{"id":93944,"date":"2018-07-09T18:00:28","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1152\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T19:44:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:44:33","slug":"wall-1152","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1152\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20241229-to-20250104"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1152","date_from":"20241229","date_to":"20250104","book":"Job","books_group":"Writings","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"94085","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Korach: The Taker     ","post_title":"Korach: The Taker","slug":"korach-the-taker","old_id":"94085","type":"song","iframe":"","writer":{"id":84768,"post_title":"Hannah Elovitz","slug":"hannah-elovitz","old_id":"84768","first_name":"Hannah ","last_name":"Elovitz ","description":"Hannah Elovitz is Hazon\u2019s Marketing and Communications Manager. Previously, Hannah worked in communications for Hillel International in Washington, DC, for three years. Originally from Olney, MD, Hannah earned her B.S. at the University of Maryland in marketing and religious studies.","short_description":"Hannah Elovitz is Hazon\u2019s Marketing and Communications Manager. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":84769,"alt":"","title":"hannah-elovitz","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/hannah-elovitz.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1152","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"As the climate crisis worsens, the ground opening up and swallowing Korach\u2019s band does not feel as far-fetched as it once may have.\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<header><\/header>\r\n<section class=\"entry\">\r\n<p>My grandfather, I am told, would say: \u201cYou know what Korach\u2019s problem was? The Torah says, <em>\u2018Vayikach Korach.\u2019 <\/em>(\u2018Korach took.\u2019) Korach was a\u00a0<em>taker<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p>The week of Parshat Korach this year marks my grandfather Rabbi Mayer Weisenberg\u2019s z\u2019l fourth yahrtzeit. He modeled a life of Jewish values, leading by example for his family, community, and beyond. In many ways, he is the reason my life is grounded in <em>yiddishkeit,<\/em> and I dedicate this <em>dvar torah <\/em>to him.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Israelites journey on through the desert when Korach, from the tribe of Levi, gathers 250 people and provokes a rebellion. As one might expect, rebelling against Moses and by extension God did not end well: the very ground underneath their feet opens and swallows the rebels whole, along with all their possessions.<\/p>\r\n<p>The legacy of Korach\u2019s rebellion does not end there. We learn later in the parsha that the tribe of Levi will not inherit its own portion of land in Israel as the rest of the tribes do.<\/p>\r\n<p>Why? The reason for this may go back those first words of the parsha: <em>Vayikach Korach - <\/em>\u201cAnd Korach took\u201d (Numbers 16:1).\u00a0<em>What\u00a0<\/em>he took is unclear, and the word choice is odd in context. Commentaries run the gamut, but what\u00a0<em>is\u00a0<\/em>clear is that this was an individual\u2019s selfish, power-hungry act.<\/p>\r\n<p>Korach\u2019s mentality of \u201ctaking\u201d reveals that he is not a true leader, and it has consequences for his tribe for generations to come.<\/p>\r\n<p>It is the role of leaders, including congregational rabbis like my grandfather, to give to their communities and the earth that sustains us \u2013 everything from guiding congregants through lifecycle events to teaching about giving the land time to rest during the shmita year.<\/p>\r\n<p>As the climate crisis worsens, the ground opening up and swallowing Korach\u2019s band does not feel as far-fetched as it once may have. The earth is not an endless supply of resources for our consumption, and greed will only exacerbate the situation.<\/p>\r\n<p>The shmita year is a powerful reminder every seven years that we are not the true owners of land or any of our earthly possessions. As dwellers here on earth, it is on us to steward this land we\u2019ve been gifted and to work together to prevent further irreversible harm. May we be guided by true leaders in doing so and be reminded this week to care for the earth and each other.<\/p>\r\n<p><em>The next shmita year begins next Rosh Hashanah 2021, almost a year from now. We have time to prepare. As we move through 5781 we invite you to join us in preparation for the upcoming shmita year \u2013 a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we will share thoughts on how the weekly parsha can help guide our thinking around shmita themes of work and rest, wealth and debt, responsible land use, fair labor practices, private and public property ownership, and physical and spiritual revitalization.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p><em>Join us for the journey.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hazon.org\/shmita-project\/hazon-shmita-blog\/\">See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/section>","post_main_content_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"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":"A Weekly Series: The \"Shmitah Parasha\" Blog","tile_main_caption":"Korach: The Taker","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"in conjunction with Hazon.org","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":81608,"alt":"","title":"shmita","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","width":711,"height":708,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","medium_large-width":711,"medium_large-height":708,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","large-width":711,"large-height":708,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","1536x1536-width":711,"1536x1536-height":708,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","2048x2048-width":711,"2048x2048-height":708,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita.jpg","post_full_size-width":711,"post_full_size-height":708,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/shmita-422x420.jpg","home_baner-width":422,"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":"Job","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1152"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"93877","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Past is Prologue    ","post_title":"The Past is Prologue","slug":"the-past-is-prologue","old_id":"93877","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":"756","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Job and Greek tragedy\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job\u2019s second friend, Bildad, then entered the conversation. He began by criticizing Job for questioning God\u2019s justice: \u201cIf your sons sinned against Him, He dispatched them for their transgression\u201d (4), but \u201cIf you are blameless and upright, He will protect you, and grant well-being to your righteous home\u201d (6). He then contributed a new insight: Even as man is bowed under the strain of pain and suffering, he must ask himself whether he is at all unique in that regard. \u201cAsk the generation past, study what their fathers have searched out\u2014For we are of yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are a shadow\u201d (8-9).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next follows a series of parables featuring\u2014once again\u2014\"natural\u201d phenomena. First are the reeds that grow by the sea: \u201cCan papyrus thrive without marsh? Can rushes grow without water? While still tender, not yet plucked, they would wither before any other grass\u201d (11-12). The moral: \u201cSuch is the fate of all who forget God; the hope of the impious man comes to naught\u201d (13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The vegetation is succeeded by insect life, with its fragility and transience symbolized by cobwebs: \u201cWhose confidence is a thread of gossamer (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">yakot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), whose trust is a spider\u2019s web (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">beit `akavish<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)\u201d (14). Curiously, Rashi and Ibn Ezra interpreted <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">yakot<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a verb\u2014from the root <em>k-u-t<\/em>\u2014signifying cessation or termination, and yet Ibn Ezra also cited the opinion of Se`adyah Gaon: <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hevel ha-shemesh<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which should be corrected to <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chevel ha-shemesh<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, Arabic (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chablu<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">shams<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) for a spider\u2019s web, so called, apparently, on account of the way it refracts light. The spider\u2019s web shares the company of the house as a symbol of family and heritage: \u201cHe leans on his house\u2014it will not stand; He seizes hold of it, but it will not hold\u201d (15), and the tree, recognized even today as an icon of family and genealogy: \u201cHis shoots spring up in his garden; His roots are twined around a heap\u201c (16-17).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Aaron Kaminka, Bildad\u2019s central idea of an inherited fate accords with the notion of tragedy immortalized by the poets and playwrights of ancient Greece, such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. In Bildad\u2019s speech, however, that idea is refined through its combination with the belief in a just and righteous God who would never loathe the innocent.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":93878,"alt":"","title":"job8-tragedy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy.png","width":1280,"height":1156,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-300x271.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-768x694.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":694,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-1024x925.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":925,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1156,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1156,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-1200x1084.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1084,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-465x420.png","home_baner-width":465,"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 Past is Prologue","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Job and Greek tragedy","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":93878,"alt":"","title":"job8-tragedy","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy.png","width":1280,"height":1156,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-300x271.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-768x694.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":694,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-1024x925.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":925,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":1156,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1156,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-1200x1084.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1084,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job8-tragedy-465x420.png","home_baner-width":465,"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":"Job","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"756","date":"20280723","wall_id":"756"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"93882","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"Teach Your Children Well    ","post_title":"Teach Your Children Well","slug":"teach-your-children-well-3","old_id":"93882","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":46656,"post_title":"Molly Morris","slug":"molly-morris","old_id":"46656","first_name":"Molly ","last_name":"Morris ","description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Her particular area of interest is biblical leadership. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Molly Morris holds a Masters degree in Leadership and Community Engagement. Molly participates in the 929 initiative with a dedicated group from the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto congregation. \r\n\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92561,"alt":"","title":"molly morris","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","width":2192,"height":2488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-264x300.jpg","medium-width":264,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-768x872.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":872,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-902x1024.jpg","large-width":902,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","1536x1536-width":1353,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris.jpg","2048x2048-width":1804,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-1057x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1057,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/molly-morris-370x420.jpg","home_baner-width":370,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"756","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Job\u2019s righteousness can\u2019t excuse their behavior\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bildad begins to discuss the issues of sin and judgement with Job by chastising him for his \u201cavalanche of words\u201d against God (8:2). He then gets to the heart of the matter. While previously Eliphaz spoke of the general sinfulness of man collectively, Bildad points to Job\u2019s personal sin: failing to properly educate his children.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Job\u2019s zenith of wealth and good fortune, his children lived a life of material excess and entitlement. So concerned was Job about his children\u2019s life of decadence and the risk that it would lead them to sin, that every day he would give a sin-offering on behalf of each of them (1:5). Job was worried about divine judgement for his children, but rather than correct their ways, he continually excused them and instead acted on some misguided belief that he could buy their clemency with offerings. In the end, however, God euphemistically \u201csent them away (8:4).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bildad explained Job\u2019s sin with an analogy about the application of natural law to reeds growing in a marsh. As long as the plant remains in water it appears that it will thrive indefinitely. But remove a reed from water and it will shrivel and die very quickly. According to Malbim, the water is a metaphor for the hedonistic ways of Job\u2019s children. That was their only source of life, to the exclusion of any spirituality or connection to God. Once Job\u2019s wealth was gone there was nothing left to sustain his children and so they were euphemistically \u201csent away (8:4)\u201d. Their demise, according to this explanation, was not so much a punishment of the children as the acting out of God\u2019s natural law \u2013 there was simply not enough in their lifestyle to sustain them, but Job\u2019s excusing their lifestyle warranted direct punishment.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To find answers to his burning questions about divine judgement, Bildad implores Job to look at earlier generations. In fact, Bildad draws from Job\u2019s own rebuttal to Eliphaz concerning the fleeting and insignificant life of man. \u201cWe are but yesterday\u2019s creatures, unable to comprehend; our lives are a shadow upon the earth,\u201d says Bildad (8:9). Our lives are so fleeting that all we see is the flourishing reed and never see the withered dried-up plant.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ramban expands on this idea by explaining that, although in our own short lives we may see evildoers flourishing, we don\u2019t see the long-tail consequences of their actions. But if we internalize the experiences of our ancestors collectively, we can begin to see the evidence of judgement and understand that the apparent well-being of the wicked will eventually come to an end, much as a reed dies with nothing substantive to sustain it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":93003,"alt":"","title":"pro22-ducks education","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education.jpg","width":1920,"height":1216,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-300x190.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":190,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-768x486.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":486,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-1024x649.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":649,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1216,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-1200x760.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":760,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-663x420.jpg","home_baner-width":663,"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":"Teach Your Children Well","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Job\u2019s righteousness can\u2019t excuse their behavior","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":93003,"alt":"","title":"pro22-ducks education","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education.jpg","width":1920,"height":1216,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-300x190.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":190,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-768x486.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":486,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-1024x649.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":649,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":973,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1216,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-1200x760.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":760,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/pro22-ducks-education-663x420.jpg","home_baner-width":663,"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":"Job","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"756","date":"20280723","wall_id":"756"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"93913","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Job\u2019s Existential Sickness of Life    ","post_title":"Job\u2019s Existential Sickness of Life","slug":"jobs-existential-sickness-of-life","old_id":"93913","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. Diamond","slug":"james-a-diamond","old_id":"38322","first_name":"James ","last_name":"Diamond ","description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo. His most recent book is \u201cJewish Theology Unbound\u201d published by Oxford University Press. ","short_description":"Prof. James A. Diamond holds the Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Waterloo.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38323,"alt":"","title":"James Diamond","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","width":1186,"height":1386,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-257x300.jpg","medium-width":257,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-768x898.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":898,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-876x1024.jpg","large-width":876,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","1536x1536-width":1186,"1536x1536-height":1386,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913.jpg","2048x2048-width":1186,"2048x2048-height":1386,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-1027x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":1027,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/James-Diamond-e1534858914913-359x420.jpg","home_baner-width":359,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"757","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From Ecclesiastes to Camus\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job\u2019s struggles and frustrations anticipate critical issues raised by twentieth century existentialists who were concerned with the quest for meaning in what appeared an absurd universe. His life, inexplicably transformed from the upper limits of happiness to the very depths of misery, irreparably shattered a world he previously considered orderly. Job strikingly employs legal metaphors to describe the injustices he has endured at the hands of a Supreme Judge who wields absolute power arbitrarily, and in fact turns the entire notion of justice on its head, \u201cThough I were blameless, He would prove me crooked (20)\u2026He destroys the blameless and the crooked. (22)\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a certain sense Job is the precursor of Franz Kafka\u2019s Josef K in his novel \u201cThe Trial\u201d, who is arrested, tried, and executed for unspecified crimes that are never revealed, subject to a rule of law whose process is indecipherable, by various court officials whose roles and identities are nebulous. The authorities to which Job and Josef submitted and on whose governance they relied had bewilderingly become their tormentors rather than protectors. Like courts in totalitarian regimes who reach predetermined rulings, no matter what proof is adduced to the contrary Job cannot escape a guilty verdict for \u201cI know You will not acquit me, it will be I who am in the wrong so why should I strive in vain (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hevel<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).\u201d (28-29). <\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job\u2019s use of the term \u2018<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hevel<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>\u2019<\/em> to describe the senselessness of efforts that should accomplish certain ends suggests Ecclesiastes\u2019 refrain \u201cAll is <em>hevel<\/em>\u201d which also insinuates a world where justice has been turned on its head, where \u201cthe righteous receive what\u2019s due to the wicked and vice versa, this also is <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hevel<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d (Eccles. 8:14)<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job thus directly challenges Bildad\u2019s categorical affirmation of divine justice in the previous chapter: \u201cif you are blameless and upright, He [God] will protect you and grant well-being to your righteous home\u201d (8:6). Yet, only someone totally blind could parrot such a platitude in the face of a man whose home has been destroyed, whose children have all died, and whose body is so ravaged by disease as to render him unrecognizable. Job responds directly therefore to Bildad\u2019s blindness when he disputes his politically correct version of divine justice, \u201cThe earth is handed over to the wicked one, He covers the eyes of its judges.\u201d(24) These blinded\u00a0 judges pointedly refer to those like Bildad who can only adjudge an innocent man such as Job guilty, by averting their eyes from him who stands before them, whose very body and existence belies their verdict.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Albert Camus, one of the major proponents of modern existentialism, confronted by a similar, though godless, world bereft of purpose or governance stated \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deciding whether or not life is worth living is to answer the fundamental question in philosophy. All other questions follow from that.\u201d Job\u2019s <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">experience of a world absurdly governed by God yet reflecting chaos, offered his response to Camus\u2019 question, \u201cI am blameless\u2026I am sick of life.\u201d (21).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Image: Sisyphus, the symbol of the absurdity of existence, painting by Franz Stuck (1920) \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":93915,"alt":"","title":"job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","width":800,"height":924,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-260x300.jpg","medium-width":260,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-768x887.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":887,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":924,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":924,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":924,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":924,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-364x420.jpg","home_baner-width":364,"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":"Job\u2019s Existential Sickness of Life","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From Ecclesiastes to Camus\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":93915,"alt":"","title":"job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","width":800,"height":924,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-260x300.jpg","medium-width":260,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-768x887.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":887,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":924,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":924,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":924,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":924,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-Sisyphus_by_von_Stuck-364x420.jpg","home_baner-width":364,"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":"Job","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"757","date":"20280724","wall_id":"757"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"93917","color":"#efefef","size":"2","name":"Job\u2019s Frustration    ","post_title":"Job\u2019s Frustration","slug":"jobs-frustration","old_id":"93917","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":"757","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The opening of Job clearly states he is indeed righteous. So what could he do, other than articulate his dismay and existential angst over apparently being falsely accused?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once his \u201cfriends\u201d complete sharing their analyses with him<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and he realizes that<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">they are not about to take his side in his dispute with God regarding his righteousness, Job expresses his frustration with the situation. He bemoans the fact that God is so much more powerful than humans, and therefore he can only be intimidated and silent when he comes up against Him. Several verses summarize Job\u2019s state of mind at this point:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">21 I am blameless\u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">34 If He would only take His rod away from me and not let His terror frighten me.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">35 Then I would speak out without fear of Him; for I know myself not to be so.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the one hand, being a God-fearing person is a religious value, ensuring that we don\u2019t think that as long as we are not caught by this-worldly authorities, we can do whatever we wish. God serves as a \u201cback-up,\u201d assuring accountability, even for the \u201cperfect\u201d crime, and fearing Him constitutes a deterrent against our carrying out moral or social transgressions. However, if a person is convinced that they have been unfairly treated by the Divine, the same fear that otherwise keeps them on the \u201cstraight-and-narrow,\u201d constrains them from airing their grievances and gaining the sympathy of others.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And should one argue, as do Job\u2019s friends, that God does not err, and, by definition, has to be believed to be above reproach in such matters, the opening of the book of Job clearly states otherwise:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. That man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil\u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1:22 For all that (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the tragedies that befell his family and possessions<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) Job did not sin nor did he cast reproach on God. \u2026<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2:10 \u2026For all that (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">disease and considerable personal discomfort<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) Job said nothing sinful\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Explicit verses in chapter 1:12 and 2:6 state that the Adversary\u2019s actions were carried out with God\u2019s authorization, and therefore the entire situation was in accordance with Job\u2019s complaint, rather than the \u201cfriends\u2019\u201d defense of the Divine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While in contemporary life, illegal incarcerations can be reversed using objective DNA evidence, what could Job do, other than articulate his dismay and existential angst over apparently being falsely accused? At the very least, the Book of Job is a cautionary tale regarding the prohibition against <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ona\u2019at devarim<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (\u201cverbal oppression\u201d or abuse; see Bava Metzia 4:10; 58b).<\/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":"Job\u2019s Frustration","tile_main_caption":"The opening of Job clearly states he is indeed righteous. So what could he do, other than articulate his dismay and existential angst over apparently being falsely accused?","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":"Job","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"757","date":"20280724","wall_id":"757"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"93910","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"It\u2019s A Bird, It\u2019s A Plane    ","post_title":"It\u2019s A Bird, It\u2019s A Plane","slug":"its-a-bird-its-a-plane","old_id":"93910","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":"757","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It\u2019s another word for flight\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In chapter 9, Job responds to his friends, and complains that his days are passing too fast (that is, that his life is too short). He uses vivid imagery of things moving quickly - on land, in water, and in the air:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy days fly swifter than a runner; They flee without seeing happiness; They pass like reed-boats, Like an eagle swooping onto its prey.\u201d (Job 9:25-26)<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Hebrew word for \u201cswooping\u201d \u2013 <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toos<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u00ad<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(the last letter is a <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sin<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), is unique, appearing only in this one verse. Words of that nature (called a \u201chapax legomenon\u201d) are difficult to explain and translate, and this is no different. All translations relate to the movement of the eagle (or better,<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/929.org.il\/lang\/en\/page\/469\/post\/73881\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the vulture<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), but others say the verb means \u201cto dart,\u201d \u201cto float\u201d or \u201cto fly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last of these meanings (to fly) is what the word means in Aramaic \u2013 <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0(but this time ending with the letter <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">samech)<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Biblical Hebrew already had other words meaning \u201cto fly\u201d \u2013 most prominently \u201c<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">oof<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (related to <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ofe<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0\u2013 \u201cbird\u201d). From Aramaic, this form of <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0entered Rabbinic Hebrew, and so the language was blessed with two synonyms for \u201cflying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That was sufficient until modern times, at which point the speakers of Hebrew wanted to distinguish between the flight of a bird and flying (in) an airplane. The poet Haim Nahman Bialik suggested adopting <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0for airplane flight, and leaving <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">oof<\/span><\/em><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for other kinds of flight.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the debate did not end there. What should an airplane be called in Hebrew? The pioneer of Modern Hebrew Eliezer Ben-Yehuda coined the word <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aviron<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, from the Talmudic word <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">avir<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, meaning air. (The French word for airplane, \u201cavion,\u201d may have been an influence as well.)<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bialik, however, suggested a word based on <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">toos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and came up with <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">matos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. For many years, Hebrew speakers used <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aviron<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0and <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">matos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0interchangeably. But in recent years, <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">matos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0has become the dominant word, and <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aviron<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0is considered archaic. It\u2019s hard to say why \u2013 some speculate that it\u2019s because <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">matos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0is connected to the verb, or because it has stronger consonants. Others say that it\u2019s simply because <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">matos<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0is a shorter word than <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">aviron<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and so it\u2019s quicker to say.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So despite what Job claimed, sometimes being shorter and quicker is an advantage.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":93911,"alt":"","title":"job9-bird plane flight","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight.jpg","width":1920,"height":1437,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-768x575.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":575,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-1024x766.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1437,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-1200x898.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":898,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-561x420.jpg","home_baner-width":561,"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":"It\u2019s A Bird, It\u2019s A Plane","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"It\u2019s another word for flight\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":93911,"alt":"","title":"job9-bird plane flight","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight.jpg","width":1920,"height":1437,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-768x575.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":575,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-1024x766.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":766,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1437,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-1200x898.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":898,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-bird-plane-flight-561x420.jpg","home_baner-width":561,"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":"Job","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"757","date":"20280724","wall_id":"757"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"94006","color":"#e0e9ef","size":"1","name":"Why Wasn\u2019t Atheism An Option For Job?    ","post_title":"Why Wasn\u2019t Atheism An Option For Job?","slug":"why-wasnt-atheism-an-option-for-job","old_id":"94006","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":"758","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u201cThe fool says in his heart, there is no God!\u201d - Job was no fool\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imagine that a modern man\u2014or woman\u2014would have to undergo a fraction of Job\u2019s tribulations (God forbid!).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Frequently, the result would be an addition to the ranks of atheists.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often do we hear a story along the lines of \u201cI stopped going to church when my little sister died of cancer and I realized there was no God\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this person, suffering was his revelation. In all likelihood, despite going to church every Sunday, he had never pondered deeply about God until he suffered his loss. (Perhaps he had never recited the equivalent of the Jewish \u201c<em>Asher Yatzar<\/em>\u201d prayer in which we thank God after each bathroom visit for \u201cfashioning man with wisdom.\u201d) God was taken for granted during the years of prosperity and health; God became a factor for him only after his tragedy, when he realized that there was no God.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not so Job! Job asks God to leave him alone (Chapter 7); questions whether God is just or favors the wicked (Chapter 9); and wonders why God went to the trouble of creating him only to make him suffer (Chapter 10), but he never utters the words:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is no God!<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The question is why. Denying God would be the simplest answer to all Job\u2019s questions. Job had no knowledge of God\u2019s wager with Satan as we do; as far as Job was concerned, the succession of bad things happening to him was existentially absurd.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some would argue that atheism was unknown in antiquity. The classical Jewish prophets chastise the people for idolatry but never for atheism. The people abandoned the true God, or gave Him only perfunctory service, or placed Him in partnership with other, pagan deities, but never ceased worshipping altogether. Perhaps pre-scientific man needed to ascribe a cause for all the natural phenomena he witnessed. He lived in an age of open miracles and was closer in time to the creation of the world and the world-shaking experience of the Exodus from Egypt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet King David, probing deep into the soul of his contemporaries, declared \u201cThe fool says in his heart, there is no God!\u201d (Psalm 14).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, Job was no fool, no churl. He unburdens himself entirely to his friends, so he would not have been reticent to express any doubts about God\u2019s existence; to keep them \u201cin his heart\u201d if he had them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One answer would be that the rapid unfolding of tragic events, one coming on the heels of the other, was too percussive, too staccato to be random. Job sensed a malign presence behind them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, Job did have a relationship with God, even during the good years. He never took Him for granted. A man is not \u201cwhole-hearted and upright\u201d unless he fears a Higher Power. We like to think that man can be \u201cethical\u201d without being \u201creligious\u201d, but in truth this is questionable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, when bad things happen to Job, he asks \u201cwhy?\u201d, but never \u201cIs there a God?\u201d<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":94007,"alt":"","title":"job10-jester fool","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool.png","width":1280,"height":808,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-300x189.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":189,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-768x485.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":485,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-1024x646.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":646,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":808,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":808,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-1200x758.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":758,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-665x420.png","home_baner-width":665,"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":"Why Wasn\u2019t Atheism An Option For Job?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u201cThe fool says in his heart, there is no God!\u201d - Job was no fool","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":94007,"alt":"","title":"job10-jester fool","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool.png","width":1280,"height":808,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-300x189.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":189,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-768x485.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":485,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-1024x646.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":646,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool.png","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":808,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool.png","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":808,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-1200x758.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":758,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job10-jester-fool-665x420.png","home_baner-width":665,"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":"Job","chapter":"10","chapter_main_number":"758","date":"20280725","wall_id":"758"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"93990","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"You Bestowed Life On Me\u00a0    ","post_title":"You Bestowed Life On Me\u00a0","slug":"you-bestowed-life-on-me","old_id":"93990","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":"758","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The wonders of the woman\u2019s child-bearing ability\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our chapter continues Job\u2019s protests about his suffering, to the extent that he expresses the wish to never have been born (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.18-19?lang=bi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">verses 18-19<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). However, in the midst of all this negativity, we find a poetic description of how God bestows life on humans and gives them physical form: \u201cConsider that You fashioned me like clay\u2026You poured me out like milk, congealed me like cheese. You clothed me with skin and flesh and wove me of bones and sinews. You bestowed on me life and benevolence (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hayyim va-hesed<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). Your providence watched over my spirit\u201d (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.9-12?lang=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">verses 9-12<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.12?lang=bi&amp;p2=Vayikra_Rabbah.14.3&amp;lang2=bi&amp;w2=all&amp;lang3=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Midrash Leviticus Rabbah 14:3<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> illustrate how God bestows \u201clife and benevolence\u201d (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.12?lang=bi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job 10:12<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) with several parables about the wonders of the woman\u2019s child-bearing ability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIn the way of the world if a person takes a purse of money and places the opening downward, the coins drop out. But the Holy One, blessed be He, ensures that the fetus facing down in its mother\u2019s womb does not drop out and die. Is this not an example of how \"You bestowed on me life and benevolence\"? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, in the way of the world, an animal\u2019s teats are next to its womb, so that the newborn nurses from the underside of its mother. But a woman\u2019s breasts are elevated in a beautiful place, so that the newborn nurses, elevated to a place of honor. Is this not \"life and benevolence\u201d? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, if a person stays in an oven for just one hour, will he survive? But the womb of the woman is boiling hot and yet God protects and preserves the unborn fetus. Is this not \"life and benevolence\u201d? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And also, when a person eats one piece of bread after another, does not the second push out the first? But no matter how much food a woman eats or how much liquid she drinks, the fetus is not pushed out of the womb. Is this not also \"life and benevolence\u201d? <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\r\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, all nine months of pregnancy a woman\u2019s menstrual cycle ceases. But what becomes of her menstrual blood?! The Holy One, blessed be He, moves this blood up to her breasts where it becomes milk, so that when the baby is born it will have food to eat. Does this also not beautifully illustrate how God provides \u201clife and benevolence\u201d? As Scripture says: \u201cYou bestowed on me life and benevolence. Your providence watched over my spirit\u201d (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.9-12?lang=en\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">verses 9-12<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.12?lang=bi&amp;p2=Sanhedrin.91b.6&amp;lang2=bi&amp;w2=all&amp;lang3=en\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 91b<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the 2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">nd<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century CE Roman Emperor Antoninos (Marcus Aurelius) asserted that the soul is placed in man at the time of conception. Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Nasi, head of the Sanhedrin, said that Antoninos taught him this on the basis of the Scripture: \u201cAnd Your Providence [<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">pequdatekha<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">] watched over my spirit\u201d (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Job.10.12?lang=bi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Job 10:12<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) indicating that it is from the time of conception [<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">peqida<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">] that the soul is placed within a person.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":94002,"alt":"","title":"job10-mother baby 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Bestowed Life On Me\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The wonders of the woman\u2019s child-bearing ability","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":94002,"alt":"","title":"job10-mother baby 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Flaws    ","post_title":"Fatal Flaws","slug":"fatal-flaws","old_id":"93937","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":93055,"post_title":"J.J. Kimche","slug":"j-j-kimche","old_id":"93055","first_name":"J.J. ","last_name":"Kimche ","description":"J.J. Kimche is a student, teacher, translator, archiver, and writer of Jewish texts. He is currently a PhD candidate at Harvard University, specialising in Jewish intellectual history. ","short_description":"J.J. Kimche is a student, teacher, translator, archiver, and writer of Jewish texts, and a PhD candidate at Harvard University in Jewish intellectual history. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":93056,"alt":"","title":"JJ Kimche","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche.jpeg","width":1080,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche-300x200.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche-768x512.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche-1024x683.jpeg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1080,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1080,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1080,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/JJ-Kimche-630x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"758","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"If weakness, corruption, and malfeasance lie at the heart of what it means to be human, what sense does it make for God to condemn humans to punishment?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet these things You hid in Your heart; I know that You had this in mind To watch me when I sinned And not clear me of my iniquity<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d (10:13-14).<\/span><\/em><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Humans are, at bottom, frail creatures. We occupy decaying and malodorous bodily prisons, require endless amounts of nurture and upkeep, and spend our days in pursuit of the most foolish and evanescent ends. This portrait of humanity is common to many religious and philosophical traditions, and goes a long way in explaining why human life is so broken and its society so frequently corrupt.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yet, as Job laments at length in this chapter, the blame for this lamentable state of affairs can hardly be laid at mankind\u2019s door. After all, surely it is God himself who has orchestrated this state of affairs, imbuing humanity with all the weakness and pettiness that all but guarantees their lapse into sin. If weakness, corruption, and malfeasance lie at the heart of what it means to be human, what sense does it make for God to condemn humans to punishment? Can it really be that God has, to borrow a phrase from the late anti-theist polemicist Christopher Hitchens, \u201ccreated us sick and commanded us to be well\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the intervening centuries between Job\u2019s era and our own, numerous religious systems have attempted to square this circle by means of ingenious theological circumventions. Mainstream Christianity, for instance, explained that mankind\u2019s fallen state was not the result of divine caprice but rather due to their own insubordination. Adam and Eve\u2019s original sin condemned them, and us their descendants, to a frail corporeal existence mired in sin and perpetual guilt. Only through the redemptive actions of God-made-flesh could humanity hope to reclaim an existence of spiritual worth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another proposed solution came from various Gnostic sects, who posited the existence of two heavenly powers that vie for supremacy; a perfect \u2018higher\u2019 Deity and an evil demiurge. The latter created the entire physical world, whose denizens must suffer the decay and depredations that accompany corporeality. Not too distant from this is the solution proposed by Lurianic Kabbalah (a movement of Jewish mysticism founded in Sixteenth Century Safed) in which creation itself is viewed as the result of cosmic disaster (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shevirah<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or shattering) within the realm of divine powers. Humanity is thus born out of a cosmic catastrophe, trapped within a fundamentally deceptive and illusory world, which must be rectified by redemptive acts (<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tikkun<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) through which humans repair this damage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All these systems of thought constitute ingenious attempts at explaining away the theological problem elucidated by Job in this chapter. Needless to say, Job seems to have no recourse to any of these solutions. He remains convinced that, to the extent possible for any human being, he has fulfilled his duty towards justice and righteousness. 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","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"759","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\"Higher than heaven\u2014what can you do?\u201d\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to Job's pleas for knowing his transgression, Zophar tries to pull the rug out from under Job. Zophar tries to point out that Job will not get an answer from God. All man knows is the punishment, he does not have the ability to question God. \"Higher than heaven\u2014what can you do? Deeper than Sheol\u2014what can you know?\"\u00a0 (verse 8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zophar\u2019s images evoke the tower of Babel. Man tried to reach the heavens to attack God and question his rule, and they were never able to reach such heights. Instead, God punished the tower builders to be scattered around the earth. Job's cries to heaven are worthless. Man can only know what is in this domain.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0image: Michal Ben Hamu, 929<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":36137,"alt":"","title":"tower2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","width":250,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2-121x300.jpg","medium-width":121,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","medium_large-width":250,"medium_large-height":618,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","large-width":250,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","1536x1536-width":250,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","2048x2048-width":250,"2048x2048-height":618,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","post_full_size-width":250,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2-170x420.jpg","home_baner-width":170,"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":"Tower of Job\u00a0","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\"Higher than heaven\u2014what can you do?\u201d","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":36137,"alt":"","title":"tower2","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","width":250,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2-121x300.jpg","medium-width":121,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","medium_large-width":250,"medium_large-height":618,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","large-width":250,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","1536x1536-width":250,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","2048x2048-width":250,"2048x2048-height":618,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2.jpg","post_full_size-width":250,"post_full_size-height":618,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/tower2-170x420.jpg","home_baner-width":170,"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":"Job","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"759","date":"20280726","wall_id":"759"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":11,"id":"94036","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"If We Could Talk To The Animals    ","post_title":"If We Could Talk To The Animals","slug":"if-we-could-talk-to-the-animals","old_id":"94036","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. 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