{"id":80304,"date":"2018-07-09T17:51:35","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1116\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T19:42:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:42:50","slug":"wall-1116","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1116\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20240421-to-20240427"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1116","date_from":"20240421","date_to":"20240427","book":"Psalms","books_group":"Writings","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"28\/06\/2020","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"80793","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"At Sixes and Sevens: On Sukkot And Sacred Vegetation ","post_title":"At Sixes And Sevens: On Sukkot And Sacred Vegetation","slug":"at-sixes-and-sevens-on-sukkot-and-sacred-vegetation","old_id":"80793","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1116","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\"Fair moon, to thee I sing, bright regent of the heavens, say, why is everything either at sixes or at sevens?\" \u2013 Gilbert and Sullivan, H.M.S. Pinafore, Act II, 1878","post_main_content_content":"

On Sukkot, we take three branches of trees, and a citron, (etrog<\/em>), clasp them together and shake them up and down and back and forth and dance with them, leading up to the prayers for the life-giving rain on the holiday's culmination on the Eighth Day of Assembly, Shemini Atzeret<\/em>. Native Americans ain't got nothing on us.<\/p>\r\n

During the Great Hallel<\/em>, we shake our sacred vegetation in six different directions \u2013 forward and back, right and left, up and down: the six axes of three dimensional space. However, when saying the name of God, we cease movement, holding the minim <\/em>close to our hearts.<\/p>\r\n

This is the seventh direction, the one that binds all the others together, not an axis of physical space, but the direction of interiority, of the spirit, the meeting point at the Center. It is a sort of eye of the storm: that point of calm, when we are cognizant of the \"still, small voice\" (I Kings 19:12), when after being pulled and shaken in all directions, we are at rest, at one.<\/p>\r\n

But while the number seven is common in Judaism there is something different about this rhythm of 6+1 (which we see also in the week: 6 days of work + Shabbat). The three axes of physical reality each go off in two vectors, making six directions, all organized around and connected at the Center.<\/p>\r\n

The directions are replete with symbolism, all meeting at the Center, the point of connection and reconnection:<\/p>\r\n

\u2022 Backward and forward<\/em> movement calls up images of the unending passage of time \u2013 the connection to past and future, of past with future, the intergenerational responsibilities to both progenitors and progeny. We of course stand at the center, in the momentary present, building bridges of sentiment and action between history and memory of what has been, and between dreams and ideals of what yet could be.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022 Right and left<\/em> speak the language of politics, poignantly reminding us of the need to heal the wounds of our fragmented society: between conservative and progressive, between me\/in-group\/parochial and we\/out-group\/universal. Nobody sees themselves as an extremist \u2013 everybody sees themselves as standing firmly in the Center, surrounded by people and factions who are \"overboard\" in one direction or the other. We need to expand this Center, building bridges to all, for all.<\/p>\r\n

\u2022 Up and down<\/em> call out the eternal dyads of heaven and earth, transcendence and immanence, spirit and matter. One of the great unifications that we can strive for is to heal the great rift between body and soul, our temporal physical selves and our divine intimations of eternity, and bring into alignment our spiritual values and our social and ecological reality.<\/p>\r\n

The pastoral produce is a product of the redolent fecundity of the earth, the transpirational spirit-breath of the air, the radiant energy of the sun, and of the restorative, life-giving waters, of above and below can help ground you, and Center yourself, in our many worlds and realities.<\/p>\r\n

image: Leopold Pilichowski, Sukkot, 1894\/95 (wikipedia)<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80794,"alt":"","title":"Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","width":800,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":618,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"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":"Holiday Special","tile_main_caption":"At Sixes And Sevens: On Sukkot And Sacred Vegetation","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"There's a whole lot of shakin' goin' on...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80794,"alt":"","title":"Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","width":800,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":618,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Leopold_Pilichowski_Sukkot-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1116"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"448","name":"Ritual","old_id":"848"},{"term_id":"680","name":"Symbolism","old_id":"1080"},{"term_id":"846","name":"Sukkot","old_id":"1246"}]},{"order":2,"id":"80179","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Psalmsongs 9 ","post_title":"Psalmsongs 9","slug":"psalmsongs-9","old_id":"80179","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":80010,"post_title":"Gaya Aranoff Bernstein","slug":"gaya-aranoff-bernstein","old_id":"80010","first_name":"Gaya Aranoff ","last_name":"Bernstein ","description":"Gaya (Aranoff, M.D.) Bernstein has been a student of Rav Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz for many years. With his encouragement, she published Psalmsongs, A Gathering of Psalms (An Arthur Kurzweil Book, New York\/Jerusalem, 2013), and translated The Steinsaltz Tehillim, Commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (Koren Publishers Jerusalem Ltd, 2018). She is a professor of pediatric endocrinology on the faculty of Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Gaya Aranoff Bernstein is the author of Psalmsongs: A Gathering of Psalms.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":80011,"alt":"","title":"gaya bernstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein.jpg","width":332,"height":492,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein-202x300.jpg","medium-width":202,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein.jpg","medium_large-width":332,"medium_large-height":492,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein.jpg","large-width":332,"large-height":492,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein.jpg","1536x1536-width":332,"1536x1536-height":492,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein.jpg","2048x2048-width":332,"2048x2048-height":492,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein.jpg","post_full_size-width":332,"post_full_size-height":492,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/gaya-bernstein-283x420.jpg","home_baner-width":283,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"576","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

thank You God thank You God<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>thank You for this miracle<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>thank You with all my heart<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>anyone listening<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>I\u2019m shouting singing<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>this miracle was wrought<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>by God<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>my enemies are in retreat<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>trapped in their own nets<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>drowning in their own slime<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>sliding into hell<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>who are they to have<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>presumed their own power<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>they control nothing<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You rule<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>terrify them<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Show them they die\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You searched my heart<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>heard my case<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>judged justly<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>crushed my foes<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>each one of them<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>now toothless<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>swordless<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>impotent<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>wiped<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>out\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

infinite eternally<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Your truth remains<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>resplendent<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>and though we are<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>ephemeral<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>we seek You<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>know You are not deaf<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>to human cries<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>indefinitely<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from: Gaya Aranoff Bernstein, <\/span>Psalmsongs: A Gathering of Psalms<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>(An Arthur Kurzweil Book, New York\/Jerusalem, 2013)<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80037,"alt":"","title":"psalmsongs4","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","width":2894,"height":1928,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-630x420.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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Psalmsongs 9","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"thank You God thank You God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80037,"alt":"","title":"psalmsongs4","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","width":2894,"height":1928,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1024x682.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":682,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1023,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1364,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-1200x799.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":799,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/psalmsongs4-630x420.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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"576","date":"20271114","wall_id":"576"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"80392","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Psychology of Good and Evil ","post_title":"Psychology of Good and Evil","slug":"psychology-of-good-and-evil","old_id":"80392","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":"577","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Free choice is dependent upon it never being obvious in this life that evildoers are eventually appropriately punished and the righteous generously rewarded\u00a0","post_main_content_content":"

The 10<\/span>th<\/span> Psalm deals at length with the psychology of the evildoer, and the expectations on the parts of righteous believers for God to bring such people to justice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Psalmist describes how the transgressor rationalizes and assures himself that he will \u201cget away\u201d with everything he does (see also Deuteronomy 29:18):<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The wicked crows about his unbridled lusts; the grasping man reviles and scorns the LORD. 4 The wicked, arrogant as he is, in all his scheming (<\/span>thinks:<\/span><\/i>) He does not call to account; God Does not Care. 5 His ways prosper at all times; Your judgments are far beyond him; he snorts at all his foes. 6 He thinks: I shall not be shaken, through all time never be in trouble.\u201d \u2026 11 He thinks: God Is not mindful, He hides His face, He never looks.\u201d \u2026 13 Why should the wicked man scorn God, thinking You do not call to account? (10:3-6, 11, 13)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The author wishes that God would demonstrate that the sinner is mistaken, and refute his self-justifications by overtly punishing the sinner:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1 Why, O LORD, Do You Stand aloof, Heedless in times of trouble?... 12 Rise, O LORD! Strike at him, O God! Do not Forget the lowly\u2026 14 You Do Look! You Take Note of mischief and vexation! To Requite is in Your Power. 15 To You the hapless can entrust himself; You have ever Been the orphan\u2019s Help\u2026 18 To Champion the orphan and the downtrodden, that men who are of the earth tyrannize no more (ibid. 1, 12, 14-5).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What the Psalmist obviously does not realize, is that \u201cfree choice\u201d concerning all things, including religion and morality, with which human beings have been endowed from the time of their creation, is dependent upon it never being obvious in this life that evildoers are eventually appropriately punished and the righteous generously rewarded (<\/span>see <\/span><\/i>Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance Chapter 5<\/span><\/em>.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Catholic thinker Blaise Pascal famously formulated that religious belief entailed the believer living life on the basis of a \u201cwager\u201d regarding God\u2019s existence that could only be resolved after one\u2019s death:\u00a0 either there is a God, and all of the sacrifices made during one\u2019s life were worthwhile because of the great benefit that will be enjoyed by the soul in the World-to-Come, OR there is no Deity and no eternal soul, resulting in the logical conclusion that it would have been ultimately more pleasurable to have lived self-indulgently without restraint.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Whether as a victim of callousness, or just a bystander of reprehensible actions, one would be forgiven for wanting to witness the downfall of the wicked. Yet, Jewish belief assumes that the choices that are presented to each of us are not always clear-cut, and require a deep belief that all will work out in the end - if not in this world, then in the next.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Psychology of Good and Evil","tile_main_caption":"Free choice is dependent upon it never being obvious in this life that evildoers are eventually appropriately punished and the righteous generously rewarded\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"577","date":"20271115","wall_id":"577"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"80383","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Object Pronoun ","post_title":"Object Pronoun","slug":"object-pronoun","old_id":"80383","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"577","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Is God the Answer or the Question \/ the Answerer or Questioner?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\"Why do You stand far away, O Lord?\u00a0 Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?\" (10:1)
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is God the Answer or the Question or <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>the Answerer or Questioner? Is He <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>perhaps the Question Mark itself and we <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>the scribes who write it down, or are we more <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>than scribes who sit inside behind a door <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>that's locked and doesn\u2019t open and whose key <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>has been misplaced?\u00a0 Is God a \"You,\" a \"Thee,\" <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>an Object Pronoun people just ignore?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps He's not an Object Pronoun but <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>the Subject of the question which we need <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>to ask, the Subject of the answer, too.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Although the door is locked, the portal shut, <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>the gate impassable, all paths still lead <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>myself and me and I to Thee and You.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":78726,"alt":"","title":"hab3-question-marks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Object Pronoun","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Is God the Answer or the Question \/ the Answerer or Questioner?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":78726,"alt":"","title":"hab3-question-marks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","width":1920,"height":960,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-300x150.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-768x384.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":384,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1024x512.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":512,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":768,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":960,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-1200x600.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":600,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/hab3-question-marks-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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"577","date":"20271115","wall_id":"577"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"80419","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Theodicy Or Anti-Theodicy? ","post_title":"Theodicy Or Anti-Theodicy?","slug":"theodicy-or-anti-theodicy","old_id":"80419","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":79500,"post_title":"Ira Tokayer","slug":"ira-tokayer","old_id":"79500","first_name":"Ira ","last_name":"Tokayer ","description":"Ira Tokayer is a lawyer specializing in commercial litigation. In May 2020, he obtained an MA in Bible from the Gershon Kekst Graduate School of JTS. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Hebrew Literature there in that same field of study.","short_description":"Ira Tokayer is a lawyer specializing in commercial litigation, with an MA in Bible.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":79579,"alt":"","title":"ira tokayer","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer.jpg","width":2048,"height":1536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ira-tokayer-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"578","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The doctrine of retribution insists that God operates the world under a system of divine justice.\u00a0 Psalms famously begins by describing the righteous as \u201ca tree planted beside streams of water, which yield its fruit in season, whose foliage never fades and whatever it produces thrives. Not so the wicked; they are like chaff blown away by the wind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ps. 11 fits squarely within this retribution model. It portrays the wicked threatening the righteous who are powerless to stop them:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For see, the wicked bend the bow, they set their arrows on the string, to shoot from the shadows at the upright.\u00a0 When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous man do?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, the Psalmist insists that the evildoers will be destroyed in a spectacular and supernatural manner. God\u2019s motivation is clear: He is righteous. He loathes the wicked.\u00a0 Only the upright shall behold His face.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then why does God allow the wicked to threaten the righteous at all?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentators have read v.5 (\u201c<\/span>t\u2019zadik yiv\u2019chan<\/span><\/i>\u201d) as providing a theological justification for such suffering: the righteous are tested and given an opportunity to improve. As Rav Soloveitchik has written: \u201cSuffering exists in the world to contribute something to man. To cleanse him, redeem him from impurities, from arrogance and depression.\u201d Suffering is not a sign of God\u2019s enmity. It is meaningful and cathartic, a gift which God in His lovingkindness bestows upon the righteous for their benefit.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, the ennobling nature of suffering may be based upon an unrealistically optimistic view of the effects of suffering. While a modicum of redemption may accompany certain challenging experiences, it hardly seems commensurate with such losses as the death of a child or catastrophic events like tsunamis, wars and genocides.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In a post-Holocaust world, many are unpersuaded - even repelled - by theodicies that insist on a conception of God as a just ruler, parent, spouse and\/or covenantal partner. A doctrine of anti-theodicy has been proposed. It refuses to explain the relationship between God and suffering or justify it in any way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is there scriptural license for such a doctrine?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of the Book of Job, God appears from the whirlwind and gives two speeches.\u00a0 Some have interpreted the speeches as signaling that the world is an arbitrary and senseless place where divine justice simply does not apply.\u00a0 After hearing this message, Job \u201crecants and relents,\u201d seemingly mollified by the harsh and amoral world God has described.\u00a0 Yishayahu Leibowitz suggested that Job grasps that he must submit to God not in anticipation of any recompense but simply because He is. Harold Kushner writes that perhaps Job\u2019s response is meant to \u201cforgive\u201d God for not making a world where the righteous are rewarded and only the wicked suffer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The lesson of Job is that man \u201cmust go on living despite it all,\u201d recognizing that the ability to forgive and love are the weapons given us by God to enable us to live fully, bravely, and meaningfully in this less-than-perfect world.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Theodicy Or Anti-Theodicy?","tile_main_caption":"The ability to forgive and love are the weapons given us by God to enable us to live fully, bravely, and meaningfully in this less-than-perfect world","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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"578","date":"20271116","wall_id":"578"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"80399","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"King David Does Jazz ","post_title":"King David Does Jazz","slug":"king-david-does-jazz","old_id":"80399","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":79834,"post_title":"Ron Weidberg","slug":"ron-weidberg","old_id":"79834","first_name":"Ron ","last_name":"Weidberg ","description":"Ron Weidberg is a composer, musicologist, lecturer on music at the Open University and the Academic Kiryah of Kiryat Ono. ","short_description":"Ron Weidberg is a composer, musicologist, lecturer on music at the Open University and the Academic Kiryah of Kiryat Ono. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":79835,"alt":"","title":"ron weidberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg.jpg","width":364,"height":500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg-218x300.jpg","medium-width":218,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg.jpg","medium_large-width":364,"medium_large-height":500,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg.jpg","large-width":364,"large-height":500,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":364,"1536x1536-height":500,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":364,"2048x2048-height":500,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg.jpg","post_full_size-width":364,"post_full_size-height":500,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ron-weidberg-306x420.jpg","home_baner-width":306,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"578","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A new series - this time: Artur Honegger \r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Artur Honegger (1892-1955): Psaume 11 \"Ne crains rien,\" from the oratorio <\/span>Le Roi David<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

The French composer (of Swiss extraction) Artur Honegger achieved world recognition with his composition \u201cKing David\u201d (<\/span>Le Roi David, <\/span><\/i>from 1921), which was defined as \u201cdramatic Psalms.\u201d Originally, this was to be music to accompany a play about the life of King David, interspersed with Psalms. He took the wordings of the psalms from the paraphrases of the Swiss Calvinist Church, in French.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the oratorio version he interspersed in with the more poetic passages, sections of narration about King David\u2019s life from the Bible. The composition, which was inspired both by Baroque and Classical styles, and based on a story from the ancient world, actually suited the very modernist spirit of Paris between the two world wars. Among the new-classical structures of the piece are new arrangements, some of which are very close to jazz in spirit. A good example of this is the section that appears in the accompanying video for solo tenor (who is playing David, the young poet, before the battle with Goliath).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The short passage includes the opening sentence \u201cIn the LORD I take refuge,\u201d followed by a description of the bow that shoots arrows at the righteous, and then a return to the opening. In Honegger\u2019s work, this section serves to illustrate the scene where David is playing before Saul, and Saul throws a spear at him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In essence, this is a very delicate, thoughtfully constructed miniature, where each word has its exact expression in the music, whether in a sound picture, or in the taut harmonic atmosphere.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/HV1yYjx-0bU","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Psalms In Classical Music","tile_main_caption":"King David Does Jazz","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A new series - this time: Artur Honegger ","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/HV1yYjx-0bU","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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"578","date":"20271116","wall_id":"578"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"80525","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Every End, A Beginning ","post_title":"Every End, A Beginning","slug":"every-end-a-beginning","old_id":"80525","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":"579","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Gemar tov: may it be a good completion\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In Psalm 12, the Psalmist prays for salvation from the situation where he cannot find reliable people:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHelp, O LORD! For the faithful are no more; the loyal have vanished from among men.\u201d (Psalm 12:2)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The translation that the \u201cfaithful are no more\u201d is not very literal. Another translation, \u201cthe devoted one has ceased\u201d captures better the Hebrew sentence structure \u2013 <\/span>ki gamar chassid<\/span><\/em>. The word <\/span>gamar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0in this verse means \u201cceased,\u201d and by extension can mean \u201cwas destroyed\u201d or \u201cis no more.\u201d This negative connotation is found in other Biblical uses of <\/span>gamar<\/span><\/em>, including Psalms 7:10 and 77:9.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, after the biblical period, <\/span>gamar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0has a more positive meaning. Instead of referring to the cessation of something, it could indicate bringing something to its desirable completion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is how it used in the rabbinic collection of ethics, Pirkei Avot: \u201cIt is not your duty to finish <\/span>ligmor<\/span><\/em>\u00a0the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it\u201d (Avot 2:16)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The sense of \u201ccompletion\u201d gives us the phrases <\/span>legamrei<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>- \u201ccompletely\u201d and <\/span>v\u2019gomer<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u2013 \u201cthe conclusion (of a verse).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From conclusion in general, <\/span>gamar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0came to mean complete understanding \u2013 that is, \u201cto learn.\u201d This is the source of the word <\/span>gemara<\/span><\/em>. It literally means \u201cstudy,\u201d and it composes the results of the discussions of the rabbis who were studying the earlier rabbinic text, the mishna. Talmud, which contains both the mishna and gemara, also means \u201clearning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We recently celebrated Yom Kippur, and the customary blessing for that holy day is <\/span>gmar chatima tova<\/span><\/em>. <\/span>Chatima<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>means \u201csealing,\u201d so the phrase can be understood as \u201cmay the completion of your sealing be for good.\u201d This image derives from a metaphor of God inscribing our fate in the Book of Life on Rosh HaShanah, and then sealing the book on Yom Kippur.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One way or another, every year comes to an end. Sometimes a bad year will be over, and we are relieved that it finally ceased. Other years bring the satisfaction of bringing projects to completion. And often we don\u2019t succeed in finishing everything we started. But every ending is also a new beginning. So <\/span>gmar chatima tova<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0- and may God help us in the year to come!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80526,"alt":"","title":"ps12-start finish","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish.jpg","width":5472,"height":3648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Every End, A Beginning","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Gemar tov: may it be a good completion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80526,"alt":"","title":"ps12-start finish","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish.jpg","width":5472,"height":3648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1365,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-start-finish-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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"579","date":"20271117","wall_id":"579"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"80510","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Holy Speech Vs. Diabolical Speech ","post_title":"Holy Speech Vs. Diabolical Speech","slug":"holy-speech-vs-diabolical-speech","old_id":"80510","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":"579","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Leshon hara - not what you thought...\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

As already noted<\/span><\/a>, Se`adyah Gaon (882-942), in the introduction to his commentary on Psalms, stated that the cryptic notations that accompany many of the psalms (<\/span>selah, almut, neginot<\/span><\/em>) are either choral instructions or names of musical instruments that would accompany them. A <\/span>sh\u2019minit<\/em> <\/span>(12:1)<\/span>, arguably, would be either an eight-toned melody, or an eight-stringed instrument.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The outstanding theme of this psalm is speech\u2014proper and inappropriate. In the view of the psalmist, piety has been lost and people are no longer trustworthy (2). They speak falsehoods to one another, smooth talkers flatter one another, and their words are often at odds with their innermost intentions (3). While they mistakenly believe that their power of speech can overcome all restraints (5), it produces the sighs and cries of the needy and oppressed (6). In contrast, he extols the virtues of God\u2019s speech, which he described as pure as silver that has been refined sevenfold (7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Inappropriate speech is often called <\/span>leshon hara<\/span><\/em>`; I would like to seize the opportunity presented by this psalm to provide an insight into its real meaning. Notice, first, that there is no gender correspondence between the two words. Whereas <\/span>lashon<\/span><\/em> is a feminine noun (cf. v.4), the adjective <\/span>ra<\/span><\/em>` is masculine. Indeed, the reason the first word is vocalized <\/span>leshon<\/span><\/em> (not <\/span>lashon<\/span><\/em>) is that it is a construct of two nouns (<\/span>semikhut<\/span><\/em>), signifying the tongue, or speech, of the evil one. I would submit that \u201cthe evil one\u201d here is Satan.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In fact, its converse is <\/span>leshon hakodesh<\/span><\/em>, usually understood as a euphemism for Hebrew. I would submit that this, too, is a misnomer. Here, too, there is no gender correspondence and here, too, the vocalization points to a construct: the tongue, or speech, of the holy one, who, I submit, is God Himself, who, in the typical Yemenite articulation of Hebrew is called <\/span>haKodesh barukh hu<\/span><\/em> (rather than <\/span>haKadosh<\/span><\/em>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To speak properly is <\/span>imitatio dei<\/span><\/i>; to speak improperly or impiously is diabolical.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: No lashon hara sign, Jerusalem \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80523,"alt":"","title":"ps12-leshon hara","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","width":800,"height":761,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-300x285.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":285,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-768x731.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":731,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":761,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":761,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":761,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":761,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-442x420.jpg","home_baner-width":442,"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":"Holy Speech Vs. Diabolical Speech","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Leshon hara - not what you thought...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80523,"alt":"","title":"ps12-leshon hara","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","width":800,"height":761,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-300x285.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":285,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-768x731.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":731,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":761,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":761,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":761,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":761,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps12-leshon-hara-442x420.jpg","home_baner-width":442,"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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"12","chapter_main_number":"579","date":"20271117","wall_id":"579"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"80726","color":"#e6f5f3","size":"1","name":"The Image of God In You ","post_title":"The Image of God In You","slug":"the-image-of-god-in-you","old_id":"80726","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36535,"post_title":"Ezra Butler","slug":"ezra-butler","old_id":"36535","first_name":"Ezra ","last_name":"Butler","description":"Ezra Butler used to study third century texts, but is currently an artist and independent researcher living in Chicago.","short_description":"Ezra Butler used to study third century texts, but is currently an artist and independent researcher living in Chicago.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36536,"alt":"","title":"EzraButler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","width":597,"height":761,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","1536x1536-width":597,"1536x1536-height":761,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","2048x2048-width":597,"2048x2048-height":761,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819.jpg","post_full_size-width":597,"post_full_size-height":761,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/EzraButler-e1533041370819-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"580","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In that dark place - maybe uttering the words will silence the voices in your head\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Loneliness, depression: psalm 13 is about battling your own demons. About the bargaining that you do when you are in that pit of mental despair and existential anguish. About the voices in your head telling you that you are worthless, that you are incapable, that you are nothing. Those are the enemies and oppressors the psalm is referring to.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is written that people are created in the image of God, but when you are in that lonely, dark place, you can\u2019t see that face when you look in the mirror. You don\u2019t feel the essence of God within yourself. You see nothing. You feel nothing. You are obsessed with how others must see you, convinced they are cheering your demise. Convinced you are the center of their attention, that they are wishing for you to fail, hoping for you to die.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You pray for light. You pray for the ability to see yourself as the image of god again. You pray for the day you can be glad again, you pray for the day you will want to sing again. You say the words without believing them possible. You say the words because maybe that will change something. Maybe the uttering of the words are able to will them into being.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Maybe uttering the words will silence the voices in your head.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You pray for kindness. You pray to be seen. You pray for someone to see you for who you are. For what you are. For someone to accept you. And if someone does that act of kindness for you, and sees the image of God in you, the enemies and the oppressors you are battling would simply disappear and be forever vanquished.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Courtesy of the author<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80727,"alt":"","title":"ps13-ebutler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler.jpg","width":3487,"height":2325,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1366,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Image of God In You","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In that dark place - maybe uttering the words will silence the voices in your head\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80727,"alt":"","title":"ps13-ebutler","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler.jpg","width":3487,"height":2325,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1366,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-ebutler-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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"580","date":"20271118","wall_id":"580"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"80729","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Reading Psalm 13 After the Holocaust ","post_title":"Reading Psalm 13 After the Holocaust","slug":"reading-psalm-13-after-the-holocaust","old_id":"80729","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":"580","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Is God merciful? Perhaps. Perhaps not.","post_main_content_content":"

Three of my grandparents were murdered in the Holocaust. (The fourth one had the good sense to die before the War).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I never met any of my grandparents but I have it on personal testimony that they were extremely pious (despite being German-Jewish).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I wonder if those grandparents who were murdered went to their deaths with the last verse of this chapter on their lips:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cBut as for me, in Your mercy do I trust;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> I will sing unto God,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> Because He has dealt kindly with me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This seems to me the key verse in David\u2019s life, indeed in all of Psalms. David, despite all his tribulations, led a charmed life. Whatever happened to him, he always came up singing. He knew that in the end God was on his side and would save him. Perhaps that is even why he had the audacity to sin with Bathsheba. This too would work out well, eventually. God could not resist David\u2019s charisma, had too much invested in a happy outcome for David to let him fail.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet for how many Jews throughout the generations has this verse been a delusion and a false hope? God did not prove merciful; God did not provide salvation in which to rejoice; God did not deal kindly. Those unfortunate Jews who \u201ctrusted in God\u2019s mercy\u201d were left with the questions with which our chapter began:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHow long, O Lord, will You forget me forever?<\/span>
\r\n<\/span> How long will You hide Your face from me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As if to anticipate our objections, David\u2014or some genius of a redactor\u2014begins the very next chapter, (after the superscription), with the words:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThe <\/span>Naval<\/em> <\/span>has said in his heart: There is no God!\u201d (14:1)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Naval<\/em> <\/span>is usually translated as \u201cfool.\u201d But it is more likely related to the Hebrew word for \u201cwither.\u201d David is saying that only the withered leaf, only the individual who is <\/span>already<\/span><\/em> cut off from life, can imagine that there is no God. (And if the <\/span>naval<\/em> <\/span>made this statement not in his heart but out loud, in public, would he be any less of a <\/span>naval<\/span><\/em>?)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is something obfuscatory and disingenuous about this juxtaposition between faith at the end of Chapter 13 and doubt at the beginning of Chapter 14. David wants to force us into a binary proposition: either one believes in a merciful God or one doesn\u2019t believe in God at all and is a <\/span>naval<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\r\n

But isn\u2019t there another possibility: that God exists but is not, or is no longer, merciful? Or that He exists but is merciful to some and not to others?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does all this factor into the decisions that each individual must make in the course of his or her life?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Is God merciful? Perhaps. Perhaps not.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But it is probably not a good idea to rely on His mercy in any particular instance. Too many have suffered and died who made that mistake.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image:\u00a0Image: David and Joab \/ BAS Library<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60313,"alt":"","title":"2sam11-david and yoab2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","width":600,"height":346,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":346,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":346,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":346,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":346,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":346,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","home_baner-width":600,"home_baner-height":346}},"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":"Reading Psalm 13 After the Holocaust","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Is God merciful? Perhaps. Perhaps not.","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60313,"alt":"","title":"2sam11-david and yoab2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","width":600,"height":346,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","medium_large-width":600,"medium_large-height":346,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","large-width":600,"large-height":346,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","1536x1536-width":600,"1536x1536-height":346,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","2048x2048-width":600,"2048x2048-height":346,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","post_full_size-width":600,"post_full_size-height":346,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam11-david-and-yoab2.jpg","home_baner-width":600,"home_baner-height":346}},"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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"580","date":"20271118","wall_id":"580"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"80734","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"God\u2019s Chesed - And David\u2019s ","post_title":"God\u2019s Chesed - And David\u2019s","slug":"gods-chesed-and-davids","old_id":"80734","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":"580","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Over all the glory shall hang a canopy, which shall serve as a Sukkah\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The beginning of our psalm includes King David\u2019s cry of despair to God: \u201c\u2026How long will You hide Your face from me?\u201d (<\/span>13:2<\/span><\/a>), but ends with the Psalmist\u2019s declaration of faith: \u201cBut I trust in Your faithfulness (<\/span>13:6<\/span><\/a>). The idea that God sometimes conceals Himself from man (<\/span>hester panim<\/span><\/em>) is found in<\/span> Deuteronomy 31:17-18<\/span><\/a> and elsewhere in Scripture (see for example<\/span> Psalms 27:9<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> Isaiah 45:15<\/span><\/a>). Discussion of this problematic issue continues in post-Biblical literature to post-Holocaust theology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Trust (<\/span>Bittachon<\/span><\/em>) in God is also a major theme in Jewish thought from Biblical to modern times. Significantly, King David\u2019s expression of faith in God\u2019s <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em> (\u201cfaithfulness, loving-kindness\u201d) at the end of our psalm is incorporated in Jewish prayer, including in the <\/span>Hakafot<\/em> <\/span>on <\/span>Simhat Torah<\/span><\/em> according to <\/span>Nusach Sfard<\/span><\/em> (<\/span>Psalms 13:6 in Liturgy<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Midrash Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7:4<\/span><\/a> employs our verse to emphasize the importance of <\/span>gemilut chasadim<\/span><\/em>. This entails a highly creative rereading of David\u2019s declaration of faith. For David declared: I faithfully behave with kindness to all, as You [God] have behaved with kindness to me (Psalms 13:6). So, King David behaved with kindness (<\/span>gomel chesed<\/span><\/em>) to all people as he would to righteous people. The third Lubavitch Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, in his commentary to our Psalm (<\/span>Yahel Or 13<\/span><\/a>) adds that David behaved with humility even toward the poor because, though a mighty king, he also had the quality of meekness (on <\/span>gomel dalim<\/span><\/em> \u2013 \u201cshowing kindness to the poor, see<\/span> Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 104a<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Midrash Tehillim 14:7<\/span><\/a> depicts God saying to David, With what boldness you speak of <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em>! David replied, I am confident of Your <\/span>chesed<\/span><\/em>, as I have proclaimed: \u201cBut I trust in Your faithfulness (<\/span>chasdekha<\/span><\/em>)!...My heart will exult in Your deliverance\u201d (<\/span>13:6<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0 Rabbi Abbahu commented that this is one of those difficult Scriptural phrases in which God\u2019s deliverance is also Israel\u2019s deliverance. For though it is David who is speaking, he refers not to exulting in his own deliverance but in \u201cYour [God\u2019s] deliverance\u201d. In effect, David is saying, \u2018Your deliverance is our deliverance\u2026\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel, \u2018Render unto Me what I have given you in this World and I will repay you in the World to Come\u2026Dwell in <\/span>Sukkot<\/span><\/em> for seven days each year (see<\/span> Leviticus 23:42<\/span><\/a>) and I will repay you in the World to Come:\u2019 \u201cThe Lord will create over the foundation of Mount Zion and over meeting places cloud by day and smoke with a glow of flaming fire by night. Indeed, over all the glory shall hang a canopy, which shall serve as a <\/span>Sukkah<\/span><\/em> for shade from heat by day and as a shelter for protection against drenching rain\u201d (<\/span>Isaiah 4:5-6<\/span><\/a>). For this reason, David proclaims: \u201cI will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me\u201d (<\/span>Psalms 13:6<\/span><\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: thetorah.com<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80735,"alt":"","title":"ps13-sukkah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","width":801,"height":598,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-300x224.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-768x573.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":573,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","large-width":801,"large-height":598,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","1536x1536-width":801,"1536x1536-height":598,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","2048x2048-width":801,"2048x2048-height":598,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","post_full_size-width":801,"post_full_size-height":598,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-563x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":563,"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":"God\u2019s Chesed - And David\u2019s","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Over all the glory shall hang a canopy, which shall serve as a Sukkah\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80735,"alt":"","title":"ps13-sukkah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","width":801,"height":598,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-300x224.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":224,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-768x573.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":573,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","large-width":801,"large-height":598,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","1536x1536-width":801,"1536x1536-height":598,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","2048x2048-width":801,"2048x2048-height":598,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah.jpeg","post_full_size-width":801,"post_full_size-height":598,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/ps13-sukkah-563x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":563,"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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"580","date":"20271118","wall_id":"580"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"80743","color":"#e8ecf6","size":"1","name":"There\u2019s Nothing Here That\u2019s Not Your Fault ","post_title":"There\u2019s Nothing Here That\u2019s Not Your Fault","slug":"theres-nothing-here-thats-not-your-fault","old_id":"80743","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":80741,"post_title":"Joy Ladin","slug":"joy-ladin","old_id":"80741","first_name":"Joy ","last_name":"Ladin ","description":"Joy Ladin holds the Gottesman Chair in English at Yeshiva University, and, in 2007, became the first (and still only) openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. Her memoir, Through the Door of Life: A Jewish Journey Between Genders, was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award, and her recent book, The Soul of the Stranger: Reading God and Torah from a Transgender Perspective, is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award and a Triangle Award. She has also published numerous books of poetry. ","short_description":"Joy Ladin holds the Gottesman Chair in English at Yeshiva University, and, in 2007, became the first (and still only) openly transgender employee of an Orthodox Jewish institution. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":80742,"alt":"","title":"joy ladin - pic","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","width":200,"height":202,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":202,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":202,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":202,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":202,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":202,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":202,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-pic.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":202}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"580","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Dripping your most \/ Corrosive acid \/ Possibility.\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing here<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>That\u2019s not your fault, not bees\u2019<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Enslavement to nectar\u2019s labyrinths,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not the cacophonous greens<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Shaking themselves out like tangled hair, not<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>The sinking shiver of my blood<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Or the phantom footsteps of disease<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>That haunt my spinal column<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Searching for bits of self to seize<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The way you seize on bits of self<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You somehow lost<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In me, not the terror<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Stirring my depths<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Like the sea monsters you created<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>When you were in the creation business,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not the bombs<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Your children strap on<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To detonate in streets crowded<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With children you seem, in a flash,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>To have forgotten. No, I can\u2019t <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Not blame you<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For a single second<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Of the light<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>That penetrates me non-consensually<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Dawn after dawn, impregnating <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>With hope, desire, need<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>A body that couldn\u2019t care less<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How far away you seem<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Even when you are oppressively close,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Stuffing my nostrils<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With blossoming breath,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Drowned hair dripping <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Over my breasts,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Dripping fragrance, dripping smoke,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Dripping your most<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Corrosive acid,<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Possibility.\u00a0
\r\n
\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Psalm 13, David is searching and unable to find God. He wonders for how long God will abandon him, leaving him desolate and unsuccessful.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n

from: Joy Ladin,\u00a0Psalms<\/em>, Wipf and Stock, 2010<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":80744,"alt":"","title":"joy ladin - psalms","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","width":395,"height":343,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-300x261.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","medium_large-width":395,"medium_large-height":343,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","large-width":395,"large-height":343,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","1536x1536-width":395,"1536x1536-height":343,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","2048x2048-width":395,"2048x2048-height":343,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","post_full_size-width":395,"post_full_size-height":343,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":343}},"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":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"There\u2019s Nothing Here That\u2019s Not Your Fault","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Dripping your most \/ Corrosive acid \/ Possibility.\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":80744,"alt":"","title":"joy ladin - psalms","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","width":395,"height":343,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms-300x261.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","medium_large-width":395,"medium_large-height":343,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","large-width":395,"large-height":343,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","1536x1536-width":395,"1536x1536-height":343,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","2048x2048-width":395,"2048x2048-height":343,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","post_full_size-width":395,"post_full_size-height":343,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/joy-ladin-psalms.jpg","home_baner-width":395,"home_baner-height":343}},"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":"Writings","book":"Psalms","chapter":"13","chapter_main_number":"580","date":"20271118","wall_id":"580"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/80304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}