{"id":97685,"date":"2018-07-09T18:01:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-1168\/"},"modified":"2022-02-02T19:45:18","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T17:45:18","slug":"wall-1168","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-1168\/","title":{"rendered":"weekend-from-20250420-to-20250426"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"weekend","wall_id":"1168","date_from":"20250420","date_to":"20250426","book":"Daniel","books_group":"Writings","hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":"","updates_last_update":"28\/06\/2020","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"97934","color":"#fafafa","size":"2","name":"Bereishit: Revisioning our Relationship to Creation","post_title":"Bereishit: Revisioning our Relationship to Creation","slug":"bereishit-revisioning-our-relationship-to-creation","old_id":"97934","type":"song","iframe":"","writer":{"id":97935,"post_title":"Natan Margalit","slug":"natan-margalit","old_id":"97935","first_name":"Natan ","last_name":"Margalit ","description":"Natan Margalit is the author of The Pearl and the Flame: A Journey into Jewish Wisdom, Ecological Thinking and Healing in a Fragmented World (forthcoming 2021 from Albion-Andalus Books). Natan lived for twelve years in Israel where he received rabbinic ordination (1990). His Ph.D. in Talmud is from U.C. Berkeley (2001). He is currently Chair of the Rabbinic Texts department in the Aleph Ordination Program and he directs the AOP\u2019s Earth-Based Judaism Program. Natan is Founder of Organic Torah which is a program of Aleph. ","short_description":"Natan Margalit is the Chair of the Rabbinic Texts department in the Aleph Ordination Program and he directs the AOP\u2019s Earth-Based Judaism Program. Natan is Founder of Organic Torah which is a program of Aleph. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":97936,"alt":"","title":"natan margalit","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit.jpg","width":1719,"height":2409,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit-214x300.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit-731x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":731,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit-731x1024.jpg","large-width":731,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit.jpg","1536x1536-width":1096,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit.jpg","2048x2048-width":1461,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit-856x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":856,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/natan-margalit-300x420.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1168","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"This shmita year may we be blessed with finding opportunities to let go of the illusion that we stand apart as owners, and instead embrace our partnership with creation, bringing joy to ourselves and to the earth","post_main_content_content":"

Parshat Bereishit\u00a0tells the creation story of the earth and the humans and animals living upon it \u2013 this year, it also marks the beginning of the Shmita year. The Shmita year is all about revisioning our relationship to creation. Instead of being owners of the land, Shmita reminds us to release that illusion of ownership and embrace our place as partners with creation.\u00a0In parshat Bereishit we read our Jewish stories of creation. It can sometimes be a little difficult to find those messages of partnership in our creation stories.\u00a0But Judaism has always started from biblical stories and then retold them in ways that inspire and fit the spirit of the times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

The Piaseczner Rebbe, Rabbi Kolonymus Kalman Shapiro, in his book\u00a0Derekh HaMelekh<\/em> retells the creation story. Here is my adapted version of his retelling:<\/p>\r\n

God created the First Human by gathering soil from all four corners of the world. When the First Human(s) disobeyed God, sparks of their soul fell back down and were scattered all through the world. So, the whole world is filled with soul sparks, in a myriad of forms. Our job in this life is, and has always been, to recognize our kinship with the world, to connect with those sparks as partners, and together with them serve God. When we do that, we, and the world, feel deep, true joy. If, however, we forget that the world is our partner, holy sparks offering us opportunities to serve, and we relate to the world as mere objects, we distort our souls and damage the world. We fall into desperate, self-defeating obsessions and addictions, searching for the true joy that we know is there but have forgotten how to find.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Mixing in midrash and kabbalah, the Piaseczner Rebbe retells our creation story in a way which fits perfectly with the spirit of Shmita: The business-as-usual mode of the six other years can push us towards the illusion that the physical world is full of mere objects or \u201cresources\u201d for our use and profit.\u00a0 Shmita reminds us that the benefits we enjoy come to us as a part of our relationship to the Source of Life and to the earth itself. We are partners with, not owners of, creation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

This shmita year may we be blessed with finding opportunities to let go of the illusion that we stand apart as owners, and instead embrace our partnership with creation, bringing joy to ourselves and to the earth.<\/p>\r\n

The shmita year began on Rosh Hashanah 2021<\/span>! Shmita means a sabbatical year for the Earth but also for ourselves, our communities, and our world. Each week we continue to 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

See here for more information on the Hazon Shmita project, and its blogs.<\/a><\/p>","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":"Bereishit: Revisioning our Relationship to Creation","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":"Daniel","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1168"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"97794","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"2","name":"Four Beasts And Four Methods ","post_title":"Four Beasts And Four Methods","slug":"four-beasts-and-four-methods","old_id":"97794","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"836","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Interpreting the lion\/eagle, the bear\/wolf, the leopard, and\u2026 ?\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 7 begins the second half of the book of Daniel in which each chapter is a different vision. The first one describes four fantastical beasts that emerge from the water. Most commentators believe these four beasts to be four ages of empire- Babylonia, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Rashi connects each empire to the image in Daniel\u2019s vision. The first beast is the Babylonian empire that was ruling at the time of Daniel\u2019s vision. The Babylonians were compared to lions and eagles by the prophet Jeremiah: \u201cA lion has come up from its thicket,\u201d (Jeremiah 4:3, and 48:40): \u201clike an eagle he shall soar.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The second animal is usually translated as a bear, but Rashi notes that the word is written like the Aramaic word for wolf. Persia is referred to as a wolf by Jeremiah as well: \u201cTherefore a lion smote them, a wolf of the deserts spoils them\u201d (Jer. 5:6). The third beast is a leopard with four heads. Rashi concludes that this is Greece as the empire of Alexander the Great was divided by his four generals Cassander, Ptolemy, Antigonus, and Seleucus.\u00a0 The animal is a leopard because the Greek empire issued \u201cdecrees upon Israel [which were] spotted and varied one from the other.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The final terrifying beast represents Rome. It has ten horns which, according to Rashi, represent the ten Roman emperors \u201cbefore Vespasian, who would destroy the Temple.\u201d However, Vespasian was the ninth Roman Emperor, so it is unclear who the ten prior to Vespasian are, according to Rashi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As we can see, Rashi employs several different methods of deducing the four beasts. The first method is direct references in other biblical passages. This is how he identifies the first beast. Next, he uses a hybrid method of using wordplay in the story and connects it to a biblical verse. This is how he identifies the second. Next, he uses a mix of historical knowledge and wordplay to match the third beast. Finally, the fourth beast, he simply uses historical knowledge to match the number.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

With such interesting dreams and images coming up, it\u2019s clear that the commentators must employ equally diverse analytical methods to try to deduce their meaning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Luigi Sabatelli: The vision of the prophet Daniel, c. 1809 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97795,"alt":"","title":"dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","width":800,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-768x575.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":575,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-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":"Four Beasts And Four Methods","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Interpreting the lion\/eagle, the bear\/wolf, the leopard, and\u2026 ?\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97795,"alt":"","title":"dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","width":800,"height":599,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-768x575.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":575,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":599,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":599,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":599,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":599,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan7-the_vision_of_the_prophet_Daniel-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":"Daniel","chapter":"7","chapter_main_number":"836","date":"20281112","wall_id":"836"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":3,"id":"97797","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The End Of Days ","post_title":"The End Of Days","slug":"the-end-of-days-2","old_id":"97797","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":92960,"post_title":"Calev Ben-Dor","slug":"calev-ben-dor","old_id":"92960","first_name":"Calev ","last_name":"Ben-Dor ","description":"Having grown up in London, Calev Ben-Dor now lives in Jerusalem with his family. He writes and teaches about Israel and Judaism and is involved in a Whatsapp facilitated 929 learning group with members from across the world.","short_description":"Calev Ben-Dor lives in Jerusalem and writes and teaches about Israel and Judaism.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":92962,"alt":"","title":"calev ben dor","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","width":428,"height":414,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1-300x290.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":290,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","medium_large-width":428,"medium_large-height":414,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","large-width":428,"large-height":414,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":428,"1536x1536-height":414,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":428,"2048x2048-height":414,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","post_full_size-width":428,"post_full_size-height":414,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/calev-ben-dor-1.jpg","home_baner-width":428,"home_baner-height":414}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"836","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"According to Abarbanel, at least\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Don Isaac Abarbanel sat in his study in Naples, thinking deeply about the Book of Daniel and the codes he was certain lay hidden within it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Born in Lisbon in 1437 Abarbanel became treasurer to Alfonso V of Portugal, before fleeing to Castile in Spain in 1483 and entering the service of Queen Isabella. Having tried valiantly to prevent the expulsion of the Jewish community in 1492, Abarbanel travelled to Naples and began to advise the King.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Four years later, he was now focused on a key phrase of the Book of Daniel in which the eponymous hero has a terrible dream about four beasts \u2013 a lion with eagles wings; a bear, a leopard, and a fourth \u2018exceedingly terrible\u2019 beast with many horns and \u2018teeth of iron and nails of brass\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Daniel learns, when a certain time comes \u05e2\u05b4\u05d3\u05bc\u05b8\u05df \u05d5\u05b0\u05e2\u05b4\u05d3\u05bc\u05b8\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05df \u05d5\u05bc\u05e4\u05b0\u05dc\u05b7\u05d2 \u05e2\u05b4\u05d3\u05bc\u05b8\u05df,\u00a0idan v'idanin uflag idan,<\/em> \u201ca time and times and half a time\u201d this Kingdom will disappear, and redemption will begin.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the code that Abarbanel was trying to break.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In his book <\/span>Maayanei Yeshua<\/span><\/em> Abarbanel carries out calculations that lead him to conclude that the Messiah will arrive in 1503 CE or that major events anticipating his arrival will occur no later than 1531.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Abarbanel also drew on astrology, specifically the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces which took place in 1464, years prior. \u201cSince the effect of the great conjunction is to transfer the nation or subject that receives its influence from one extreme to the other its influence will affect a nation that is at the extreme of degradation, the extreme of abasement, and enslaved in a foreign land. The result is that the conjunction is then able to carry them to the [opposite] extreme of high stature.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is scholarly disagreement over the extent to which Abarbanel sets the tone for future Jewish messianic thought. But what\u2019s strange is that Abarbanel\u2019s main life was as textual commentator and advisor to statesmen. He was very grounded in the \u2018here and now.\u2019 He knows that most commentators shied away from calculating the end of days. And the date he suggested was only seven years on from when he wrote the book.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In <\/span>Maayanei Yeshua<\/span><\/em> Abarbanel writes that he sought to \"strengthen feeble hands and weak knees, to try to bring comfort to those who stumble from the exile and those who remain of the multitude, to seek out in the book of the Lord His good word as imparted to His servants, the prophets, to inquire 'how long it shall be until the end of the wonders' (Daniel, 12:6).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

While he knew predicting the end was frowned on, Abarbanel\u2019s primary aim was to try to give comfort to his people.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps, Abarbanel genuinely couldn\u2019t imagine how so much oppression could NOT in some way be part of a divine plan. Or that visionary alternatives to the bitter reality of exile would raise even greater theological questions than a mistaken calculation regarding the end of days.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62528,"alt":"","title":"1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","width":252,"height":374,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel-202x300.jpg","medium-width":202,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","medium_large-width":252,"medium_large-height":374,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","large-width":252,"large-height":374,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","1536x1536-width":252,"1536x1536-height":374,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","2048x2048-width":252,"2048x2048-height":374,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","post_full_size-width":252,"post_full_size-height":374,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","home_baner-width":252,"home_baner-height":374}},"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 End Of Days","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"According to Abarbanel, at least","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62528,"alt":"","title":"1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","width":252,"height":374,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel-202x300.jpg","medium-width":202,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","medium_large-width":252,"medium_large-height":374,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","large-width":252,"large-height":374,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","1536x1536-width":252,"1536x1536-height":374,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","2048x2048-width":252,"2048x2048-height":374,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","post_full_size-width":252,"post_full_size-height":374,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings14-Isaac_Abrabanel.jpg","home_baner-width":252,"home_baner-height":374}},"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":"Daniel","chapter":"7","chapter_main_number":"836","date":"20281112","wall_id":"836"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":4,"id":"97799","color":"#f6f5de","size":"1","name":"The Secrets Of Geshem ","post_title":"The Secrets Of Geshem","slug":"the-secrets-of-geshem","old_id":"97799","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":"836","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Wind is to spirit(ual) as rain is to matter(ial)?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

In chapter 7, Daniel relates his dream, in which he saw various beasts, which represent different empires that will conquer the known world. After he describes each beast, he tells of how \u201cThe Ancient of Days\u201d (i.e., God) will carry out judgement on those beasts:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd the Ancient of Days took His seat. [\u2026] A river of fire streamed forth before Him [\u2026] The court sat and the books were opened. [\u2026] Then, because of the arrogant words that the horn spoke, the beast was killed as I looked on; its body was destroyed and it was consigned to the flames.\u201d (Daniel 7:9-11)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

One word that is worth examining in these verses is translated here as \u201cbody\u201d \u2013 <\/span>gishma<\/span><\/em>. As are all of the words in this chapter, <\/span>gishma<\/span><\/em>\u00a0is Aramaic. But as a sister language to Hebrew, we should not be surprised that it appears similar to the Hebrew word <\/span>geshem<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201crain.\u201d How are the two connected?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Many scholars say that they aren\u2019t related at all. But one theory that does connect them points out that there is an Arabic word, <\/span>jasuma<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto be bulky, thick.\u201d If it is cognate with the Hebrew <\/span>geshem<\/span><\/em>\u00a0and Aramaic <\/span>gishma<\/span><\/em>, perhaps <\/span>geshem<\/span><\/em>\u00a0referred originally to a particularly heavy rain, and <\/span>gishma<\/span><\/em>\u00a0indicated a body \u2013 something with significant substance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From the Aramaic <\/span>gishma<\/span><\/em>, Hebrew later created a number of words where the root indicates substance: <\/span>gashmi<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cphysical\u201d (as opposed to <\/span>ruchani<\/span><\/em>\u00a0-<\/span><\/i>\u201cspiritual\u201d) and <\/span>hitgashem<\/span><\/em>\u00a0means \u201cwas realized, fulfilled.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Once this other meaning of the root <\/span>g-sh-m<\/span><\/em>\u00a0entered Hebrew, it was less common to use that same root to mean the act of raining. Instead, a biblical synonym for rain \u2013 <\/span>matar<\/span><\/em>\u00a0was used for words related to rain: <\/span>himtir<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cto [make] rain\u201d and <\/span>mitria<\/span><\/em>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cumbrella.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This led to an interesting situation where the noun for rain is almost always <\/span>[geshem]<\/span><\/i> in Modern Hebrew, but the verb and other derivative words come from <\/span>[matar]<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70075,"alt":"","title":"jer15-dancing-in-the-rain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain.jpg","width":1920,"height":1265,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-768x506.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":506,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-1024x675.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":675,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1012,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1265,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-1200x791.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":791,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-637x420.jpg","home_baner-width":637,"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 Secrets Of Geshem","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Wind is to spirit(ual) as rain is to matter(ial)?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70075,"alt":"","title":"jer15-dancing-in-the-rain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain.jpg","width":1920,"height":1265,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-768x506.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":506,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-1024x675.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":675,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1012,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1265,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-1200x791.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":791,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer15-dancing-in-the-rain-637x420.jpg","home_baner-width":637,"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":"Daniel","chapter":"7","chapter_main_number":"836","date":"20281112","wall_id":"836"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":5,"id":"97830","color":"#efefef","size":"1","name":"The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Aramaic ","post_title":"The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Aramaic","slug":"the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-aramaic","old_id":"97830","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":"837","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"And the transition from Babylonia to Persia\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The majority of the Book of Daniel is written in Aramaic, but in Chapter 8, as it moves from a narrative of the environment in which Daniel lived to relating his prophetic dreams, the language switches to Hebrew.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This chapter opens by contextualizing Daniel\u2019s prophecy. It occurs in \u201cthe third year of King Belshazzar\u2019s reign.\u201d We know that Belshazzar only ruled for three years, so this prophecy is occurring near the end of his reign. In fact, as Rabbi Yaakov Trump explains, the text refers to \u201c<\/span>Belshazzar haMelech<\/span><\/em> \u2013 Belshazzar the king\u201d rather than \u201cBelshazzar, King of Babylonia\u201d, signaling that his tenure is drawing to a close as the Babylonian empire itself is failing, soon to be replaced by the Persian empire. The use of this literary technique of switching languages, gives us a better understanding of the shifting times. Indeed, Daniel himself situates his location at the time of this prophecy in Shushan, the capital of Persia. So, it seems, Daniel has already begun to make the geo-political shift away from Babylonia, although ideologically there\u2019s not much difference.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmud tells us that God\u2019s choice of Babylonia as the destination for Jewish exile, was, in part based on the language.\u00a0 In Rabbi Hanina\u2019s words, Babylonia was chosen because of the fact that \u201ctheir language\u201d, Aramaic, \u201cis similar to the language of Torah.\" Consequently, the Gemara, which was born in Babylonian exile, is almost entirely written in Aramaic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Even though Daniel intended to prepare us for the coming shift with linguistic clues, the language of Babylonia permeated Jewish life for some time after the Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem. In Daniel Chapter 3 we witnessed the intentional use of the common cultural assimilation technique of stripping newcomers of their language. So successful was this endeavor overall, that among the 50,000 Jews who returned from Babylonian exile to build the Second Temple in Jerusalem, knowledge of Hebrew language was limited. So much so, in fact, that once back in Jerusalem public Torah reading was accompanied by an Aramaic translation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Though Aramaic as a spoken language has, with the exception of a few small pockets, largely died out, it\u2019s embeddedness in Jewish texts ensures that it will forever be a language of Jewish learning. Besides the Babylonian Talmud, we continue to recite the mourners\u2019 Kaddish and the Yom Kippur Kol Nidre service in Aramaic, as well as a popular Passover song from the Haggadah. It is notable that at the last Siyum HaShas, the celebration of the completion of the seven and half year cycle of learning the Babylonian Talmud, there were hundreds of thousands of participants worldwide. As pointed out by Lorne Rozovsky, in a 2010 post on Chabad.org, referencing the 2005 Siyum HaShas \u201c<\/span>there are more Jews studying Aramaic texts today than there have been since the majority of Jews lived in Babylonia over 1000 years ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97625,"alt":"","title":"dan1-aramaic","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Aramaic","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And the transition from Babylonia to Persia","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97625,"alt":"","title":"dan1-aramaic","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan1-aramaic-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Daniel","chapter":"8","chapter_main_number":"837","date":"20281113","wall_id":"837"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":6,"id":"97851","color":"#f2e9df","size":"1","name":"Daniel Does 929 (Sort Of) ","post_title":"Daniel Does 929 (Sort Of)","slug":"daniel-does-929-sort-of","old_id":"97851","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"838","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"He studies, and also prays and seeks the well-being of the people\u00a0\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Daniel chapter nine is unique in Tanach: Daniel discusses reading the prophecies of Jeremiah. Before this, save for a few times where a Torah scroll is discovered or read, we rarely see one main character reviewing the works of another. Similar to the description of Daniel praying three times a day in chapter six, this fact makes Daniel relatable to practices that continue to this day for religious Jews. He prays three times a day and he even does 929! (Although it was not fully 929 in those days).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This also tells us that Daniel, who was among the earlier exiles from Jerusalem was aware of the prophecies of Jeremiah who was among the last exiles from Jerusalem. It also shows that Daniel took a personal stake in the plight of the Jews in exile, despite his lofty status. Excerpts from this chapter are used in prayer to this day. \u201cWe have sinned; we have gone astray; we have acted wickedly; we have been rebellious and have deviated from Your commandments and Your rules\u201d (verse 5). In this verse, Daniel prays in the name of everyone. He includes himself in the community in exile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The third piece that is amazing in this chapter is that Daniel is answered immediately. At the very end he is visited by the Angel Gabriel who explains certain mystical time frames for him. This contrasts with much of the book of Jeremiah that Daniel opens with. Jeremiah is torn between his anger at the people and his desire to defend them. Daniel does not lash out at the people. He includes himself in the community and prays on their collective behalf. Also, we do not see Jeremiah\u2019s prayers being addressed immediately. In fact, Jeremiah often languishes in his misery. Daniel though has the luxury of being safe in exile. He is not standing in a dying city surrounded by enemies. Despite this, Daniel still cares for the people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97853,"alt":"","title":"929 crystal ball","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","width":1191,"height":1191,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","1536x1536-width":1191,"1536x1536-height":1191,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","2048x2048-width":1191,"2048x2048-height":1191,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","post_full_size-width":1191,"post_full_size-height":1191,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"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":"Daniel Does 929 (Sort Of)","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"He studies, and also prays and seeks the well-being of the people\u00a0","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97853,"alt":"","title":"929 crystal ball","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","width":1191,"height":1191,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-300x300.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-768x768.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-1024x1024.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","1536x1536-width":1191,"1536x1536-height":1191,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","2048x2048-width":1191,"2048x2048-height":1191,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball.png","post_full_size-width":1191,"post_full_size-height":1191,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/929-crystal-ball-420x420.png","home_baner-width":420,"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":"Daniel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"838","date":"20281114","wall_id":"838"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":7,"id":"97855","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Daniel\u2019s Calculations ","post_title":"Daniel\u2019s Calculations","slug":"daniels-calculations","old_id":"97855","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":"838","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Ambiguous predictions, questionable counting and false messiahs\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Messianic calculations had already become a nuisance in the talmudic era. Attempting to interpret the verse, \u201cFor there is yet a prophecy for a set term, a truthful witness for a time that will come; even if it tarries, wait for it still, for it will surely come, without delay\u201d (Habakuk 2:3), R. Samuel b. Nahmani said in the name of R. Jonathan:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Blasted be the bones of those who calculate the end. For they would say, since the predetermined time has arrived, and yet he has not come, he will never come. But [even so], wait for him, as it is written, \u201cEven if it tarries, wait for it still\u201d (Sanhedrin 97b).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Our chapter provides a case in point, as Daniel \u201cconsulted the books concerning the number of years that, according to the word of the LORD that had come to Jeremiah the prophet, were to be the term of Jerusalem\u2019s desolation\u2014seventy years\u201d<\/span> (2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In prophesying the impending destruction and exile, the prophet Jeremiah had forecast that \u201cThis whole land shall be a desolate ruin and those nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years\u201d (25:11). And in<\/span> a letter he wrote to the Jews who were subsequently exiled to Babylonia, he offered God\u2019s promise: \u201cWhen Babylon\u2019s seventy years are over, I will take note of you, and I will fulfill to you My promise of favor\u2014to bring you back to this place\u201d (29:10).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ambiguity of the phrase \u201cBabylon\u2019s seventy years\u201d allowed Daniel to first arrive at an erroneous understanding. As Rashi elaborated:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

I [Daniel] thought\u2026 that the seventy years end in the first year of Darius the Mede, since the kingdom of Babylon stretched forth a hand upon Israel, when Nebuchadnezzar vanquished Jehoiakim to be his slave\u2026 And when I [Daniel] saw that the redemption was not hastening to come, I contemplated and put my heart to the calculation, and I knew that I should not have counted according to the conquest of Jehoiakim but [according] to the destruction of Jerusalem, when 70 years will be complete from the exile of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was destroyed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Jewish history is fraught with examples of false messiahs who took advantage of such ambiguities to promote their usually unorthodox, and, occasionally, even heretical agendas.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97856,"alt":"","title":"dan9-waiting for messiah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-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":"Daniel\u2019s Calculations","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Ambiguous predictions, questionable counting and false messiahs","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97856,"alt":"","title":"dan9-waiting for messiah","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":683,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","2048x2048-width":1024,"2048x2048-height":683,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah.jpg","post_full_size-width":1024,"post_full_size-height":683,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan9-waiting-for-messiah-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":"Daniel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"838","date":"20281114","wall_id":"838"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":8,"id":"97858","color":"#faeed8","size":"1","name":"Daniel\u2019s Prayer Is Answered ","post_title":"Daniel\u2019s Prayer Is Answered","slug":"daniels-prayer-is-answered","old_id":"97858","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":"838","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"But maybe it were better if it hadn\u2019t been\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Daniel 9 is considered one of the examples of prayer in the Tanach. Not only do verses 4-19 contain the contents of the prayer that Daniel directed at God, but v. 3, 20, and 21 actually define Daniel\u2019s actions as that of one who is literally \u201cpraying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Daniel\u2019s prayer can be divided into the following sections:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

4. Praise of God;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>5-15. Confession, and justification of the resulting Divine Judgment;<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>16-19. Supplication.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What is unique about this prayer is that a divine response is immediately forthcoming, in the form of the angel Gabriel\u2019s message (v. 22-7)\u00a0 to Daniel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet, one wonders whether we might be better off not receiving any response, and thereby having to conclude for ourselves what God intends, as opposed to having an angel deliver an occluded message whose strange symbolism has to be interpreted as best as one can. For example, what do \u201cseventy weeks\u201d (v. 24), \u201cseven weeks\u201d (v. 25), \u201csixty-two weeks\u201d (Ibid.), \u201cone week\u201d (v. 27) and \u201cone-half week\u201d (Ibid.) connote?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

An example of a creative interpretation of the ambiguous terms \u201cseventy weeks\u201d can be found in Malbim (Russia; 1809-79), who explains that since the Torah contends that the exile was in order that the land, sans Jews, would be allowed to lie fallow, since seventy Sabbatical years were violated (see Leviticus 26:34), the exile of the Jews will perforce last for seventy periods of seven years each.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But how can Malbim be certain that seventy Sabbatical years, no more, no less, were violated?\u00a0 While it would be improper to posit that the Jews are being punished for something that they did not do, to suggest that they are not being punished for something that they did, would be equally improper. It is already difficult to ascertain the precise meaning of biblical prose; poetry and mystical visions are that much more problematic. Do we have to assume that subjective quality outweighs precise quantity, at least in this case?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A good analogy to the problems entailed in Gabriel\u2019s response to Daniel\u2019s prayer is the debate, which in part involves verses from this biblical chapter, regarding when the messiah will finally come. The Rabbis recommend that such calculations not be made, e.g,.:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2026<\/span> One should not try to determine the appointed time for messiah\u2019s coming. Our Sages declared: \u201cMay the spirits of those who attempt to determine the time of the messiah\u2019s coming expire!\u201d Rather, one should await and believe in the general conception of the matter\u2026 (Maimonides, Mishneh Tora, <\/span>Hilchot Melachim U\u2019Milchamot,<\/em> <\/span>12:2).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But that didn\u2019t stop various rabbinical authorities from attempting to establish this time down through the ages. We are only able to say with certainty when a particular indicated year passes, that this demonstrates that the proposal was incorrect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But regarding those who predict such things for some future time, we can only wait and see.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":70033,"alt":"","title":"jer14-moses-prays","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","width":450,"height":648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-208x300.jpg","medium-width":208,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":648,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":648,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":648,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":648,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":648,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-292x420.jpg","home_baner-width":292,"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":"Daniel\u2019s Prayer Is Answered","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"But maybe it were better if it hadn\u2019t been","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":70033,"alt":"","title":"jer14-moses-prays","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","width":450,"height":648,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-208x300.jpg","medium-width":208,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","medium_large-width":450,"medium_large-height":648,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","large-width":450,"large-height":648,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","1536x1536-width":450,"1536x1536-height":648,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","2048x2048-width":450,"2048x2048-height":648,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays.jpg","post_full_size-width":450,"post_full_size-height":648,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer14-moses-prays-292x420.jpg","home_baner-width":292,"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":"Daniel","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"838","date":"20281114","wall_id":"838"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":9,"id":"97897","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Such A Dear, Deer Land ","post_title":"Such A Dear, Deer Land","slug":"such-a-dear-deer-land","old_id":"97897","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42746,"post_title":"Michal Kohane","slug":"michal-kohane","old_id":"42746","first_name":"Michal ","last_name":"Kohane ","description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. She holds degrees in Israel studies , education and psychology, and has been a leader and educator in Northern California for over 25 years. Her first novel, Hachug (\"Extracurricular\") was published in Israel in 2016 and her weekly blog can be found at http:\/\/www.miko284.com\r\n\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Currently based in Israel, Rabbanit Michal Kohane is a graduate of Yeshivat Maharat, a writer, community leader and teacher of Talmud & Torah. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42747,"alt":"","title":"michal kohane","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","width":214,"height":226,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium-width":214,"medium-height":226,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","medium_large-width":214,"medium_large-height":226,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","large-width":214,"large-height":226,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","1536x1536-width":214,"1536x1536-height":226,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","2048x2048-width":214,"2048x2048-height":226,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","post_full_size-width":214,"post_full_size-height":226,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/michal-kohane-e1540448078529.jpg","home_baner-width":214,"home_baner-height":226}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"840","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Beautiful, desired, fruitful\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The term<\/span> Eretz Tzvi<\/span><\/a><\/em> \u2013 \u201cLand of the Deer\u201d (or gazelle) \u2013 is known in Israel because of a song from the movie about the Entebbe Operation of 1976. Yehoram Ga\u2019on sang the moving lyrics, \u201cto the Land of the Deer, to its fields of honey, to the Carmel and the desert\u2026\u201d Talma Elyagon-Roz who wrote the words, told how she created it out of that morning (4<\/span>th<\/span> of July, just as the US celebrated its 200<\/span>th<\/span> birthday!), when great anxiety was replaced by a mixture of pride, joy and sorrow. \u201cThe song\u201d, she said later, \u201crepresents for me the symbiotic connection to the Land, its people, scenery and history; the confidence we have that she won\u2019t desert us. It stands for my love of the Land, and our mutual responsibility as a People\u2026. I wrote that song, but it belongs to all of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The term <\/span>Eretz Tzvi<\/span><\/em> - Land of the Deer \u2013 shows up in today\u2019s chapter (Daniel 11:40-41): \u201cAt the time of the end, the king of the south\u2026 will invade <\/span>Eretz haTzvi,<\/span><\/em> the beautiful land, too\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The root of the word <\/span>tzvi<\/span><\/em>, deer, <\/span>tz.v.h<\/span><\/em>., can be connected to <\/span>r.tz.h<\/span><\/em>. which is linked to beauty, majesty and being desired, and means \u201cThe Desired Land\u201d. Ezekiel (20:15) repeats it too: \u201c\u2026the land flowing with milk and honey, a <\/span>tzvi<\/em> <\/span>of all lands\u201d\u2026 Earlier, in Samuel II (1:19) we find David mourning the loss of Saul and Yehonatan: \u201c<\/span>Hatzvi Yisrael<\/span><\/em>, Lies slain on your heights; How have the mighty fallen!\u201d, a line often used during Israel Memorial Day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But it\u2019s the Talmud that answers the obvious, though unasked, question: a deer land?? What are the deer\u2019s unique qualities that inform us of the land and its unique beauty?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Tractate Ketubot (112:a) we find:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rav \u1e24isda said\u2026 Why is Eretz Yisrael likened to a deer [tzvi<\/i>]? to tell you that just as this deer, its skin cannot contain its meat<\/strong> once it has been skinned, <\/span>so too, Eretz Yisrael cannot contain its fruit<\/strong> once it has been picked, due to the great quantity of the produce. <\/span>Alternatively, just as this deer is swifter than all the other beasts, so too Eretz Yisrael is swifter to ripen its fruit than all<\/strong> the other <\/span>countries<\/strong>.<\/b><\/p>\r\n

The term is used to this very day. We remain to hold both its miracles and challenges together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Byzantine-era mosaic of gazelle, <\/span>tzvi<\/span><\/em>,<\/span><\/i> in Caesarea, Israel \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":97898,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer.jpg","width":2048,"height":1536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Such A Dear, Deer Land","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Beautiful, desired, fruitful","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":97898,"alt":"","title":"","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer.jpg","width":2048,"height":1536,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-1024x768.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":768,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1152,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1536,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-1200x900.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":900,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/dan11-gazelle-deer-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Writings","book":"Daniel","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"840","date":"20281116","wall_id":"840"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":10,"id":"97900","color":"#effaea","size":"1","name":"The Kingdom Of Greece ","post_title":"The Kingdom Of Greece","slug":"the-kingdom-of-greece","old_id":"97900","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. His poems have won twenty-two prizes in international poetry competitions, and he has twice been awarded fellowships from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture.","short_description":"Yakov Azriel is an English language poet who lives in Israel","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36670,"alt":"","title":"Yakov.Azriel.Photo","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","width":1099,"height":1519,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-217x300.jpg","medium-width":217,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":741,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-741x1024.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","1536x1536-width":1099,"1536x1536-height":1519,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668.jpg","2048x2048-width":1099,"2048x2048-height":1519,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-868x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":868,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Yakov.Azriel.Photo_-e1533158407668-304x420.jpg","home_baner-width":304,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"840","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"I abjure you, daughters of Greece, \/ By the hills of Judah and the gates of Jerusalem \/ Do not dance for him\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

\"\u2026 and he shall stir up all against the kingdom of Greece.\" (Daniel 11:2)<\/p>\r\n

Do you hear me as you dream?
\r\nDo you hear me whisper,
\r\nReminding you of your oath \u2014
\r\nYou to be my husband
\r\nAnd I your wife?
\r\nTo me alone your vow;
\r\nRemember your oath to me, to me
\r\nYour promise, do not forget.<\/p>\r\n

We six,<\/em>
\r\nDaughter of Athens, daughter of Crete,<\/em>
\r\nDaughter of Corinth, daughter of Thebes,<\/em>
\r\nDaughter of Sparta, daughter of Rhodes,<\/em>
\r\nWe come<\/em>
\r\nTo dance for you,<\/em>
\r\nWe come and raise our voice<\/em>
\r\nFor<\/em> you.<\/p>\r\n

By the hills of Judah, you swore;
\r\nBy the gates of Jerusalem, you swore;
\r\nBy the walls of the Temple, you swore;
\r\nRemember your oath to me,
\r\nTo me alone,
\r\nDo not forget.<\/p>\r\n

We dance for you in the sand, by the surf,<\/em>
\r\nBy the grace of the seas and the shores of Greece we dance,<\/em>
\r\nWe hold out a laurel wreath for you to wear,<\/em>
\r\nFor you \u2014 <\/em>
\r\nA crown.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

In the light of the fire on the Temple\u2019s altar, ablaze in moonlight, you swore;
\r\nIn the light of the Menorah\u2019s candles, shining in starlight, you swore;
\r\nIn the glitter of the jewels on the High-Priest\u2019s breast-plate, you swore
\r\nFaithfulness
\r\nTo me alone, do not forget
\r\nTo me alone
\r\nYour oath.<\/p>\r\n

With turquoise of sky, with gold of the sun,<\/em>
\r\nWe dance for you,<\/em>
\r\nTo the music of six planets we dance<\/em>
\r\nAnd sing<\/em>
\r\nOf seas and surf, of sand and sun;<\/em>
\r\nWe call for you<\/em>
\r\nTo come <\/em>
\r\nAnd dance<\/em>
\r\nWith us.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

I abjure you, daughters of Greece,
\r\nBy the hills of Judah and the gates of Jerusalem,
\r\nDo not dance for him,
\r\nDo not sing for him,
\r\nDo not arouse
\r\nHe who gave me his vow,
\r\nHe in whose eyes, my light.<\/p>\r\n

Set me as a seal upon your arm,
\r\nAnd between your eyes, a pledge.
\r\nBetroth me unto you forever,
\r\nIn righteousness and in justice,
\r\nIn loving-kindness and in compassion.
\r\nBind me with your fingers
\r\nAnd betroth me unto you
\r\nIn faithfulness.
\r\nDo not forget your oath,
\r\nTo me alone
\r\nYour oath,
\r\nTo me alone
\r\nYour love.<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":56397,"alt":"","title":"jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/gif","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","width":444,"height":353,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers-150x150.gif","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers-300x239.gif","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","medium_large-width":444,"medium_large-height":353,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","large-width":444,"large-height":353,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","1536x1536-width":444,"1536x1536-height":353,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","2048x2048-width":444,"2048x2048-height":353,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","post_full_size-width":444,"post_full_size-height":353,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","home_baner-width":444,"home_baner-height":353}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Kingdom Of Greece","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"I abjure you, daughters of Greece, \/ By the hills of Judah and the gates of Jerusalem \/ Do not dance for him","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":56397,"alt":"","title":"jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/gif","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","width":444,"height":353,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers-150x150.gif","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers-300x239.gif","medium-width":300,"medium-height":239,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","medium_large-width":444,"medium_large-height":353,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","large-width":444,"large-height":353,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","1536x1536-width":444,"1536x1536-height":353,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","2048x2048-width":444,"2048x2048-height":353,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","post_full_size-width":444,"post_full_size-height":353,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud19-sinensky-burne-jones-dancers.gif","home_baner-width":444,"home_baner-height":353}},"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":"Daniel","chapter":"11","chapter_main_number":"840","date":"20281116","wall_id":"840"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/97685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}