This idea in Chassidut is called \u201c<\/span>avodah b'gashmiut<\/span><\/em>\u201d, service of God through the physical realm. It involves using the body, using the corporeal world of objects and material, and elevating those things by using them in some way to worship God.<\/span><\/p>\r\nGod created a world with wine. God foresaw a world with clothes, fashion, cars, homes and luxury. There is nothing inherently evil or wrong with any of those things. \u201cThings\u201d in fact, can sometimes be the best tools we have in our religious development.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":77097,"alt":"","title":"amos2-wine","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine.png","width":1280,"height":1201,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-300x281.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-768x721.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":721,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-1024x961.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":961,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1201,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1201,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-1200x1126.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1126,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-448x420.png","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":"Giving Wine To A Nazirite","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Spiritual service and the world of things","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":77097,"alt":"","title":"amos2-wine","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine.png","width":1280,"height":1201,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-300x281.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":281,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-768x721.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":721,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-1024x961.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":961,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1201,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1201,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-1200x1126.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1126,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos2-wine-448x420.png","home_baner-width":448,"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":"Amos","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"520","date":"20270826","wall_id":"520"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/76708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}