{"id":79545,"date":"2018-07-09T17:51:18","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-2025\/"},"modified":"2020-09-08T12:44:56","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T09:44:56","slug":"wall-2025","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"book-Prophets-Zechariah"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"2025","book":"Zechariah","books_group":"Prophets","date":"","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"\u05e1\u05d9\u05db\u05d5\u05dd \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8 \u05d6\u05db\u05e8\u05d9\u05d4","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"19\/04\/2020","date_from":"20200909","date_to":"","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"79079","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"The Beginning Of The End: What Filled The Void Of Prophecy? ","post_title":"The Beginning Of The End: What Filled The Void Of Prophecy?","slug":"the-beginning-of-the-end-what-filled-the-void-of-prophecy","old_id":"79079","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"551","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Study and prayer, and a new beginning","post_main_content_content":"

Our sages understand one of the opening phrases of Zechariah, \u201cAnd as for the prophets, could they live forever (1:5)?\u201d to be a subtle message about the impending cessation of prophecy. The Talmud tells us that with the death of Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi the spirit of prophecy departed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What changed for the Jewish nation, and what filled the void of prophecy?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One significant alteration in the Jewish reality was the removal of the persistent pull of idolatry during the Second Temple era. The 12<\/span>th<\/span> century mystic R. Yehuda HaHasid explained prophecy as a counterbalance to idolatry. In the spirit of that understanding, but from the opposite direction, R. Eliyahu Dessler, in <\/span>Michtav m\u2019Eliyahu<\/span><\/em>, suggested that once the urge for idolatry declined, prophecy would have too much power if left unchecked.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

During the period of prophecy, the Jewish people were privileged to be the beneficiaries of open miracles \u2013 those acts of God that were unequivocally, well\u2026acts of God! From the day the sun stood still (Joshua 10:12) to the miracle of oil during the Second Temple era, open miracles abounded. But as the era of prophecy waned, so too did the occurrence of such open miracles. With the diminishing capacity of prophecy to guide the people and the loss of the abundance of open miracles to influence them, an opportunity to mature into a closer relationship with God on their own accord was presented.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps, then, it is no coincidence that the end of the Second Temple era and the cessation of prophecy heralded the beginning of the codification of the Oral Law. According to R. Zadok HaKohen of Lublin (Sefer Olam Rabbah 30), <\/span>the development of the Oral Law would have been impossible had the people continued to turn to the prophets for knowledge of God\u2019s will.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As well as the shifting paradigm of religious expression from prophecy to the study and understanding of the Oral Law, Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, in <\/span>The Lonely Man of Faith<\/span><\/em>, saw the decline of prophecy as the catalyst to the rise of prayer. Prayer, says Soloveitchik, was the new realization of the Jewish people\u2019s conversation with God. \u201c<\/span>If God had stopped calling man, they urged, let man call God. And so, the covenantal colloquy was shifted from the level of prophecy to that of prayer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One version of the ideal state, we are taught, will entail a combination of our reasoned, deliberate connection to God, with<\/span> the revival of prophecy and open miracles in the Messianic era.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":51741,"alt":"","title":"dt27-two-torahs","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","width":279,"height":196,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","medium-width":279,"medium-height":196,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","medium_large-width":279,"medium_large-height":196,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","large-width":279,"large-height":196,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","1536x1536-width":279,"1536x1536-height":196,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","2048x2048-width":279,"2048x2048-height":196,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","post_full_size-width":279,"post_full_size-height":196,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":196}},"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 Beginning Of The End: What Filled The Void Of Prophecy?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Study and prayer, and a new beginning","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":51741,"alt":"","title":"dt27-two-torahs","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","width":279,"height":196,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","medium-width":279,"medium-height":196,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","medium_large-width":279,"medium_large-height":196,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","large-width":279,"large-height":196,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","1536x1536-width":279,"1536x1536-height":196,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","2048x2048-width":279,"2048x2048-height":196,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","post_full_size-width":279,"post_full_size-height":196,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt27-two-torahs.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":196}},"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"1","chapter_main_number":"551","date":"20271010","wall_id":"551"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"79091","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"The Pupil Of God\u2019s Eye ","post_title":"The Pupil Of God\u2019s Eye","slug":"the-pupil-of-gods-eye","old_id":"79091","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64450,"post_title":"David Curwin","slug":"david-curwin","old_id":"64450","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Curwin ","description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","short_description":"David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat, and the author of the Balashon blog www.balashon.com","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64452,"alt":"","title":"david curwin","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","width":427,"height":464,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-276x300.png","medium-width":276,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","medium_large-width":427,"medium_large-height":464,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","large-width":427,"large-height":464,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","1536x1536-width":427,"1536x1536-height":464,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","2048x2048-width":427,"2048x2048-height":464,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin.png","post_full_size-width":427,"post_full_size-height":464,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/david-curwin-387x420.png","home_baner-width":387,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"552","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A reflection of protection\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In the second chapter of his book, Zechariah tells the Jewish exiles to return to their land, and not to fear being harmed by the other nations:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAway, escape, O Zion, you who dwell in Fair Babylon! For thus said the LORD of Hosts\u2014He who sent me after glory\u2014concerning the nations that have taken you as spoil: \u2018Whoever touches you touches the pupil of his own eye. For I will lift My hand against them, and they shall be spoil for those they enslaved.\u2019\u2014Then you shall know that I was sent by the LORD of Hosts.\u201d (Zechariah 2:11-13)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The divine warning that whoever hurting the Jews will be like touching \u201cthe pupil of his own eye\u201d is somewhat strange. Why should touching your own eye be so terrible? The sages in the Midrash Mekhilta say that this was a scribal change, and it originally was \u201cthe pupil of My eye\u201d \u2013 i.e. God\u2019s eye. It was changed to avoid speaking about God in a dishonorable way.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Hebrew phrase <\/span>bavat ayin<\/span><\/em>, \u201cpupil of the eye,\u201d not only refers to the physical pupil, but also to something dear and important, like the English phrase \u201capple of one\u2019s eye.\u201d\u00a0 The first word in the phrase, <\/span>bava<\/span><\/em>, may mean \u201creflection,\u201d like the related Hebrew word <\/span>bavuah<\/span><\/em>, with the same meaning.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another word related to this root is the Arabic <\/span>babbat<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>meaning little child. The little child is considered a \u201creflection\u201d of a man. A similar development is found in English. The Latin word <\/span>pupus<\/span><\/em>\u00a0meant \u201cboy\u201d (<\/span>pupa<\/span><\/em>\u00a0for \u201cgirl.\u201d) This word gave us both the word pupil meaning \u201cstudent,\u201d since students were children, and pupil (of the eye). The latter came from the tiny image of yourself that you see reflected in the eye of another. That tiny reflection looked like a little child, or a doll, also known as a <\/span>pupa<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

The Arabic <\/span>babbat<\/span><\/em> had a related word for \u201cdoll\u201d \u2013 <\/span>bubu<\/span><\/em>. And it was this word that inspired the founder of the modern Hebrew language, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, to come up with the Hebrew word for doll \u2013 <\/span>buba<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All of these words \u2013 pupil of the eye, a young child, and a doll \u2013 express a degree of love and sensitivity that underscore just how much God\u2019s love for the Jews will protect them when they return to their land.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Screenshot from IMAX\u00ae 3D movie Hidden Universe showing the Helix Nebula (\u201cEye of God\u201d) in infrared.jpg \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79092,"alt":"","title":"zech2-gods eye","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","width":800,"height":496,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-300x186.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-768x476.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":476,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":496,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":496,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":496,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":496,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-677x420.jpg","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":"The Pupil Of God\u2019s Eye","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A reflection of protection\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79092,"alt":"","title":"zech2-gods eye","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","width":800,"height":496,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-300x186.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-768x476.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":476,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":496,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":496,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":496,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":496,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech2-gods-eye-677x420.jpg","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":"Zechariah","chapter":"2","chapter_main_number":"552","date":"20271011","wall_id":"552"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"79218","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Hope Prevails ","post_title":"Hope Prevails","slug":"hope-prevails","old_id":"79218","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":47905,"post_title":"Natasha Mann","slug":"natasha-mann","old_id":"47905","first_name":"Natasha ","last_name":"Mann ","description":"Rabbi Natasha Mann serves as a rabbi at New London Synagogue and Hatch End\/Mosaic Masorti. Natasha hails from the grassy hills of Hertfordshire, England, and has spent most of her adult life between Los Angeles and the Holy City of Jerusalem. Natasha has worked in Jewish education and the non-profit world, promoting better education and legislation on human trafficking issues. 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This chapter details another of Zechariah\u2019s visions. It is possible to read Zechariah\u2019s dreams as numbering eight distinct visions, forming a chiastic structure (in which the pattern reflects back on itself, e.g. \u2018A B B A\u2019). Reading Zechariah\u2019s visions as a chiasm gives us this:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \r\n\t
  1. The Four Horsemen (1:8-17)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Four Horns and Four Blacksmiths (a reflection on sin and exile) (2:1-4)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. The Measuring Line (Jerusalem) (2:5-17)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. The Heavenly Court (Chapter 3)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. The Menorah (Chapter 4)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  6. The Flying Scroll (Jerusalem) (5:1-4)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  7. Woman in a Tub (a reflection on sin and exile) (5:5-11)<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  8. The Four Horsemen (6:1-8)<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

    This structure is of particular interest now for two reasons. First, in a chiastic structure, it is often the middle of the chiasm that is considered the highlighted section. For our purposes, this is chapters three and four. Second, it implies a relationship between this chapter and the next.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Our vision of the heavenly court features the character of Joshua, who is to be the High Priest in the newly-built Temple. The charge is aimed toward Joshua, whose role is paramount in the era to come, and the chapter is completed with a message of future peace and serenity. Similarly, the vision of the menorah in chapter 4 will be focused on the character of the governor Zerubbavel, and it too comes with a deeply messianic undertone. The implication of placing these visions at the centre of the chiasm is that Zechariah\u2019s underlying message is one of hope of future restoration.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The vision of this chapter brings us to a significant moment in return from exile. The Israelites are ready to resume service in the rebuilt Temple. The prophet describes a vision of a heavenly scene in which the angels are arguing about the next High Priest. Standing as Joshua\u2019s accuser is Satan. Another angel stands at Joshua\u2019s defence. Joshua is clothed in filthy garments. Satan argues that Joshua is unfit to serve as High Priest, because he is covered in sin (represented by the filthy garments). In response to this argument, the Divine says: \u2018Is this one not a brand plucked from fire?\u2019 Joshua, the Divine seems to be arguing, was brought here out of Babylonian exile, a place of oppression and abuse. The angels then help Joshua to change into clean clothing, and the Holy One tells Joshua that if he follows in God\u2019s ways, he will be able to serve in the Temple.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This is a fascinating scene to serve as a centerpoint for Zechariah\u2019s visions, folded between stories of exile and doom. Joshua wears the worst of Israelite society, the elements which deemed them unworthy of redemption. However, Joshua is defended, and is able to move on from the wrongdoings that had previously trapped him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Hope is not gone, the story reminds us: we can shed the filthy garments. <\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Hope is not gone, the structure reminds us: our ability to move on is literally and theologically central.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image by Michal Ben Hamu<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79219,"alt":"","title":"zech3-joshua","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-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":"For Shabbat Chanukah","tile_main_caption":"Hope Prevails","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Our ability to move on is literally central to the story","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79219,"alt":"","title":"zech3-joshua","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech3-joshua-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":"Zechariah","chapter":"3","chapter_main_number":"553","date":"20271012","wall_id":"553"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"79238","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Not By Might, Not By Power ","post_title":"Not By Might, Not By Power","slug":"not-by-might-not-by-power","old_id":"79238","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":"554","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Shalom!\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Our chapter preserves the fifth vision of Zechariah. An angel shows the Prophet a lampstand all of gold on which are seven lamps (Zechariah 4:2). When Zechariah asks what these things mean, the angel replies with a memorable expression: \u201cNot by might and not by power, but by My spirit \u2013 said the Lord of Hosts\u201d (4:6). This verse has been the inspiration of song writers in our day. These include the baritone conductor Elliot Z. Levine,<\/span> who set to music the verse sung in Hebrew and English<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The renowned singer-songwriter, <\/span>Debbie Friedman<\/span><\/a>, who passed away in 2011, employs this verse in the refrain of a song, in which she elaborates on the passionately sung expression \u201c<\/span>Not by might and not by power<\/span><\/a>\u201d. This song may be seen as a modern musical midrash, the lyrics of which may be read as a poetic plea for peace:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Not by might and not by power,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>But by spirit alone,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Shall we all live in peace (x2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The children sing<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>The children dream<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And their tears may fall<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>But we'll hear them call<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    And another song will rise<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Another song will rise<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Another song will rise!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Not by might and not by power,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>But by spirit alone,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Shall we all and live in peace.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Not by might!<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Not by power!<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Shalom!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/XJLZfrw86Ws?t=148","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"For Shabbat Chanukah","tile_main_caption":"Not By Might, Not By Power","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Shalom!","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/XJLZfrw86Ws?t=148","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":"Zechariah","chapter":"4","chapter_main_number":"554","date":"20271013","wall_id":"554"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"79266","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"2","name":"The Personification of Evil ","post_title":"The Personification of Evil","slug":"the-personification-of-evil","old_id":"79266","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":64875,"post_title":"Eliza McCarroll","slug":"eliza-mccarroll","old_id":"64875","first_name":"Eliza ","last_name":"McCarroll ","description":"Eliza McCarroll is a fifth-year rabbinical student from Sydney, Australia, at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. ","short_description":"Eliza McCarroll is a fifth-year rabbinical student from Sydney, Australia, at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":64877,"alt":"","title":"Eliza McCarroll","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","width":506,"height":436,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1-300x258.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":258,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","medium_large-width":506,"medium_large-height":436,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","large-width":506,"large-height":436,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":506,"1536x1536-height":436,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":506,"2048x2048-height":436,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":506,"post_full_size-height":436,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Eliza-McCarroll-1-487x420.jpg","home_baner-width":487,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"555","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    In a bizarre twist of events reminiscent of Harry Potter attempting to gather all of his acceptance letters to Hogwarts when they inundated the Dursley's fireplace, the first line of this chapter sees the prophet Zechariah looking up and seeing a \u201c<\/span>megilah afah<\/span><\/em>\u201d - a flying scroll, flapping its way towards him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Inquiring about the contents of this strange, supernatural object, God explains to Zechariah that this scroll contains curses: on one side of the parchment, for those who have stolen, and on the other, for those who have taken God\u2019s name in vain.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    If you thought that things couldn\u2019t get any weirder, it appears that our prophetic protagonist is in the middle of a vision, with an angel then showing another object approaching - an <\/span>eifah<\/span><\/em>, or tub with a leaden disk covering the top, holding a woman crouching inside. Zechariah is told that this woman is the literal embodiment of Wickedness, and the leaden disk sealing her in, silencing her forever.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This tub, with the body of Wickedness within it, is then carried away by two other women - described as having wings, and the wind in their hair - to the land of Shinar, where it will be used to erect a shrine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Putting aside the obvious difficulty of women representing wickedness, a common enough trope throughout our ancient biblical texts (think of the Book of Lamentations, where the feminine is used to embody sin and wrongdoing) there are lessons to be gleaned from this short episode which we can take into our modern lives.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    We live today in an age of misinformation and miscommunication, where it is easy to access a world-wide web full of factual inaccuracies, that become wedged inside the hearts and minds of those who consume them, much like the curses lodged themselves in the homes of the accursed, consuming them down to every last timber and stone (Zechariah 5:4).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    As we move forward into a new Jewish year, particularly in the world in which we currently find ourselves, let us be mindful and critical of what we read or watch, and where it comes from. In this small way, we might subsequently play our part in removing wickedness from our midst, turning poison into praise, and malintent into magic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/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 Personification of Evil","tile_main_caption":"Let us do our part in removing wickedness from our midst, turning poison into praise, and malintent into magic","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":"Zechariah","chapter":"5","chapter_main_number":"555","date":"20271014","wall_id":"555"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"79370","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"Four Chariots, Four Kingdoms, Four Winds ","post_title":"Four Chariots, Four Kingdoms, Four Winds","slug":"four-chariots-four-kingdoms-four-winds","old_id":"79370","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":"556","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And a few theories\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Zechariah saw four chariots emerging from between two copper mountains (1). One was drawn by red horses, one by black, the third by white, and the fourth by strong spotted horses (2-3). Rashi identified them with four kingdoms: Babylon, Medea, Greece, and Rome that\u2014successively\u2014subjugated the Land of Israel, the last of whose downfall was to usher in the era of the Messiah. This concept originated in Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s dream (Daniel 2) of a statue composed of different elements (head of gold, torso of silver, loins of bronze, legs of iron and feet of clay). Daniel identified the head as Babylon; Persia-Medea succeeded Babylon, so it was the torso; and Greece succeeded Persia so it was the loins. The identity of the fourth kingdom, however, remained moot throughout the middle ages, as exegetes in the Christian world\u2014such as Rashi\u2014assumed it was Rome-Byzantium-Christendom, while those in the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain assumed it was Islam.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rashi associated the colors, too, with these kingdoms. Gold (the precious metal) often casts a reddish hue, hence it suited Babylon, the golden head. Medea was black because \u201cthe faces of Israel were blackened\u201d by Haman, who served Ahasuerus, a Medan king. White, symbolizing goodness, belonged to Persia, whose King Darius allowed the Temple to be rebuilt. The spotted horses stood for Greece \u201cwho tortured Israel with various decrees and persecutions,\u201d and the adjective strong applied to Edom (Rome). (The appearance here of \u201cIshmael\u201d in many editions of Rashi is erroneous).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Another approach to the color scheme was offered by Mordechai Zer Kavod in his commentary on Zechariah in the Da`at Mikra series (Jerusalem: Mosad HaRav Kook, 1976). Basing himself on the Angel\u2019s explanation, \u201cThose are the four winds of heaven\u201d (5), he connected red with the east, on account of the color of sunrise, black with north, where the sun shines least, white with the sand on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and spotted for the color of the rocks in the southern desert.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79371,"alt":"","title":"zech6-chariots2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","width":1140,"height":570,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1140,"1536x1536-height":570,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1140,"2048x2048-height":570,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","post_full_size-width":1140,"post_full_size-height":570,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Four Chariots, Four Kingdoms, Four Winds","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And a few theories","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79371,"alt":"","title":"zech6-chariots2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","width":1140,"height":570,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","1536x1536-width":1140,"1536x1536-height":570,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","2048x2048-width":1140,"2048x2048-height":570,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2.jpg","post_full_size-width":1140,"post_full_size-height":570,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech6-chariots2-840x420.jpg","home_baner-width":840,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"6","chapter_main_number":"556","date":"20271017","wall_id":"556"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"79448","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"Abolishing The Fasts ","post_title":"Abolishing The Fasts","slug":"abolishing-the-fasts","old_id":"79448","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"557","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A question for then - and now\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Chapter 7 describes how the prophet Zechariah was asked a pointed question by residents of the Diaspora (v. 3) that has repercussions to the present day: \u201c\u2026Shall I weep and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have been doing all these years?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    They queried: now that the Second Temple has begun to be rebuilt in Jerusalem, and some of the Jews originally exiled to Babylonia have returned to their homeland, invigorating the Jewish presence in Israel, people wished to know whether the Ninth of Av (\u201cthe fifth month,\u201d counting from Nisan) marking the destruction of the First Temple, along with other communal fasts associated with this date, e.g., the 3<\/span>rd<\/span> of Tishrei (<\/span>Tzom Gedalia<\/span><\/em>; \u201cthe seventh month,\u201d v. 5) should continue to be observed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Zechariah responds in the name of God, that these dates and the events that correspond to them (v. 9-10) should remind the people not of the actual destruction of Jerusalem, but mainly of the deep moral shortcomings and wide-spread resistance to improvement (v. 11-3) that led up to the profound tragedy of ruin and exile. God suggests that without annual reminders of what has already occurred, and can again take place as the result of insensitivity to the plight of the oppressed, human nature will allow for similar conditions to once more take root, leading to the terrible events of the past repeating themselves. Assuming the acceptance of God\u2019s response, i.e., the importance of the continuation of the observance of these terrible days, the lesson apparently went unlearned, resulting in several hundred years later, the destruction of the Second Temple, and the exile of vast numbers of Jews yet again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But what about now? Particularly following the Six-day War in 1967, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the contemporary validity of the observance of these fasts, exemplified by the paragraph that is added to the Silent Devotion on Tisha B\u2019Av afternoon:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Oh Hashem, our God, console the mourner of Zion and the mourners of Jerusalem and the city that is mournful, ruined, scorned and desolate: mournful without her children, ruined without her abodes, scorned without her glory, and desolate without inhabitants...\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Shouldn\u2019t modern-day, \u201chustling, bustling\u201d Jerusalem, as well as Israeli society in general, no longer should be thought of in such incredibly sad, desperate terms? On the other hand, no one says that this wasn\u2019t an apt description of the Jewish settlement in its homeland in the past, and, God forbid, couldn\u2019t become pertinent once again in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The ultimate question, similar to what was posed to Zechariah, becomes: should we recall the past in order to remind ourselves of what must be avoided in the present in an attempt to head off a disastrous future? Or, should the present reality determine how we relate to all current and future possibilities, with the operative principle to avoid misrepresenting a rosy present? Should God\u2019s answer via Zechariah to his ancient inquirers inform present-day policy, or is it time to break with the biblical past? Discuss.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Shlomi Kakon, Tish\u2019a B\u2019av at the Western Wall, c. Aug 2015 \/ pikiwiki<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79449,"alt":"","title":"zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","width":800,"height":536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-768x515.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":536,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-627x420.jpg","home_baner-width":627,"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":"Abolishing The Fasts","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A question for then - and now","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79449,"alt":"","title":"zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","width":800,"height":536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-300x201.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":201,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-768x515.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":536,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":536,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/zech7-Tisha_BAv_at_the_Western_Wall-627x420.jpg","home_baner-width":627,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"7","chapter_main_number":"557","date":"20271018","wall_id":"557"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"79489","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"A City Full Of Old And Young ","post_title":"A City Full Of Old And Young","slug":"a-city-full-of-old-and-young","old_id":"79489","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"558","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"No longer brides and grooms - now a multi-generational family\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    A constant refrain we heard through the book of Jeremiah was \"The sound of happiness and joy, the sound of the bride and groom will resonate in the streets of Jerusalem\". (cf. Jeremiah 7:34, 16:9, 25:10, 33:11).\u00a0 Zechariah mimics this promise in Chapter 8: \"Thus said the LORD of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of their great age. And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares. (8:4-5).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The promise in the time of Jeremiah was for the bride and group, a symbol of new love and ultimate joy. Now, during the precarious times of the beginning of the Second Temple Zechariah builds on this by promises that these happy couples will not only grow old, but that they will have children playing in the streets. The promise of a new relationship becomes a large family and extended generations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79490,"alt":"","title":"zech8-old and young","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young.jpg","width":6000,"height":3298,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-300x165.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":165,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-768x422.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":422,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-1024x563.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":563,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":844,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1126,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-1200x660.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":660,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-764x420.jpg","home_baner-width":764,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A City Full Of Old And Young","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"No longer brides and grooms - now a multi-generational family","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79490,"alt":"","title":"zech8-old and young","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young.jpg","width":6000,"height":3298,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-300x165.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":165,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-768x422.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":422,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-1024x563.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":563,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":844,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1126,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-1200x660.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":660,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech8-old-and-young-764x420.jpg","home_baner-width":764,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"558","date":"20271019","wall_id":"558"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"79527","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"\u201cIt Is The Lord Who Causes Storms\u201d ","post_title":"\u201cIt Is The Lord Who Causes Storms\u201d","slug":"it-is-the-lord-who-causes-storms","old_id":"79527","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62857,"post_title":"Michael M. Cohen","slug":"michael-m-cohen","old_id":"62857","first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Cohen","description":"Rabbi Michael M. Cohen, the rabbi emeritus of the Israel Congregation in Manchester Center, Vermont is also on the faculty of Bennington College and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies on Kibbutz Ketura. He is the author of \"Einstein's Rabbi: A Tale of Science and the Soul\"","short_description":"Rabbi Michael M. Cohen, the rabbi emeritus of the Israel Congregation in Manchester Center, Vermont is also on the faculty of Bennington College and the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62858,"alt":"","title":"michael cohen","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen.jpg","width":1433,"height":1263,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen-300x264.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":264,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen-768x677.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":677,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen-1024x903.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":903,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen.jpg","1536x1536-width":1433,"1536x1536-height":1263,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen.jpg","2048x2048-width":1433,"2048x2048-height":1263,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen-1200x1058.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1058,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/michael-cohen-477x420.jpg","home_baner-width":477,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"560","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Actually, not so much anymore...","post_main_content_content":"

    Reading Zechariah chapter 10 during the month of Elul, verse 6 jumps out with its promise of divine forgiveness: \u201cI will restore them, for I have pardoned them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But I would prefer to focus on the first verse:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Ask the Lord for rain<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>In the season of late rain.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>It is the Lord who causes storms;<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And God will provide rainstorms for them,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Grass in the fields for everyone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Twice daily in the traditional second paragraph after the <\/span>Sh\u2019ma <\/span><\/i>we are reminded of the late rains, <\/span>malkosh<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>and the early rains, <\/span>yoreh<\/span><\/em>:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    And if you truly listen to my bidding, as I bid you now - loving The Fount of Life, your God, and serving God with all your heart, with every breath - then I will give you rain upon the land in its appointed time, the early rain and the late rain, so you may gather your corn,\u00a0 wine, and oil.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    That paragraph is taken from Deuteronomy and placed in the <\/span>siddur<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>It is a<\/span> clear <\/span>quid pro quo<\/em> <\/span>theology which states that if we do what God asks of us we will get the needed rains. Commenting on this Rabbi Lauren Berkun says, \u201cThe notion that the natural events of weather are reflective of God\u2019s covenantal relationship with the Jewish people is a difficult one for many modern Jews.\u201d To which Rabbi David Teutsch adds, \u201cin light of our awareness of the human abuse of the environment, we recognize that often this reward and punishment rests in our own hands. This ancient and yet vital message of the Torah urges us to choose life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    But why was this paragraph from Deuteronomy (11:13-21) chosen to follow the paragraph of the <\/span>Sh\u2019ma<\/em> <\/span>(6:4-9) when it is not the immediate next paragraph in the Torah?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Perhaps one answer (there are always more than one) lies with the word <\/span>yoreh<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>early rains<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein expounds on this when he writes, \u201cThe word <\/span>yoreh<\/span><\/em> (or <\/span>moreh<\/span><\/em>) literally means \u201cshoots\u201d, as well as \u201cteacher\u201d....The Talmud (Ta\u2019anit 6a) explains that <\/span>yoreh<\/span><\/em> falls at the beginning of the rainy season, thus it is called a \u201cteacher\u201d because it \u201cteaches\u201d people when to reinforce their roofs and bring their produce indoors to avoid possibly being destroyed by subsequent rains.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The main thrust of the paragraph immediately after the <\/span>Sh\u2019ma<\/em> <\/span>is to teach, expressing a natural connection between two paragraphs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Hebrew word for \u201cteach\u201d is <\/span>veshinantam<\/span><\/em>. <\/span><\/i>Its three letter root <\/span>shin-nun-hey<\/span><\/i> though literally means \u201c<\/span>repeat<\/span>\u201d <\/span><\/i>since repetition is a central pedagogical tool. <\/span>Shin-nun-hey<\/em> <\/span>also spells the word <\/span>shana<\/em> <\/span>as in year, as in <\/span>Rosh Hashana<\/em> <\/span>that we will celebrate in two weeks. And what is a year? The time it takes for the earth to repeat its circular journey around the sun as it did for the prophet Zechariah and as it continues to do for us as well. Whether the rains will come at their \u201cappointed times,\u201d during our elliptical orbit around the sun is up to us.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79528,"alt":"","title":"zech10-climate-change","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change.jpg","width":1920,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-300x156.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":156,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-768x400.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-1024x533.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":533,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":800,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-1200x625.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":625,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-806x420.jpg","home_baner-width":806,"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":"\u201cIt Is The Lord Who Causes Storms\u201d","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Actually, not so much anymore...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79528,"alt":"","title":"zech10-climate-change","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change.jpg","width":1920,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-300x156.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":156,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-768x400.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":400,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-1024x533.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":533,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":800,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-1200x625.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":625,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech10-climate-change-806x420.jpg","home_baner-width":806,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"560","date":"20271021","wall_id":"560"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"79581","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"30 Shekels Of Silver ","post_title":"30 Shekels Of Silver","slug":"30-shekels-of-silver","old_id":"79581","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":79577,"post_title":"Michael Handelsaltz","slug":"michael-handelsaltz","old_id":"79577","first_name":"Michael ","last_name":"Handelsaltz","description":"Michael Handelsaltz is an Israeli journalist, theater critic, translator and editor. He was the theater critic for Haaretz for 42 years, and has written on every single chapter of the Tanach for 929 in Hebrew.","short_description":"Michael Handelsaltz is an Israeli journalist, theater critic, translator and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":79578,"alt":"","title":"michael handelsaltz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","width":271,"height":356,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz-228x300.jpg","medium-width":228,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","medium_large-width":271,"medium_large-height":356,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","large-width":271,"large-height":356,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","1536x1536-width":271,"1536x1536-height":356,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","2048x2048-width":271,"2048x2048-height":356,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","post_full_size-width":271,"post_full_size-height":356,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/michael-handelsaltz.jpg","home_baner-width":271,"home_baner-height":356}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"561","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Zechariah's prophecies appropriated by the Gospels\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    This is a story about 30 shekels, 3 shepherds, 2 sticks (<\/span>No'am<\/span><\/em>, \"Favor,\" which bestows favor, and <\/span>Chovlim<\/span><\/em>,<\/em> 'bands that bind' \u2013 hence \"Unity\" \u2013 but which can destroy, thus basically Zechariah's version of the carrot and the stick), and 1 God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This is Zechariah's letter to the shepherds; the Christians will embrace the image of the shepherd and his flock, just as they did for other phrases and images from the prophecies of Zechariah in their Gospels about Jesus, his entrance to Jerusalem, and his death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Given that the fate of the sheep to be slaughtered is a tragic one \u2013 \"let the one that is to die die and the one that is to get lost get lost; and let the rest devour each other\u2019s flesh!\" \u2013 it's no wonder that the shepherd demands a fare wage for his labors. They offer him \"30 shekels of silver.\" And the prophet, who is the shepherd, and God who is the Shepherd of all shepherds, saw that it was a bad deal: \"The LORD said to me, 'Deposit it (<\/span>or<\/span><\/i>: fling it\u2026) in the treasury.' And I took the thirty shekels and deposited it in the treasury in the House of the LORD\" (verse 13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Jesus and his disciples \"fulfill\" the words of the prophets. When Judas, son of Simon, Iscariot (<\/span>ish kerayot<\/span><\/em> in Hebrew) names his terms to the heads of the priests in Jerusalem \"Whatever you shall give me, and I shall deliver him unto you\" (which is his version of Zechariah's line \u2013 \"If you are satisfied, pay me my wages\" \u2013 verse 12), and the priests offer him 30 shekels of silver.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    God instructs Zechariah to refuse this offer scornfully \u2013 \"Fling it into the treasury\" (\"the noble sum that I was worth in their estimation\"). But as opposed to this shepherd who deposits his salary in the treasury of the Temple (for its rebuilding), Judas, who betrayed his rabbi with a kiss, \"repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. He said, 'I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.' But they said, 'What is that to us? See to it yourself.' Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, 'It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.' After conferring together, they used them to buy the potter\u2019s field as a place to bury foreigners. For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet 'And they took the thirty pieces of silver,' the price of the one on whom a price had been set, and they gave<\/span> them for the potter\u2019s field...\u201d (Matthew 27:3-10, New RSV).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79582,"alt":"","title":"zech11-30-pieces-of-silver","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","width":382,"height":344,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver-300x270.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":270,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","medium_large-width":382,"medium_large-height":344,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","large-width":382,"large-height":344,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","1536x1536-width":382,"1536x1536-height":344,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","2048x2048-width":382,"2048x2048-height":344,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","post_full_size-width":382,"post_full_size-height":344,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","home_baner-width":382,"home_baner-height":344}},"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":"30 Shekels Of Silver","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Zechariah's prophecies appropriated by the Gospels","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79582,"alt":"","title":"zech11-30-pieces-of-silver","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","width":382,"height":344,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver-300x270.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":270,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","medium_large-width":382,"medium_large-height":344,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","large-width":382,"large-height":344,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","1536x1536-width":382,"1536x1536-height":344,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","2048x2048-width":382,"2048x2048-height":344,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","post_full_size-width":382,"post_full_size-height":344,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech11-30-pieces-of-silver.png","home_baner-width":382,"home_baner-height":344}},"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"561","date":"20271024","wall_id":"561"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"79630","color":"#eceffa","size":"1","name":"Herzl, The Messiah Son Of Joseph ","post_title":"Herzl, The Messiah Son Of Joseph","slug":"herzl-the-messiah-son-of-joseph","old_id":"79630","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"562","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"At least in the eyes of Rav Kook in his lamentation for him\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    Chapter 12 of Zechariah tells of a future war against Jerusalem in some unspecified time, the death of an unidentified but notable victim in battle and a great mourning for the one who was slain that engulfs the whole land. \"On that day the lamentation will be great in Jerusalem, like the lamentation of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.\" (12:11.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The Talmudic sage Rav Yosef testified to the obscurity of this verse, saying, \"were it not for the Aramaic Targum, I would not have understood the meaning of this verse.\" (Talmud Megillah, 3a.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The opacity of this chapter and of the victim's identity led the Talmud (Sukkah 52a) to make two conjectures that seem remote from the meaning of the text, but which have reverberated throughout Jewish thought and history. We will deal briefly with the first, that the slain was the Messiah, Son of Joseph.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This led to the elaboration of the theory of two Messiahs. The first, Messiah son of Joseph would be a political-military figure, who would struggle with partial success to redeem the Jewish People, dying in the attempt. He would be followed by Messiah the son of David, a leader of great spiritual stature who would bring full redemption.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The most celebrated modern articulation of this idea was Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's \"Lamentation in Jerusalem,\" delivered in 1904 at a memorial convocation for Theodore Herzl, the trail-blazer for political Zionism who had recently died at the age of 44.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rav Kook identified Joseph, whose political skills had ensured his family's survival in Egypt, with the physical-material aspect, while David, the warrior-psalmist represented the full integration of spiritual and material in Jewish leadership.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Without referring to Herzl by name, Rav Kook identified political Zionism with the spirit of Messiah son of Joseph, saying:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \"The Zionist vision manifest in our generation might best be symbolized as the \u201cfootstep of Messiah son of Joseph\u201d (\u2018ikva de-Mashiah ben Yosef<\/em>...) It is unequipped to realize that the development of Israel\u2019s general aspect is but the foundation for Israel\u2019s singularity. The ideal of Israel\u2019s national renascence, including all the material accouterments\u2014 which is a proper thing when joined to the spiritual goal\u2014to date has not succeeded, and the lack of success has brought on infighting, until finally, the leader of the movement has fallen, a victim of frustration.\"<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Rav Kook urged his listeners \"to rejoice in the national reawakening,\" represented by Herzl and political Zionism, \"and to know that this is not the end goal of Israel, but only a preparation.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: Herzl And Kook by Hare\u2019l Malachi \/ pimerang<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79632,"alt":"","title":"zech12-herzlkook","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","width":812,"height":688,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-300x254.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-768x651.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":651,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","large-width":812,"large-height":688,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","1536x1536-width":812,"1536x1536-height":688,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","2048x2048-width":812,"2048x2048-height":688,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","post_full_size-width":812,"post_full_size-height":688,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-496x420.jpg","home_baner-width":496,"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":"Herzl, The Messiah Son Of Joseph","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"At least in the eyes of Rav Kook in his lamentation for him","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79632,"alt":"","title":"zech12-herzlkook","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","width":812,"height":688,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-300x254.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-768x651.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":651,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","large-width":812,"large-height":688,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","1536x1536-width":812,"1536x1536-height":688,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","2048x2048-width":812,"2048x2048-height":688,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook.jpg","post_full_size-width":812,"post_full_size-height":688,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-herzlkook-496x420.jpg","home_baner-width":496,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"562","date":"20271025","wall_id":"562"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"79614","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"The Human Soul ","post_title":"The Human Soul","slug":"the-human-soul","old_id":"79614","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":"562","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Nefesh, ruach, neshamah\r\n\r\n\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

    Our chapter begins with a superscription for Zechariah\u2019s final three chapters: \u201c\u2026The utterance of the Lord Who stretched out the skies and made firm the earth and created man\u2019s breath within him.\u201d This Scriptural expression became the basis for post-Biblical discussion of the nature of the human soul.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Midrash Genesis Rabbah 14:4<\/span><\/a> interprets<\/span> Genesis 2:4<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cThe Lord God formed man\u2026 and man became a living being\u201d. \u201cFormed\" v<\/em><\/span>ayyitzer<\/span><\/em>\u00a0suggests that man was created with a <\/span>Yetzer Tov<\/em> <\/span>and with a <\/span>Yetzer Ra<\/em> <\/span>[here meaning the ability to discern good from evil]. For if an animal had this ability, when it would see a person, knife in hand, coming to slaughter it, it would die in terror\u2026 Moreover, \u201c[God] created (<\/span>yotzer<\/span><\/em>) man\u2019s breath within him\u201d (Zech. 12:1) \u2013 the word <\/span>yotzer<\/span><\/em> indicates that man\u2019s soul is bound (<\/span>tzrurah<\/span><\/em>) within him. For if this were not the case, when a person would see troubles approaching, he would be able to expel his soul and cast it from him. [i.e. Seeing life-threatening danger approach, a man would be able to extinguish his own soul, thus bringing about his own immediate death. This is not the case, because God has \u201cbound\u201d man\u2019s soul within him so that it is God who separates a man\u2019s soul from his body, thus causing his physical death].<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Sa\u2019adya Gaon (882-942 CE), commentator, liturgist and philosopher, discusses the nature of the human soul in the final section of his main philosophical work,<\/span> The Book of Doctrines and Beliefs 6:1<\/span><\/a>. This discussion begins with the assertion that the soul of each person is created in his heart at the moment when the physical form of his body is completed, as it says: \u201cThe utterance of the Lord Who stretched out the skies and made firm the earth and created man\u2019s breath within him\u201d (12:1). Moreover, God has set a time-limit to the combined existence of body and soul. When an individual human being dies, God again separates his body and soul until all human souls will have been created. Then God will re-unite each soul with its respective body and determine each person\u2019s reward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    After summarizing six alternate theories about the nature of the soul, Saadya expounds his own view. He again cites Zechariah that God \u201ccreated man\u2019s breath within him\u201d to insist that each individual human soul is created at the moment of each man\u2019s creation. When God unites body and soul, three faculties are manifested, represented by three Hebrew words for \u201csoul\u201d: <\/span>Nefesh<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 the seat of \u201cappetite\u201d (as in the phrase <\/span>ta\u2019avat nafshekhah<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>the appetite of one\u2019s <\/span>nefesh<\/span><\/em>), <\/span>Ruah <\/span><\/em>\u2013 <\/span><\/i>\u201cpassion and courage\u201d and <\/span>Neshamah<\/em> <\/span>\u2013 \u201cknowledge.\u201d The seat of the soul is the human heart, from which emerge two \u201carteries\u201d (or \u201cnerves\u201d - <\/span>gidim<\/span><\/em>), which communicate sensation and movement to the rest of the body. So, heart and soul are mentioned together in Scripture: \u201cLove your God with all your heart and with all your soul\u201d (Deuteronomy 6:5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

     <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79615,"alt":"","title":"zech12-soul","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","width":728,"height":546,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","medium_large-width":728,"medium_large-height":546,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","large-width":728,"large-height":546,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","1536x1536-width":728,"1536x1536-height":546,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","2048x2048-width":728,"2048x2048-height":546,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","post_full_size-width":728,"post_full_size-height":546,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Human Soul","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Nefesh, ruach, neshamah \u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79615,"alt":"","title":"zech12-soul","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","width":728,"height":546,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","medium_large-width":728,"medium_large-height":546,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","large-width":728,"large-height":546,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","1536x1536-width":728,"1536x1536-height":546,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","2048x2048-width":728,"2048x2048-height":546,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul.jpg","post_full_size-width":728,"post_full_size-height":546,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech12-soul-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"562","date":"20271025","wall_id":"562"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":13,"id":"79638","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Global Overpopulation? Zechariah Has The Solution ","post_title":"Global Overpopulation? Zechariah Has The Solution","slug":"global-overpopulation-zechariah-has-the-solution","old_id":"79638","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":"563","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"You might not like it though...\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    As Zechariah nears the end of his book\u2014and we near the end of the prophetic era\u2014he offers up this charming prophecy of the end of days:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    \u201cAnd it shall come to pass, that in all the earth, says the Lord,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>Two parts therein shall be cut off and die;<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>But the third shall be left therein.<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And I will bring the third part through the fire,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And will refine them as silver is refined,<\/span>
    \r\n<\/span>And will try them as gold is tried\u2026\u201d (Verses 8-9)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    What is so terrifying about this prophecy is that the sifting process\u2014the \u201crefining\u201d and the \u201ctrying\u201d\u2014is commenced only <\/span>after<\/span><\/em> two thirds of the world has been destroyed! In other words, the first two thirds of the world\u2019s population will be destroyed regardless of merit!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    The method of destruction is left to our imagination\u2014pandemic? nuclear holocaust?\u2014but one thing is clear: the destruction will be random, arbitrary. And then, once the earth has shed two thirds of its population, the culling can begin! Only the fittest spiritually will survive, the ones who will call out in God\u2019s name and say \u201cThe Lord is my God!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Apparently then, \u201c<\/span>hashgacha pratit<\/span><\/em>\u201d (individual divine attention to man\u2019s fate) becomes operative only when the earth\u2019s population has been radically thinned. Perhaps, like the \u201cIron Dome\u201d defense system, it can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Furthermore, it is noteworthy that the first half of this chapter, before we come to the wholesale slaughter, deals with the end of prophecy itself. Zechariah describes a time when being a prophet is no longer a fit occupation for a nice Jewish boy or girl. A period of revulsion will set in such that if parents notice prophetic tendencies in their child, they will say to him or her \u201cyou shall not live!\u201d and will \u201cthrust him through\u201d when he prophesies. Individuals will be ashamed to profess as prophets, will refuse to wear prophetic garb, and will deny their true calling, preferring to self-identify as farmers.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    So, we will have to endure the coming devastation without benefit of a prophetic voice explaining to us why we are being made thus to suffer, much like we endured the Holocaust. Looking back at the earlier prophets from the First Temple period, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, harsh as their warnings may have been, at least they explained to us why each punishment came due: Destruction of the Temple? It is because you did this. Exile of the people? It is because you did that. Plundering of personal property? Only fitting. Slaughter of the remaining inhabitants? Measure for measure!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Those were the good old days!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    image: Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet (he also had a solution...)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":79639,"alt":"","title":"zech13-thanos","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos.png","width":1015,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-159x300.png","medium-width":159,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-541x1024.png","medium_large-width":541,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-541x1024.png","large-width":541,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos.png","1536x1536-width":812,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos.png","2048x2048-width":1015,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-634x1200.png","post_full_size-width":634,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-222x420.png","home_baner-width":222,"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":"Global Overpopulation? Zechariah Has The Solution","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"You might not like it though...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":79639,"alt":"","title":"zech13-thanos","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos.png","width":1015,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-159x300.png","medium-width":159,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-541x1024.png","medium_large-width":541,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-541x1024.png","large-width":541,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos.png","1536x1536-width":812,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos.png","2048x2048-width":1015,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-634x1200.png","post_full_size-width":634,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/zech13-thanos-222x420.png","home_baner-width":222,"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":"Zechariah","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"563","date":"20271026","wall_id":"563"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"79685","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"What's In A NAME? ","post_title":"What's In A NAME?","slug":"whats-in-a-name-4","old_id":"79685","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38047,"post_title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","slug":"shoshana-michael-zucker","old_id":"38047","first_name":"Shoshana Michael ","last_name":"Zucker ","description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor by profession, but would much rather be learning and teaching Torah. A graduate of Barnard College, she made aliyah in 1983 and now lives in Kfar Saba where she is an active member of the Masorti Congregation Hod veHadar. ","short_description":"Shoshana Michael Zucker is a translator and editor and lives in Kfar Saba \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38048,"alt":"","title":"Shoshana Michael Zucker","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","width":231,"height":310,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker-224x300.jpg","medium-width":224,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":310,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":310,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":310,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":310,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","post_full_size-width":231,"post_full_size-height":310,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Shoshana-Michael-Zucker.jpg","home_baner-width":231,"home_baner-height":310}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"564","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"One name that encapsulates past, present and future\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

    As part of his eschatological vision, Zechariah foresees that in some future time \u201cthere shall be one LORD with one name\u201d (v. 9). One name? What is so important about that? Moreover, if you look at the Hebrew, Zechariah doesn\u2019t use the Hebrew word for \u201cLord\u201d which is \u201c<\/span>Adonay<\/span><\/em>\u201d but rather the ineffable four letter name that we can transliterate Y-H-V-H.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    This substitution is common throughout the Bible and Jewish tradition, and the God of Israel is also called by many other names. Zechariah\u2019s declaration is an invitation to pause and think about God\u2019s name and what it might mean for God to truly have one name.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Most of the names we use for God: \u201cCreator of the Universe,\u201d \u201cRedeemer of Israel,\u201d \u201cHealer of the Sick\u201d \u201cCompassionate\u201d and even, \u201cGod\u201d\u00a0 aren\u2019t actually names. Rather, they are adjectives or job descriptions that express the ways we understand God to act in the world (or ways we would like God to act in the world).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Only Y-H-V-H is a proper noun, a name in the truest sense of the word. And that might be all we can say about it with any certainty. Its pronunciation is long lost, and its significance debated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    One possibility derives from Moses\u2019 first direct encounter with God at the burning bush, where God declares \u201c<\/span>Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh<\/span><\/em> \u2013 I \u200eWill Be What I Will Be. God is present and calls Godself\u00a0 \u201c\u05d0\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 <\/span>Ehyeh<\/span><\/em> I Will Be\u201d in the first person, as the speaker. When Moses reports to the people, he switches to the third person \u201c\u200e \u05d9\u05d4\u05d9\u05d4 <\/span>Yehiyeh<\/span><\/em>\u200e<\/em> \u2013 God will be\u201d because he is speaking about God, who is unseen. According to the 12<\/span>th<\/span> century commentator R. Samuel ben Meir (Rashbam), the proper name Y-H-V-H is formed by substituting the \u200eletter <\/span>vav<\/span><\/em> for the second <\/span>yod<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    In the past, God spoke to Moses about the future. <\/span>Ehyeh<\/em> <\/span>and <\/span>Yehiyeh<\/em> <\/span>are imperfect\/future forms, while the <\/span>vav<\/em> <\/span>is an indicator of the present tense. Therefore, the blended spelling can be understood as bringing together all of the tenses in Biblical Hebrew. Y-H-V-H represents God who speaks but is unseen, in the present, past and future. That\u2019s a complicated mouthful.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Perhaps that is why we prefer to use epithets when speaking about and to God, and why the ability to call and know God by God\u2019s proper name will be a sign that the world has entered a new era.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

    Image: The Adoration of the Name of God, or The Glory, fresco, Francisco Goya, 1772 \/ 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