{"id":94938,"date":"2018-07-09T18:00:58","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1158\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T19:44:50","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:44:50","slug":"wall-1158","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1158\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20250209-to-20250215"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1158","date_from":"20250209","date_to":"20250215","book":"Job","books_group":"Writings","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"95585","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Va\u2019etchanan: Strengthen Your Spiritual Health ","post_title":"Va\u2019etchanan: Strengthen Your Spiritual Health","slug":"vaetchanan-strengthen-your-spiritual-health","old_id":"95585","type":"song","iframe":"","writer":{"id":95582,"post_title":"Akiva Gersh","slug":"akiva-gersh","old_id":"95582","first_name":"Akiva ","last_name":"Gersh ","description":"Akiva Gersh has been working in the field of Jewish and Israeli Education, including Jewish Environmental Education, for 20 years. Akiva holds a BA in Religious Studies from Brown University and an MA in Jewish Education from Yeshiva University. He and his wife Tamar live in Pardes Hanna with their four children.","short_description":"Akiva Gersh has been working in the field of Jewish and Israeli Education, including Jewish Environmental Education, for 20 years. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":95583,"alt":"","title":"akiva gersh","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","width":150,"height":150,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":150,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":150,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":150,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":150,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":150,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":150,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/akiva-gersh.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":150}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1158","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Take one year out of every seven years to pause, slow down, and stop focusing so intensely on the physical side of our lives so that there is room and time to focus more intensely on the spiritual side","post_main_content_content":"
<\/header>\r\n
\r\n

In this week\u2019s parsha, Va\u2019etchanan<\/em>, we receive the following directive: \u201cGuard yourself and guard your soul very much\u201d (Deut. 4:9<\/a>) and \u201cYou shall guard yourselves very well.\u201d (Deut. 4:15<\/a>) These verses are understood by Jewish tradition as referring to the mitzvah of protecting one\u2019s physical health. It\u2019s interesting to note, however, that the word \u201csoul\u201d is used in the verse and not \u201cbody.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The interconnection between these seemingly opposed entities is reflected in the writings of the Rambam when he teaches: \u201cSince maintaining a healthy and sound body is among the ways of God, for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of the Creator if he is ill, therefore he must avoid that which harms the body and accustom himself to that which is helpful and helps the body become stronger.\u201d (Hilchot Deot 4:1<\/a>).<\/p>\r\n

From these two sources we can derive that physical health leads to spiritual health and that maybe even the larger goal of attaining physical health is in order to achieve health on a spiritual level.<\/p>\r\n

And that is a deep teaching of the Shmita year.<\/p>\r\n

Just like Judaism directs us to take a physical rest one day out of every seven so that we can create time and space for our spiritual selves to grow and be strengthened, so too we are taught the importance of taking one year out of every seven years to pause, to slow down, to stop focusing so intensely on the physical side of our lives so that there is room and space and time to instead focus intensely on the spiritual side.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Because in order to make sure we are not led astray by the way we humans so easily focus intensely on our physical selves, we need that charge to stop and do the same for our spiritual selves.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

That is Shmita. Stop plowing, stop planting, stop weeding, stop watering, stop harvesting in our normal ways (or the modern-day parallel to these things) and use that freed-up time to start studying more, reading more, praying more, meditating more, sitting in silence more, contemplating more, eating consciously more.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

For an entire year.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

To strengthen your spiritual health.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

So that when the Shmita year is over you can return to your regular focus on your physical self in an entirely new and rejuvenated way.<\/p>\r\n

The next shmita year begins next Rosh Hashanah 2021, only a few months from now. We still have some 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

Join us for the journey.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

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":"Va\u2019etchanan: Strengthen Your Spiritual Health","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":"1158"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"95314","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"God Shows Up For Job ","post_title":"God Shows Up For Job","slug":"god-shows-up-for-job","old_id":"95314","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":93281,"post_title":"Ariel Goldberg","slug":"ariel-goldberg","old_id":"93281","first_name":"Ariel ","last_name":"Goldberg ","description":"Ariel Goldberg is a therapist in in Washington DC. He has his semicha from Yeshivat HaMivtar (Efrat, Israel). From 2013-17 he served as a hospital chaplain and spiritual educator in Manhattan. He loves teaching about Torah and psycho-spiritual growth. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Ariel Goldberg is a therapist in in Washington DC","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":93282,"alt":"","title":"ariel goldberg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg.jpg","width":2659,"height":2249,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg-300x254.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":254,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg-768x650.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":650,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg-1024x866.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":866,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1299,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1732,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg-1200x1015.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1015,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/ariel-goldberg-497x420.jpg","home_baner-width":497,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"786","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"What Job needed, above all, was not a rational explanation of his suffering, but an emotional reassurance that he was not alone\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Beginning in chapter 38, God emerges from the whirlwind to speak directly with Job.\u00a0 God clearly believes that Job must answer to him, and not the other way around (as Job had demanded). God asks, <\/span>Who is this who keeps darkening my counsel without knowing what he\u2019s talking about? Stand up like a man! I\u2019ll ask you some questions, and you give me some answers! Where were you when I laid the foundation of my earth? Tell me since you\u2019re so informed!<\/em> <\/span>(Job 38:2-5)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At no time in his speech does God seek to justify God\u2019s actions. Instead, God speaks of the creation of the world, and the underlying order that maintains nature. In asking Job \u201cwhere were you when I laid the foundations of my earth?\u201d God challenges Job to explain how to create a cosmos out of nothing,\u00a0 implying that if Job can explain the natural functioning of the world, it will demonstrate that he also has the authority to judge the moral functioning of the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

How does God\u2019s response ultimately lay to rest Job\u2019s question about the meaning of his suffering?\u00a0 I believe it does not. No words, even those as profound as God\u2019s, could ever comfort Job for the loss of his children. What does comfort Job, I believe, is the fact that God is present for him, relates to him and accepts him. (Notwithstanding God\u2019s criticism of the incompleteness of Job\u2019s perspective, he is open to Job expressing it, stating in 42:7 that Job spoke \u201ccorrectly\u201d). What Job needed, above all, was not a rational explanation of his suffering, but an emotional reassurance that he was not alone and that his feelings mattered.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Like Job, Viktor Frankl understands that experiencing a connection to another human being is a far more meaningful response to suffering than is the sufferer rationally understanding her situation. Indeed, the three forms of meaning Frankl categorizes are all experiential rather than intellectual, namely, meaningfully relating to a person or God, acting meaningfully and choosing a meaningful attitude to respond to one\u2019s circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To relate to a person in pain, with an open heart, can be healing for them. Several Shoah survivors I knew in my youth related to me that their liberation did not really begin on the day of their physical liberation but on the day that they found someone who listened to them with an open heart, reminding them that meaningful relationships were still possible.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the illustration of\u00a0 the verse \u201cand the Lord answered Job from out of the whirlwind,\u201d Blake depicts Job experiencing God face to face to symbolize the directness of their encounter.\u00a0 Job whose face had earlier been downcast now feels seen and returns God\u2019s gaze. Job\u2019s friends appear crouched down with faces shielded by their hands. The God they have heard about second-hand, and will not relinquish, is different from the real God, and hence they cannot recognize him, even when he is appearing before them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: William Blake, Answer out of the Whirlwind, c. 1825 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":95316,"alt":"","title":"The Lord Answering Job out of the Whirlwind 1825, reprinted 1874 by William Blake 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Life Of Ceaseless Questioning ","post_title":"A Life Of Ceaseless Questioning","slug":"a-life-of-ceaseless-questioning","old_id":"95322","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38322,"post_title":"James A. 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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":"786","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"God\u2019s tempestuous Voice liberates Job of the self-indulgent certainty that stifles all credible inquiry\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Finally, after thirty-seven chapters of agonizing dialogue, reflection, and existential torment, desperately trying to come to grips with Job\u2019s seemingly irresolvable theological crisis, God Himself enters the scene with a question that, while not silencing Job\u2019s persistent questioning, subdues it. God admonishes Job by asking, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?\u201d (Job 38:4). God then immediately constrains Job by demanding that he preconditions any response to His question on knowledge and understanding: \u201cSpeak if you know understanding (<\/span>binah<\/span><\/em>)\u201d (38:4). This is consistent with Proverbs\u2019 sentiment which also anchors the \u201cfoundation\u201d of the world in wisdom and understanding- \u201cthe Lord founded the earth by wisdom, established the heavens by understanding\u201d (3:19).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, on closer consideration, God\u2019s question here responds to the very first question Job posed thirty-five chapters previously. Tormented by physical pain, material impoverishment, and familial loss, Job asks, \u201cWhy did I not die at birth, expire as I came forth from the womb?\u201d (Job 3:11). Repeated imaginings of death as a release from suffering follow this initial yearning for non-existence. Yet Job resists this \u201ceasy way out\u201d and struggles to find meaning in the pain of existence. The philosopher Philippe Nemo explains Job\u2019s refusal to succumb to suicide: \u201cWhile death would probably bring everything to a quiet end and a perfect peace, suffering continually awakens Job and obliges him to stay alive despite himself.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God now addresses Job\u2019s primal question that instigated his suffering-suffused awakening with a long litany of natural phenomena whose understanding is beyond the reach of human intellect. The swirling noise, chaos, and turmoil of the tempest itself, out of which God\u2019s voice emerges, signifies that outer limit where the quest for knowledge ultimately leads. Human beings cannot even fully gauge the meaning of their very own existence within the schema of God\u2019s design, let alone plumb the ends of the natural universe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

However, God never criticizes Job for his questions, only for his expectation of comprehensive answers. Job\u2019s incessant interrogation of God is a vast improvement over Adam\u2019s evasive response to God\u2019s first question of \u201cWhere are you?\u201d (Gen 3:9) God\u2019s question to Job, \u201cWhere were you?\u201d, bearing philosophical implications about human beings\u2019 place in the world and the limits of human knowledge, provides the corrective to the \u201cWhere are you?\u201d addressed to Adam which failed to elicit any meaningful thoughtful reflection.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Job finally understands, though one can never ultimately know the workings of divine governance the questions must persist. Job\u2019s friends follow Adam\u2019s lead, hiding and avoiding serious reflection, but in their case, it is hiding behind beliefs they refuse to surrender regardless of evidence to the contrary. As a result, they can never pursue authentic inquiry, since they remain blindly convinced they have all the \u201canswers\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Job, on the other hand, can now move forward with the search, despite knowing that there may never be a decisive \u2018answer\u2019, because God\u2019s tempestuous Voice liberates him of the self-indulgent certainty that stifles all credible inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Michal Ben Hamu<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":95323,"alt":"","title":"job38-question key Michal Ben Hamu","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-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":"A Life Of Ceaseless Questioning","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God\u2019s tempestuous Voice liberates Job of the self-indulgent certainty that stifles all credible inquiry","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":95323,"alt":"","title":"job38-question key Michal Ben Hamu","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/job38-question-key-Michal-Ben-Hamu-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":"Job","chapter":"38","chapter_main_number":"786","date":"20280903","wall_id":"786"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"95376","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"Wisdom And Understanding ","post_title":"Wisdom And Understanding","slug":"wisdom-and-understanding","old_id":"95376","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":"787","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Do the right thing - humans and other animals\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 39 is part of God\u2019s revelation to Job, where He continues to explain that the reason Job doesn\u2019t understand why he is experiencing such hardship, is because he does not possess God\u2019s vantage point vis-\u00e0-vis the world. Therefore, Job is not in a position to properly comprehend his personal situation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In this chapter, God mentions the behaviors of various animals to which Job is not privy. While God references redeeming aspects of mountain goats (v. 1- 4,) wild donkeys (v. 5-8,) undomesticated oxen (v. 9-12,) horses (v. 19-25,) and hawks (v. 26-30,) the most intriguing piece of information that He shares is what He says about ostriches (v. 13-18.) In v. 14-6, God describes the basically reckless attitude of mother ostriches towards their young in terms of the eggs that they lay, and blames this behavior on what He has, or more precisely, hasn\u2019t implanted within her: \u201cFor God deprived her of <\/span>chochma<\/span><\/em> (\u201cwisdom\u201d); gave her no share of <\/span>bina<\/span><\/em> (\u201cunderstanding\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Birds, in particular, appear to be extremely protective of their young, which makes the case of the ostrich so singular. The Torah offers two specific examples:<\/span><\/p>\r\n